Amsterdam museum to return Matisse painting taken from Jewish family during WWII

The painting Odalisque by Henry Matisse, currently in the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam, will go to the heirs of the German-Jewish textile entrepreneur Albert Stern (1861- 1945). The Dutch Restitutions Committee advised that this happen, and the Stedelijk Museum and the municipality of Amsterdam—the owner of the collection—will follow that advice.

The Stedelijk Museum bought the Matisse from Stern in 1941. The committee thinks it is plausible that Stern and his family, who fled to the Netherlands in 1937, sold the painting for self-preservation due to the occupying Nazi forces. The family needed the money to escape, and therefore, it is an "involuntary loss of possession due to circumstances directly related to the Nazi regime," the committee added.

"This artwork represents a very sad history and is connected to the unspeakable suffering inflicted on this family," Stedelijk Museum director Rein Wolfs said. "The ruling of the Restitutions Committee does justice to this history, and we naturally follow their binding advice."

Alderwoman of Culture Touria Meliani spoke about the suffering that the Jewish people went through in the Second World War. "The return of works of art, such as the Odalisque painting, can mean a lot to the victims and is of great importance for the recognition of the injustice done to them. As a city we have a role and responsibility in this."

Albert Stern and his wife were unsuccessful in their attempts to escape the nazis. He was deported to several camps and died in January 1945. His wife survived the war and emigrated to Great Britain.

The French painter Matisse painted Odalisque in 1920 and 1921. This was during his period in Nice in which women were often central. An odalisque is an enslaved person in a harem.