UK pays heirs of Nazi-era (News 24)

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London - British authorities agreed on Thursday to compensate the heirs of a Czech doctor whose Old Master drawings were looted by the Nazis and later acquired by the British Museum.
The government would pay 175 000 pounds ($312 000) to the heirs of Arthur Feldmann, an art collector whose property was stolen after the Nazis invaded then-Czechoslovakia.
Feldmann's grandson, Uri Peled, and the British Museum, had jointly proposed the compensation arrangement, which would allow the works to remain at the London institution.
Peled said: "On behalf of Dr Feldmann's heirs, I would like to express our delight that these drawings are remaining in the British Museum.

"We are sure that this is what our grandfather would have wanted, for them to be available to the public and for future research."

Spoliation Advisory Panel

The Gestapo seized the works from Feldmann's home in Brno. He was tortured and killed by the Nazis, and his wife, Gisela, died at Auschwitz.

The case was originally brought before Spoliation Advisory Panel - which resolved claims arising from looted Nazi-era property - now held in collections in the United Kingdom.

But, it was withdrawn after a high court judge ruled last year that the British Museum could not return the four drawings.

Under British law, museums must maintain the integrity of their collections - a case seen as a setback for all people who lost art to Nazi-era looters.

After the court case, the museum and Peled returned to the panel with a compensation request.
Peled said: "We felt strongly that the drawings ought to remain in the British Museum, whatever the British courts or parliament may decide about the powers of (British) museums and galleries to return art looted by the Nazis."

The drawings were "St Dorothy with the Christ Child", 1508, by a follower of Martin Schongauer, a German engraver; "Virgin and Child Adored by St Elizabeth and the Infant St John" by Martin Johann Schmidt, from the 18th century; "An Allegory on Poetic Inspiration with Mercury and Apollo" by the 18th-century English artist Nicholas Blakey, and "The Holy Family" by Niccolo dell'Abbate, the 16th-century Bolognese.