Tate Gallery agree to return Constable painting to owner's family after evidence showed it was stolen by the Nazis
- Work called Beaching a Boat, Brighton was donated to the gallery in 1986
- But a committee of experts found it had been looted from wartime Hungary
- Tate Gallery said it is 'pleased' to return work to original owner's relatives
The Tate art gallery has agreed to return an oil painting by John Constable after evidence showed the picture had been stolen by the Nazis.
The 1824 work, entitled Beaching A Boat, Brighton, is understood to have been looted from wartime Hungary.
A committee of government-appointed experts said the Tate had ‘a moral obligation’ to return the painting to the family of the original owner, who died in 1958 having fled the Communist takeover of Hungary.
'Beaching a Boat, Brighton' by John Constable is be returned to its former owner's family by the Tate Gallery
The painting turned up in Britain in 1962 and passed through several hands before being donated to the London gallery in 1986.
The Spoliation Advisory Panel said the original owner, ‘a well-known Hungarian artist’ from a Jewish background, went into hiding in 1944.
A Tate spokeswoman said: 'Following the publication of a report of the Spoliation Advisory Panel in respect of an oil painting by John Constable, Beaching A Boat, Brighton 1824, in the Tate collection, Tate can confirm that the Panel has recommended that this painting should be returned by Tate to the claimants.
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'Tate acknowledged the claim and welcomed the suggestion that the case should be presented for consideration by the Spoliation Advisory Panel as the body that was established by Government to advise on the merits of such claims.
'Tate is grateful for the care with which the Panel has examined the evidence and is pleased to follow the conclusions of the report.
'Tate will therefore recommend to its trustees, when they next meet in May, that the work be returned to the claimants. Tate will continue to respect the wishes of the claimants to remain anonymous.'
A spokesman for the Tate Gallery said it was 'pleased' to return the painting to relatives of its original owner
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