On May 5, the Musée d'Orsay in Paris inaugurated a new dedicated space in the Pavillon Amont for artworks looted during World War II that remain unclaimed by their owners or heirs. The room, titled "À qui appartiennent ces œuvres ?" ("Who owns these works?"), features thirteen pieces including sculptures by Auguste Rodin and paintings by Auguste Renoir, Edgar Degas, and Eugène Boudin. These represent a fraction of the museum's 225 MNR (Musées nationaux récupération) holdings, part of a national legacy of approximately 2,000 looted works still held in French museums.
This initiative matters because it marks only the second permanent exhibition space in France dedicated to Nazi-looted art, following the Louvre's 2017–2018 rooms. It underscores ongoing efforts to address historical injustices through provenance research and restitution, supported by recent French legal reforms including a 2019 mission at the Ministry of Culture and a 2023 framework law easing returns. However, the article contrasts France's progress with resistance abroad, noting legal obstacles in the United States, Austria, and Poland, highlighting the uneven global commitment to restitution.