Art dealer brings back Saxony war loss

The landscape had been in Dresden's Royal Collection of Paintings since its acquisition in 1747. From 1937, the work was lent to Chemnitz, and during World War II it was moved to the Ore Mountains. "Then it was stolen by a Russian general," Hoogsteder said. In 1984, his father bought it at a Christie's auction in New York. "It was auctioned off two more times." Although the landscape was reported missing in 1963, no one ever connected it with the Dresden painting, despite the old inventory number 3105.Then, in 2022, a Dutchman contacted Hoogsteder and asked if he could sell it for him, Hoogsteder recounted. During the now customary provenance research, the connection had become clear.

The "Campagna Landscape" can be seen from Tuesday and for a year at the old location - together with two other war losses returned in the recent past. These are works by the German Balthasar Denner (1685-1749) and the Italian Vincenzo Spisanelli (1595-1662). According to Ackermann, the SKD is still missing nearly 6,000 objects - so far just under 650 wartime losses have been returned.