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Event date 2023 -
Event location Worldwide
Christie’s Restitution department will honour the 25th anniversary of the Washington Principles in 2023 with a global series of events and initiatives.
In December 1998, the U.S. Department of State and the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum brought together participants from 44 countries and 13 non-governmental organizations, as well as observers from art museums and auction houses, to Washington, D.C., to address the widespread loss and confiscation of art during the Holocaust era. This group established and publicly shared 11 Washington Principles on Nazi-Confiscated Art, which offered a new way forward for victims and their heirs to research, locate, and, where possible, recover missing art and lost histories. The Washington Principles have ushered in a new wave of art restitution and they are the foundation of Christie’s approach to art and cultural valuables that were lost during the Nazi-era and to the work of its Restitution Department.
During 2023, scholars, legal experts, researchers and interested parties will meet in Paris, Amsterdam, Vienna, Berlin, London, New York as well as throughout the United States, and Tel Aviv, to share and discuss important stories, ideas and perspectives. Christie’s Reflecting on Restitution programme begins on 27 January, when visitors will be welcomed to an inaugural public exhibition at Christie’s galleries in Paris. Throughout the year, global audiences will be invited to engage with the programme through other in-person opportunities as well as Christie’s dedicated website, featuring recordings of selected events, stories of important restitutions, as well as a virtual walking tour of historic sites throughout Berlin.

Special feature

Reclaiming lost history: 25 years of the Washington Principles on Nazi-Confiscated Art
The 1998 international guidelines forever changed the discourse about Nazi-confiscated art, and continue to guide the Christie’s Restitution Department today
Exhibition

© Raphaël Denis, courtesy Galerie Sator
Fragments of Collections by Raphaël Denis
From 27 January to 10 February 2023, Christie’s is pleased to present Fragments of Collections by Raphaël Denis, an exhibition which explores the question of looting of works of art that occurred in France during the Second World War. Artist-researcher Raphaël Denis has been developing the present set of installations entitled La Loi normale des erreurs for almost ten years.
2023 programme

Paris
Location
Christie’s Paris
9 Avenue Matignon
75008 Paris
Public Exhibition
Fragments of Collections by Raphaël Denis
27 January – 10 February

Amsterdam
Location
Christie’s Amsterdam
Vondelstraat 73
1054 GK Amsterdam
Event dates
Spring 2023

Vienna
Location
Christie's Vienna
Bankgasse 1/ Herrengasse 17
1010 Vienna
Event dates
Spring 2023

Berlin
Location
Virtual
Event dates
Summer 2023

New York
Location
Christie's New York
20 Rockefeller Plaza
New York
Event dates
Fall 2023

Tel Aviv
Location
Tel Aviv Museum of Art
27 Shaul HaMelech Blvd.
The Golda Meir Cultural and Art Center
Tel Aviv- Jaffa
Event dates
Late Winter 2023
Contact

Stories of Restitution


Old Masters
Restitution: how these Old Master works confiscated by the Gestapo were returned more than six decades later

Impressionist & Modern Art
The mystical Modernism of Franz Marc, whose art was a ‘bridge into the spirit world’

Impressionist & Modern Art
Kindred Spirits: The Courage and Creativity of Egon Schiele and Fritz Grünbaum


Explore more from Christie’s Restitution

For over a quarter of a century, Christie’s has engaged with the legacy of Nazi era and World War II art theft and dispossession. Losses during 1933–1945 to Europe’s collections, in particular those of Jewish collectors, through persecution, confiscation, and forced sales continues to resonate strongly in today’s art world. Christie’s has the largest and most experienced Restitution team of any international auction house, underscoring our responsibility to this field.
We invite you to explore our work in Restitution.
To learn more about the Holocaust please visit: Yad Vashem