The fate of the paintings missing

On July 13, a public lecture by the doctor of historical sciences, Julia Kantor, was held at the Art Museum of Belarus. The topic of discussion was works of art that disappeared during the Second World War. Cantor, one of the most active employees of the famous Hermitage, shared with the public her research on the fate of paintings that disappeared from state collections. Some of them subsequently ended up in major art museums of the world, some in personal collections of collectors and, unfortunately, a huge number of works are no longer destined to amaze the public’s imagination.

Throughout her life, Cantor conducted research in the Archives of Russia, Belarus, Poland, Germany, Lithuania, Estonia, Latvia and other countries. Thanks to this, in many cases she could “see” where the paintings were headed after they were stolen. And knowing the direction of movement, you can pretty accurately determine which country they subsequently found themselves in.

The discussion around the question of restitution (the return of cultural property) aroused quite serious interest. After all, Belarus, like many other countries, suffered serious cultural and life losses during the war years.

Eve Istr