Watercolor stolen by Nazis returned to original museum

Via Deutsche Welle

One more piece of art from Germany’s infamous trove known as the Gurlitt Collection will soon be returned to its original owner, the museum in the eastern city of Halle announced on Tuesday.

The Kunstmuseum Moritzburg hailed “the comeback” of a watercolor study of a tree trunk painted by Christian Rohlfs, one of the key figures of German expressionism.

The painting has the “inventory number and stamp of the museum on it, making its provenance undeniable.”

Rohlfs was born in 1874 in what was then Prussia. When the Nazis came to power in the 1930s, many modern artists were labeled as “degenerate,” and the fascists removed their work from galleries and museums. Rohlfs was banned from painting by the Nazi party and was ejected from the Prussian Academy of Arts in 1938, shortly before he died.

Kunstmuseum Moritzburg describes him as a “versatile artist who received public recognition only when it was too late.”

Rohlfs paintings, along with thousands of other looted pieces, were purchased or ended up in the collection of art historian Hildebrand Gurlitt.

Gurlitt passed the stolen art down to his son, Cornelius Gurlitt, and it was discovered in 2010 when authorities became suspicious of the then 77-year-old man carrying thousands of dollars in cash on a train from Switzerland to Germany. His Munich apartment was then found to contain myriad looted treasures.

In his will, Gurlitt left all of the art to the Museum of Fine Arts in Bern, Switzerland. However, many of the pieces that have been proven to be stolen have been returned to their original owners or the owners’ descendants.

In their statement, the Kunstmuseum Moritzburg expressed its gratitude that it was not asked to pay for the painting or bid for it at auction.

Where did the Gurlitt collection artwork come from?

Max Beckmann, Zandvoort Beach Cafe, 1934

The watercolor by the Jewish painter Max Beckmann entered Gurlitt’s collection only in 1945. Held by the allied occupation forces at the Central Collecting Point in Wiesbaden from 1945-1950, it was returned to Hildebrand Gurlitt in 1950. Before working for the Nazi regime, Gurlitt had collected and exhibited modern art, curating Beckmann’s last exhibition in 1936 before the artist fled Germany.

Where did the Gurlitt collection artwork come from?

Otto Griebel, Veiled Woman, 1926

This work was owned by lawyer and art collector Fritz Salo Glaser. Artists of Dresden’s avant-garde scene were his guests in the 1920s — as was the young Hildebrand Gurlitt. It is not known how Gurlitt came to possess the painting. It was confiscated in 1945 and later returned. Of Jewish heritage, Glaser only narrowly avoided deportation to the Theresienstadt concentration camp in 1945.

Where did the Gurlitt collection artwork come from?

Claude Monet, Waterloo Bridge, 1903

This painting by the famous impressionist is not suspected to have been looted. The artist sold it to the Durand Ruel Gallery in 1907. The Jewish art merchant and publisher Paul Cassirer is said to have given it to Marie Gurlitt as a present, and she left it to her son Hildebrand Gurlitt in 1923.

Where did the Gurlitt collection artwork come from?

Thomas Couture, Portrait of a Seated Young Woman, 1850

This work by the French painter was only recently identified as a looted work of art. A short handwritten note was the clue for the provenance researchers. The picture was quite likely in the collection of the Jewish politician Georges Mandel, whose family stakes a claim to the work. It is not known how it came into Gurlitt’s possession.

Where did the Gurlitt collection artwork come from?

Auguste Rodin, Crouching Woman, approx. 1882

Hildebrand Gurlitt must have acquired this work by the French sculptor between 1940 and 1945. Previously belonging to the Frenchman Eugene Rudier, it entered circulation in 1919 at an auction by Octave Henri Marie Mirbeau, who is said to have received it as a present from the artist.

Where did the Gurlitt collection artwork come from?

In Gurlitt’s apartment

Cornelius Gurlitt hoarded the sculpture along with many other artworks for decades in his Munich apartment. Before his death in 2014, he consented to have his stocks researched and — should they include articles of stolen art — have them returned to their rightful owners in accordance with the Washington Principles on Nazi-looted art.

Where did the Gurlitt collection artwork come from?

Albrecht Dürer, Knight, Death and Devil, 1513

This copper engraving by Albrecht Dürer once belonged to the Falkeisen-Huber Gallery in Basel. It is not known how it got there or how long it was there however. In 2012 the engraving turned up in Cornelius Gurlitt’s collection. “Old masters” like Dürer were very important to the National Socialists’ view of art and were often exploited for propaganda.

Where did the Gurlitt collection artwork come from?

Edvard Munch, Ashes II, 1899

The provenance of this drawing is completely unknown. It is certain, however, that Hitler considered Norwegian artist Edvard Munch’s work “degenerate art.” Some 82 pieces by Munch were confiscated in German museums in 1937.

Where did the Gurlitt collection artwork come from?

Francois Boucher, Male Nude, undated

Hitler venerated 18th century French painting. He secured exceptional paintings for his own collection by targeting the collection of the Rothschild Family after the annexation of Austria. Hildebrand Gurlitt supplemented them with drawings by renowned French painters. He acquired this work by Boucher from a Parisian art merchant in 1942.

Where did the Gurlitt collection artwork come from?

Carl Spitzweg: Alpine Valley with Dairymaid, 1871

This painting was probably Hitler’s personal property from 1934 onward. Not a part of the Gurlitt collection, it has been on loan from the Federal Republic of Germany since 1973 and shown in Dusseldorf’s Kunstpalast Museum. The image reflects Hitler’s taste in art, and he wished to have such works at the “Führer Museum.”