08 March 2007
The heiress to a Dutch-Jewish art dealer whose collection was stolen by the Nazis in Amsterdam during World War II has agreed to sell four paintings and donate one from among the 202 artworks returned by the Dutch government last year, according to the New York Times. Marei von Saher, the daughter-in-law of Jacques Goudstikker, who died when fleeing his home country in 1940, said she had decided to donate 'Child on Deathbed' by Bartholomeus van der Helst as a gesture of gratitude to Rudi Ekhart, a Dutch art historian who played a central role in helping her to recover the art. The Dutch government has also agreed to pay US$ 4 million for four other 17th-century paintings from the collection which had long been on display in Dutch museums.
