French decision to return artworks plundered by the Nazis to two Jewish families 'could have knock-on effect for British museums' French Ministry of Culture said that seven works were to be returned Follows criticism that it was dragging its heels over restitution The Arts Council England says it is ready to consider new claims A decision by the French government to return artworks looted by the Nazis to two Jewish families could have a knock-on effect for British museums, an expert has said. The French Ministry of Culture said yesterday that seven works, including three held by the Louvre, were to be returned to descendants of their Jewish owners. It follows criticism that the French government was dragging its heels over the restitution of stolen masterpieces now hanging in the Louvre and other collections. Six of the Austrian industrialist Richard Neumann's 18th century Italian and German paintings were found, including Abraham and The Three Angels by Sebastiano Ricci (pictured). His 82-year-old descendent Tom Selldorff has requested their return The Arts Council England's senior policy adviser Gerry McQuillan said the Spoliation Advisory Panel, which rules on whether there is a moral case for British museums to return objects, is ready to consider new claims, The Times reported today. Since 2001, the panel has ruled on 12 cases and approved seven claims. All were among the crateloads of an estimated 100,000 paintings and antiques, taken from Jewish families after Germany invaded France in 1940. The seven paintings were destined for the Fuhrermuseum - an unfinished museum that Hitler wanted to build in Linz, Austria, where he grew up. (File picture, 1945) Seven works of art looted by the Nazis and now held in French museums will be returned to the descendents of their owners following a decision by the French Ministry of Culture Loot: A U.S. soldier stands among thousands of artworks stolen by the Nazis and stored in a church at Elligen, Germany, during World War Two General Dwight D. Eisenhower (right) inspects some of the stolen art found in a salt mine in Merkers, Germany 'Himmler's hoard': Artworks found on the outskirts of Wewelsburg, Westphalia, where the headquarters of the SS was The Spoliation Advisory Panel was set up by the Department of Culture Media and Sport in April 2000 to help resolve claims of lost cultural property now held in UK national collections. The panel is chaired by the Rt Hon Sir David Hirst retired Lord Justice of Appeal, and considers claims for the return of objects. Between 1933 and 1945 the Nazi regime seized many works of art and cultural property in Europe. These works of art were later sold and resold, some finding their way to museums. Despite efforts following World War II to return looted and stolen property, many works of art still require restitution. Public awareness of the extent and significance of Nazi looting (or spoliation) has grown significantly over recent years. Across the world, Holocaust survivors and the descendants of victims are now attempting to trace and recover works of art that were lost during the Nazi era. The Declaration of Principles, agreed at the Washington Conference on Holocaust-era Assets in 1998, included the encouragement of heirs to come forward and the need to make information accessible. Bruno Saunier, deputy director of collections at the French Service of Museums, said the decision to return the artworks was 'quite exceptional'. 'We only restitute one work a year on average,' he told The Times. It follows a 12-year battle by 82-year-old Tom Selldorff, from Massachusetts, who made a request in 2001 for the paintings that once belonged to his grandfather to be returned. His is a descendent of Richard Neumann, an Austrian industrialist who moved to France and then sold his collection to pay for his family to flee to Cuba to escape deportation.. Mr Saunier told The Times: 'It was very complicated. We had to go through our archives and the archives of the Neumann collection and piece together the history of these works after they had been sold. Six of Mr Neumann's 18th century Italian and German paintings were found, three in the Louvre, the others in regional museums. They include Portrait of Bartolomeo Ferracina by Alessandro Longhi, Abraham and the Three Angels by Sebastiano Ricci, The Apotheosis of John of Nepomuk by Francois-Charles Palko, The Allegory of Venice by Gaspare Diziani, Saint Francis of Paola by Franceso Salvator Fontebasso and The Miracle of Saint Eligius by Gaetano Gandolfi. The seventh work, The Halt, by Pieter Jansz van Asch is to go to the descendants of Joesf Wiener, a Czech banker whose collection was taken by the Gestapo before he was deported to Theresienstadt concentration camp, where he was killed in 1942. Three paintings held by The Louvre in Paris are among those being returned to their Jewish owners by the French Ministry of Culture This picture shows a police car loaded with arrested Jews in north Berlin in 1933