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This painting was looted by the Nazis, then seized from my living room
Los Angeles Times ^ | December 4, 2016 | Craig Gilmore

Posted on 12/04/2016 10:13:48 AM PST by EveningStar

Two agents from U.S. Homeland Security’s ICE unit arrived at my door in September looking for a Polish lady — not a person, but a painting: Melchior Geldorp’s “Portrait of a Lady.” She had, they informed me, been looted by the Nazis from the National Museum in Warsaw.

Unsure if these gentlemen were indeed who they claimed to be, I didn’t invite them in. But I knew exactly what they were seeking: My partner, David, and I had purchased this very portrait — ostensibly the work of a different artist — a decade earlier from a major auction house in New York.

Upon their leaving, I stood dumbfounded, holding a packet of information about the alleged provenance of our painting. After calling David at work to drop this bombshell, I began a Googling frenzy, eventually bringing me to Poland’s Division for Looted Art website. Seconds later I was gawking at an old black-and-white photo of our beloved lady, a beautiful portrait painted on oak panel in 1628. Tears welled in my eyes with the realization that, without question, if this were true we needed to do our duty and get her safely home.

(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Editorial; US: California
KEYWORDS: art; california; craiggilmore; dhs; genderdysphoria; homelandsecurity; homosexualagenda; ice; lootedart; losangeles; losangelesslimes; losangelestimes; melchiorgeldorp; nationalmuseumwarsaw; naziloot; nazis; painting; poland; portraitofalady; warsaw
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To: stocksthatgoup

Exactly, he could have been a jerk and fought this in court. But he didn’t. Some of the comments on here.... ugh... hate the sin, not the sinner.


81 posted on 12/04/2016 12:23:56 PM PST by StolarStorm
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To: Gaffer
Sometimes it's tough to return the old stuff. After all, it matches the china so well...

And, actually, if it is at risk of being returned to a Muslim country, it might be destroyed for the very reason that it is Western and depicts a human form. It would be an act of preservation to keep it!

82 posted on 12/04/2016 12:41:59 PM PST by MHT (,`)
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To: MHT

I agree


83 posted on 12/04/2016 12:46:01 PM PST by Gaffer
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To: Gay State Conservative

The number of homos killed (for the sole fact of being homosexuals, not just “by the way”) by so called Nazis was tiny. It wasn’t until all the recent homosexual agenda offensive that “gays” became somehow regarded as one of the major victims of “Nazis”.


84 posted on 12/04/2016 12:55:55 PM PST by Grzegorz 246
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To: EveningStar
My partner, David, and I ...

Okay, so we're half-way between the point where a sentence like that was abhorrent or absurd and the point where it's passed over with a yawn.

85 posted on 12/04/2016 12:57:51 PM PST by x
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To: Leaning Right

I used to have a Poker Dogs. Mrs. JohnnyP tossed it.


86 posted on 12/04/2016 1:50:33 PM PST by JohnnyP (Thinking is hard work (I stole that from Rush).)
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To: Artemis Webb

Don’t know why you included me in that rant. I said it was art. And I draw pretty good stick figures.


87 posted on 12/04/2016 1:50:36 PM PST by Vermont Lt (Brace. Brace. Brace. Heads down. Do not look up.)
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To: null and void

No Shiite?

You are an amazing man.

How’s trick?

Left me J. O. B. then promptly got sick with Bronchitis and a remarkably infected jaw, due to an impacted tooth.

Painful beyond belief and going on my 4th week dealing with. Weird to have one entire side of your face numbed, like you have been shot up at the dentist and hurts to shave.

But, slowly it is clearing up with a 4th week of antibiotics.

The headaches were devastating, as well as my jaw and teeth.

Hope to see you after the 1st of the year...


88 posted on 12/04/2016 1:57:49 PM PST by Vendome (Don't take life so seriously-you won't live through you're anyway - "Enjoy Yourself" ala Louis Prima)
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To: EveningStar

queers in closets don’t lose paintings


89 posted on 12/04/2016 1:57:55 PM PST by Thibodeaux (Exile Barack, Exile the Wookie, Exile Malia, Exile Shasha)
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To: EveningStar

I write this as someone who loves art, is sensitive to beauty, and is a strong supporter of the Jewish people. These guys did the honorable thing. Not that they had much choice—the paper trail to their door was clear, and they had no right to keep the painting. That said, there sure was a lot of weeping and self-dramatization about what should have been a quiet legal transaction. Crying? Everthing isn’t about you and your emotions, boys.


90 posted on 12/04/2016 2:14:16 PM PST by ottbmare (the OTTB mare, now a proud Marine Mom)
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To: Gay State Conservative
Read The Pink Swastika All the top Nazis were queer.
91 posted on 12/04/2016 2:36:16 PM PST by JoeFromSidney (,)
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To: EveningStar

I could not access the LA story, but in the least, they should have been refunded what they paid for the painting, unless they knew it was stolen.


92 posted on 12/04/2016 2:48:19 PM PST by SgtHooper (If you remember the 60's, YOU WEREN'T THERE!)
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To: okie01
My partner, David, and I had purchased this very portrait — ostensibly the work of a different artist — a decade earlier from a major auction house in New York.

93 posted on 12/04/2016 3:32:34 PM PST by Right Wing Assault (Kill: TWITTER, FACEBOOK, CNN)
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To: Darksheare
his artist boyfriend likely knew what they bought

And you know this how?

94 posted on 12/04/2016 6:49:29 PM PST by EveningStar
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To: Gay State Conservative
Gee...what a surprise.The aggrieved individual has a male “partner”.Well,pal,in case it escaped your notice more than a few of your fellow pervs died in the ovens during WWII.One would think that you might be even less sympathetic toward Nazi crimes than the typical Westerner.

How were they sympathetic to the Nazis? They didn't know the true origin of the painting.

95 posted on 12/04/2016 6:52:34 PM PST by EveningStar
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To: EveningStar

Put two and two together.


96 posted on 12/04/2016 6:57:15 PM PST by Darksheare (Those who support liberal "Republicans" summarily support every action by same.)
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To: Gay State Conservative

My recollection is that the transition was the transition from brownshirts to blackshirts. They were part of the rise, and early thuggery, but many were eliminated around the time of the Night of the Long Knives.


97 posted on 12/04/2016 7:10:03 PM PST by lepton ("It is useless to attempt to reason a man out of a thing he was never reasoned into"--Jonathan Swift)
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To: Vermont Lt
The part that has me scratching my head is that this fell under the auspices of DHS.

ICE-Immigration and 'Customs' Enforcement. Illegal imports is a big part of what they do. The painting was stolen property even if the importer/seller did not know it.

98 posted on 12/05/2016 11:37:54 AM PST by usurper
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To: sodpoodle
He surrendered the painting - it was not ‘seized from his living room’. Drama queen!!!!!!

Had you read the article, it explains that although (according to this account) he and his partner voluntarily surrrendered the painting, they had to sign government paperwork that used the term "seizure" to define the transfer of custody of the art.

99 posted on 12/05/2016 5:05:54 PM PST by Albion Wilde ("Americanism, not globalism, will be our credo."--Donald Trump)
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To: EveningStar
"...My partner, David...

Ah, a fag, I see.

100 posted on 12/06/2016 7:21:11 AM PST by T-Bone Texan (Normal people do not play dominoes on pizza.)
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