'Coastal Scene with a Man-O-War and other Vessels' Once Confiscated by Nazis

A reproduction of "Coastal Scene with a Man-O-War and other Vessels" by Ludolf Backhuysen is on display through September outside the Berkley Public Library.

It is one of five artworks from the Detroit Institute of Arts on display this summer throughout Berkley as part of the fourth annual Inside|Out program.

"This scene showing goods unloaded form a Dutch merchant vessel protected by warships represented military and economic strength during the Dutch Golden Age," the DIA says of this oil on canvas painted in 1692. "(In the 1930s) the Nazis confiscated the painting from its Jewish owner. (In the 2000s) the DIA found the owner's descendants, establishing them as the rightful heirs. They, in turn, allowed the museum to purchase the painting."

Information revealed during a 2006 subcommittee hearing in the United States House of Representatives shed more light on the painting's past.

"Research determined that it had been left in an Amsterdam bank vault by a Jewish collector when he left the Netherlands in 1942." according to the Review of the Repatriation of Holocaust Art Assets in the United States. "The bank's Jewish-owned assets were later turned over to a Nazi-controlled entity. In October 1942, the picture was sold to Kajetan Muhlmann, a prominent figure in Nazi looting of Poland and the Netherlands." 

The German-born artist, whose last name also can be spelled Bakhuizen, was known for his maritime paintings and took up etching and calligraphy in his later years, according to britannica.com.

[Read: Your Guide to DIA Inside|Out Exhibit in Huntington Woods]

[Read: Your Guide to DIA Inside|Out Exhibit in Berkley]