Art looted in WWII goes on show in Warsaw

A collection of art that was stolen in World War II but was recently recovered by Poland's government has gone on display at Warsaw’s Kordegarda gallery.

Poland's Deputy Prime Minister and Culture Minister Piotr Gliński (centre) unveils an exhibition of paintings looted during World War II but recently recovered by Poland, in Warsaw on Wednesday, July 6, 2022.

PAP/Leszek Szymański

The artworks have been retrieved by the Polish culture ministry, state news agency PAP reported.

Launching the exhibition on Wednesday, Deputy Prime Minister and Culture Minister Piotr Gliński said that during World War II, “Poland lost over half a million cultural artefacts, and this number doesn’t include books.”

He added: “Over the past six years, more than 600 artefacts have returned to Poland.”

Dziś w @Kordegarda Galerii Narodowego Centrum Kultury @PiotrGlinski wziął udział w wernisażu wystawy „Utracone/odzyskane z kolekcji wrocławskich”. pic.twitter.com/lUNxYwIkyM

— Ministerstwo Kultury i Dziedzictwa Narodowego (@kultura_gov_pl) July 6, 2022

Meanwhile, the new display, entitled "Lost/Recovered: Wrocław Collections," showcases art looted during World War II from museums in the southwestern city of Wrocław.  

Forming the centrepiece of the exhibition are two recently recovered paintings: The Augustus Bridge in Dresden by German impressionist painter Gotthard Kuehl; and The March Moor by German landscape artist Karl Kayser-Eichberg, officials said. 

The show runs until the end of July, the PAP news agency reported.

(pm/gs)

Source: IAR, PAP, kordegarda.org