The stolen painting of Max Lieberman was returned to the legal heirs

The painting “The Return of Tobias” (Die Heimkehr des Tobias) by German-Jewish artist Max Lieberman (1847-1935), photographed in the Berlin “Center for Judaic Studies” (Centrum Judaicum), returned to its rightful owners. The National Museum of Israel returned the famous impressionist canvas to the heirs of the former owner - German artist of Jewish origin Max Lieberman. The work borrowed from Lieberman for the exhibition was stolen in the 30s from the Jewish Museum in Berlin. After the end of World War II, the US-based Jewish Restitution Successor Organization (JRSO) began collecting art objects whose pre-war owners were unknown, with a view to further distributing Jewish cultural heritage to Jewish organizations around the world. Lieberman’s painting was one of more than a thousand works that JRSO returned in 1955 to the Bezalel Museum, the forerunner of the Israel Museum in Jerusalem.

According to representatives of the National Museum of Israel, the painting of Max Lieberman “The Return of Tobias” (1934), stolen from Nazi Germany, was transferred to the legal heirs decades after her abduction. Currently, the canvas is in Berlin.

Max Lieberman, who died in 1935 at the age of 85, was unusually talented, prolific, and in demand throughout his creative biography. For a long time, the artist headed the association of independent artists, the Berlin Secession, and from 1920 to 1930 he served as president of the Prussian Academy of Art. Some of his paintings today are valued at more than a million dollars.

According to the director of the Israel Museum, James Snyder, in the 30s, the Jewish Museum in Berlin lent the painting "The Return of Tobias" from the artist. During the Second World War, this canvas, along with many others, was stolen from the museum by German Nazis.

At the end of the war, works of art stolen or confiscated by the Nazis, whose pre-war owners were unknown, began to be transferred to the American Jewish Restitution Successor Organization (JRSO). JSRO later returned Jewish cultural heritage to Jewish organizations around the world.

Liberman’s painting was one of more than a thousand works that JRSO returned in the 1950s to the Bezalel Museum, the forerunner of the Israel Museum in Jerusalem.

“Over the past few years, as part of the preparations for the exhibition of artifacts stolen by the Nazis, art historians have done a lot to study the history of the painting,” says Snyder. The canvas of Lieberman was included in the list of 12 works, which it was decided to send to the exhibition in Germany. ”

The results of the study of the painting by Lieberman confirmed that the “Return of Tobias” was transferred to the museum for temporary use, and, therefore, should be returned to the legitimate heirs. At the end of the three-month exhibition, which will be held in Berlin, the canvas will remain in Germany with its rightful owners.

“The fact that Max Lieberman was an outstanding German artist living in Berlin, coupled with studies that allowed us to establish that the“ Tobias Return ”belonged to the artist, further confirmed our desire to return the painting to his descendants,” said Snyder.

According to the Israel Museum, "The Return of Tobias" is already the third painting in a row returned to its rightful heirs. The plot for the picture was taken from the book of Tobit, which is part of the Catholic and Orthodox Bible and is one of the deuterocanonical books of the Old Testament. The canvas illustrates the scene of the return of Tobit’s son, Tobias, with a cure for blindness for his aging father.

Israeli art appraiser Shimon Leumi from the Shorashim gallery in Tel Aviv, estimated the painting by Lieberman at 150-200 thousand dollars, emphasizing that in connection with the growing interest in the artist’s work in Germany, one million dollars could be earned for Lieberman’s works and higher.

“Lieberman and his wife Maria were great connoisseurs of art and avid collectors who bought thousands of paintings and drawings, preferring, first of all, the genre of impressionism. However, in the years 1930–40, almost all of the paintings in the collection were sold out or expropriated, ”said Dr. Martin Fass, Director of the Lieberman Museum in Berlin.

According to experts, today in the world about 250-600 thousand are not claimed by the owners of works of art seized by the Nazis and remaining at the disposal of museums, governments and private collectors.

“In recent years, the Israel Museum has returned about 30 works of art to their rightful owners and heirs,” said Spokeswoman Dena Sher.