A row has broken out between the French government and Cornell Capa over the ownership of eight albums of prints by Mr Capa’s late brother, the photographer Robert Capa. The works depict the 1930s Spanish Civil War.
The public archive in Paris, where the albums are housed, says that they were discovered among the papers of a German writer arrested by the French police in 1939, and at the headquarters of a now defunct Communist group. The albums were transferred to the public archives from the French police in 1952.
Robert Capa died without making a will, and his estate passed via his mother to his brother. Mr Capa is seeking the return of the albums to the International Center for Photography in New York as “a noble gesture”.
Mr Capa sent Capa estate administrator Richard Whelan to Paris late last year to negotiate the albums’ return with the ministry of culture. But according to Le Monde, Mr Whelan left empty-handed because the ministry insisted that he submit an official restitution request.
Mr Whelan responded by saying: “The French ministry wants Cornell Capa to submit a letter so that the request can be refused on the basis of pettifogging arguments. Mr. Capa does not wish to play that game.” He emphasised that “Mr Capa will not take legal action to recover the notebooks.”
A spokesman for the French ministry of culture confirmed that “French public archive items cannot be removed from the collection as they are inalienable State property”. He said a formal restitution claim has not yet been received.
But press interest may have prompted Capa’s team to adopt a more conciliatory position; Mr Whelan subsequently contacted us to say: “A highly-placed friend in Paris has told me that I completely misunderstood both the tone and the content of the informal preliminary response I had received from the French ministry of culture. My source has assured me that it is necessary for Mr Capa to make a formal request, and Mr Capa has now agreed to make such a request.”
Originally appeared in The Art Newspaper as 'Capa claims war photos'