Provenance research at Staatsgalerie Stuttgart and Landesmuseum Württemberg

Landesmuseum Württemberg

In October 2009, Dr. Anja Heuß was appointed to research the provenance of the holdings at the Landesmuseum Württemberg and the Staatsgalerie Stuttgart.

At the Landesmuseum Württemberg, she worked mainly on her own initiative to investigate objects that had been confiscated during the National Socialist era. In the process, acquisitions made from 1933 up to the present day were examined. Between 2009 and 2013, 22 masterpieces were identified that had been confiscated from their owners as a result of persecution during the National Socialist era. Of these 22 masterpieces, six were restituted to the heirs of their former owners or bought back by the Landesmuseum.

One key area of Dr. Heuß’s work was focused on the holdings of the Landesmuseum’s clock collection. The collection of Joseph Fremersdorf of Lucerne was acquired in 1972/73. The provenance of some of the objects in this collection has proved to be very problematic. In July 2012, two Renaissance clocks from the collection of Eugen Gutmann were returned to his heirs. These two high quality clocks were subsequently bought back using funding from the Museumsstiftung Baden-Württemberg and therefore can continue to be displayed in the vault of the Old Castle in Stuttgart. Another table clock from the Renaissance era was restituted to the heirs of the Munich art dealer A. S. Drey in fall 2012. Other objects that have been conclusively dealt with were put on the Landesmuseum’s website with a photo and brief details of their provenance. The entries are continually updated: http://www.landesmuseum-stuttgart.de/sammlungen/forschung/provenienzforschung/

When the period of co-financing from the Bureau for Provenance Research expired, the state of Baden-Württemberg decided to continue financing the research on its own. Dr. Anja Heuß will therefore resume her duties as provenance researcher at the Landesmuseum until December 31, 2014. Dr. Matthias Ohm will be the contact person for provenance questions from 2015 onward.

Staatsgalerie Stuttgart

In October 2009, Dr. Anja Heuß was appointed to research the provenance of the holdings at the Landesmuseum Württemberg and the Staatsgalerie Stuttgart.

Her top priority was the examination of a number of information requests and claims for restitution which the Staatsgalerie Stuttgart had received up to that point. The most extensive research was undertaken in connection with a claim from the heirs of Alfred Flechtheim. This concerned seven paintings, prints and sculptures by Paul Klee, Willi Baumeister, Ernst Barlach, Juan Gris and Maurice de Vlaminck. The result of the research is that it is not possible to prove that the art dealer and collector Alfred Flechtheim sold the objects as a result of persecution. Another extensive investigation was undertaken in relation to a claim from the heirs of Alfred and Thekla Hess of Erfurt. This concerned a painting by Lyonel Feininger and another by Franz Marc.

In the period 2009–2013, the following masterpieces were restituted based on the provenance research: a drawing by Anselm Feuerbach to the heirs of Max Silberberg, Wroclaw; the painting of an anonymous, presumably Westphalian master: Mary and Child, from the gallery of Dr. Max Stern, Düsseldorf; and a painting by Lovis Corinth to the granddaughter of Margarethe Stern, Berlin-Potsdam. The above-mentioned drawing by Anselm Feuerbach, which is a preliminary study for the painting entitled “Iphigenie” in the Staatsgalerie Stuttgart, was bought back in 2013 and remains in the Graphische Sammlung.

The provenance researcher also worked on her own initiative to research artworks with dubious provenance. These included the 26-piece frieze by Hans Thoma from the collection of Alfred Pringsheim, Munich, which was acquired by the Staatsgalerie in 1935. In 1939, two paintings were acquired via the Munich art market which came from a Jewish collection in Austria. Two more paintings were acquired in 1942 at a Gestapo auction in Stuttgart. Out of the acquisitions made between 1933 and 1945, a total of three objects were identified which had clearly been sold by Jewish collectors as a result of persecution. Restitution was unfortunately not possible for various reasons. These works are therefore recorded in the Lost Art Database in the hope that any heirs will get in contact.

When the limited three-year period of co-financing from the Bureau for Provenance Research expired, the state of Baden-Württemberg took over the further full financing of this post. Dr. Anja Heuß remains the contact person for provenance research.

(c) Landesmuseum Württemberg / Staatsgalerie Stuttgart