"Summer" returns to Wrocław. The outstanding work was lost during the war.
The painting "Summer" by the Danish painter Bertha Wegmann, lost during World War II, has returned to Poland. The early 20th-century work was donated to the collection of the National Museum in Wrocław. The painting was intended to be sold at a Danish auction house, but the Ministry of Culture managed to recover it.
- The painting "Summer" by suffragette Bertha Wegmann has returned to the National Museum in Wrocław
- The painting was lost during the war and its identification was difficult for decades.
- The work was identified in 2024 at a Danish auction house thanks to its pre-war descriptions and label.
"This is the work of Bertha Wegmann, a suffragette . The painting was lost, and we don't know its exact fate. The painting has returned to Wrocław and will be permanently housed at the National Museum here," said Minister of Culture and National Heritage Marta Cienkowska during the conference.
Bertha Wegmann's painting "Summer" returned to Poland after many yearsIn 1939, "Lato" was donated to the Girls' Secondary School in Wrocław. After the outbreak of war, the painting disappeared. In the early 21st century, it was offered for sale in Great Britain, Israel, and Denmark, but remained unrecognized . No photographs of it have survived.
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However, museum staff had a description of the work from a pre-war catalog from the Wrocław museum. In 2024, "Lato" appeared in the offer of the Danish auction house Bruun Rasmussen and was identified. This was achieved, in part, thanks to a Polish-language label on the reverse .
The work was lost during World War II. It was found in Denmark.After receiving documentation confirming the work's provenance from Poland, the auction house contacted Ministry of Culture officials with the Danish owners. When the siblings who inherited the painting learned its history, they decided to donate it to Wrocław.
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Bertha Wegmann (born 1847) is considered one of the most outstanding genre painters of her time . "Summer" was created in the early 20th century, although the exact date is unknown. In 1906, the painting was purchased by the Silesian Art Society and later transferred to the collection of the Silesian Museum of Fine Arts in Wrocław, eventually ending up at the Wrocław Girls' Secondary School. It was there that the war ended.
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