Stolen Art

It is said that even as a young boy, Erich Slomovic was obsessed with art. Now, after nearly fifty years, the true story of what happened to his two incredible art collections is told in Stolen Art. As the Nazis invaded France, Solomovic placed one collection in a Paris bank vault and escaped to his home in Yugoslavia with the other. Worth over $10 million today, the collections included works by Bonnard, Cezanne, Matisse, Picasso, Degas, Gauguin and others. What happened to these collections after Slomovic was killed by gas in Yugoslavia in 1942 and how his heirs have yet to receive compensation is the subject of Stolen Art. Perry follows the trail of lawsuits, counter-lawsuits, ignored court orders, duplicity and greed. Both cases involved top government officials, including Tito himself. Today, neither case is resolved. One collection resides in the National Museum in Belgrade. The other, still tied up in a Parisian court, is being slowly auctioned off to cover legal expenses.