A painting at the heart of a dispute between Ghent and the heirs of a Jewish merchant

Ghent (Belgium). In May 1940, Samuel Hartveld, an art dealer in Antwerp, left Belgium for New York, fleeing Nazi persecution. He left behind a large collection of art books and old paintings, seized by the occupiers. In 1942, his gallery and the 66 paintings it housed were put into liquidation and bought by René Van de Broek, a painting restorer and acquaintance of the dealer. In 1948, he sold the City of Ghent the Portrait of Bishop Antoine Triestattributed to Gaspar De Crayer (1584-1669, (see ill.)), important painting for the city since it represents a man of the Church, an influential patron of the arts in the 17th century.

In 2023, the rights holders of Samuel Hartveld submitted a request for the restitution of the painting, held by the Museum of Fine Arts (MSK). To examine its admissibility, the City of Ghent brought together a commission made up of experts from the fine arts, the federal administration and the University of Ghent (UGent) to examine whether Samuel Hartveld had already benefited from compensation for the painting in question.

After studying the available archives, the commission unanimously concluded that, although no written proof of a payment in favor of Hartveld could be found, some form of compensation had indeed taken place. A body of facts and indications would seem to attest to this. Thus, during the war, Van De Broek managed the gallery and its funds, which remained legally the property of Hartveld. And, after the Liberation, Hartveld returned to Antwerp several times and seemed to collaborate and maintain excellent relations with Van de Broek. The art dealer sent the authorities a request for compensation for the theft of his collection of art books and some objects, but not for his paintings. Arrangements were made between the two men for the sale of some of the paintings owned by Hartveld. When the Portrait of Bishop Triest was sold to the City of Ghent, Samuel Hartveld, who died in 1949, was still alive and possibly aware of it.

Van de Broek’s troubled personality is tainted by supposed links with the Flemish collaborationist organization DeVlag and trips to France on behalf of Léon Degrelle, creator of the SS-Wallonia legion. But for the commission, these links would be more opportunism than ideological adhesion. Questioned after the war on these questions by the judicial authorities, Van de Broek was not the subject of any conviction.

For all these reasons, the commission therefore considers that the City of Ghent is the legitimate owner of the painting. However, it recommends that, for any exhibition and publication concerning it, it be clearly mentioned that the work was the subject of spoliation during the war.

The heirs of Samuel Hartveld, supported by the Jewish Information and Documentation Center (JID) and the European Jewish Association, maintain that in the absence of written proof of any financial remuneration there can be no question of compensation and are demanding the return of the work. The two organizations have decided to take the case to court and are calling for “the establishment of a national restitution commission, as exists in other European countries”.