Dutch Government Faces Another Huge Claim for Art

AMSTERDAM—The heirs of a Dutch art dealer who died in 1949 have filed a claim with the Dutch government to recover more than 200 artworks in Dutch museums, reports the New York Times.

Four children of the dealer, Nathan Katz, say that he was the rightful owner of 227 works, many by Dutch masters such as Jan Steen, Gerard Dou, and Nicolaas Maes, that were recovered in Germany at the end of World War II and turned over to the Dutch government.

Katz, who owned an art gallery with his brother, Benjamin, sold works of art even after the German occupation of the Netherlands, with many going to Alois Miedl, who bought art for Hermann Goering and other Nazi leaders, according to researchers for the Netherlands’ Restitution Commission, which advises the government on restitution cases. The heirs say that Katz also traded several paintings for visas, enabling 65 of their relatives to leave the country.

The claim is one of the largest to be made in the Netherlands. It includes more works than another recent, high-profile case, in which the heirs of another war-era dealer, Jacques Goudstikker, won a claim for 202 paintings last year.