Return Nazi-grab art

Paul H B Shin

AN AMERICAN ART collector with a conscience has voluntarily returned a Rembrandt drawing looted by the Nazis to its rightful owners – the first time someone has given back Nazi-plundered artwork unprompted.

The collector mailed the drawing, “The Liberation of Saint Peter from Prison,” to the Commission for Looted Art in Europe, which tracks down artwork stolen during the World War II era.

”This is a unique situation because the person who had the drawing voluntarily returned it,” said Anne Webber, co-chairwoman of the London-based organization, which announced the recovery of the Rembrandt yesterday.

The drawing will returned to Uri Peled in Israel, an heir of the rightful owner, Arthur Feldmann. The Rembrandt was one of 700 works stolen from the famed collector’s home in Czechoslovakia as the Nazis marched into the country in March 1939.

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