A significant art restitution case has concluded with the return of the 16th-century painting Lady With a Fan by Gerard ter Borch to the heirs of Henry and Herta Bromberg. This decision, made by the National Gallery of Victoria (NGV), comes after an extensive 20-year battle over the painting’s ownership, which had been in the gallery’s collection since 1945.
The Brombergs, a Jewish couple who sold their art collection while fleeing Nazi Germany in the late 1930s, had their ownership of Lady With a Fan challenged for decades. In 2004, Juan Carlos Emden, the grandson of Jewish retail magnate Max Emden, claimed that the painting had been looted. Recent reports from The Australian indicated that Emden had renewed his claims in 2022. As of 2025, the Lost Art Database was updated to confirm the painting’s restitution to the Bromberg heirs.
The NGV’s thorough examination of the painting’s provenance revealed that it had been owned by Dr. Henry Bromberg and was sold under duress during the Nazi regime. A statement from the gallery confirmed that after this assessment, the painting was officially de-accessioned and returned to the Bromberg family.
In a statement, the Bromberg family expressed their satisfaction with the return, stating, “We are pleased that another artwork from our grandparents’ collection was identified. We are satisfied that the National Gallery of Victoria carefully checked the provenance of the painting and the circumstances under which Henry and Herta Bromberg had to part with it during the Nazi period.”
The Lady With a Fan was part of a larger collection owned by the Brombergs, which was reportedly sold to art dealer Allen Loebl in 1938. During this time, many Jewish families were compelled to sell their possessions at significantly reduced prices due to discriminatory practices like the Reichsfluchtsteuer, a punitive tax imposed on individuals fleeing Germany.
The return of this painting marks a significant moment in Australia’s history of art restitution. It follows the successful claim in 2014 for the painting Head of a Man, which was returned to the heirs of Jewish industrialist Richard Semmel. Initially believed to be a work by Vincent van Gogh, it was later determined not to be authentic.
Additionally, another piece from the Bromberg collection, the Portrait of George the Bearded, Duke of Saxony, was sold by The Allentown Art Museum in 2025 for USD 327,600 (approximately AUD 503,000) following a restitution claim in 2022.
The return of Lady With a Fan not only highlights the ongoing efforts to address historical injustices related to art ownership but also underscores the importance of thorough provenance research in the art world. This case serves as a reminder of the complex histories that many artworks carry and the need for ethical considerations in their ownership.
