About 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 continue 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. Located in New York, London, Berlin, Brussels, and Vienna, our researchers have over 100 combined years of experience. We have made Nazi-era provenance research a hallmark of our expertise and inextricably a part of the art historical framework.
We take very seriously our commitment to sellers, buyers, and claimants alike to:
- Ensure Christie’s does not knowingly offer spoliated but unrestituted art works – providing confidence that artworks are vetted
- Research provenance – expanding scholarship around the history of collecting and the art market
- Support the resolution of restitution claims for consigned artworks – advocating in the spirit of the Washington Principles, for fair and amicable solutions
In this, we are privileged to work as both part of the art world and as part of the restitution community. We invite you to contact one of our specialists should you have a restitution or provenance query.
Image credits:
(Hero) Detail: FRANZ MARC, The Foxes(Die Füchse), Christie’s London, March 2022.
Restituted by the city of Düsseldorf to the heirs of Kurt & Else Grawi
VINCENT VAN GOGH, Meules de Blé
Christie’s New York, November 2021.
Sold pursuant to a settlement agreement between the previous owner, the heir of Max Meirowsky and heirs of Alexandrine de Rothschild
GUSTAV KLIMT (1862-1918), Birch Forest
Christie’s New York, November 2006; Christie’s New York, November 2022
Restituted to the heirs of Adele and Ferdinand Bloch-Bauer by the Republic of Austria