On 15 May the time had come. In the festive ambience of Düsseldorf's Jan-Wellem-Saal, the painting "Portrait of the Artist's Children" (1830) by Wilhelm von Schadow was restituted to the Max & Iris Stern Foundation. The representative of the Foundation, the Canadian Dr. Clarence Epstein, was present for the handover by Lord Mayor Dr. Keller and his councillor Miriam Koch. According to the agreement, the painting will remain in a wing at the Kunstpalast, which will be reopened in late summer by the director Dr Felix Krämer, who was also present at the handover. The case had made waves in Düsseldorf in 2017, with negative international headlines, as a local Max Stern exhibition was cancelled by then-mayor Thomas Geisel. The exhibition initiated by the newly elected city hall "Entrechtet und beraubt. Der Kunsthändler Max Stern“ at the end of 2021 ran without the Stern Foundation's participation. Then in 2023 everything suddenly happened very quickly and councillor Miriam Koch announced the council's decision to restitute the painting on 20 April. The city stated that due to a gap in provenance that could no longer be closed by research, it was decided to return the work. The guiding principle is precisely that, following the fourth principle of the 1998 Washington Conference, which states that in finding a just and equitable solution, account should be taken of "the fact that gaps and ambiguities" in provenance are unavoidable due to the passage of time and the special circumstances of the Holocaust.

The Stern Project is led by Dr. Clarence Epstein, to benefit Canadian and Israeli universities. It has succeeded in recovering 26 paintings stolen from gallery owner Max Stern. Read the interview to find out what happens next with the project.

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24 June 2023

Interview Directory 

ART, LEADER

Name: Dr. Clarence Epstein

Occupation: Executive director of the Max and Iris Stern Foundation

Education: McGill University, Courtauld Institute of Art, University of London, The University of Edinburgh

"The Old Town is a very pleasant place to work and relax."

Can you tell the readers how you like the city of Düsseldorf?

I like it a lot. I've been to Germany many times, mostly for business reasons. What I appreciate about Düsseldorf is the size of the city and the fact that it is so clean and well designed. The old town is a very pleasant place to work and relax.

Currently, you also work as the head of the Claudine and Stephen Bronfman Family Foundation, a well-known Canadian philanthropic family. How do you manage to do both jobs?

The Stern Project is a carryover from my work for the universities that are the original heirs of the Max Stern Estate. As such, McGill, Hebrew University and Concordia are beneficiaries of the Stern Foundation and I worked on behalf of Concordia University for the project. When I moved to the Bronfman Foundation, I kept this project as a personal priority that I felt was important because of my interest in the subject. I work full-time for the Bronfman family but contribute some of my free time to the Stern Foundation because of the relationships we have built with the universities and the researchers.

On the exhibition "Entrechtet und beraubt. Der Kunsthändler Max Stern“ at the end of 2021, you did not come to Düsseldorf? Was the exhibition able to calm the international outrage?

We decided not to take on any role. We made that decision to support the Canadian and Israeli curators who decided not to be involved in the exhibition. We thought it would be respectful of their decision not to participate. However, we did receive a copy of the catalogue. Since we did not visit the exhibition, I have no opinion about it.

Are there still works here in Düsseldorf that are the subject of discussion?

Yes, there are, we are not advertising these works until we have some kind of agreement with the city and the status of the claims for these additional works. The portrait of the Schadow children became known to the public not because of us, but because of the city's decision to make the issue public when they cancelled the exhibition.

Mayor Dr. Keller (2nd from right), Dr. Clarence Epstein, "Dr. Max and Iris Stern Foundation", Isabelle Poupart (l.), Chargé d'Affaires a.i. of the Canadian Embassy in Germany, and councillor Miriam Koch © Landeshauptstadt Düsseldorf/Michael Gstettenbauer

"Portrait of the Artist's Children" (1830) by Wilhelm von Schadow will be on show again at Kunstpalast Düsseldorf  in late summer 2023 © Landeshauptstadt Düsseldorf/Michael Gstettenbauer

"And here we are. The settlement is behind us and is a good conclusion.“

The current solution, does it seem to have come about very quickly?

Councillor Miriam Koch was the one who handled the file. It was about 6 months ago that she approached us and told us that the city was seeking a resolution to this matter. We don't know why, but we understood that this matter was a priority for them, so we acted quickly. And here we are now. The agreement is behind us and it is a good conclusion.

In general, the Stern Foundation and the research project covers three universities?

The original beneficiaries were not only three universities, but also many museums as well as individuals to whom Max Stern bequeathed assets. Currently, the foundation benefits two universities, Hebrew University and Concordia.

 "This is how we prepare for the time when we can reach out to people and start a dialogue to understand both sides of the story".

Have only 20 works been able to be returned so far? How many artworks still need to be returned and where are they located? All over the world?

There are 26 works that we have recovered. We estimate that there are between 400 and 500 works in circulation. There is a high concentration in German-speaking countries, where it is more likely that the kind of works that the Stern Gallery dealt in, will be found. These are works by Dutch and Flemish masters and German paintings from the 19th and early 20th centuries. It is likely that many of them can still be found today in German-speaking collector circles.

We have not located them all, but when we do locate one, we open a file and start confirming its whereabouts, provenance and history. This is how we prepare for the time when we can approach people and initiate a dialogue to better understand the many facets of the story.

How do you work? The Düsseldorf case went through the administration. Do you generally act through lawyers or who helps you?

We do not act through lawyers. We work mainly with our own team of researchers and advisors. The Canadian government and the Canadian embassy are also very helpful and facilitate correspondence and outreach. Ultimately, we are a mature enough organisation to take action ourselves and contact auction houses, dealers, museums and governments when we have claims. It depends on where the painting is and who the possessor is.

"So we continue to fight to encourage German legislation and governments to recognise the complexity of Holocaust losses versus everyday losses."

What laws are all these cases based on or is it a matter of negotiation?

In the United States, there are court proceedings in our favour based on illegal actions by the owners of one work, which then led to a court decision. In Europe, we present claims based on the Washington Principles, and depend on moral suasion to reach conclusions on these difficult issues. In Germany, there are the same challenges as in the rest of Europe, where Holocaust-era losses are treated similarly to every day thefts. So we continue to struggle to encourage German legislation and governments to recognise the complexity of Holocaust losses versus modern day losses.

You studied in London and Edinburgh? What interested you in getting involved in art history?

I studied art history, and part of my time as a student consisted of working to finance my education. I did that through the art trade and through that I developed certain skills that were useful not only for my studies but also for my career. When I left university, I was assigned to work on estates and collections in partnership with large auction houses. Experience with these type of large projects led to me being asked by the Stern Foundation to handle their affairs. Originally it was to manage the cultural propoerty in the estate of Max Stern, and then once we understood the different elements of the estate, which included Holocaust-era losses, I began to look at claims to Nazi-persecuted art.

When will you be in Düsseldorf next?

That depends on the city and the arrangements we have made. I am confident that we will work with them on an extensive research project that we have just submitted to the Center for Lost Art (Das Deutsches Zentrum Kulturgutverluste in Magdeburg, ed.) and that hopefully will be approved. We intend to collaborate with a number of different organisations, including Düsseldorf's Jewish community, the city's museum community and other research teams in Germany.