An Exhibition of the Royal Family of Lichtenstein’s Art Collection Has Become Radioactive After a Revival of Accusations About WWII

Four North American museums have
abruptly cancelled a touring exhibition of masterworks from the
Prince of Liechtenstein’s collection, citing the royal family’s use
of “forced labor” during World War II.  

With nearly 100 works of
European art spanning the Renaissance to the 19th century, the
show’s offerings were culled from the Liechtenstein Museum and the
collection of its owners, the Princely Family of the sovereign
European state of Liechtenstein. The collection includes celebrated
canvases by Peter Paul Rubens and Lucas Cranach the Elder, arms and
armor, and crown jewels, among many
treasures.  

The National Gallery of Canada
in Ottawa, where “The Princely Collections, Liechtenstein: Five
Centuries of European Painting and Sculpture” was scheduled to open
first on June 5, pointed to a 2005 report on the state’s wartime
activities to explain its decision. 

Commissioned by Liechtenstein at
the request of the World Jewish Congress, the report revealed
information “relating to the use of forced labor on estates owned
by the Liechtenstein royal family during the war,” the National
Gallery of Canada explained in a statement to Artnet News. After
deliberation, the museum decided to withdraw from hosting the
show. 

The report did not determine
that any objects in the Liechtenstein collections were stolen
during the war, nor did it prove that the princes of Liechtenstein
were aware of the forced labor at their estate during the 1940s. It
did, however, conclude that as owners of the estate, the princes of
Liechtenstein were nonetheless responsible for the events that took
place.

“As a result of the expression
of concerns about these issues, there was consensus that the
exhibition should not proceed as it may have caused both confusion
and offense,” said the National Gallery of Canada.

The museum declined to expand
upon the meaning of the phrase “forced labor,” or to specify
why it initially agreed to the exhibition since the report in
question was published 15 years ago. According to the report, Jewish inmates were hired
from the Strasshof concentration camp near Vienna to work on
agricultural estates owned by the family of the late Prince Franz
Joseph II, who presided over the small Alpine country until his
death in 1989. 

“This late cancellation, after years of diligent and amicable
cooperation in preparation of the exhibition, is rather
disappointing, and the reasoning provided by the National Gallery
of Canada belies the fact that all the pertinent historical
information has been publicly and readily available for well over a
decade even before any deliberations regarding this exhibition had
commenced,” says Dr. Johann Kräftner, director of the
Liechtenstein Collections, in a statement to Artnet.

“In light of the fact that this report
does not provide any findings that could reasonably be understood
to support the cancellation of the exhibition,” Kräftner
continues, “it is difficult to avoid the impression that other
extraneous considerations, none of which would seem to relate to
the Princely Family of Liechtenstein or the subject matter of the
mentioned report, have led to the regrettable cancellation decision
by the National Gallery of Canada.”

Following the exhibition’s
scheduled run in Ottawa, it was due to go on view at the Seattle
Art Museum from October 2020 to January 2021; the Kimbell Art
Museum in Texas from February to May 2021; and finally at the
National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC, from June to September
2021. All three museums followed the National Gallery of Canada’s
decision to cancel the show. 

“After recently learning of
published reports regarding the historical record of Liechtenstein,
and after careful consideration, the National Gallery of Art has
concluded that it cannot participate in the exhibition,” a
representative from the DC museum told the Ottawa
Sun. “The gallery’s
decision was solely for itself, and it does not speak for any other
institution.”

Representatives from the
National Gallery of Art, the Kimbell Art Museum, and the Seattle
Art Museum did not immediately respond to request for
comment. 

The post An Exhibition of the Royal Family of Lichtenstein’s
Art Collection Has Become Radioactive After a Revival of
Accusations About WWII appeared first on artnet
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