Profits for auction houses
The flourishing art trade in the Second World War meant that the profits of art auctions flourished as well. Business was booming at old and new auction houses and they regularly organised public sales. The archives of most of these firms were not preserved. Therefore, we often do not know who was putting the art works up for sale. It is clear that some auction houses, such as Van Marle & Bignell in The Hague, not only sold works that had been brought in by private parties, but also conducted business at the behest of the occupying forces. This business was going so well that Van Marle sold a part of the stock to clients in Germany under a private agreement. Likewise, there are sometimes major doubts about the legal provenance of art works sold at other firms that did not collaborate with the Germans. This is because private wholesale buyers of stolen goods frequently resold some of the looted items at auctions.
