NEW ORLEANS (WVUE) – An 83-year-old mystery involving a piece of art stolen by the Nazis came to an end in New Orleans on Wednesday (Oct. 9).
Considering the cruel criminality of Nazi Germany, its military and state police, it probably comes as no surprise to hear the Gestapo looted works of art. That includes a painting by Claude Monet, stolen in 1941 from a family in Vienna, Austria.
“Its owner, Adalbert Parlagi, had left it behind in his apartment with everything he and his family owned when they fled Vienna in 1938, just less than a month after the Anschluss — or union with Nazi Germany — which was to destroy the lives of every Jew in Austria,” said Anne Webber, co-chair of the Commission for Looted Art in Europe.
Webber appeared Wednesday at a news conference at the FBI’s New Orleans field office. She said what happened to the stolen Monet after World War II remains steeped in mystery.
“As soon as the war ended, Mr. Parlagi made extensive efforts to find and recover all that had been taken, but to no avail. No remembered anything. No one knew anything,” Webber said.
That changed in 2021, according to FBI Special Agent Christopher McKeough. The Monet turned up in the United States, and on the agency’s investigative radar. In 2023, the painting was listed for sale at a Houston art gallery, prompting the FBI to act.
“That was the first time that this piece had shown up in the United States, which got the FBI involved,” McKeough said.
McKeough said the FBI and its art crime team used online databases and documents to verify the authenticity of the work. Eventually, investigators were able to trace it back to a couple from western Louisiana. Bridget Vita-Schlamp’s late husband bought the Monet, but had no idea of its history.
“We were vacationing in Turkey, and we got the call from the dealer that was selling it for us, and of course we were shocked. I mean, that just doesn’t happen to everyday people. But we were very quick to recognize that it did need to go back to the rightful heirs,” Bridget Vita-Schlamp said.
At the news conference, Special Agent in Charge Lyonel Myrthil of the FBI New Orleans field office lifted a blue cover that obscured the Monet. Two granddaughters of Adalbert Parlagi were invited up to view the painting. More than eight decades after the Nazis stole the work, the granddaughters were able to reclaim the prized painting and a piece of their family’s history.
“I think it’s the most unreal event I could’ve ever imagined in my life,” Francoise Parlagi said. “And even for my grandfather and father, it would’ve been not real. They could not have believed we are here with all of you.”
Granddaughter Helen Lowe said, “I just thought about the symbolic bond, rediscovering my grandfather as a man, if that makes sense. Which is very important to me, because I feel like I didn’t have the opportunity to build that relationship with him through a lack of time.”
Painted circa 1865, “Bord de Mer” is one of Monet’s early works. It depicts a seascape in Normandy, France. From Vienna to New Orleans, the pastel on paper has had quite a journey. Its next destination is a bit of a blank canvas.
“I would like to keep it, take it with me, but this is not going to be possible,” Parlagi said. “I’m not going to have a Monet in my house. I don’t think (that) is the right thing. But I want to have a copy, the best copy I can get.”
Francoise and Lowe didn’t want to talk about the painting’s monetary value, though the Houston gallery estimated it around $500,000 before its scuttled sale. When it comes to the sentimental value for their family, they said it’s priceless. The family still is searching for six other missing pieces of art.
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