France Returns Klimt Seized From Jewish Family by the Nazis

On Monday, France's Ministry of Culture announced that it would return a  Gustav Klimt painting stolen by the Nazis from a Jewish family in Austria in 1938.

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Culture Minister Roselyne Bachelot-Narquin explained that the decision to give back the landscape artwork called "Rosebushes under the Trees" illustrates the commitment of the French government to act with justice towards the rightful owners, the family of Nora Stiasny, a Holocaust victim who sold the painting under duress at a  bargain sum during the Nazi era.

"The decision to return a major work from the public collections illustrates our commitment to the duty of justice and reparation vis-à-vis plundered families," the official said.

The painting has been showcased for decades at the Musée d’Orsay and it is "the only Gustav Klimt painting owned by France," according to Bachelot-Narquin. The authorities explained that since 2019 the Ministry of  Culture embarked on a mission to identify artworks taken from the Jews by the Nazis, a path "long and difficult," the official added.