Most Wanted: Art
The Most Wanted: list of works of art includes 25 major works of art that, based on our research, survived the war. While this list of missing items has been created with great care, it is the nature of historical research that the accuracy of all details cannot be guaranteed.
​
Submissions, containing photographs, in particular of the reverse side of the object, and information similar to the entries below, should be forwarded to: WWIIart @ monumentsmenfoundation . org.







































Bernardo Bellotto
View of the Grand Canal in Venice
Medium: oil on canvas
Height: 22.83 in. (58.00 cm.)
Width: 33.10 in. (84.00 cm.)
Property of the Borbone-Parma Collection
Stolen by soldiers of the German Army from Villa delle Pianore, Lucca, Italy in the spring of 1944.
(Source: Treasures Untraced. An Inventory of the Italian Art Treasures Lost During the Second World War, 1995)
Sandro Botticelli
Portrait of a Man
Medium: Tempera on Panel
Height: 19.68 in. (50.00 cm.)
Width: 15.00 in. (38.00 cm.)
Property of the Filangieri Museum, Napels, Italy
Stolen by soldiers of the German Army form Villa San Paolo di Belsito, Naples, Italy, Septemeber 30, 1943.
(Source: Treasures Untraced. An Inventory of the Italian Art Treasures Lost During the Second World War, 1995)
Canaletto
Riva degli Schiavoni in Venice
Medium: Oil on Canvas
Height: 29.13 in. (74.00 cm.)
Width: 48.81 in. (124.00 cm.)
Property of the Bernard Altmann Collection, Vienna, Austria
Seized with the entire Altmann collection from the Altmann villa in Vienna on June 13, 1938. Sold at auction at Dorotheum in Vienna June 17-22, 1938.
(Source: Heirs/Representatives)
Jan van de Cappelle
Calm with Sailing Vessels
Medium: Oil on Canvas
Height: 17.71 in. (45.00 cm.)
Width: 27.95 in. (71.00 cm.)
Property of the Gemäldegalerie in Berlin, Germany (formerly the Kaiser-Friedrich Museum)
Inventory Number 875 A; Missing from Berlin Friedrichshain Flak tower (Flakturm II) repository, Germany, in early May 1945.
(Source: Gemäldegalerie Staatliche Museen zu Berlin)
Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio
Portrait of a Young Woman
Medium: Oil on Canvas
Height: 23.22 in. (66.00 cm.)
Width: 14.17 in. (53.00 cm.)
Property of the Gemäldegalerie in Berlin, Germany (formerly the Kaiser-Friedrich Museum)
Inventory Number 356; Missing from Berlin-Friedrichshain Flak tower (Flakturm II) repository, Germany, in early May 1945.
(Source: Gemäldegalerie Staatliche Museen zu Berlin)
Paul Cézanne
Auvers on the River Oise
Medium: oil on canvas
Height: 18.89 in. (48.00 cm.)
Width: 22.83 in. (58.00 cm.)
Property of Kulturhistorisches Museum in Magdeburg, Germany (formerly the Kaiser-Friedrich Museum)
Missing from the Stassfurt salt mines art repository near Magdeburg, Germany, on April 12, 1945.
(Source: Kulturhistorisches Museum in Magdeburg, formerly the Kaiser-Friedrich Museum)
Cima da Conegliano
Virgin and Child
Medium: Oil on popular panel
Height: 24.40 in. (62.00 cm.)
Width: 20.07 in. (51.00 cm.)
Property of the Gemäldegalerie in Berlin, Germany (formerly the Kaiser-Friedrich Museum)
Inventory Number 875; Missing from Berlin-Friedrichshain Flak tower (Flakturm II) repository, Germany, in early May 1945.
(Source: Gemäldegalerie Staatliche Museen zu Berlin)
Lovis Corinth
Tyrolian Woman with Cat
Medium: Oil on canvas
Height: 47.24 in. (120.00 cm.)
Width: 36.22 in. (92.00 cm.)
Property of Fritz Goldscmidt, and wife Thea (geb. Cohn)
Possible confiscated from Fritz and Thea Goldschmidt's Villa in Breslau, Kommendeweg, while they were deported to Theresiendstadt and then Auschwitz, before 1943. Later it appeared in a Private Collection. On November 29, 2006, it was sold at Auction House Lempertz, Koln, Lot 65. On June 17, 2008, it was offered at Kinsky Kunst Auktionen, Vienna, Lot 139. Whereabouts unknown. (Source: Heirs/Representatives)
Lucas Cranach the Elder
KurfĂĽrst Johann Friedrich von Sachsen (Elector John Frederick of Saxony)
Medium: oil on panel
Height: 25.00 in. (63.50 cm.)
Width: 15.94 in. (40.50 cm.)
Property of Friedrich (Fritz) Bernhard Eugen Gutmann
Confiscated in Heemstede, Holland, Summer 1940.
(Source: Heirs/Representatives)
Aelbert Cuyp
Spring Landscape with Pool
Medium: Oil on oak panel
Height: 19.29 in. (49.00 cm.)
Width: 28.74 in. (73.00 cm.)
Property of the Gemäldegalerie in Berlin, Germany (formerly the Kaiser-Friedrich Museum)
Inventory Number 861G; Missing from Berlin-Friedrichshain Flak tower (Flakturm II) repository, Germany, in early May 1945.
(Source: Gemäldegalerie Staatliche Museen zu Berlin)
Edgar Degas
Femme se chauffant / La Coiffure / Scene de Toilette / Woman warming herself / Combing the hair
Medium: Pastel on monotype
Height: 13.03 in. (33.10 cm.)
Width: 16.62 in. (41.30 cm.)
Property of Friedrich (Fritz) Bernhard Eugen Gutmann
Confiscated by the Nazi Looting organization (ERR) from the Wacker-Bondy warehouse at 236 Blvd. Raspail, Paris, France, in June 1942.
(Source: Heirs/Representatives)
Otto Dix
Elsa, the Countess
Medium: Oil on canvas
Height: 33.46 in. (85.00 cm.)
Width: 22.04 in. (56.00 cm.)
Property of Dr. Fritz Salo Glaser
Dr. Glaser was forced to sell this painting to the Berlin collector Conrad Doebbeke, Berlin, Germany between 1942 and 1945, in order to pay Jewish property tax. Doebbeke's heirs then sold the painting at auction with Ketterer in Stuttgart 29/30 May 1959. The painting was known to be in a Private Collection, Hamburg, from which it was stolen in the 1970s. Current whereabouts unknown. (Source: Heirs/Representatives)
El Greco
Copy of 'the Night' by Correggio
Medium: oil on panel
Height: 21.25 in. (54.00 cm.)
Width: 16.14 in. (41.00 cm.)
Property of the Contini Bonacossi collection
Stolen by soldiers of the 362nd Division of the German Army from the Villa di Trefiano in Poggio a Caiano, near Florence, Italy, on August 26, 1944. (Source: Treasures Untraced. An Inventory of the Italian Art Treasures Lost During the Second World War, 1995)
Benozzo Gozzoli
Virgin and Child with Saints
Medium: Oil on poplar panel
Height: 23.22 in. (59.00 cm.)
Width: 14.17 in. (36.00 cm.)
Property of the Gemäldegalerie in Berlin, Germany (formerly the Kaiser-Friedrich Museum)
Inventory Number 60B; Missing from Berlin-Friedrichshain Flak tower (Flakturm II) repository, Germany, in early May 1945.
(Source: Gemäldegalerie Staatliche Museen zu Berlin)
Ernst Ludwig Kirchner
Couple in a Room
Medium: oil on canvas
Height: 37.40 in. (95.00 cm.)
Width: 33.46 in. (85.00 cm.)
Property of the Max Fischer Collection
When Max Fischer fled Nazi persecution and emigrated from Germany to the United States in October 1935, he left this painting in his Berlin apartment. Today it may be seen hanging in the museum Hamburger Kunsthalle, Germany, on loan by an unidentified owner.
(Source: Heirs/Representatives)
Ernst Ludwig Kirchner
Three Boys in Blue
Medium: Oil on canvas
Height: 33.70 in. (85.60 cm.)
Width: 26.28 in. (66.50 cm.)
Property of the Max Fischer collection
When Max Fischer emigrated from Germany to the US in October 1935 to flee Nazi persecution, he left the painting in his Berlin apartment. None of the paintings he left behind in Berlin have been recovered. (Source: Heirs/Representatives)
Paul Klee
Harbor Scene
Medium: Gouache and ink on linen-structured paper
Height: 7.08 in. (18.00 cm.)
Width: 10.94 in. (27.80 cm.)
Property of Dr. Fritz Salo Glaser
Lost between 1933 and 1945.
(Source: Heirs/Representatives)
Paul Klee
With the Chinese
Medium: Oil and pen and ink on chalkboard
Height: 11.02 in. (28.00 cm.)
Width: 16.14 in. (41.00 cm.)
Property of Dr. Fitz Salo Glaser
Dr. Glaser was forced to sell this picture in order to pay a Jewish property tax. Handed over to Galerie Nierendorf Berlin by Dr. Glaser on March 5, 1936 and subsequently sold. Current whereabouts unknown.
(Source: Heirs/Representatives)
Oskar Kokoschka
Woman with Slave
Medium: Oil on canvas
Height: 36.41 in. (92.50 cm.)
Width: 43.11 in. (109.50 cm.)
Property of Dr. Fritz Salo Glaser
Dr. Glaser was forced to sell the Kokoschka to the Dresdner collector Hans Dittmayer in order to pay a Jewish Property Tax. Dittmayer lost it during the course of the war. Last known to be in a private collection in Prague.
(Source: Heirs/Representatives)
Max Liebermann
Sleeping Woman
Medium: Oil on board
Height: 8.07 in. (20.50 cm.)
Width: 11.41 in. (29.00 cm.)
Property of the Martha and Max Liebermann Collection
With Wolfgang Gurlitt, cousin of art dealer Hildebrand Gurlitt, in Munich in 1960; lost thereafter.
(Source: Heirs/Representatives)
Bernardino Luini
Madonna and Child and Sister Alessandra Bentivoglio
Medium: oil on pane
Height: 21.25 in. (54.00 cm.)
Width: 18.50 in. (47.00 cm.)
Property of The Filangieri Museum, Naples, Italy
Stolen by soldiers of the German Army from Villa San Paolo di Belsito, Nola, Italy, September 30, 1943.
(Source: Treasures Untraced. An Inventory of the Italian Art Treasures Lost During the Second World War, 1995)
Hans Memling
Portrait of a Young Man
Medium: oil on panel
Height: 13.77 in. (35.00 cm.)
Width: 9.44 in. (24.00 cm.)
Property of the Uffizi Gallery, Florence, Italy
Stolen by German soldiers of the 305th Infantry Division from Castello di Poppi, near Florence, Italy, between August 22 and 23, 1944. After a short stop in Forli, Italy, the 10th Army truck containing this and other works of art continued north on August 31.
(Source: Treasures Untraced. An Inventory of the Italian Art Treasures Lost During the Second World War, 1995)
Adolph Friedrich Erdmann von Menzel
In the "Jardins des plantes"
Medium: Gouache
Height: 8.66 in. (22.00 cm.)
Width: 13.77 in. (35.00 cm.)
Property of the Sommerguth Collection
Eduard L. Behrens collection Hamburg; 1936 Kunsthandlung Nicolai, Berlin; Collection Sommerguth; July 2, 1939; Forced sale by auction house Hans W. Lange, Berlin.
(Source: Heirs/Representatives)
Michelangelo
(Attributed to)
Mask of a Faun
Medium: marble
Diameter: 10.23 in. (26.00 cm.)
Property of The Bargello Museum, Florence, Italy
Stolen by German soldiers of the 305th Division between August 22nd and 23rd, 1944 from the Castello di Poppi, Italy. After a short stop in Forlì, Italy, the 10th Army truck containing this work of art and others continued on August 31.
(Source: Treasures Untraced. An Inventory of the Italian Art Treasures Lost During the Second World War, 1995)
Piet Mondrian
Neoplasticisme / Schilderij Nr. 2
Medium: oil on canvas
Height: 19.72 in. (50.10 cm.)
Width: 20.15 in. (51.20 cm.)
Property of The Sophie Lissitzky-KĂĽppers Collection
Missing since 1937 from the Provinzialmuseum in Hannover, Germany, where it was on loan.
(Source: Heirs/Representatives)
Claude Monet
Thaw
Medium: oil on canvas
Height: 17.32 in. (44.00 cm.)
Width: 21.65 in. (55.00 cm.)
Property of Suermondt-Ludwig-Museum Aachen, Germany
Missing since 1945.
(Source: Suermondt-Ludwig-Museum in Aachen)
Claude Monet
Manet Painting in Monet's Garden
Medium: Oil on canvas
Height: 16.14 in. (41.00 cm.)
Width: 26.77 in. (68.00 cm.)
Property of Martha and Max Liebermann Collection
Bought by Max Liebermann in France in 1898; visible in a photo hanging in the salon of his Berlin apartment at Pariser Platz, in 1932. It remained in the possession of Liebermann's widow Martha until it was confiscated and sold in Berlin in 1943. (Source: Heirs/Representatives)
Emil Nolde
At the Sea II
Medium: Oil
Height: 33.46 in. (85.00 cm.)
Width: 35.43 in. (90.00 cm.)
Property of Otto Nathan Deutsch
In 1939, Otto Nathan Deutsch was forced out of Germany and had to leave behind his possessions. He fled to Amsterdam where he died on July 26, 1940. He had left behind a number of paintings with a moving company in Frankfurt but they were never delivered to Amsterdam. Their whereabouts are unknown.
(Source: Nolde Stiftung SeebĂĽll)
Emil Nolde
Red Poppies
Medium: Oil
Height: 15.74 in. (40.00 cm.)
Width: 13.77 in. (35.00 cm.)
Property of Dr. Georg Koch
Purchased for Sl. Dr. Koch, documented on artist's list ("Purchaser List"). Lost at Hamburg harbor (Ăśberseehafen) in 1939. Painting appeared again in the 1980s and went from a northern Germany collection into a North German Gallery (Kiel or Hamburg?), and after not selling at auction was sold through the Austrian art market (Salzburg) to an unknown purchaser.
(Source: Nolde Stiftung SeebĂĽll)
Auguste Rodin
Bronze Bust of Mrs. Rodin
Height: 16.29 in. (26.00 cm.)
Width: 7.48 in. (19.00 cm.)
Property of the Dr. Max Meirowsky Collection

Forced sale through auction house Hans W. Lange, Berlin, Germany, November 18, 1938.
(Source: Heirs/Representatives)
Auguste Rodin
Marble sculpture "Sappho"
Medium: Sculpture
Height: 38.97 in. (99.00 cm.)
Property of the Hans Rudolf FĂĽrstenberg Collection
FĂĽrstenberg emigrated from Berlin to France with his property at the end of 1937. It was subsequently confiscated by the Nazi looting agency, Einsatzstab Reichsleiter (ERR). Some of it had been stored at Societe Parisienne de Demenagements et de Garde-Meubles in Paris. On November 16, 19424 the crate with the sculpture was picked up. FĂĽrstenberg had personally bought it from Rodin.
(Source: Heirs/Representatives)
Peter Paul Rubens
Three Theological Virtues
Medium: oil on canvas
Property of a Private Collection, Rome, Italy
Stolen by soldiers of the German Army from the EGELI (Institute for Management and Sale of Property, Ministry of Finance) Repository in 1944.
(Source: Treasures Untraced. An Inventory of the Italian Art Treasures Lost During the Second World War, 1995)
Salomon van Ruisdael and Jacob Isaackszoon van Ruisdael
Wooded Landscape with flock
Medium: Oil on oak panel
Height: 20.07 in. (51.00 cm.)
Width: 25.59 in. (65.00 cm.)
Property of the Gemäldegalerie in Berlin, Germany (formerly the Kaiser-Friedrich Museum)
Inventory Number 912; Missing from Berlin Friendrichshain Flak tower (Flakturm II) repository, Germany, in early May 1945.
(Source: Gemäldegalerie Staatliche Museen zu Berlin)
Raphael Sanzio
Portrait of a Young Man
Medium: oil on panel
Height: 29.52 in. (75.00 cm.)
Width: 23.22 in. (59.00 cm.)
Property of The Czartoryski Museum in Krakow, Poland
Confiscated by Nazi officials in September 1939 for Hitler's FĂĽhrermuseum, Linz, Austria. Last seen in Dr. Hans Frank's chalet in Neuhaus on lake Schliersee, Germany, in January 1945.
(Source: Czartoryski Museum in Krakow)
Egon Schiele
Boats Mirrored in the Water
Medium: oil on canvas
Height: 6.69 in. (17.00 cm.)
Width: 9.40 in. (23.90 cm.)
Property of Franz Friedrich (Fritz) GrĂĽnbaum
Seized through the Vienna collections office (Innere Stadt-Ost) in 1938.
(Source: Heirs/Representatives)
Jacopo del Sellaio
Julius Caesar Before his Murder
Medium: Oil on popular panel
Height: 18.11 in. (46.00 cm.)
Width: 28.34 in. (72.00 cm.)
Property of the Gemaldegalerie in Berlin, Germany (formerly Kaiser-Friedrich Museum)
Inventory Number 1132; Missing from Berlin Friendrichshain Flak tower (Flakturm II) repository, Germany, in early May 1945.
(Source: Gemäldegalerie Staatliche Museen zu Berlin)
Vincent van Gogh
Vincent on his Way to Work / The Painter on his Way to Tarascon
Medium: oil on canvas
Height: 18.89 in. (49.00 cm.)
Width: 22.83 in. (45.00 cm.)
Property of Kulturhistorisches Museum in Magdeburg, Germany (formerly the Kaiser-Friedrich Museum)

Missing from the Stassfurt salt mines art repository near Magdeburg, Germany, on April 12, 1945.
(Source: Kulturhistorisches Museum in Magdeburg, formerly the Kaiser-Friedrich Museum)
Jan van Huysum
Vase of Flowers
Medium: oil on canvas
Height: 18.50 in. (47.00 cm.)
Width: 13.77 in. (35.00 cm.)
Property of the Palatine Gallery, Pitti Palace, Florence
Stolen by soldiers of the German Army from the art repository in Montagnana, Florence, Italy, in 1944.
(Source: Treasures Untraced. An Inventory of the Italian Art Treasures Lost During the Second World War, 1995)
Paolo Veronese
Madonna with Child
Medium: oil on canvas
Height: 33.46 in. (85.00 cm.)
Width: 26.77 in. (68.00 cm.)
Property of Friedrich (Fritz) Bernhard Eugen Gutmann
Confiscated by the Nazi Looting organization (ERR) from the Wacker-Bondy warehouse at 236 Blvd. Raspail, Paris, France, in July 1940.
(Source: Heirs/Representatives)
Emanuel de Witte
Interior of a Gothic Church
Medium: Oil on canvas
Height: 22.04 in. (56.00 cm.)
Width: 25.59 in. (65.00 cm.)
Property of the Gemäldegalerie in Berlin, Germany (formerly the Kaiser-Friedrich Museum)
Inventory Number 1840; Missing from Berlin Friendrichshain Flak tower (Flakturm II) repository, Germany, in early May 1945.
(Source: Gemäldegalerie Staatliche Museen zu Berlin)