A valuable painting, known as "Madonna with Child" by Italian Baroque-Era artist Alessandro Turchi, which was looted from a Polish aristocrat during World War II, has been discovered in Japan and subsequently returned to Poland. The Polish Embassy in Japan, along with a Tokyo-based art auction company, facilitated the return of the artwork, although the circumstances of how it came into possession of its former Japanese owner remain unclear.
The painting, missing since the 1990s after being put up for auction in New York, resurfaced when the Mainichi Auction Inc. in Tokyo received a request from the painting's former owner to sell it at an auction in the fall of 2021. The company posted a photograph of the artwork on its website, valuing it at approximately 3 million yen ($21,000).
Before the scheduled auction, the Polish Ministry of Culture and National Heritage contacted the auction company, expressing doubts about the painting's authenticity. Polish authorities noticed discrepancies between the artwork and an old photograph believed to have been taken in 1939 or 1940 when it was looted.
To resolve the matter, a team of Polish experts traveled to Japan and confirmed the painting's authenticity, as well as its history of being looted during the Nazi occupation. An ultraviolet scan revealed that a part of the original artwork had been painted over.
Yoshiaki Onoyama, the Mainichi Auction's official who negotiated the return of the painting with the former Japanese owner, expressed satisfaction with the successful repatriation, emphasizing that there was no financial incentive for their involvement. The painting has now been returned to Polish ownership, bringing closure to a chapter of looted art during World War II.
