MOMA RETURNED A NAZI-LOOTED CHAGALL TO ITS HEIRS, AND GARNERED A LARGE FEE

02/12/2024

Quietly, After a $4 Million Fee, MoMA Returns a Chagall With a Nazi Taint - The New York Times Arts | Quietly, After a $4 Million Fee, MoMA Returns a Chagall With a Nazi Taint https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/12/arts/chagall-moma-return-over-vitebsk.html Share full article 25 Advertisement SKIP ADVERTISEMENT For years, “Over Vitebsk” occupied a central place in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art, which spoke of Marc Chagall’s painting of his hometown in the Russian empire as an important part of its holdings. The work, by a Jewish artist, with a Jewish theme, had been previously owned by a gallery run by a Jewish dealer in Germany at the time of the Nazi takeover. Though its history was murky, and included a transfer of the work to a German bank during the Nazi era, the museum held the painting for decades, indicating it was confident it had good title.