Alessandro di Mariano Filipepi, called Sandro Botticelli and Studio

Art Recovery International has represented many families whose collections were looted by the Nazis before and during WWII. Our expertise in resolving these cases, outside the courtroom, has gotten the attention of some of the world’s top art dealers and collectors.

In 2018, ARI was asked to resolve a claim to the above referenced painting which was part of the Eduard Simon collection in Berlin. The painting was being claimed by the heirs of Jewish arms merchant, Bruno Spiro who built his own considerable collection in the early 1930’s. With Hitler's rise to power, Spiro found himself in a concentration camp where, in 1936, he committed suicide. Two years later, Spiro's widow fled to Britain, while the Nazis sold the belongings in Spiro's Berlin villa.

The claim to this painting was formally made in 2011 and listed on the German government’s Lost Art Database, 2 years AFTER it was acquired by an Italian collector in good faith under Italian law. The dealer who sold the painting demonstrated that he performed considerable due diligence prior to the sale.

ARI’s researchers, working in conjunction with the researchers for the Spiro heirs, made every effort to uncover documentation to prove that the painting was owned by Spiro and subsequently looted from him. The only document that existed was a photograph of the painting that had been found amongst Spiro’s important papers held by the family.

The current possessor put pressure on the parties to resolve the claim so that she could sell the picture and donate the proceeds to a religious charity in Italy. Despite the lack of documentation, offers were made to settle the claim which would allow a sale to proceed over the next few weeks. Unfortunately, the parties remained too far apart in their views over how the case should be resolved.

With just a few days before the consignment deadline, ARI instructed researchers to search a particular archive in London using the surname of Mrs. Spiro’s second husband instead of her former “Spiro” surname. This produced a rather surprising document that showed that Mrs. Spiro-Austin managed to get the Botticelli painting out of Germany and into her London apartment. It was not until 1953 that she consigned the painting for sale in the London market. Needless to say, all settlement offers were withdrawn and the painting was removed from the Lost Art database allowing it to sell in July 2019 with unencumbered title.

ARI appreciates working with dealers, collectors, and museums who are willing to do the right thing when it comes to Nazi restitution cases if the evidence presents itself. Our goal is to uncover the truth, whatever that truth may be and to fashion a just and fair solution for all the parties involved.