An authority on the suitability of content in UK museums has said it would be “shocking” if Nazi-looted items went on public display at the Burrell Collection in Glasgow, which reopens today.
Errol Francis has previously backed efforts to repatriate art stolen during Hitler’s rise to power in 1930s Germany. He has also called on museums to rid themselves of items taken illegally during Britain’s colonial era.
Francis, head of Culture&, an arts charity, believes an audit of the 9,000 works collected by William Burrell, a shipping magnate known as the Millionaire Magpie, is needed to ensure nothing else can be linked to the Holocaust.
It was already known that two works in the collection, donated to Glasgow in 1944, were acquired after being stolen from their Jewish owners. The city council paid compensation to the owners’ descendants. The gallery has undergone a £68 million revamp.
Glasgow Life, which runs the city’s museums, admitted last night that the Burrell may have up to ten “forced sale” treasures, which it has declined to identify.
Advertisement
Francis said: “It is shocking to learn that suspected Nazi looted art might go on display at the gallery. They should be taken down and immediately referred to the Spoliation Advisory Panel.”
Ephraim Borowski, of the Scottish Council of Jewish Communities, said: “It’s up to public galleries to acknowledge the dubious history of items in their collection.”
