Painting lost in World War II makes fleeting TV appearance
September 3rd, 2009 - 11:25 am ICT by IANSMunich, Sep 3 (DPA) Bavarian detectives are looking for the owner of a painting stolen at the end of World War II, after the item worth an estimated 100,000 euros ($142,000) appeared on a TV show, police officers said.
The painting by artist Frans Francken the Younger, titled “The Sermon on the Mount” (St Paul in Lystria), was shown on Bavarian state television last November, during a programme which assesses the value of antique items found in viewer’s homes.
During the programme on Bayerischer Rundfunk, experts confirmed the authenticity and value of the painting by Francken, who belonged to a significant 17th-Century Flemish painting dynasty.
In April, a viewer contacted the Bavarian Office of Criminal Investigation to alert them that the work of art presented in November - if indeed genuine - may have come to its current owner through theft.
The painting measuring 33 by 79.5 centimetres is thought to have been nabbed from Hitler’s so-called Fuehrerbau in central Munich and has been missing since 1945.
Art experts think the painting, intended in the 1940s for a museum in the Austrian town of Linz, had not been brought to security in time as US troops advanced at the end of the war.
As the Bavarian state broadcaster refused to name the individual who presented the artwork on the TV programme, the police are appealing to the public for information leading to the person currently in possession of the painting.
The Bayerischer Rundfunk told DPA that it was making use of its journalistic right to protect its sources.
- Pete Doherty apologizes for singing Nazi anthem at German music fest - Dec 01, 2009
- Princess Diana's Ancestral Home To Auction Some Belongings - Mar 31, 2010
- Hitler's dreams of creating "Fuhrermuseum" containing stolen artworks revealed - May 20, 2010
- Victor Hugo collection auctioned off for $4.2 mn - Apr 05, 2012
- Britain's Royal Mail sells off undelivered items - May 16, 2011
- Now, new spiritual channel for Jains - Dec 08, 2011
- 65 years on, young artists spearhead Indian creativity - Aug 14, 2011
- Painting stolen by Nazis recovered, up for sale - Apr 20, 2012
- Rembrandt 'mixed flour with paints' for a thicker painting stroke - Feb 04, 2011
- 'Fran Drescher Tawk Show' On The Cards - Oct 13, 2010
- 'Raza masterpiece unsold but art market stable' - Mar 22, 2012
- Beauty potions, creams of 15th-century recreated - Mar 19, 2011
- Plaques stolen from war memorials up for sale! - Nov 06, 2011
- Indian avant garde art gets market tilt (Feature, With Images) - Mar 01, 2012
- Unknown Caravaggio discovered in Britain - Jun 23, 2011
Tags: 1940s, art experts, authenticity, bayerischer rundfunk, central munich, criminal investigation, detectives, dynasty, flemish painting, hitler, last november, linz, police officers, sermon on the mount, state broadcaster, state television, tv appearance, tv programme, work of art, world war ii