Holocaust Heirs Awarded Two Paintings from Hearst Castle Collection

Written by rubin Wednesday, 08 April 2009 07:39

SAN SIMEON, Calif. – Two paintings from the 1500s that hung in Hearst Castle for decades are being returned to the family of Holocaust victims who were forced to sell them by the Nazis, State authorities said. A two-year investigation by the State determined that three paintings in the castle originally belonged to antique dealers Rosa and Jakob Oppenheimer. The Oppenheimers and other Jewish business owners were forced to sell their property in the 1930s. The Oppenheimers fled to France but later died in the Holocaust.

The heirs to their estate allowed California to retain ownership of one painting that will remain at the castle, the state Department of Parks and Recreations said Monday in a statement. The others were to be handed over to family representatives.

William Randolph Hearst, the wealthy publisher who built the castle and stocked it with art from around the world, didn't know the ownership history when he acquired the paintings in 1935, the parks department said.

The 16th century paintings include a portrait of a man with a book and a necklace of shells around his shoulders that may be the work of Venetian artist Giovanni Cariani, according to the parks department.

A portrait of Venetian nobleman Alvise Vendramin is attributed to the school of Tintoretto and a painting of Venus and Cupid is attributed to the school of Venetian artist Paris Bordone. Bordone was a pupil of Titian but did not remain in his workshop for long. He spent most of his working life in Venice, though he visited France and is also said to have visited Augsburg and worked for the Fugger family sometime in the 1540s. Most of his pictures cannot be dated with any certainty.

Bordone typically used bright colours, heavy Titianesque figures, and complex architectural motifs derived from the work of Sebastiano Serlio. Bordone’s style gradually became more Mannerist, with warmer colours, tightly curled draperies, and figures in oddly tilted poses occupying the extreme foreground against a distant landscape.  Late in his career he also painted a series of groups of blonde, statuesque female figures. Among these erotic paintings are “Diana with Two Nymphs” (State Art Collections, Dresden) and “Venus with Flora” (Hermitage, St. Petersburg). Bordone also painted portraits throughout his career.

The paintings were deeded to the state by the Hearst Corporation in 1972 when the castle and its belongings were transferred to the state.

An attorney for the Oppenheimer estate inquired about the paintings in March 2007, prompting a two-year investigation that concluded the works belonged to the Oppenheimer estate.

Visit Hearst Castle at : http://www.hearstcastle.org/