Christie’s was pleased to participate in the March 2022 Venice Looted Art Conference. Giovanna Bertazzoni, Christie’s Vice Chairman of 20th & 21st Century Art joined a panel discussion to share expert insights on the importance of provenance from the art market’s perspective.

The objective of this conference was to raise awareness of Nazi-looted art in Italy, emphasizing the urgent need of provenance research in Italian art collections and offering practical solutions to those who in the years from 1933 to the mid 1990’s might have inadvertently acquired artworks stolen by the Nazis or forcibly sold during the Nazi era.

Dirk Boll, President EMEA, and Sarah Done, Director Restitution, together with Giovanna Bertazzoni joined international experts from practice and science to give insights into how the art market, museums, heirs of victims of the Nazi regime and private collectors in possession of Nazi-looted art have addressed the topic and discussed the current state of affairs in Italy.

Christie’s Restitution

For over a quarter of a century, Christie’s has engaged with the legacy of Nazi era and World War II art theft and dispossession. Losses during 1933–1945 to Europe’s collections, in particular those of Jewish collectors, through persecution, confiscation, and forced sales continues to resonate strongly in today’s art world. Christie’s has the largest and most experienced Restitution team of any international auction house, underscoring our responsibility to this field.