By Ambar Colón – September 22, 2026
The 1913 Jean Metzinger painting will return to the family of late art collector Emanuel Lewenstein, whose family was persecuted after Nazis took control of the Netherlands — and looted the work — amid World War II.
The Art Institute of Chicago is returning the Cubist painting “Woman with a Fan” by French artist Jean Metzinger to the Lewenstein family, the institution announced Tuesday.
The oil painting from 1913 was lost during a forced Nazi-era sale in the Netherlands. However, there were significant gaps in the painting’s historical record, said Jacques Schuhmacher, the museum’s executive director of provenance.
But through modern infrared imaging technology, Schuhmacher said, researchers discovered a name written in faint pencil on the back of the piece: Paul Citroen. Citroen was a Dutch art dealer in Berlin and the Netherlands who sold the work to art collector Emmanuel Lewenstein.
“This allowed us to make a connection between our painting and the Lewenstein family for the first time,” Schuhmacher said. “With the evidence written on the painting itself, we carried out additional research in collaboration with the Mondex Corporation.”
In the case of “Woman with a Fan,” Lewenstein’s heirs are represented by the Toronto-based firm, which specializes in the recovery of art and cultural artifacts that were looted or stolen during the Holocaust.
“We found documents from Paul Citroen, which showed that he sold this painting to Emanuel Lewenstein in 1928,” Schuhmacher said.
“The decision was made to restitute [the painting] to the Lewenstein heirs, and I think what’s really important here is that in restituting a piece, it’s not just about transferring ownership back to a family,” Schumacher said. “It’s also about restoring the agency [to the family] to do with this painting what they think is appropriate.”
Originally published in the Chicago Sun-Times, September 22, 2026.