[CPProt.net] Art Loss Register: PRESS RELEASE. The identification of a painting missing since 1946 and its restitution to the Prussian Palaces and Gardens Foundation Berlin-Brandenburg

[MSN CPPnet (Ton Cremers)]

December 30, 2005


PRESS RELEASE 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

Jan Linsen, Landscape with Ruins and Goats  (Oil on panel, 56 x 63 cm)

The identification of a painting missing since 1946 and its restitution to
the Prussian Palaces and Gardens Foundation Berlin-Brandenburg

London, 14th December 2005 - A search request to the Art Loss Register (ALR)
in February 2005 resulted in the identification of a painting by Jan Linsen
(1602/3 - 1635 Hoorn), which had been missing from the Prussian Palaces and
Gardens Foundation Berlin-Brandenburg (PPGF) since 1946.  The work was
formerly attributed to the artist Paul Bril.  The painting is to be
re-integrated into the collection of paintings of the Prussian Palaces in
December 2005.  

The PPGF is one of Germany's worst affected museums as a result of the
Second World War and its aftermath.  Since the Foundation registered its war
losses on the ALR's database in 2003, this painting, together with the 3,000
other losses of the PPGF, was searched on a continual basis by staff of the
ALR against works of art for sale on the international art market.  

The ALR successfully identified the missing painting before the opening of
the renowned TEFAF Fair in Maastricht, in which the ALR participates as part
of the vetting process.  Decisive evidence that the painting was identical
to the one missing from the PPGF was found on the back of the panel, where
numbers written in chalk corresponded with stock numbers of the
Charlottenburg inventory of 1869. 

The Landscape by Jan Linsen is the second work to be successfully restituted
to a Berlin museum as a result of the ALR's work.  Negotiations on the
return of other war losses from German Museums are currently in progress.
"We are delighted about the identification of this painting and its return
to the collection of Schloss Charlottenburg, which was made possible due to
our close relationship with the art trade.  The laudable commitment of the
Foundation sets an example to other museums," says Julian Radcliffe,
Chairman of the Art Loss Register.  

The ALR with offices in London, Cologne and New York is the largest private
database of stolen and missing works of art and antiques.  Apart from the
registration of missing artworks, the ALR offers a search service for
collectors, art dealers and museums.  Since it was founded in 1991, the ALR
has registered over 170,000 uniquely identifiable works of art and antiques.


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