For many years, the provenance of this painting could not be identified. However, the search request published on this website and new investigations have enabled the owner of the work to come forward.
The painting was stolen from the Jewish couple Gustav & Emma Mayer by the Einsatzstab Reichsleiter Rosenberg (ERR) in Belgium during WWII. The work was recovered by Leo Van Puyvelde after the liberation of Brussels and transferred to the Department for Economic Recovery, which entrusted it to the Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium (RMFAB) in 1951. Seventy-one years later, the painting by Corinth is officially returned to the descendants of the Mayer couple by the RMFAB, in the presence of Thomas Dermine, the State Secretary in charge of Scientific Policy, on Thursday 10 February 2022.