W. Shepard is interested in: Still Life: Vase with Oleanders, which was stolen in 1944:

Do you have anything further regarding the possible theft, specifically,

1) when in 1944 did it occur, and
2) where in Dordogne did Jean Dauberville live?

After some research, he then shares the following information:

"I think I can piece together now what is known or surmised about the missing Van Gogh, Still Life: Vase with Oleanders. The best single source is probably The lost museum: the Nazi conspiracy to steal the world's greatest works of art, by Hector Feliciano. New York; Basic Books, 1997. Pages 82-84. The subject is touched on also in an article in The London Times of Saturday, February 7, 1998, concerning the Chateau de Rastignac.

The Van Gogh, and some 30 other valuable paintings, were stored at the Chateau de Rastignac in Dordogne by the Bernheim-Jeune family. I have seen the chateau, which is on the Perigueux - Brive Road, the N89. The chateau was owned by friends of the family, and the paintings were transferred from Paris for safekeeping. I can find no record that the family had a residence at La Bachellerie, which is the nearest town to the Chateau. A Nazi raid on March 30, 1944, resulted in the systematic destruction on the chateau. Accounts vary as to whether the paintings, which had been hidden under the eaves, were also taken. Feliciano cites evidence that they may have been. They have not been seen since.

The name Dauberville was a nom de guerre taken by some members of the Bernheim-Jeune family, eminent art dealers and collectors in Paris, who seem to have specialized in Impressionists and post-Impressionists. It also seems likely that the last owner was Jean's father Josse Bernheim-Jeune.

I hope you find this information interesting and useful. I would of course be very interested to follow any further accounts, particularly if any of the paintings that disappeared ever turn up. If any do, that would be indirect evidence that the other paintings were found and stolen, not just inadvertently destroyed."

Sincerely, W. S. Shepard

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