Jean-Jacques Aillagon,

"A concern for truth and transparency"

A concern for truth and transparency led me, last February, in accord with the director and the conservation department of the MusΘe national d'art moderne / Centre de crΘation industrielle, to take the initiative to present to the public the "recovered artworks" entrusted to the care of the MusΘe national d'art moderne.
It is my conviction that this transparency is the only way to defuse suspicion, rumor, and attempts at sensationalism, to arrest any slip into oblivion and to put an end to all possible indulgence toward gross injustice. I estime that it is the duty of a public institution such as the Centre Georges Pompidou to allow every one of us a lucid view of the works which history has endowed with a special status, a tragic destiny.

It was fitting then, to make certain the actual presentation of the show itself conveyed, in the most exacting way possible, the wish to see objectivity win out over emotion - however legitimate the latter may be. The position adopted, therefore, was to present, in conjunction with the works - ordered alphabetically according to the artist's name - all the documentation that could be found as to where the works came from, as well as any other indications which might provide clues as to their origin (notably photographs of the backs of paintings).
To this end, the staff at the MusΘe national d'art moderne set to work ardently, rigorously and with obstination. Though already considerable, their research is still far from being finished, and I have given formal instructions that it be continued over the months to come.

What is shown here is only a step - an important one, certainly, but not the last - in an ongoing process in which the Centre National d'Art et de Culture Georges Pompidou to take its share, its full share, of responsibility.

Jean-Jacques Aillagon
President of the Centre National d'Art de Culture Georges Pompidou