Nazi collaborators took this Jewish painting during WWII; this NC museum has returned it to rightful heirs

More than 80 years ago, Nazi collaborators took a painting from a Jewish family during WWII. This year, right here in a North Carolina museum, the painting was returned to its rightful heirs.

Posted 3:53 p.m. Jan 23 — Updated 6:42 p.m. Jan 23

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — More than 80 years ago, Nazi collaborators took a painting from a Jewish family during WWII.

This year, right here in a North Carolina museum, the painting was returned to its rightful heirs.

Ackland Art Museum at UNC Chapel Hill completed a restitution event earlier this month, during which the museum returned the painting "The Studio of Thomas Couture" to its rightful owners after many decades.

The painting originally belonged to Armand Isaac Dorville, a prominent French and Jewish lawyer and art collector. It was part of a collection of more than 450 works belonging to Dorville, which was auctioned off during World War II with proceeds intended to help the family escape Nazi persecution. Instead, his family said the piece was purchased by a Nazi collaborator – and the proceeds from the auction were seized by the Vichy government's Commissariat-General for Jewish Affairs.

According to WUNC, the museum obtained the artwork in 1972 from a Parisian dealer, and they weren't aware of its history until they were contacted by art historian Éléanore Delabre in 2022.

Painting taken Jewish family by Nazi collaborators during WWII returned after more than 80 years

“It is incumbent upon the museum to make sure that the claim is valid,” said Katie Ziglar, director of the Ackland Art Museum. “But once that information is carefully considered, then a resolution can come about. And if the work of art does not belong to the museum rightfully then, in our opinion, the only thing to do is to return it to its rightful owners.”

“Though we are sad to see this painting is leaving the museum's collection, the Ackland recognizes the historical injustice suffered by the Dorville family and its heirs by the crimes committed during the Nazi era,” said Ackland Art Museum's art curator. “Through the restitution of this work, we express our continued commitment to rectify such injustices of the past.”

Ackland is the first U.S. art museum to return a work to the heirs of Dorville.

WUNC reports that the painting is the 22nd work of art to be returned to Dorville’s descendants. According to a press release, other pieces remain located in various museums, including New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art.

“We call on all museums, all nations and every individual to follow this example,” said Dorville’s descendant, Raphaël Falk, “To fully acknowledge the past and to work together to build the future founded on the principles of responsibility, understanding, tolerance and peace. The restitution of this work is therefore a symbol, an essential step on the long road to raising awareness and educating people about the history of the Holocaust and its consequences."

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