[SPOLIATION and RESTITUTION] A painting by Albert MARQUET returned to the rightful owners of Armand DORVILLE

An Albert Marquet painting looted during the Second World War has been returned to the heirs of collector Armand Dorville, thanks to the diligence of Galerie Alan Klinkhoff and the understanding and goodwill shown by its client.

This small, brightly coloured painting, depicting the port of Béjaïa (Algeria), was acquired in 1925 by Armand Dorville (1875-1941), a lawyer at the Paris Court and a major collector. His collection of nearly 450 works included paintings, drawings, pastels and sculptures by artists from the 19th to the early 20th centuries. A great art lover but also a patron of the arts, he regularly lent his works to the capital’s museums for exhibitions.

At the outbreak of the Second World War, Armand Dorville left Paris for Cubjac (Dordogne) with most of his collection, in the hope of protecting it from the disasters of war. He died in Cubjac shortly afterwards, on 28 July 1941.

Because of his Jewish faith and in accordance with the anti-Semitic laws implemented by the Vichy regime, his estate was placed under the control of a provisional administrator appointed by the Commissariat Général aux Questions Juives in order to be ‘Aryanised’. The works he had bequeathed to Paris museums were sent to the capital, while the rest of his collection was put up for public auction in the Hall of the Hôtel Savoy in Nice.

This is how the Sale of the Cabinet of a Parisian Amateur took place, from 24 to 27 June 1942, under the watchful eyes of collectors from all over France. At the end of the four-day auction, almost 450 works passed under the auctioneer’s hammer, including the painting Le port de Bougie, sold under lot number 345.

Initially confiscated by the provisional administrator, the proceeds of this sale did not reach Armand Dorville’s heirs before the end of the conflict. Some of them, fleeing racial persecution, took refuge in the Dordogne and tried to cross the Spanish border, but unfortunately without success. His sister Valentine, his two daughters and his two granddaughters, aged two and four, were finally denounced and arrested in Megève, then deported to Drancy. All five were murdered in Auschwitz in 1944.

For several years, the Etude Généalogique ADD Associés and its Provenance department, acting on behalf of the Dorville heirs, have been trying to locate and recover the works, which are now scattered around the world in public and private collections.

In January 2020, the German Minister of Culture took the first step by returning the first three paintings found in the Gurlitt collection to the heirs of Armand Dorville. Since then, around twenty works have been returned, including 12 from French public collections, as well as several drawings and paintings held in private collections and international museums. In 2021, the Alte Nationalgalerie in Berlin bought back a painting by Camille Pissarro, while on 16 January 2024, the Ackland Art Museum became the first American museum to return a work from the collection.

In 2023, all the unreturned works from the Dorville collection were registered on the Lost-Art database of the Deutsche Zentrum Kulturgutverluste (DZK), which lists the works sought by the heirs of looted families.

The Alan Klinkhoff Gallery, acting seriously and in accordance with the practices recommended by the Washington Principles, conducted research into the provenance of the work. By consulting Lost-Art, it was able to identify the painting by Albert Marquet as having been stolen from the Dorville family and to contact ADD Associés in order to ascertain its provenance. Once informed of its provenance, the gallery’s client – who wished to remain anonymous – immediately expressed her willingness to return the painting to Armand Dorville’s heirs.

As the representative of Armand Dorville’s heirs, ADD Associés warmly thanks the private collector, Mr Craig Klinkhoff and the entire Galerie Alan Klinkhoff, as well as his counsel, Maître Corinne Hershkovitch, and her associates.