RKD Talk: Art for das Reich
Today, looted art is receiving strong attention. More and more information is coming to surface about the illicit art trade during World War II. Find out about the long-hidden history behind Belgian Nazi looted art during the RKD Talk by journalist and Germanist Geert Sels on Tuesday October 1. In 2022, Sels published his book Kunst voor das Reich about looted art from Belgium.
Why were the Nazis so interested in art? Which paintings did they prefer? What cunning tricks were used to confiscate art? During the RKD Talk, Geert Sels answers these questions, focusing on Nazi looted art from Belgium. Using various case studies, we will learn how private collectors, art dealers and large auction houses went along with the Nazi program.
The discovery that Sels made during his research is that much art from Belgium was brought to Nazi Germany via a detour, especially through the Netherlands and France. As a result, there are still paintings in these and other countries that should have been returned to Belgium after the war. Other works found their way to major American museums and even to Yekaterinburg in Russia. Art for das Reich became an international story that far transcends Belgian borders
But what happened to the art that did return from Nazi Germany to Belgium after World War II? Most leading Belgian museums have works of art that were once in Nazi Germany. Their provenance is unexplained. After the publication of Kunst voor das Reich, some Belgian museums received a claim to reclaim paintings. Spurred by these claims, the Belgian government sees itself obliged to make provisions that have long existed in other countries. Which paintings are involved? And why are they being requested back? And how does the government respond? Geert Sels will also address these questions during the RKD Talk.
Practical information
Date & time: Tuesday October 1, 4PM, with drinks afterwards
Location: Auditorium RKD, Prins Willem-Alexanderhof 5, The Hague
Language: Dutch
Ticket price: Regular €10,00. Friends of the RKD en students €5,00.
Tickets can be purchased at our webshop.
Geert Sels
Geert Sels (1965) is a Germanist and theater scholar (KU Leuven). He is culture editor at De Standaard since 1996. He writes about architecture, cultural policy, art forgery and looted art. For a series of articles on looted art, he received De Loep for investigative journalism in 2014. In the following years, he continued to write articles on the subject, followed several times by parliamentary questions. The book Kunst voor das Reich, the result of eight years of research, was published in late 2022.