Rembrandt painting, fishing boats off Dutch coast may be Nazi looted

Visitors to Rembrandt's Night Watch 1642 are part of an exhibition of the Rijksmuseum's Rembrandts in Amsterdam, Netherlands on February 13, 2019. PETER DEJONG FILE AP AMSTERDAM - For at least two decades a painting of fishing boats under an overcast sky was admired by lawmakers who gave little thought to its origins.

Experts are looking at whether the 19th century masterpiece by Hendrik Willem Mesdag, Fishing Boats off the coast may be Nazi looted art.

It is part of a new review of Dutch museums and public places after earlier pushes to return stolen pieces to heirs by a government-backed Restitutions Committee, which has overseen reviews of dozens of artworks since 2001.

Cultural Heritage Agency of the Netherlands, which is responsible for the protection and conservation of art objects returned from Germany to the Netherlands after World War II, is applying a wider definition of looted art as it seeks to return more property taken mostly from Jewish families.

There is no free will if a family had to sell something to be able to escape to a safe country, said Dolf Muller, spokesperson for Dolf Muller.

Over four years, the agency's research team will investigate 3,500 objects, 1,700 of which are paintings.

The investigation isn't easy, said senior advisor Perry Schrier, likening the work to 80-year-old cold cases.

The Mesdag painting was sold in 1941 by an unknown seller through an auction house in The Hague, a year after Nazi Germany invaded the Netherlands.

The screencap of the Facebook account Rijksdienst voor het Cultureel Erfgoed shows the construction of the Cultural Heritage Agency of the Netherlands. FACEBOOK.COM was recovered after the war in Germany and brought back to the Netherlands, but research techniques at the time were unable to establish its origin.

Schrier said that researchers now have access to new technology, better archives, digitized historical newspapers and cameras that can detect near-vanished text.

The Mesdag painting is kept in a heavily secured depot.

Schrier said a seemingly insignificant label discovered on the back of the painting that names the Villa Erica auction house could be a vital clue in tracking down the original owner.

My research heart beat faster, he said.

If the heirs are found, they have a chance of recovering the artwork if there is proof there had been a forced sale.

There are not many people of the first generation left, according to Schrier. We are mostly in touch with the second, the third or even the fourth generation. He added that the sentiment of receiving back looted art cannot be underestimated for each family.