GÉRARD Renée (EN)
Renée Gérard was a specialist in old tapestries. After the death of her husband, an antiques dealer in Nogent-le-Roi, Renée Girard took over his business and pursued his activity in Paris. Among her clients during the Occupation were Bruno Lohse and Walter Bornheim.
After the death of her husband in 1936, Renée Dreyfuss, née Gérard, took over the affair of her late husband, an antiques dealer in Nogent-le-Roi, and continued to pursue his activity in Paris. She herself was a specialist in tapestries. Information relating to her is minimal: she was impossible to locate at the end of the war and left behind numerous debts. According to certain sources, she left to the colonies.1
According to the Direction générale des douanes (Customs directorate), Renée Gérard sold collection pieces to German citizens from her home, 45 rue de Bellechasse. These objects, for an overall value during the Occupation estimated at 3,770,000 F, were then exported without an authorization.2 In particular, she supplied Bruno Lohse with a tapestry (Scipion l’Africain) and was in almost daily contact with Walter Bornheim.3 According to Customs, she sold the latter a tapestry after Carle van Loo,4 a painting attributed to Padoue [sic] (?) and another attributed to Cesare da Sarto [sic].5 It is probable that she was an intermediary for the sale by Marthe Dufet of a 12th c. Virgin to Bornheim,6 a work transported by the Schenker firm. A note in the Direction générale de l’enregistrement, des domaines et du timbre (Registration directorate for Land and Stamps) stipulates that “during the Occupation, she received German officers at her home, one Austrian officer in particular, to whom she sold antique furniture.”7 An extract from a report on the Hermann Göring collection indicates that she “introduced Mademoiselle Bellagamba to Hofer.”8
In her declarations, Renée Gérard said she had an employee: Patrick MacGrath, who also received commissions on sales.9 Those transactions were however not declared, and since they were carried out in cash, Renée Gérard never filled out a tax form, making her dossier very difficult to evaluate.
She was prosecuted by the Comité de confiscation des profits illicites, which imposed a confiscation penalty of 754,000 F and a fine of 1,500,000 F despite her absence,10 but the Commission nationale interprofessionnelle d’épuration does not seem to have come to a decision, being unable to reach Renée Gérard. In her dossier is a death notice, but there was obviously confusion with another person.11