The monument is not the statue from the villa, but its copy as part of the whole

Prague - The statue of the torso of a walking woman, originally part of the famous Tugendhat villa in Brno, could be auctioned on Monday in London partly because it had not been declared a cultural monument in the Czech Republic. After it was acquired a few months ago by the heirs of the original owners, it could be exported from the country and offered at auction. The sculpture was not declared a cultural monument because it was not part of the villa when the monument protection was established.
    The statue by German sculptor Wilhelm Lehmbruck, which was the only artwork decorating the functionalist villa of Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, was in the depot of the Moravian Gallery in Brno at the time the villa was declared a cultural monument. "Later, when the villa was designated as a national cultural monument, a copy of the statue was in the house. Even when the villa was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List, a copy was in the villa," said Zdeněk Novák, the chief director of the cultural heritage section at the Ministry of Culture, to ČTK today. Thus, the villa was inscribed on the national cultural heritage list and on the UNESCO list with a copy of the torso, the original of which was acquired by a private collector for a million pounds, or approximately 42 million crowns, on Monday.
    Since a copy of a certain work was declared part of the monument, the Ministry did not consider it necessary to declare the original a monument. Therefore, the work is represented among the monuments as a substitute; this is not an unusual case in heritage care, Novák explained. According to him, the work has great significance precisely as part of a collection, in this case, an artwork that is an architectural whole.
    This situation also allows for compliance with the law on remedying certain property injustices caused by the Holocaust and to return the statue to the heirs of the Tugendhat couple, Novák stated. The statue was confiscated by the Nazis along with the entire villa. After World War II, it became state property, later belonging to the city of Brno. Until last year, it was in storage, and the museum lent it several times for specialized exhibitions.
    The fact that the work released at the end of the year has now appeared at auction surprised both the Ministry of Culture and the director of the Moravian Gallery in Brno, Marek Pokorný. The descendants of the original owners had previously said that they have a deep emotional connection to the sculpture. They have now approached the gallery with a request for export. The gallery forwarded the request to the ministry, which stated that the work does not have monument protection in the Czech Republic and can therefore be legally exported abroad.
    Pokorný urged the ministry to participate in the auction and attempt to acquire the statue for the Czech state. Representatives from the Musée d'Orsay in Paris also took part in the auction; however, for them, the final price exceeded the financial limit they had available. Prior to the auction, experts estimated that the sculpture could be auctioned for a third of the amount that the new owner ultimately paid. The significant interest in it may also have been due to the fact that Lehmbruck died very young, leaving behind few works. The plaster statue for the villa's interior was selected by its architect and was the dominant feature of the largest interior space. According to Pokorný and Brno's heritage experts, it is an integral part of the villa, and its sale to a foreign collection means that the monument has lost an important component.
    The descendants of the Tugendhats still own some other items from the original furnishings of the villa, which they managed to take with them when fleeing the country from the Nazis or later acquired. Another four pieces of original furniture, released as part of the reparation for Holocaust injustices, still lie in the gallery's depot in Brno.
    The descendants of the original villa owners are now also requesting the return of the villa itself, which the Czech state has been unable to ensure the necessary reconstruction of for several years, despite numerous proclamations. The Tugendhats are also requesting the return of the villa under the law on remedying Holocaust injustices. According to the legal opinion of the city, however, such a return is not possible, as the law only addresses artworks, not real estate. However, experts say that the villa is an artwork.
    Representatives agreed at their last meeting that a different way needs to be found to transfer the villa to the heirs. The planned transfer to the state and subsequent restitution has fallen through, so there is now consideration of a transfer through the Moravian Gallery.