A spoliation claim against the Courtauld Gallery for three Rubens paintings has been rejected. On 28 November Britain’s Spoliation Advisory Panel concluded that Dutch businessman Franz Koenigs had lost possession of the pictures for business reasons and not because of the actions of the Nazis. The works are St Gregory the Great, The Conversion of St Paul and The Bounty of James I. They had been acquired by Count Seilern in 1940 and donated to the Courtauld Gallery in 1978.
Restitutionarchive
Courtauld restitution claim dismissed
The three Rubens paintings will remain with the gallery
1 January 2008