NEW ORLEANS — The FBI returned an original Monet artwork to the descendants of its rightful owners on Wednesday, after the artwork was believed lost for more than 80 years to Nazi looters.
“Bord de Mer” or “Seaside” in English, is an 18-3/8 x 22-3/8 inch pastel on paper depicting a beach in Normandy, France. Believed to have been completed in 1865, it is one of Monet's earliest works which inspired his oil paintings later in his celebrated career.
The FBI Art Crimes Team, in conjunction with the New York and New Orleans field offices, returned the Monet to the surviving granddaughters of Adalbert and Hilda Parlagi, Helen Lowe and Françoise Parlagi in Louisiana, at the FBI's New York field office. Orleans.
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Ultimately, the matter was decided in the Eastern District Court of the state of Louisiana by Judge Fallon, giving legal entitlement to the descendants of “Bord de Mer” after Dr. and Mrs. Kevin Schlamp “graciously” waived their right to work of art.
“We are gathered here today to announce an act of kindness,” said Special Agent in Charge Lyonel Myrthil during the repatriation ceremony.
“Bord de Mer” is presented to the public for the first time Wednesday at the FBI’s New Orleans field office after Nazis looted Monet’s artwork during World War II. (Kat Ramirez for Fox News Digital)
The Schlamps purchased “Bord de Mer” from New Orleans art and antiques dealer MS Rau in 2021, unaware that it was looted during World War II. Unfortunately, Kevin Schlamp died before being able to see the repatriation ceremony on Wednesday.
Adalbert and Hilda Parlagi first purchased Monet's original for their family's personal collection in Vienna, before having to flee Nazi-occupied Austria in 1938 following the Anschluss.
“As Jews, [the Parlagis] they were terrified of what would happen to them,” Anne Webber, CBE, co-chair of the Commission for Looted Art in Europe (CLAE), told Fox News Digital. “And they fled, leaving absolutely everything behind, then made their way to Switzerland, eventually to London.”
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According to Webber, the Parlagi family's apartment in Vienna and all the artwork in it were seized by the German Gestapo after they fled to England.
“But the Nazis had other ideas and what they did was they seized the property, confiscated it in 1940 and put it up for sale in 1941 and 1942,” Webber said.
In the more than 80 years since then, Adalbert “Bela” Parlagi and his surviving descendants have held out hope that the famous Impressionist master's first works of art would be discovered somewhere. Adalbert passed away in 1981, decades before he was able to see “Bord de Mer” returned to his grandchildren.
Granddaughters of Adalbert “Bela” Parlagi pose next to their grandfather’s Monet painting “Bord de Mer” on Wednesday in New Orleans. (Kat Ramirez for Fox News Digital)
In 2014, Helen Lowe and Françoise Parlagi approached CLAE to try and locate the priceless work of art.
According to its website, CLAE is “an international, specialized, non-profit representative body that researches, identifies and recovers looted assets on behalf of families, communities, institutions and governments around the world.”
Retired Special Agent Randy Deaton said the FBI's Art Crimes Team is a nationwide unit made up of 21 agents who “always need the help of professional historians and museums” to organize their investigations.
“It takes a team,” Deaton told Fox News Digital.
Monet’s first artwork, “Bord de Mer,” circa 1865, depicts a beach in Normandy, France, near St. Andresse. (Kat Ramirez for Fox News Digital)
Detailed research provided by CLAE to the FBI helped authorities trace the Monet painting to MS Rau in New Orleans, where it was purchased by the Schlamp family. Ms. Schlamp told Fox News Digital “we were shocked” by the discovery of “Bord de Mer’s” true provenance.
“[Kevin] I would have been very proud to see this work returned to its rightful owners today,” Ms. Schlamp told Fox News Digital.
“There are many people who buy works in good faith, without knowing their history,” said Webber. “And to know, once you learn the history, and once you learn the terrible history in this case, of a work that was seized, I mean, the family was lucky enough to escape with their lives and then agree to return- It's a wonderful, wonderful act for the family that has lost this for all these years.”
The granddaughters of Adalbert “Bela” Parlagi offer comments of thanks and praise as they receive the “Bord de Mer” painting from their grandfather on Wednesday in New Orleans. (Kat Ramirez for Fox News Digital)
Meanwhile, Parlagi's surviving granddaughters are “over the moon” about the discovery and repatriation of their grandfather's Monet artwork.
“I would not have believed, even a few years ago, that we would be in this situation. It would have been, that's all, it's unbelievable. I didn't believe it either, so that makes it so special,” Françoise Parlagi told Fox News Digital.
“I've been thinking about this a lot since I got to New Orleans, thinking about my mother and what she would have been like,” Helen Lowe told Fox News Digital. “I think she would have been completely amazed by the whole thing, knowing that she would have had a feeling of disbelief. I think, thinking about what was lost, you know, to the family, and I feel like she's very close at the moment.”
Webber, as well as Lowe and Parlagi, will take a private tour of the National World War II Museum in New Orleans late Wednesday afternoon.
“Bord de Mer” was “securely stored” in the evidence locker of the FBI’s New Orleans field office during the investigation, according to Special Agent in Charge Lyonel Myrthil. It's unclear when or where the painting will be transported now that it legally belongs to Lowe and Parlagi.
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This story began in a “container in a Viennese warehouse in 1938 to this room in New Orleans today,” Webber said.
