FRANCE LISTS UNCLAIMED ARTWORKS SEIZED BY NAZIS.Byline: Alan Riding The New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of Times Embarrassed by charges that it still holds many artworks seized by Nazi occupation forces and returned to France after World War II, the French government Wednesday publicly identified the 987 paintings, drawings and sculptures that have not been reclaimed by the families or estates of their original owners, many of them Jewish collectors. France has always strongly denied trying to conceal the provenance of these works, many of which are on permanent display in the Louvre Louvre (l  `vrə), foremost French museum of art, located in Paris. The building was a royal fortress and palace built by Philip II in the late 12th cent. , the Orsay Museum and the Georges Pompidou Center. Its decision to organize a special exhibition of the works, at the three museums and other sites, nonetheless reflects its failure to convince critics that it has done everything possible to find their owners. The government also is eager not to be drawn into the heated new debate about the fate of Jewish property seized by the Nazis across occupied Europe, notably gold said to be deposited in Switzerland. In January, French Prime Minister Alain Juppe formed a committee to identify and locate property stolen from Jews in France during the war and never returned. Underlining un·der·lin·ing n. 1. The act of drawing a line under; underscoring. 2. Emphasis or stress, as in instruction or argument. the importance that the French government is now giving to defusing de·fuse tr.v. de·fused, de·fus·ing, de·fus·es 1. To remove the fuse from (an explosive device). 2. To make less dangerous, tense, or hostile: the issue, Culture Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy Philippe Douste-Blazy (born on 1 January, 1953) was the Foreign Minister of France in the cabinet of Dominique de Villepin. Douste-Blazy is also a cardiologist and Christian Democrat politician from Lourdes. on Wednesday presented the 71 paintings, 54 drawings and five sculptures to be displayed at the Orsay Museum from Tuesday through May 4. They include oils and drawings by Gauguin, Degas Degas To release and vent gases. New building materials often give off gases and odors and the air should be well circulated to remove them. Mentioned in: Multiple Chemical Sensitivity , Seurat, Renoir, Monet, Sisley, Pissarro, Courbet and Cezanne, as well as sculptures by Maillol. ``I hope to demonstrate that the reality is more complex than that suggested by the rumor that French museums have hidden away veritable masterpieces seized from Jewish families by the Nazis,'' Douste-Blazy told reporters. ``Among the works, there are few masterpieces, even though there are some. Further, the term seizure is often inappropriate, since many of the works were sold on the open market at a good price.'' While inviting valid claims to art looted loot n. 1. Valuables pillaged in time of war; spoils. 2. Stolen goods. 3. Informal Goods illicitly obtained, as by bribery. 4. by the Nazis, the government appears to expect that few claims actually will be made, disproving accusations that it has been negligent in seeking out the works' original owners. Francoise Cachin, who heads the French Museums Department, said that 18,000 ``visits'' to the Culture Ministry's Internet site displaying 400 unclaimed works had resulted in no fresh claims over the past four months. |
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