University of Notre Dame and Dorville Heirs agree on restitution of Artwork

After purchasing the watercolor drawing entitled The Connoisseurs (1855) from an auction at Christie’s in 2011, John D. Reilly, a graduate of the University of Notre Dame and among its most supportive benefactors, put it on loan to the Snite Museum of Art (now the Raclin Murphy Museum of Art). Upon Reilly’s passing, the drawing was converted to a gift and entered the collection in 2014.

Through consultation with representatives of Dorville’s heirs, the University became aware of the provenance of the work and of the context in which it was spoliated during World War II. Together they found a fair and equitable solution to preserve this work in the University’s collection for the betterment of its many, varied audiences. The heirs have been compensated, and the credit line has been changed to reflect the history of the drawing. The work will be temporarily displayed in the Museum with a label explaining its circuitous path to a university art museum in the United States.

Monnier’s charming watercolor depicting a scene of connoisseurs amid their collection once belonged to Armand Dorville, a Jewish lawyer and passionate art collector in Paris whose property was sold at public auction under duress following his death from natural causes. The Nazis seized the proceeds from the sale, depriving the remaining family of the resources necessary to escape persecution during World War II. Half of them subsequently perished in a death camp.

Dorville fled Paris following the Nazi invasion and took refuge in the south of France, bringing most of his art collection with him. He died in 1941 and left his collection to his brother, sisters and nieces. Dorville named his friend, Jacques Pfeiffer, executor of his estate. Held captive in Germany until November 1941, Pfeiffer returned to France to sell the collection at public auction in order to prevent it from being seized and to finance the remaining family’s escape from Europe.

The auction took place in June 1942 in Nice, with the Monnier drawing described and illustrated as lot no. 166. However, from the first day of the sale, the entire proceeds were confiscated by a provisional administrator, thus Aryanizing Dorville’s assets. The drawing disappeared into private hands until it resurfaced in Christie’s 2011 auction. Submitted to the Art Loss Register prior to the sale, no claims had been reported at that time.

“The University of Notre Dame is dedicated to seeking truth and acting with the highest ethical standards," said Raclin Murphy Museum Director Joseph Becherer. "As soon as the museum became aware of this issue, we began discussions with the representatives of the heirs of Armand Dorville, probate genealogy firm ADD Associés and the law firm Corinne Hershkovitch. We are grateful for their willingness to come to a resolution that keeps this work in a public collection where it will continue to serve as a moral lesson for our students and museum visitors. It will be an important reminder of the atrocities suffered by the victims of Nazi oppression and the need to be ever vigilant against new threats."

Main Image: Henry Monnier (French, 1799–1877), The Connoisseurs, 1855, black chalk, watercolor, and gum arabic on card, 7 3/8 x 10 ¼ inches (sheet). Bequest of John D. Reilly, ND ’63, ’64 in memory of Armand Dorville. 2014.061.301