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Museums & Institutions Jacques-Louis David Sketchbook at Versailles Linked to Wartime Theft The discovery adds to growing scrutiny of artworks acquired by French museums after 1933, many of which remain under-examined. Tennis Court Oath in Versailles by Jacques-Louis David. Photo: DeAgostini/Getty Images.

 The Palace of Versailles has agreed to reexamine the origins of a prized Jacques-Louis David sketchbook after new research revealed evidence that the object was looted by the Nazis during World War II and improperly entered the French national collection. The museum purchased the notebook in 1951, unaware, it now says, of its wartime theft.

The French media outlet Radio France launched its investigation into the sketchbook after being contacted by a descendant of the original owner. The broadcaster claims that it was able to pull together enough evidence to back the descendant’s claim in “just a few weeks.” The discovery sheds a light on the slow progress of ongoing provenance research into objects that were acquired by French museums after 1933.

France’s ministry of culture issued a response to the evidence gathered by Radio France stating that neither the ministry nor the Palace of Versailles had not been aware that the item was stolen during the war. They promised to “continue their research on this notebook and have discussions with the descendants of the owners.”

The Palace of Versailles declined to comment.

The sketchbook dates from 1790 and is filled with rare drawings and notes, including preparatory materials for one of David’s most famous works, The Tennis Court Oath (1790). The painting, which was never finished, records a foundational event in the French Revolution. It belongs to the Palace of Versailles but is currently on display in the Louvre’s landmark exhibition “Jacques-Louis David,” until January 26. The sketchbook is not featured in the exhibition.

a plain page in a sketchbook that contains pencil sketched images of figures in various expressive gestures

A page from Jacques-Louis David’s sketchbook from 1790. Image: © Christophe Fouin, © château de Versailles, Dist.RMN.

Once stolen by the Nazis, the sketchbook was sent to Germany. It was sold by Munich’s Karl and Faber gallery in 1943. It came into the hands of the German dealer and art historian Otto Wertheimer, who had himself fled Nazi persecution of the Jews in the 1930s. He settled in Paris in 1944 and became known for supplying French museums with important masterpieces at a time when an artwork’s provenance was rarely questioned. He sold the David sketchbook to the Palace of Versailles in 1951.

During the German Occupation of France, the Nazis systematically looted both private and public art collections. German soldiers stole David’s sketchbook as well as a larger library of important books belonging to Professor Lereboullet in July 1940. The theft was reported by Lereboullet’s daughter to the Commission for Artistic Recovery (CRA), a public body charged with returning Nazi-looted art, in 1945. She never heard back.

The letter has remained in the public archive and was discovered by Radio France in an online database. It said the description of the sketchbook provided by Lereboullet was “sufficiently precise” to allow it to be easily identified.

In its response to Radio France, the ministry of culture explained that the ministry’s Mission for Research and Restitution of Cultural Property Looted between 1933 and 1945 supports national museums in ongoing provenance research. There is a team of three provenance researchers reviewing objects at Versailles, the statement said, but “the team had not yet examined this notebook.”

An anonymous senior official for the ministry of culture told Radio France that the sketchbook’s description on the Palace of Versailles website stated that it had been sold by a Munich gallery in 1943. “That should have been a huge red flag for a curator,” he said.

One descendant of the sketchbook’s original owner said that he had been “completely taken aback” when he came across the looted object by chance in the palace’s collection. “It’s a key work by David, and the Palace of Versailles does a lot of publicity around these notebooks and the Jeu de Paume room,” he said. “So I’m very surprised that there isn’t more research into their provenance.”

The Palace of Versailles has returned one looted work to its rightful owner in 1999, according to the Mission for Research and Restitution of Spoliated Cultural Property. France adopted a new law to fast-track the return of artworks looted during World War II in 2023.

Jo Lawson-Tancred

European News Reporter

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