American gets back art taken by Nazis during WWII
By THOMAS ADAMSONBy THOMAS ADAMSON, Associated Press?
?American Thomas Selldorff, speaks during a ceremony at the Culture Ministry in Paris, France, Tuesday, March 19, 2013, to return seven paintings taken from their Jewish owners during World War II, as part of ongoing efforts to give back hundreds of looted artworks that still hang in the Louvre and other French museums. Selldorff reclaimed six German and Italian paintings that his grandfather, Richard Neumann, was forced to sell during World War II to flee Nazi occupation, and one other painting was returned to other recipients. In the background painting left, Sebastiano Ricci, (Belluno, 1659 - Venice, 1734), Abraham and the three angels, painting right, Gaspare Diziani(Belluno, 1689 - Venice, 1767), Allegory of Venice. Sign in front reads: ceremony of return of seven paintings spoils from the Nazi regime. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)
American Thomas Selldorff, speaks during a ceremony at the Culture Ministry in Paris, France, Tuesday, March 19, 2013, to return seven paintings taken from their Jewish owners during World War II, as part of ongoing efforts to give back hundreds of looted artworks that still hang in the Louvre and other French museums. Selldorff reclaimed six German and Italian paintings that his grandfather, Richard Neumann, was forced to sell during World War II to flee Nazi occupation, and one other painting was returned to other recipients. In the background painting left, Sebastiano Ricci, (Belluno, 1659 - Venice, 1734), Abraham and the three angels, painting right, Gaspare Diziani(Belluno, 1689 - Venice, 1767), Allegory of Venice. Sign in front reads: ceremony of return of seven paintings spoils from the Nazi regime. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)
American Thomas Selldorff, left, and Austrian art historian, Sophie Lillie, who helped him to identify the painting, pose for the media during a ceremony at the Culture Ministry in Paris, France, Tuesday, March 19, 2013, to return seven paintings taken from their Jewish owners during World War II, as part of ongoing efforts to give back hundreds of looted artworks that still hang in the Louvre and other French museums. Selldorff reclaimed six German and Italian paintings that his grandfather, Richard Neumann, was forced to sell during World War II to flee Nazi occupation, and another painting was returned to other recipients. Painting in the background, Alessandro Longhi(Venice, 1733 - Venice, 1813), Portrait of Bartolemeo Ferracina. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)
American Thomas Selldorff, left, listening to France's Culture Minister Aurelie Filippetti, right, during a ceremony at the Culture Ministry in Paris, France, Tuesday, March 19, 2013, to return seven paintings taken from their Jewish owners during World War II, as part of ongoing efforts to give back hundreds of looted artworks that still hang in the Louvre and other French museums. Selldorff reclaimed six German and Italian paintings that his grandfather, Richard Neumann, was forced to sell during World War II to flee Nazi occupation, and another painting was returned to other recipients. In the background are some of the returned paintings. Sign in front reads: Ceremony of return of seven paintings spoils from the Nazi regime.(AP Photo/Michel Euler)
American Thomas Selldorff, left, and Austrian art historian, Sophie Lillie, who helped him to identify the paintings, pose for the media during a ceremony at the Culture Ministry in Paris, France, Tuesday, March 19, 2013, to return seven paintings taken from their Jewish owners during World War II, as part of ongoing efforts to give back hundreds of looted artworks that still hang in the Louvre and other French museums. Selldorff reclaimed six German and Italian paintings that his grandfather, Richard Neumann, was forced to sell during World War II to flee Nazi occupation, and another painting was returned to other recipients. In the background are some of the returned paintings. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)
France's Culture Minister Aurelie Filippetti, and American Thomas Selldorff, right, pose for the media during a ceremony at the Culture Ministry in Paris, France, Tuesday, March 19, 2013, to return seven paintings taken from their Jewish owners during World War II, as part of ongoing efforts to give back hundreds of looted artworks that still hang in the Louvre and other French museums. Selldorff reclaimed six German and Italian paintings that his grandfather, Richard Neumann, was forced to sell during World War II to flee Nazi occupation, and another painting was returned to other recipients. In the background painting left, Alessandro Longhi(Venice, 1733 - Venice, 1813), Portrait of Bartolemeo Ferracina and painting right, Franz Xaver Karl Palko(Breslau, 1724 - Prague, 1770), Apotheosis of Saint John Nepocucene. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)
PARIS (AP) ? France has given an American an art collection that Nazis took from his grandfather during World War II.
Tom Selldorff was a 6-year-old Austrian living in Vienna when he last saw the paintings in the 1930s, including masterpieces by Alessandro Longhi and Sebastiano Ricci. Selldorff later moved to the U.S., and he's now 84.
On Tuesday, France gave the six paintings to Selldorff as part of its ongoing effort to return hundreds of looted artworks that Jewish owners lost during the war, and that still hang in the Louvre and other museums.
"I'm extremely grateful," said Selldorff. "These paintings were in this fog of war. (It) was not easy. It took a long time."
Selldorff wants to leave them to his children, in honor of his grandfather's love of art.
Associated PressPeople, Places and Companies: France
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