CéZANNE: ‘LOST’ AND FOUND
Circa 1890: A virtually unknown Paul Cézanne creates a watercolour on paper of a group of trees, likely based on a scene from his native and beloved Provence.
June 1894: Paris art dealer Ambroise Vollard, with a keen eye for undiscovered talent, purchases four paintings for 655 francs by the obscure Cézanne.
November-December 1895: Vollard organizes Cézanne’s first solo exhibit and becomes Cézanne’s exclusive dealer. Vollard’s eye also is drawn to other emerging artists of the era and he starts amassing what becomes one of Europe’s greatest collections of modern French art.
July 21, 1939: Vollard, 73, is killed in a car accident near Paris. His vast collection goes to his brother, Lucien, and his mistress.
Summer 1940: Against the backdrop of the German invasion of France, Martin Fabiani (1899-1989), art merchant, leaves the country with four crates of works from the Ambroise Vollard collection that he purchased from Lucien Vollard.
Oct. 3, 1940: The SS Excalibur is boarded in Bermuda and the crates are seized by the British Navy and customs officials.
November 1940: The British Admiralty orders the four crates to be deposited with the National Gallery of Canada.
February 1948: Martin Fabiani requests that Canada return the goods seized from him aboard the SS Excalibur. He is told to make his request to the British Admiralty.
April-May 1949: Arrangements are made for the return of the crates.
May 30, 1949: The crates are opened on site at the former national gallery in the Victoria Museum Building on McLeod Street (now the Canadian Museum of Nature) and the goods are divided between Fabiani and Edouard Jonas, representing Vollard’s sisters Jeanne and Léontine. A French court had ruled that the collection be divided — three-quarters to Fabiani and one-quarter to the Vollard sisters.
June 1949: France orders an inventory of paintings in the seized portion of the Vollard Collection.
1951 to 1956: According to a gallery statement, Fabiani’s lawyer made numerous inquiries regarding a work that was left on deposit, but without mentioning the Cézanne watercolour in question. The gallery had held back some paintings until the gallery was reimbursed for insurance and shipping costs. The gallery says Fabiani’s bill is still unpaid.
1954: Jonas believes that Fabiani has taken the Cézanne watercolour, and asks if the work was left with the gallery in 1949. The gallery responds that it was not.
February 1960: The gallery’s board of trustees is informed of the problem of the ownership of the Cézanne watercolour, according to the statement. It is recommended to the board that it should reveal the existence of the work with the consent of Jonas and Fabiani with a mention of it being “in the name of the heirs of Vollard.” Nothing was done.
The 1960s: Madame Assunta Jonas (widow of Edouard Jonas) sends five letters to the gallery inquiring about a lost Cézanne.
1966: At the instigation of the gallery’s head curator, the board of trustees and the director of the gallery ask the federal Justice Department for advice. The department rules there is insufficient information to give any counsel regarding the business of restitution. “There is not at the present time any factual basis on which we can possibly reach any conclusions and advise you on this matter,” it tells the gallery.” The gallery responds it does not have any additional information to supply the department. Nothing further was done.
2009: Legal services are sought from Canadian Heritage.
2010: Legal services are sought from a Toronto lawyer.
2011: Early steps are taken toward locating possible rightful beneficiaries.
April 2013: The Citizen approaches the gallery and inquires about the lost Cézanne. For the first time, the gallery publicly acknowledges possession of Groupe d’arbres.