STOCKHOLM.- The heirs of Otto Nathan Deutsch and the Moderna Museet in Stockholm, Sweden have settled a dispute regarding the fate of the painting Blumengarten (Utenwarf) from 1917 by the German expressionist artist Emil Nolde. The artwork disappeared in 1939, following Otto Nathan Deutsch´s flight from Germany to the Netherlands due to Nazi persecution. It resurfaced in the early 1960´s and was acquired in 1967 by then museum director Pontus Hultén on behalf of the Moderna Museet from Galerie Roman Norbert Ketterer in Lugano, Switzerland. In 1961, the German Government paid a compensation to the Deutsch family for the lost artwork which will now be returned by the family.

Blumengarten (Utenwarf) is being purchased by a private European collector who will loan the painting to the Moderna Museet for up to five years, after which other seminal expressionist paintings from the early 20th century will be lent to the museum for another five years. Both the Deutsch heirs and the Moderna Museet are satisfied with the outcome of the matter, which was settled under the principles of the 1998 Washington Conference, which calls for a fair and just solution taking all relevant circumstances into consideration.

The Deutsch heirs continue to search for other artworks which were lost due to Nazi persecution. A list can be found at the German Government website www.lostart.de.

According to an agreement between the parties concerned no further comment will be made about the settlement.