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Nazi-Looted Claude Monet Painting Repatriated After Eight Decades

In a significant development for art restitution, a Claude Monet painting, Bord de Mer (Seaside), stolen during World War II, has been returned to the heirs of its original owners after more than 80 years.

This masterpiece, valued at up to $700,000, was created around 1865 and captures the serene coastline of Normandy. This very location would later become pivotal during the Allied invasion on D-Day in 1944.

Chad Yarbrough, assistant director of the FBI’s criminal investigative division, expressed pride in this recovery, stating, “We are immensely proud to have been able to recover this remarkable piece of art and bring it home to its rightful owners,” as noted in a recent statement.

The FBI’s art crime team learned that a couple in Washington state had recently purchased the painting and intended to sell it at a gallery in Houston. Following a tip regarding the artwork’s stolen history, the bureau intervened.

This painting originally belonged to Adalbert and Hilda Parlagi, who bought it in Vienna in 1936. As the Nazi threat grew, the couple fled Austria in 1938, placing their possessions in storage with the anticipation of reclaiming them later.

After the war, Adalbert reached out to the storage facility, only to be informed that their belongings had been seized by the Gestapo in 1941 and sold off. The letter he received made clear that they had no knowledge of the buyer or the sale price.

For decades, the painting’s location remained unknown until it reemerged at an Impressionist exhibit in France in 2016, as reported by CNN. An antiquities dealer in New Orleans subsequently acquired it and sold it to Kevin Schlamp and Bridget Vita-Schlamp, who were unaware of its troubled past and intended to sell it themselves in Houston.

Once informed of the painting’s stolen status, Vita-Schlamp reflected on the family’s loss and the broader implications for the Jewish community, stating, “We were shocked. We were quick to realize that it needed to go back to the family. … We lost a painting, but the Jewish community had lost so much more.”

On October 9, the FBI officially returned Bord de Mer to the granddaughters of Adalbert and Hilda. Françoise Parlagi remarked to the Associated Press that the return of the family heirloom holds deep significance for many families affected by similar circumstances. “So many families are in this situation,” she said, adding, “Let us be hope for other families who might think this is not possible.”

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www.smithsonianmag.com