Investigating the provenance of Kunstmuseum Stuttgart’s collection

Initial questions and project objectives

In the period from July 1, 2014 to June 30, 2017, the Kunstmuseum Stuttgart began investigating the origins of its artworks for the first time. The long-term aim is to systematically review the provenance of masterpieces acquired from 1933 and created pre-1945 and to identify cultural goods confiscated as a result of persecution. The project had to be narrowed down to ensure it could be completed within the total three-year funding period. The urgency of the cases and the chronology of the acquisitions were defined as the criteria for the order of the work.

In accordance with the first criterion, works by Otto Dix were dealt with as a priority. Firstly, there were suspicions in relation to a number of works in this group. Secondly, this specific section of the collection is firmly integrated into international lending procedures as a focal point of the museum’s collection and a recognized “very important self-contained stock of works on paper and paintings” by Otto Dix.1 The main focus of attention in the first instance was the paintings and also the drawings.

In order to open up the possibility of meaningful results at the end of the project, the investigations were pursued in the order of the acquisition chronology in the other painting stock—characterized by regional features—initially for the acquisition period 1933–1945. Masterpieces, primarily paintings, obtained outside this acquisition period were also considered in individual cases if they had already aroused suspicions or these had arisen in the course of loan requests, and also where more extensive source analyses made this seem advisable.

During the three years of the project, the researchers succeeded—despite very incomplete sources—in investigating a large part of the stock of Dix paintings and the paintings acquired between 1933 and 1945 according to defined examination criteria, compiling information on works and key persons, and achieving further research results.

The project in numbers

Of the 437 masterpieces categorized, predominantly paintings, the following have proven to be

Lawful: 96 (21.97%)

Not conclusively clarified: 325 (74.37%)

Questionable: 16 (3.66%)

Clearly suspicious: 0 (0.00%)

As the research cannot be considered complete in many cases, particularly for reasons mainly associated with the extremely challenging source situation, the statistics must be regarded only as an interim result.

Persons and institutions that are historically relevant to the project:

- Combé, Hermann (art dealer)

- Cuhorst, Fritz (cultural advisor)

- Dix, Otto (artist with extensive network)

- Greiner, Otto (art dealer)

- Hartmann, Paul (art dealer)

- Hirrlinger, Firma (art dealership/photo business)

- Kern & Co., Verlag (publisher/art dealer)

- Keuerleber, Eugen (director of Galerie der Stadt Stuttgart)

- Krieg, Gotthilf (businessman/art collector)

- Roth, Karl (regulation official/art collector)

- Schaller, Kunsthaus (gallery)

- Valentien, Fritz (art dealer)

- Wunderlich, Albert (businessman/sales representative/art collector/painter)

Transparency

Guided tours and talks have been organized on many occasions in order to inform the public about provenance research work at the Kunstmuseum Stuttgart.

Provenance research is included in the current redesign of the permanent exhibition. Texts providing information about the provenance history of objects have been created for a series of paintings, particularly those by Otto Dix.

The intention is to continue pursuing provenance research at the Kunstmuseum Stuttgart and regularly communicate research findings as they emerge. Specific steps have already been taken to ensure longer-term funding for a post in this area.

(c) Kunstmuseum Stuttgart