Cultural goods that have vanished or been stolen

During the Second World War, many artworks and cultural objects in both public and private ownership were abandoned, looted and/or stolen. This also happened in Belgium. At the same time, a major art trade emerged, mainly in Western and Central Europe. After the Second World War, a large number of cultural items were traced, recovered and returned to their rightful owners, their heirs or the states in question. However, it was not always clear where some of these artefacts had originated: it was sometimes hard to determine whether they had been looted or who had owned them prior to the conflict. After the years of occupation and the liberation, some of these cultural goods ended up in public collections or in private hands.
 
In this context, at the Washington Conference in 1998, Belgium endorsed the principles on cultural goods that had been looted or which had disappeared under National Socialism. The Belgian museums and cultural institutions collaborated with the Study Commission on Jewish Assets and the Compensation Commission to clarify the origin of these cultural objects. These were artworks that may have been the object of National Socialist looting or purchases, and post-war restitution in and through Belgium.

The investigation took several years. Following this research and to ensure transparency, it was decided to place the artworks whose origins were unidentified or incomplete in a database with the aim of providing more information about their acquisition history. This national database mainly focuses on paintings and sculptures that ended up in museum collections after the Second World War. This research is a close collaboration between the Communities, the federal government and the institutions and museums involved.

Not always malicious intent

For the sake of completeness, we would like to emphasise that war is not the only reason for gaps in the provenance of artworks. A lack of documents and archival material in particular, but also other factors, such as thefts or undocumented purchases, donations or exchanges can make it difficult to trace the history of art and heritage objects in museum collections. Uncertainties as to the origin of an artwork do not always indicate malicious intent.