Provenance research: Emil Nolde’s “Frauen im Blumengarten”

The painting “Frauen im Blumengarten” (Women in a Flower Garden) by Emil Nolde held in the collection of the Lehmbruck Museum, inv. no. 724/1958, was acquired on the art market by the city of Duisburg in 1958 for DM 40,000 with support from Wohnungsbau AG.

Since 2001, restitution claims relating to this painting have been submitted to the Lehmbruck Museum, first from the Dittmayer family and then in 2004 from the Müller family. The latter is represented by law firm Rowland & Associates of New York, with the lawyers Schink & Studzinski, Berlin, acting on their behalf.

Following a decision by the Board of Trustees of the Wilhelm Lehmbruck Museum Foundation on December 20, 2013, an application for funding for provenance research was submitted to the former Bureau for Provenance Research in Berlin. Beate Schreiber, co-owner of the agency Facts & Files, Historical Research Institute Berlin was commissioned to undertake the research.

The aim was to confirm the identity of the painting and investigate the circumstances of its sale as a result of Nazi persecution. On the basis of her research and in line with the Guidelines, Ms. Schreiber concludes that “the return of the painting to the heirs of Eduard Müller is recommended.” Accordingly, in its meeting of November 30, 2015, the Board of Trustees of the Wilhelm Lehmbruck Museum Foundation decided to restitute the painting and negotiate a fair and just solution with the descendants of the collector Eduard Müller.

(c) Lehmbruck Museum Duisburg