Provenance research on works created before 1945 in the holdings of the Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen

Founded in 1961, the Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen is a comparatively new museum for art of the 20th and 21st centuries. All of its acquisitions were made after 1945. Under its first director Werner Schmalenbach, from the 1960s through to the 1980s there was an awareness of provenance issues that was relatively advanced for the time, even though these issues were not addressed in the sense of provenance research as we know it today. Following the Washington Principles, provenance research was stepped up from 1999 onward and was taken forward by the museum’s own curator of the collection. She concentrated on the period from 1933 to 1945. The focus here was mainly on individual cases, such as the 2002 examination of the painting “Drei Katzen” (Three Cats), 1913 by Franz Marc. The research proved the existing restitution request to be unfounded. The findings were published in the museum’s own periodical.

It soon became apparent, however, that a systematic investigation of the holdings was necessary in order to determine the provenance of objects between 1933 and 1945. As the museum did not have sufficient staff to deal with the variety and complexity of the cases, two specialist provenance researchers were recruited for a post for the period 2009–2012. This was made possible with substantial support from federal funding, which was used to finance two projects: one of which ran from 2009 to 2010 and a second from 2009 to 2012. In the first project, the aim of the research was to examine the entire holdings of 179 masterpieces to clarify their ownership status between 1933 and 1945. The majority of the works involved here were paintings. The second project was dedicated to a more extensive investigation into the 98 works by Paul Klee, including the many works by Paul Klee that are the foundation of the collection. This was for a number of reasons, not least because restitution requests concerning two works by Klee had been made in 2009.

Thanks to the research activities conducted in both projects, the provenance of 146 objects could be extensively and conclusively clarified, i.e. it was possible to rule out loss as a result of persecution. For 33 masterpieces, the chains of ownership between 1933 and 1945 still have gaps and are being investigated further. The present state of research indicates that eight of these are potentially problematic. Further research is required. This has been, and is being, conducted through fixed-term research contracts issued to specialist provenance researchers for particular works and specific sets of questions, and also through ongoing consultation and research, where necessary, provided by another researcher on a fee basis. No restitutions have been made to date. The research relating to the two works for which restitution requests have been made is nearing completion.

With regard to the transparency of its provenance research, the Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen published the details of all works with gaps in provenance between 1933 and 1945 in the Lost Art Database in 2012. In addition, information on all works and their provenance have been put online on the museum’s website on a continual basis since 2013. In 2012, the Kunstsammlung joined 14 other museums in the online project www.Alfred-Flechtheim.de. Among other things, this project presents the provenances of those masterpieces in the participating museums that were connected with this art dealer and collector.

(c) Stiftung Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen