Acquisitions in the Graphic Art Collection of the Museum Ludwig 1933-2015

This project aims to investigate the holdings of the Graphic Art Collection of the Museum Ludwig in order to determine whether items may have been confiscated from their previous owners through Nazi persecution. Researchers plan to assess the provenance of all drawings that were added to the collection after 1933 or created prior to 1945. This applies to approximately 880 sheets, whereby some 250 could be classified as “unsuspicious” following a preliminary assessment. The project will therefore focus on 618 sheets which researchers will examine over the course of the next two years.

These 618 sheets were added to the collection in different ways. Some were purchased in the years of National Socialism, others had been donated to the city of Cologne by Josef Haubrich in 1946. The project wishes to investigate municipal purchases and institutional donations between 1945 and the end of 2015. In addition to purchased acquisitions from the regional art market, e.g. galleries owned by Andreas Becker, Alois Faust, Alex Vömel and Wilhelm Grosshenning – the researchers will also examine the transfers from the municipal welfare office and the Kölnischer Kunstverein.

The provenance of the examined works will be published online on www.kulturelles-erbe-koeln.de no later than the end of the project in March 2018. The museum will report any unclarified cases on the Lost Art Database. If any works are identified as having been confiscated through Nazi persecution, steps will be taken to return them to their rightful owners or heirs.

(c) Museum Ludwig Köln