(Q60332466)
Statements
The art collection of Peter Watson (1908–1956) (English)
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The trail showed that the picture had come into the possession of the Parisian art dealers, Renou et Colle. 32 Watson was a friend of Pierre Colle,33 and became highly suspicious of him when he learnt the fate of his Dalí. The picture had then been sold to another friend of Watson (English)
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The picture had then been sold to another friend of Watson (English) Albert Skira,34 who sold it to a gallery in Zurich and from there the picture had reached the Kunstmuseum.35 Skira only narrowly avoided serious post-War repercussions with the Allied authorities for trading in looted art because Watson withdrew his allegations against him.36 (English)
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The activities of the ERR were, inevitably in view of the tremendous value of the art involved, a murky business. Not long after they had plundered the major collections of distinguished wealthy Jewish families such as the Rothschilds, they arrived at 44 rue du Bac, the flat of the absent, non-Jewish Englishman, Peter Watson, probably on the basis of a tip-off from friendly voices in the Paris art world, who had sold the pictures to Watson in the first place, or from Sherban Sidery. They even knew that there were other pictures belonging to Watson stored for safekeeping in the vaults of the Banque Nationale pour le Commerce et l’Industrie. First, on 2 December 1940, the Devisenschutzkommando (DSK)20 raided the bank21 and took the pictures belonging to Watson and then, on 9 December, the ERR raided the flat. Twenty pictures were listed,22 including three Klees, a Gris, a Miró, two works by Max Ernst, a Picasso, a Tanguy and a Brion Gysin.23 A group of pictures reached the main depository at the Jeu de Paume on 28 January 1941. (English)
Adrain Clark
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1 reference
Skira only narrowly avoided serious post-War repercussions with the Allied authorities for trading in looted art because Watson withdrew his allegations against him (English)