Restitutions Committee (Netherlands)

The Dutch Restitutions Committee (Dutch: Restitutiecommissie) was established in 2001 to deal with claims for the restitution of Nazi-era looted works of art to their original owners or their descendants.[1][2] The rulings of the committee have been controversial with some restitution advocates arguing that they are unfair to claimants.[3][4]

Restitutions Committee logo

Criticisms

Of the five international Restitution Committees that exist (UK, France, Austria & Germany) the Dutch Restitution Committee has the lowest restitution rate, returning only about one third of the artworks claimed. Recently the Restitution Committee introduced the controversial Balance of Interest test, which takes into consideration the desire of the (typically government owned) museum to keep a looted artwork, rather than return it to the rightful claimants. This resulted in the Committee's refusal to restitute a number of important artworks and led to international criticism at what many viewed as a self-serving mechanism. Ambassador Stuart Eisenstadt, the author of the Washington Principles, recently indicated at an international conference in Berlin, that the "Balance of Interest test in not in accordance with the Washington Principles" and indicated that this mechanism should no longer be used.

In 2020 a Dutch panel concluded that the restitution process was unduly complex and unfair to claimants. Taco Dibbits, the director of the Rijksmuseum, denounced the "balance of interest" policy to abicycle thief who argues that he should be able to keep stolen property because he's using it.[5]

Presidents
  • 2001‒2004: J. M. Polak
  • 2004‒2007: B. J. Asscher
  • 2007‒2008: R. Herrmann
  • 2009‒2016: W. J. M. Davids
  • 2016–present: A. Hammerstein

See also

Nederlands Kunstbezit-collectie (Netherlands Art Property Collection or NK collection)

List of claims for restitution for Nazi-looted art

Arthur Seyss-Inquart

Erhard Göpel

Hitler's Führermuseum

Sonderauftrag Linz

References
  1. "The Restitutions Committee". Lootedart.com. Retrieved 21 December 2018.
  2. Ministerie van Volksgezondheid, Welzijn en Sport (20 October 2011). "Restitution - Second World War - Government.nl". Government.nl. Retrieved 21 December 2018.
  3. Boffey, Daniel (5 December 2018). "Dutch art panel's ruling against Jewish family criticised as 'step back'". Theguardian.com. Retrieved 21 December 2018.
  4. "Dutch policy on Nazi-loot restitutions under fire". Theartnewspaper.com. Retrieved 21 December 2018.
  5. Siegal, Nina (2020-12-07). "Dutch Panel for Looted Art Claims Must Change Course, Report Finds". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2022-07-01.


This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.