A spoiled painting found and returned to France

The German pharmaceutical company Bayer, which sought to sell this painting by the fawn painter Henri Manguin, discovers on this occasion … that it belongs to the French state!

Amicable agreement, restitution of the web, here are four keys to understanding the reintegration of this work, now exhibited at Muma, the Museum of Modern Art of Le Havre (Seine-Maritime).

Stolen by the German army?

Acquired by the State in 1916, this table was immediately “filed” – loaned – at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. “But, in 1950, when a recovery is proceeded, that is to say that we compare our inventory to the real situation on the sites that welcome our works, it disappeared! “Says Simon André-Deconchat, deputy director of the National Center for Plastic Arts (CNAP) who manages the collections of the State.

Suspicions then focused on the German army which would have won in 1945 by leaving the ministry which she used under the occupation. They will transform into quasi-certainty when Bayer, to whom the canvas belongs, will present documents showing that the table was bought in 1950 at Hildebrand Gurlitt, an art dealer involved in transactions concerning spoiled works.

Property evidence

Responsible by Bayer to sell at auction ” La Plaine, Cassis-sur-Mer »»,, Sotheby’s discovers that she is wanted by France. Because the collections of the State are inalienable: there is no limitation period in the event of theft to stop claiming the property. The CNAP therefore produced inventory register, black and white photo of the table and mango letter attesting to the sale of 1916 as additional evidence.

“Even the dimensions of the canvas corresponded: there was no longer any doubt! “Confirms Simon André-Decechat. This one joins the 108,000 works of art “without dedicated walls”. Indeed, the CNAP exists – under different names – since 1791: “The Revolution wanted to collect the testimony of the art of its time and support artistic creation”, specifies its deputy director.

To present this heritage, 59,000 works are deposited with 6,200 museums, churches, embassies, ministries, etc. About 2,500 others are loaned during exhibitions each year.

The homecoming

Muma was proposed to exhibit The plain, Cassissurmer. “I immediately said yes,” recalls Géraldine Lefebvre, his director, because Henri Manguin missed our collections while between 1906 and 1909, he painted in Normandy and exhibited in Le Havre.

He was part of the Circle of Modern Art, an important lounge that exhibited impressionist and wild beast painters. Manguin is close to Matisse, Dufy, Braque, Vallotton, Marquet… With Othon Friesz, he also works in the south of France. This work also testifies to a turning point in his career: “His palette abandons fawn colors in favor of pink ocher and greens; It simplifies the landscape in large masses composed like Cézanne, which it praises. »Deposited for five years renewable, his painting joined those of his friends in December 2024.

Future reappearances

Other works inscribed in the CNAP registers are missing, sold, destroyed or perhaps stolen. For five years, 32 of them have resurfaced: real acceleration. “Since the 1990s, the actors of the art world have been looking much more seriously at the origin of this heritage and the legality of acquisitions,” explains Simon André-Dechat.

In addition, the international databases of sought -after works have developed as well as the work of Interpol and dedicated police services. Just before Manguin’s painting, an allegorical sculpture by Alexandre Falguière (1831-1900) was found in Berlin. Lyric drama (Cf.photo) will reintegrate the opera-comic current 2025.

“La Plaine, Cassis-sur-Mer”, Museum of Modern Art of Le Havre (Muma). Information: 02 35 19 62 62 or www.muma-lehavre.fr