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A first bill for the return or restitution of looted works of art

On February 15, Parliament has definitively adopted the bill relating to the return or restitution of looted works of art to victims of spoliation. After a vote by the National Assembly on January 25, the Senate voted in favor of this text on February 15. The text may be consulted on the following the Official Journal’s website. The CIVS behind this legislative initiative welcomes the rapid and unanimous adoption of the text by Parliament.

Four more works returned on December 22, 2021

On December 22, four more MNR works were returned on the recommendation of the CIVS : Paysage (a watercolor by Georges Michel), Portrait de femme (drawing by Paul Delaroche), another Portrait de femme (drawing by Auguste Hesse) and Marée basse à Grandcamp (watercolor by Jules-Jacques Veyrassat). These four works belonged to major Egyptian Jewish collector Moïse Lévi de Benzion, whose home, Château de Draveil, was looted in 1940. In this case, the main difficulty was knowing who to return these works to.

Discover the twelfth issue of the European restitution committees newsletter

The Network of European Restitution Committees has published the twelfth issue of the newsletter. To consult it


On proposal from the CIVS, the Prime Minister decides the restitution of a painting by Utrillo

On November 22, the Prime Minister decided the restitution of Eglise de Pont-Saint-Martin (Loire Atlantique), a painting by Maurice Utrillo taken from Stefan Osusky, former Ambassador of Czechoslovakia in Paris from 1921 to 1940. This decision is based on the CIVS recommendation dated 9 July 2021.

The 2021 activity report has just been published

It reports on the activities of the Commission during the year 2020, particularly by the health crisis.

Discover the eleventh issue of the European restitution committees newsletter

The Network of European Restitution Committees has published the tenth issue of the newsletter. To consult it