Minister of Culture Ernest Urtasun announced this Wednesday that his ministry is in the process of registering works of art looted by the Franco regime, in line with the instructions of France. Democratic Memory Law, and explained that once the catalog is complete, whether any returns are appropriate will be seen “on a case-by-case basis.”
In his interview with the ‘La Cafetera’ program, he said, “When it is completed, we will announce the number of works and how we will do it,” and asked whether the state was considering the return of these works in the future. “This needs to be evaluated on a case-by-case basis depending on what the law says, but first we need to see what happens. Then we’ll see the next steps,” he said.
HE Prado Museum Its collection includes 70 artifacts captured during the Civil War and the Franco regime.which can be added 7 medals and 89 drawings Its origins are unknown, according to research published by the art gallery last March. These include paintings by Brueghel the Younger, Joaquín Sorolla, Eugenio Lucas Villaamil and Francisco de Osona.
The study by Professor Arturo Colorado, an expert on heritage and the Civil War, managed to establish the origin of ten paintings with names and surnames or specific origins: Pedro Rico – twice mayor of Madrid (1931-1934 and 1936) -, Yebes Church in Guadalajara or the Marquess of Villalonga are some of the original owners.
Urtasun said that when he came to the Ministry last November, one of the things he immediately did was to ask for information on the subject. Topics related to Historical MemoryHe reminded that efforts are also being made to digitize the archives of more than 150,000 republican refugees in Paris, including the file of Jorge Semprún, in order to make them more accessible for memory and family associations.
Colonization of museums
The minister also admitted that he was a little surprised by the “big scandal” that the “right” wanted to make about his intention to continue the call process of decolonization museums Spaniards.
He put the responsibility of this work on museums and said, “First of all, this is how museums adapt to the times. Museums are living works that adapt to time, and what they present today has nothing to do with what was done 50 years ago.” managers and experts.