The Art Newspaper

Czech-Liechtenstein cultural détente

An exhibition in Praguem celebrates recent rapprochement with loans from the Prince of Liechtenstein’s collection and pieces from Czech archives and collections

By Georgina Adam. Museums, Issue 214, June 2010
Published online: 23 June 2010

Friedrich von Amerling's Portrait of Princess Marie Franziska von Liechtenstein at the Age of Two, 1836

PRAGUE. Until last year, the state of Liechtenstein was the last country in Europe not to recognise the Czech Republic because of a dispute over property and art. This dated back to the end of the second world war, when Czechoslovakia seized land, castles and contents belonging to the princely house of Liechtenstein. Among the 25 castles and palaces at issue are the magnificent, Unesco-listed Lednice and Valtice castles in south Moravia.

But in September 2009 diplomatic relations were established between the two states, and to celebrate this rapprochement an exhibition, “Neoclassicism and Biedermeier”, opened in Prague last month (until 17 October). It brings together loans from the Prince of Liechtenstein’s collection and pieces from Czech archives and collections. The prince, Hans-Adam II, and the Czech prime minister, Jan Fischer, opened the exhibition on 5 May held in the Waldstein Riding School.

The exhibition features around 300 pieces, from portraits of the Liechtenstein family to plans of some of the palaces, along with Viennese porcelain and Biedermeier furniture; around 20% of the pieces are from the Liechtenstein collections before the second world war, and could still be claimed. However, the prince has said that he will take no steps to reclaim property, although “he would be glad to have it returned”. He said: “In the early 1990s the Czechoslovakian state offered to give us back the castles and palaces. At that time, with the previous curator of my collection, we looked at the properties, and they needed such a huge investment, we turned the proposal down.” The properties were offered without the land, which meant there would be no revenue to support them. As for the art and decorative objects: “Between 1938 and 1945 we were able to take some things out, but it was not possible to take them all. After the war those pieces were taken into storage or put into other properties; they are all well inventoried,” he said, adding that it was time to move on and “look to the future”.

The exhibition has received €300,000 (close to half the total cost) by LGT, the Liechtenstein family bank behind its fortune. LGT was severely tarnished by a 2008 scandal when an employee sold stolen records to the German bank authorities, revealing extensive tax evasion. It has been working on improving its image, and this year cut a deal with the British tax authorities granting amnesty to those who move their assets to Liechtenstein from other tax havens and come clean with the Inland Revenue Service.

Dr Johann Kräftner, the curator of the Liechtenstein collection, told us: “For the prince, art is also an investment, both commercial and political: he lends the collections to say thank you.” In the wake of the stolen data scandal, the prince cancelled an exhibition in Munich of his art treasures; he was reportedly livid that German authorities had paid millions to get the stolen bank data.

On loan to Prague: Elisabeth Vigee-Lebrun's Portrait of Princess Karoline von Liechtenstein, nee Countess von Manderscheidt, as Iris, 1793