Reclaimed: Paintings from the Collection of Jacques Goudstikker

Author: Peter Sutton, May, 2008, Hardcover

Publisher: Yale University Press

Peter C. Sutton is executive director of the Bruce Museum, Greenwich, CT, and former director of the Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford, CT. He is author of Jan van der Heyden, Drawn by the Brush, and Pieter de Hooch, all published by Yale University Press.

Jacques Goudstikker (1897-1940), a Jewish Dutch art dealer, took over his father's gallery in 1919 and quickly made his presence felt. Introducing a more international thrust to the gallery and demonstrating a keen business acumen, Goudstikker became one of the most successful art dealers and tastemakers in Amsterdam between the Wars. He entertained lavishly and highlighted his wares in his country homes and gallery while also developing relationships with collectors and museums at home and abroad. Tragically, Goudstikker died in flight from the Nazis in 1940, and his enormous collection of art, including more than 1,200 Old Master and nineteenth-century paintings, was confiscated by Reichsmarschall Hermann Goring. Not until 2006 was a portion of this looted art returned to Goudstikker's heirs by the Dutch government. Featuring some 200 color illustrations, this book examines Goudstikker's legacy, reveals the dramatic story of the seizure of his art, and discusses the legal case that finally brought its restitution. Forty works from his collection are catalogued in full detail.