Symposium on Looted Art: Research, Identification, Justice, Diplomacy and Press

The catalogue of lost paintings of the Aachen Suermondt-Ludwig Museum and the exhibition connected with it “Phantom Gallery – Lost works from the paintings collection” offer the platform for this symposium on “Beutekunst” (i. e. art looted from German collections by – especially – the Soviet Red Army in 1945/46). “Raubkunst” (i. e. art looted from Jewish collections during the Third Reich) – although related – will not be discussed since it was the topic of the symposium “Taking Responsibility” in Berlin in December 2008.

The Aachen symposium especially deals with the post-war losses of several German museums. Although looted art includes all categories of art, a concentration on paintings and drawings seemed reasonable in order not to loose focus. Moreover, (provenance) research in these fields is much better developed and several catalogues of lost collections of paintings and drawings have been published (e. g. Berlin, Dresden and Potsdam).

Apart from several researchers from German museums who give an insight into their active involvement with looted works of art and the manifold difficulties that may arise from various directions, we have invited speakers who present different points of view on this complex topic, from the worlds of diplomacy, law, press and the art trade.

Please, do apply in advance!
By telephone 0049 (0)241 479 80 20 or by e-mail:

The participation fee is 10 Euro - to be paid in cash at the registration-desk in the museum.

Symposium on ‚Beutekunst’ (Looted Art)
in the course of the exhibition „Schattengalerie – Verlorene Werke der Gemäldesammlung“
(Phantom Gallery – Lost Works of the Painting Collection)

29 – 31 January 2009
Suermondt-Ludwig Museum, Aachen (Germany)

DAY 1

Thursday, 29 January
(Moderation: Peter van den Brink)

from 15.00
Registration

16.00 – 17.00 Uhr
Address of Welcome
- Lord Mayor Dr. Jürgen Linden (Aachen)
- State Secretary for Culture Hans-Heinrich Grosse-Brockhoff (Düsseldorf)
- Secretary General Isabel Pfeiffer-Poensgen (Kulturstiftung der Länder, Berlin)
- Frithjof Berger (Head of Division K42, Beauftragter der Bundesregierung für Kultur und Medien, Bonn)

17.00 – 18.00 Uhr
Introductory Lectures
- Direktor Peter van den Brink (Suermondt-Ludwig-Museum, Aachen)
- Prof. Dr. Hermann Parzinger (President of the Stiftung Preußischer Kulturbesitz, Berlin)

- Discussion

- Visit of the Exhibition and Reception

DAY 2

Friday, 30 January

Morning
9.00 – 12.30
(Moderation: Prof. Dr. Alexander Markschies, RWTH-Aachen)

Lectures by Representatives of German Museums

- Dr. Uta Neidhardt (Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister, Dresden)
- Dr. Bernhard Maaz (Alte Nationalgalerie, Berlin)
- Dr. Gerd Bartoschek, Dr. Alexandra Nina Bauer (Schloß Sanssouci, Potsdam)
- Dr. Gero Seelig (Staatliches Museum, Schwerin)

Discussion

Afternoon
14.30 – 18.00
(Moderation: Bernd Mathieu, Chefredakteur Aachener Zeitung/Aachener Nachrichten)


Lectures by Representatives of German Museums

- Dr. Martin Eberle (Head of Stiftung Schloß Friedenstein, Gotha)
- Dr. Anne Röver-Kann (Kunsthalle, Bremen)
- Dr. Dietulf Sander (Museum Bildender Künste, Leipzig)
- Dir. Peter van den Brink (Suermondt-Ludwig-Museum, Aachen)

Discussion

DAY 3

Saturday, 31 January

Lectures from another point of view: Law, Politics, Diplomacy, Art-Trade, Press

Morning
9.00 – 12.30
(Moderation: Dr. Britta Kaiser-Schuster, Kulturstiftung der Länder, Berlin)


- Dr. Ulli Seegers (ehemals Art Loss Register)
- Chief Detective Marcus Schönfelder (Landekriminalamt, Berlin)
- Monica Dugot (International Director of Restitution, Senior Vice President, Christie’s, New York)
- Kerstin Holm (Russia-Correspondent, Frankfuter Allgemeinen Zeitung, Moscow)

Discussion

Afternoon
14.30 – 18.00
(Moderation: Dr. Margrethe Schmeer, Head of the Aachen Board of Culture, Aachen)

- Prof. Dr. Kurt Siehr (Max-Planck-Institut für Privatrecht, Hamburg)
- Dr. Britta Kaiser-Schuster (Kulturstiftung der Länder, Berlin)
- Wolfgang Maurus (former Referatsleiter K42, Beauftragter der Bundesregierung für Kultur und Medien, Bonn)
- Special Ambassador Prof. Dr. Tono Eitel (Münster) or another representative of the Foreign Ministry

Discussion