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The Girl in the Grass: The Tragic Fate of the Van den Bergh Family and the Search for a Painting
192 pages, Hardcover
First published November 13, 2024
22 people want to read
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April 10, 2025
What could have been an interesting story is marred by a dull workmanlike textbook presentation.
This book sets forth the history of a Dutch Jewish family and a painting by Pissarro that they owned and sold in an effort to raise money to pay for the family’s expenses while they were in hiding to save their lives during the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands. The two young daughters were separated from their parents, and placed in a children’s home where it was believed that they would be safer, and escape Nazi roundups of Jews and survive the war. Unfortunately they along with other Jewish residents of the home were betrayed. The two girls were arrested, transported to Auschwitz and killed.
The couple had a third daughter after the War, and moved to the United States. However, the death of their daughters at the hands of the Nazis, and misgivings about the couple’s decisions relating to the two girls, and their fate, ultimately led to a marital breakdown and divorce.
A claim for restitution of the painting was made after the War. However, it was unsuccessful because the painting never left the Netherlands. Meanwhile the painting entered the collection of the Kunsthalle Bremen as a result of its bequest to the museum in 1967 by its longtime owner, a former Bremen resident who became a Dutch citizen. It has been displayed there for many years. The Kunsthalle undertook research into the provenance of suspect pictures in its collection starting in 2010 and in 2016 as a result of the work of the museum and that of Dutch historians on stolen art to be among the artworks that Jewish victims of the Nazis were forced to sell. The former owner’s surviving daughter was notified, and this book was written as part of a settlement of her claim to the painting.
Unfortunately this book is a tedious, and at times torturous read. It basically consists of summations and quotes from interviews, and synopsis of historical records. Some are repetitious. They are accompanied by photographs of people and places related to the discussions. The book reads like an academic presentation that in essence is an extended term paper on the subject.
The book rates 2.5 stars.
This book sets forth the history of a Dutch Jewish family and a painting by Pissarro that they owned and sold in an effort to raise money to pay for the family’s expenses while they were in hiding to save their lives during the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands. The two young daughters were separated from their parents, and placed in a children’s home where it was believed that they would be safer, and escape Nazi roundups of Jews and survive the war. Unfortunately they along with other Jewish residents of the home were betrayed. The two girls were arrested, transported to Auschwitz and killed.
The couple had a third daughter after the War, and moved to the United States. However, the death of their daughters at the hands of the Nazis, and misgivings about the couple’s decisions relating to the two girls, and their fate, ultimately led to a marital breakdown and divorce.
A claim for restitution of the painting was made after the War. However, it was unsuccessful because the painting never left the Netherlands. Meanwhile the painting entered the collection of the Kunsthalle Bremen as a result of its bequest to the museum in 1967 by its longtime owner, a former Bremen resident who became a Dutch citizen. It has been displayed there for many years. The Kunsthalle undertook research into the provenance of suspect pictures in its collection starting in 2010 and in 2016 as a result of the work of the museum and that of Dutch historians on stolen art to be among the artworks that Jewish victims of the Nazis were forced to sell. The former owner’s surviving daughter was notified, and this book was written as part of a settlement of her claim to the painting.
Unfortunately this book is a tedious, and at times torturous read. It basically consists of summations and quotes from interviews, and synopsis of historical records. Some are repetitious. They are accompanied by photographs of people and places related to the discussions. The book reads like an academic presentation that in essence is an extended term paper on the subject.
The book rates 2.5 stars.
Displaying 1 of 1 review