Fritz Unger

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Fritz (Frederich) Unger (July 14, 1891 - 1954 Zürich) was an Austrian industrialist and art collector of Jewish heritage forced to flee Hitler's Third Reich.

Life[edit]

Unger lived in Vienna at Wien I., Esslinggasse 17 / 6 He married Anne Arens (born June 7, 1897, Vienna; died 1994 Berkeley/California), the daughter of businessman and collector Gustav Arens (1867-1936).[1][2][3][4]

Unger was the owner of the family firm, "W. Abeles & Co.", as well as factories in Teesdorf, Lower Austria, and Dugaresa, Yugoslavia.[5]

He also collected art, especially Italian and Dutch old masters.[6][7] When Unger's father-in-law Gustav Arens died in 1935, he and his wife Ann (Dr. Ann Arens Unger) inherited paintings from Arens' collection. One of the paintings passed down to Unger was "Madonna and Child, Saint John the Baptist and two angels," painted in the late 15th century by Jacopo di Arcangelo known as del Sellaio.[4]

Nazi era[edit]

In June 1938, the Unger family escaped the Nazis via Switzerland and France to the USA.[5] In 1938, the Nazi looting organization E.R.R. seized his property.[8] His furniture and art collection were packed by the forwarding company Dr. Franz Ritter. Pictures by van Goyen and Baur were blocked for export.

In France, Unger's paintings were "donated" to the Louvre in an attempt to obtain a residence permit. In reality, however, the family never received these papers[5][9] Paintings obtained in this way from Unger by the Louvre include "Still Life with Musical Instruments", by Pieter Claesz (ca. 1596–1661),[10] "Still Life with Flowers", by Jan de Heem II (1606-ca. 1684),[11] and "The Family of Darius at the Feet of Alexander", by Francesco Trevisani (1656-1746). But Friedrich Unger and his family never became French. They spent the war and the rest of their lives in the United States.[12]

Unger submitted a claim in 1946, however the French state refused the request because, as Le Monde put it, "the offending regime is the Republic" and the transaction was "Not a theft, not a forced sale, but a gift."

On February 28, 1946, the Louvre's curatorial committee issued a "unanimous" refusal: "Such a decision would risk creating an unfortunate precedent."kept the painting and there was no resolution until 2009[13]

The family repeatedly requested that the French authorities reconsider their decision.

In March 2004, Jacques Foucart, general curator of the department of paintings, interviewed by Le Monde, still considered that the case was clear and that any reconsideration of the donation would be an "abuse of interpretation". This "abuse" was taken up by the Ministry of Culture in December 2008. The request of the Unger family was then judged "legally fragile but morally indisputable". Especially since the family does not claim the restitution of the works, but a compensation. - Le Monde (translation)[14]

Unger's heir later refiled claims for restitution.[15] In 2020 his 93-year-old daughter, Grete Unger Heinz, told The Art Newspaper that she had "lost hope" of ever seeing the paintings resurface.[16] However, one of the looted paintings, "Madonna and Child, Saint John the Baptist and two angels," was rediscovered in the 21st century in the possession of the foundation created by the Italian art collector Francesco Federico Cerruti. The Foundation Cerruti traced the ownership history of the painting, which Cerrutti had acquired at auction at Christie's, to the Galerie Fischer in Lucerne, Switzerland, where it had "appeared mysteriously" in 1974 , three decades after the Nazis seized it from the Ungers.[4] While some of the looted paintings were restituted immediately after the war, many paintings from the Arens-Unger collection are still missing and are listed on France's ERR database.[17]

In 2020 a settlement was reached between the Cerruti foundation and the Arens Unger family.[18][19]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Dr. Friedrich Fritz Unger". geni_family_tree. 14 July 1891. Retrieved 2021-11-12.
  2. ^ "Collection: Unger Family Collection | The Center for Jewish History ArchivesSpace". archives.cjh.org. Retrieved 2021-12-21.
  3. ^ "Dr. Friedrich Fritz Unger". geni_family_tree. 14 July 1891. Retrieved 2021-12-21.
  4. ^ a b c "A Renaissance Painting Seized by the Nazis Is Rediscovered | Barnebys Magazine". Barnebys.com. 2020-08-26. Retrieved 2021-12-23.
  5. ^ a b c "Lost Art Internet Database - Jüdische Sammler und Kunsthändler (Opfer nationalsozialistischer Verfolgung und Enteignung) - Unger, Fritz". www.lostart.de. Retrieved 2021-11-12.
  6. ^ "Suche | Lost Art-Datenbank". www.lostart.de. Retrieved 2021-12-21.
  7. ^ "Jacopo del Sellaio. Provenance of a painting". Castello di Rivoli (in Italian). 2020-07-29. Retrieved 2021-12-21. After the death of Gustav Arens in March 1936, the painting was inherited by his eldest daughter Ann Arens Unger, who, after the annexation of Austria by Germany, suffered racial persecution by the Nazis. The Unger family fled Austria in June 1938 and first took refuge in France, before emigrating to the United States in May 1939. The Jewish family only retrieved their art from Vienna upon payment of a large ransom. Once in the United States, the family tried in vain to export their works of art from the Paris customs warehouse in which they were stored, and, in February 1942, the German authorities plundered the Ungers' property, including their art collection.
  8. ^ "ERR database—Frederic Unger collection (U)". 10 April 2011. Retrieved 2021-12-21.
  9. ^ "Lost Art Internet Database - Jüdische Sammler und Kunsthändler (Opfer nationalsozialistischer Verfolgung und Enteignung) - Arens, Dr. Gustav (Nachlass)". www.lostart.de. Retrieved 2021-11-12.
  10. ^ Claesz, Pieter; Pays-Bas (1623), Vanité aux instruments de musique, avec les cinq sens, retrieved 2021-11-12
  11. ^ "Nature morte aux fleurs. Vanité - Louvre Collections". 2022-01-30. Archived from the original on 30 January 2022. Retrieved 2022-02-19. Gustave Arens (1867-1936), Vienne (Autriche) ; par héritage, en 1936, sa fille Anna (1897-1994), mariée à Fritz Unger (1891-1954), Vienne ; don de ce dernier, Aurillac, mars 1939, au nom d'Otto Anninger [1874-1954], également de Vienne, associé d'Arens et de Fr. Unger dans leur firme industrielle Abeles et Cie, réfugié comme Unger à Paris puis à Aurillac en 1938-1939, puis parti lui aussi aux États-Unis (en 1939). Sur le don Unger, voir Claesz., R.F. 1939-11 et Trevisani (R.F. 1939-12, cf. Cat. peint. ital. 2007, p. 215, entré comme école française, XVIIIe s.). – À noter qu'Anninger a été oublié dans le répertoire des donateurs du Louvre (1989), son don ayant été placé à tort sous le nom de Fr. Unger.
  12. ^ "La "spoliation" oubliée". Le Monde.fr (in French). 2009-09-15. Retrieved 2021-11-12.
  13. ^ "La "spoliation" oubliée". Le Monde.fr (in French). 2009-09-15. Retrieved 2021-11-12. En effet, si les propriétaires pillés par les nazis ou spoliés par la France de Vichy peuvent prétendre retrouver leurs biens, il en va tout autrement lorsque le régime fautif se trouve être la République. Là réside la première particularité du cas Unger. La seconde tient à la nature de la transaction d'origine. Pas un vol, pas une vente forcée, mais un don. Un principe intangible, qui ne souffre aucune contestation, estime d'ailleurs le comité des conservateurs du Louvre. Le 28 février 1946, il rend un refus "unanime" : "Une telle décision risquerait de créer un précédent fâcheux."
  14. ^ "La "spoliation" oubliée". www.lootedart.com. Retrieved 2021-11-12. Depuis, la famille a plusieurs fois réclamé un réexamen de cette décision. En vain. En mars 2004, Jacques Foucart, conservateur général au département des peintures, interrogé par Le Monde, estimait encore que le dossier était limpide et que toute remise en cause du don serait un "abus d'interprétation". Un "abus" repris à son compte par le ministère de la culture dès décembre 2008. La requête de la famille Unger est alors jugée "juridiquement fragile mais moralement indiscutable". D'autant que la famille ne réclame pas la restitution des oeuvres, mais une indemnisation.
  15. ^ "A Renaissance Painting Seized by the Nazis Is Rediscovered | Barnebys Magazine". Barnebys.com. 2020-08-26. Retrieved 2021-12-21.
  16. ^ "'I had lost hope': The story behind a Nazi-looted Madonna and long-delayed compensation to Jewish heirs". The Art Newspaper - International art news and events. 2020-07-29. Retrieved 2021-12-21.
  17. ^ "HCPO - Still Missing". Department of Financial Services. Retrieved 2021-12-21.
  18. ^ "High-Profile Italian Collection Resolves Restitution Dispute Involving Nazi-Looted Renaissance Painting". www.lootedart.com. Retrieved 2023-01-29.
  19. ^ Kamp, Justin (2020-07-29). "Turin Museum Reaches Restitution Deal over Nazi-Looted Renaissance Painting". Artsy. Retrieved 2023-01-29.
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