Reconstructing the provenance of acquisitions made in the period 1933–1945

The project’s aim was to clarify the origin of artworks that came into the possession of the city of Dresden up to 1945. This required the reconstruction of the inventory of the city art collection, which was among items lost during the war.

Overall, the research focused on 4,865 art objects acquired (659 paintings, 2,093 drawings and watercolors, 1,966 graphic prints and 147 sculptural objects). With the help of the city’s management reports, it was possible to verify the receipt of 115 paintings, 196 drawings and watercolors, 101 graphic prints and 20 sculptural objects.

An analysis was subsequently carried out on files from Dresden City Archive, including the archive of invoices for the art purchases made by the Städtische Sammlungen from 1890 to 1939. Also included in this analysis were the sales ledgers of the Dresdner Künstlervereinigung (artists’ association) for 1916 to 1935, foundation files on donations and investments in art purchases and files from the main office, particularly relating to support purchases from struggling artists and to acquisitions from art exhibitions.

At the Sächsisches Hauptstaatsarchiv, the German Art Archive in Nuremberg and the Zentralarchiv of the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, research was undertaken on art-supporting foundations and art dealers who sold objects to the Dresdner Stadtmuseum. Exhibition catalogs going back to 1860 were also examined.

Overall, either proof of acquisition or indications of provenance could be produced for 425 of 659 paintings, 1,414 of 2,093 drawings and watercolors, 683 of 1,966 graphic prints and 61 of 147 sculptural objects. In addition, information on origin was found for 1,095 works on our list of lost items.

Proof of acquisition was found for 1,325 paintings, watercolors, graphic prints, drawings and sculptures from the city’s stock of artworks that is not in a museum. Bundles of works frequently came into the possession of the city and are only recorded in terms of number. The exact provenance of these objects could not be clarified.

In the part of the stock that was investigated, no evidence was found of any cultural goods confiscated as a result of persecution.

(c) Städtische Galerie Dresden