After being looted by Nazis and disappearing for nearly a century, a small pastel-on-paper landscape by Claude Monet was finally returned to the original owner’s descendants this week. Three generations of Parlagis have searched for their family’s missing Monet, which the FBI tracked down earlier this year.
Nazi-Looted Monet Was Missing For Over 80 Years
In 1936, Adalbert “Bela” and Hilda Parlagi purchased Bord de Mer by Claude Monet at an Austrian art auction. Just two years later, the Parlagis, who had Jewish heritage, fled their Vienna home after Nazi Germany annexed Austria. They were forced to leave their belongings—including their valuable art collection—in storage. By 1940, the Nazis had unlawfully seized the Parlagi family’s possessions, including the Monet pastel.
After the end of World War II, Bela Parlagi searched for his stolen art until he died in 1981. His son continued the search, also to no avail, until his own death in 2012. On October 9, the FBI Commission for Looted Art finally returned the Nazi-looted Monet to its rightful owners: Bela Parlagi’s two granddaughters, Helen Lowe and Francoise Parlagi.
“Our Grandfather Would Have Been So Happy”
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The Nazi-looted Monet’s rightful heirs said in a statement, “Our grandfather would have been so happy to find out this Monet was being restituted after all his attempts over the years. This is a very moving and exceptional day for us, a day neither of us ever thought would happen.”
The quintessential French Impressionist Claude Monet produced Bord de Mer, a 7-by-11-inch pastel on paper, in 1865. It depicts a seafront landscape in the artist’s native Normandy and is one of several notable artworks from the Parlagi family collection. Among those still missing since World War II are a Paul Signac watercolor and a Camille Pissarro charcoal drawing. Earlier this year, the Commission for Looted Art in Europe successfully returned an 1894 portrait by Franz von Lenbach to the family. After being unlawfully seized, it eventually ended up in the Albertina Museum collection in Vienna.
Half a Million Nazi-Looted Artworks Are Still Missing, Says FBI
According to the FBI, at least half a million Nazi-looted artworks—as well as millions of books and religious objects—remain unaccounted for since World War II. Anne Webber, co-chair of the FBI Commission for Looted Art, said at Wednesday’s event, “For 80 years, the [Parlagi] family have made tireless efforts to find and recover their looted paintings. Now, thanks to the commitment of the FBI to investigate and track down the picture, a day the family never believed would come has finally arrived.”
James Dennehy, assistant director in charge of the FBI New York City office, which played a role in the Nazi-looted Monet’s restitution, said, “While this Monet is undoubtedly valuable, its true worth lies in what it represents to the Parlagi family. It’s a connection to their history, their loved ones, and a legacy that was nearly erased. The emotions tied to reclaiming something taken so brutally can’t be measured in dollars—it’s priceless.”
