Join us for an exciting conversation that will shed light on the legacy of Jules Strauss, and the restitution of Nicolas de Largillière's Portrait of a lady as Pomona with Strauss’ great-granddaughter, Pauline Baer de Perignon. De Perignon recently authored The Vanished Collection, a story of her quest to learn about her great-grandfather, and what happened to his collection of masterpieces including Renoir, Monet, Degas, and more, after Nazis seized his elegant Parisian apartment in 1942. Speakers also include Sotheby’s experts Lucian Simmons, Vice Chairman, Worldwide Head, Restitution Department and Senior Specialist, Impressionist and Modern Art; and Calvine Harvey, Vice President, Old Master Paintings.

Old Masters

Pauline Baer de Perignon is an author and screenwriter. Based in Paris, she has been a literary director in the audiovisual sector for over ten years, and regularly runs writing workshops. The Vanished Collection is her first book.

Calvine Harvey joined the Old Master Paintings department at Sotheby’s in New York in 2010. She has been involved in the sales of a number of notable collections, including Property from the Collection of J. E. Safra in 2011 and 2015; Property from the Estate of Giancarlo Baroni in 2013; The Weldon Collection in 2015; Old Masters from The Collection of A. Alfred Taubman in 2016; and the Collection of Ambassador Felix Rohatyn as well as the Estate of Hester Diamond in 2020. She also spearheaded “The Female Triumphant,” a record-setting sale of Old Master Paintings exclusively by female artists in 2019. Before joining Sotheby’s, she worked as a Gallery Director for David Tunick, Inc., the Old Master Prints and Drawings Gallery in New York. She received a Bachelor’s degree in History and Printmaking and a Masters in Teaching from the University of Virginia.

Lucian Simmons, Vice Chairman and Worldwide Head of Sotheby’s Restitution Department and Senior Specialist, Impressionist and Modern Art Department, Sotheby’s New York, joined Sotheby’s in 1995.  Lucian works extensively with art collectors and their advisors throughout North America and Europe has been involved in the sale of some of the most significant artworks to come to auction in recent years including Onement VI by Barnett Newman (sold for $43.8m in May 2013), Dämmernde Stadt by Egon Schiele (sold for $24.5m in November 2018), Das Soldatenbad by Ernst Ludwig Kirchner (sold for $22m in November 2018) and Gel.  He has worked on restitution and provenance issues since 1997 and has been involved in the resolution of claims to art works worth in excess of $950 million. 

He was called to the Bar in 1984 and later re-qualified as a Solicitor of the Supreme Court of England and Wales.  He was a partner in the London City Law Firm of Barlow, Lyde and Gilbert prior to joining Sotheby's.  He is a Solicitor of the Supreme Court of England and Wales. 

Mr. Simmons has spoken widely on art market issues and in particular on the displacement of art during WWII. Mr. Simmons has been interviewed on the subject on television and radio and has appeared in a number of film documentaries. He gives regular seminars at universities and law schools across North America and has given evidence to the Select Committee on Culture, Media and Sport of the House of Commons, London, to the European Parliament, Brussels, and to the Prague Conference on Holocaust Era Assets.