The painting “Girl with a Canary” was acquired by the museum in 1928 at the Tradycja Antique Art shop owned by Franciszek Studziński in Krakow. The museum’s possession of the painting is confirmed by a series of photographs taken in 1930 of the Gallery of Polish Painting at the Silesian Museum in Katowice, in which the canvas by Leopold Loeffler is visible. Prior to that, the painting belonged to the collection of Czesław Kieszkowski of Krakow, who had purchased the work in 1878 from the Krakow Society of Friends of Fine Arts.

Up to 1939, the museum displayed its collections in the buildings of the Voivodeship Office and the Silesian Council as it awaited the completion of its own building. The new structure, designed by Karol Schayer, was described as one of the most modern museum buildings in all of Europe. Though completed in 1939, the new museum did not have an official grand opening due to the outbreak of the Second World War. In fact, it was destroyed by occupying forces during the war, with the museum’s collection being plundered of many works. What remained was transported by the Germans to the Landesmuseum in Bytom, today known as the Upper Silesian Museum. The collections were stored away in the Bytom museum’s warehouses and in 1943-1944 the most valuable pieces were evacuated to western Upper Silesia. The war and the actions of Soviet authorities led to the building’s destruction and yet more of the museum’s possessions were dispersed. The exact details surrounding the disappearance of Loeffler’s painting remain unknown. After the war, the painting was deemed lost and included in the wartime losses register.

In August 2015, the painting resurfaced in a Polish private collection. An inspection of the painting confirmed its identity and revealed that its pre-war inventory numbers and institutional ownership stamp were still visible on the reverse side of the canvas. Upon discussions with representatives of the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage and of the Silesian Museum in Katowice, the person in possession of the painting agreed to return the work.

The body of work of Polish artist Leopold Loeffler (1827-1898) reflects two fundamental artistic currents, namely history painting and genre painting, with the recovered canvas being an example of the latter. Loeffler was one of the most popular painters of the pre-Matejko era. He garnered a following in Austria as well as in his homeland, where his success is largely attributable to the fact that he often painted scenes representing in the nation’s history. Loeffler’s paintings were often exhibited in Vienna’s Künstlerhaus and became sought-after for imperial and aristocratic collections as well as those of private collectors in Germany and England. One of the artist’s more prestigious commissions was for the design of the stage curtain for a Brno theatre in 1882.

The ceremonial return of the painting took place on 15 October 2015 in the new Silesian Museum building, with the Minister of Culture and National Heritage, Małgorzata Omilanowska, and the Director of the Museum, Alicja Knast, in attendance.