A fortune in canvas and oil paints, representing the work of the great masters of the art world, has been loaned by Jacob Epstein to the new Municipal Museum of Art to be shown at the museum’s formal opening on April 18.
They were secretly removed Thursday night from the Eutaw place mansion of Jacob Epstein, Baltimore art collector, and are now in the custody of Blanchard Randall, president of the board of trustees of the museum.
A special guard has been placed over the Epstein collection. This group, it was stated, represents one of the finest small collections of old masters in America. Nothing like it has been shown art-lovers in Baltimore before, it is said.
It has just been disclosed that Jacob Epstein is the owner of the famous painting, “Portrait of a Nobleman,” by Justus Sustermans.
The whereabouts of the painting, said to represent Cardinal Gian Carlo de Medici, had been unknown since its sale in London last September, an event which aroused the British public over the sale and exportation of English-owned art treasures.
The painting was bought by a British art firm and transferred to Mr. Epstein, whose name did not appear in the transaction.
That the painting was in the Epstein collection became known when a notice was issued detailing the art works loaned the Municipal Museum of Art of Baltimore by Mr. Epstein.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.