Heirs of the persecuted Jewish art dealer withdrew their support for the Düsseldorf exhibition, partly since art looted by the Nazis still hangs in the city.
Advertisement
An exhibition chronicling the life and legacy of Nazi-persecuted Jewish art dealer Max Stern is finally take place — minus the support of scholars and the dealer's own heirs.
"Deprived of rights and property. The art dealer Max Stern" opens with an online event on September 1 at Düsseldorf's Stadtmuseum, three years after the show was suddenly cancelled by former mayor Thomas Geisel.
The decision was made due to concerns about the lack of transparency on potentially looted art formerly owned by Stern that still hangs in public museums in Germany.
The exhibition had been initiated by the Jewish community of Düsseldorf, the Canada-based Max Stern Art Restitution Project, and Susanne Anna, director of the Stadtmuseum.
The unilateral decision to cancel the event until further research was done not only angered donors and partners, it also prompted Stern’s heirs — three universities in Canada and Israel — to withdraw their cooperation. They felt snubbed by the city for not being consulted prior to the cancellation.
At a press conference ahead of the opening of the exhibition, current Düsseldorf mayor Stephan Keller apologized for his predecessor's cancellation and emphasized that the city was open for a new round of talks, that should however be held "on a secure, legal basis."
Forced to flee the Nazis
"The history of Max Stern and the Stern Gallery are part of Düsseldorf's city history," Keller said. "Stern was a highly respected citizen and an important art dealer in Düsseldorf who became a victim of Nazi terror. To dedicate an exhibition to him and to relate his story in Düsseldorf is of major significance."
In 1934, a year after the Nazis came to power, art historian Stern took over the art gallery founded by his father Julius Stern in 1913. Located on Königsallee 23-25, it was one of the most respected addresses in the Düsseldorf art trade in the early 20th century.
However due to his Jewish ancestry, Stern was denied admission to the Reich Authority for Fine Arts in 1935, which barred him from continuing his art business. He was eventually forced to liquidate his gallery and sell its contents at the Lempertz auction house in Cologne. He fled to London in 1938, and later settled in Canada.
Stern died childless in 1987, leaving the bulk of his estate to three universities — Concordia and McGill in Montreal, Canada and the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. They launched a campaign in 2002 to recover the lost art, thus founding the Max Stern Art Restitution Project.
The foundation has been seeking the restitution of about 400 works in total, and has to date successfully overseen the return of more than 20 works by museums and through the art trade.
Advertisement
Curated from recorded memories
Berlin historian Dieter Vorsteher curated the newly conceived exhibition and spent 10 days in Ottawa researching Stern's estate at the National Gallery of Canada.
Using audio tapes of Stern's memories recorded in 1982, in addition to other sources, he traced the successful history of the galleries Stern once ran in Düsseldorf, London and Montreal. He also unearthed previously unknown details about the Stern family's life from 1900 onward.
To this end, the exhibition will feature photographs, films and information panels — and even the Gestapo file on Stern, which the Nazis kept from 1934 to 1942.
Original partners withhold support
However, the Restitution Project and the Canadian curatorial team are not involved in this exhibition, nor are they happy with the new concept.
"After the politically-controlled decision that prompted the cancellation of the original exhibition, Canadian scholars refuse to be associated with an administration that once questioned their academic legitimacy," a project spokesperson told Artnet News in a statement.
It is believed that support was also withdrawn due to ongoing restitution claims over two looted paintings connected to Stern that hang in Düsseldorf museums: Namely "The Artist's Children" (1830) by Friedrich Wilhelm von Schadow, and Heinrich Heimes' "Sunset on the North Sea" (1891).
Curator Dieter Vorsteher said that these issues will be discussed at the exhibition, although he emphasized that provenance research will not be the main focus. "But we will present the problems and the need for evidence on both sides," he said.
Speaking to German broadcaster Deutschlandfunk, provenance researcher Willi Korte questioned what such an exhibition would achieve without the input of crucial experts.
"I can say as someone who has been doing Stern research for 20 years that there are still big gaps in understanding Max Stern's biography," he said. "Many archival documents from the National Socialist era have been lost."
Meanwhile, Düsseldorf mayor Keller announced that in spring 2022 a memorial will be erected on Königsallee to commemorate the history of its former residents who fell victim to Nazi terror. "Max Stern was one of them," he said.
"Deprived of rights and property. The art dealer Max Stern"runs from September 2 through January 30, 2022 at Düsseldorf's Stadtmuseum.
Gurlitt Collection: Germany's most infamous Nazi-looted art trove
So far, only 14 works were proven to have been looted under the Nazis among the some 1,500 found in Gurlitt's hoard.
Image: Bundeskunsthalle / Foto: David Ertl
Carl Spitzweg, 'Playing the Piano,' ca. 1840
This drawing by Carl Spitzweg was seized in 1939 from Jewish music publisher Heinri Hinrichsen, who was killed at the Auschwitz death camp in 1942. It was acquired by Nazi art dealer Hildebrand Gurlitt — and later found among the spectacular collection of works hoarded by his son, Cornelius Gurlitt. The work was auctioned by Christie's at the request of Hinrichsen's heirs.
Image: Staatsanwaltschaft Augsburg/Lost Art Datenbank
Max Beckmann, 'Zandvoort Beach Cafe,' 1934
The watercolor by the Jewish painter Max Beckmann entered Gurlitt's collection only in 1945. Held by the allied occupation forces at the Central Collecting Point in Wiesbaden from 1945-1950, it was returned to Hildebrand Gurlitt in 1950. Before working for the Nazi regime, Gurlitt had collected and exhibited modern art, curating Beckmann's last exhibition in 1936 before the artist fled Germany.
Image: Bundeskunsthalle / Foto: David Ertl
Otto Griebel, 'Veiled Woman,' 1926
This work was owned by lawyer and art collector Fritz Salo Glaser. Artists of Dresden's avant-garde scene were his guests in the 1920s — as was the young Hildebrand Gurlitt. It is not known how Gurlitt came to possess the painting. It was confiscated in 1945 and later returned. Of Jewish heritage, Glaser only narrowly avoided deportation to the Theresienstadt concentration camp in 1945.
Image: Kunst- und Ausstellungshalle der Bundesrepublik Deutschland GmbH / Foto: David Ertl
Claude Monet, 'Waterloo Bridge,' 1903
This painting by the famous impressionist is not suspected to have been looted. The artist sold it to the Durand Ruel Gallery in 1907. The Jewish art merchant and publisher Paul Cassirer is said to have given it to Marie Gurlitt as a present, and she left it to her son Hildebrand Gurlitt in 1923.
Image: Kunst- und Ausstellungshalle der Bundesrepublik Deutschland GmbH / Foto: David Ertl
Thomas Couture, 'Portrait of a Seated Young Woman,' 1850
A short handwritten note allowed provenance researchers to identify this work by the French painter as a looted work of art. The picture was seized from the collection of Jewish politician and resistance leader Georges Mandel, who was executed by French fascists near Paris in 1944. German Culture Minister Monika Grütters (right) handed over the work to Mandel's heirs in January 2019.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/M. Schreiber
Paul Signac, 'Quai de Clichy,' 1887
The activist group Provenance Research Gurlitt identified this painting by French neo-impressionist Paul Signac as stolen Jewish property in October 2018. Gaston Prosper Levy fled Nazi-occupied France in 1940. Occupying soldiers are believed to have looted his art collection shortly before his escape. The painting was returned to Levy's family in 2019.
Image: picture-alliance/Keystone/A. Anex
Auguste Rodin, 'Crouching Woman,' approx. 1882
Hildebrand Gurlitt must have acquired this work by the French sculptor between 1940 and 1945. Previously belonging to the Frenchman Eugene Rudier, it entered circulation in 1919 at an auction by Octave Henri Marie Mirbeau, who is said to have received it as a present from the artist.
Image: Bundeskunsthalle / Foto: David Ertl
Albrecht Dürer, Knight, Death and Devil, 1513
This copper engraving by Albrecht Dürer once belonged to the Falkeisen-Huber Gallery in Basel. It is not known how it got there or how long it was there however. In 2012 the engraving turned up in Cornelius Gurlitt's collection. "Old masters" like Dürer were very important to the National Socialists' view of art and were often exploited for propaganda.
Image: Kunst- und Ausstellungshalle der Bundesrepublik Deutschland GmbH / Foto: David Ertl
Edvard Munch, 'Ashes II,' 1899
The provenance of this drawing is completely unknown. It is certain, however, that Hitler considered Norwegian artist Edvard Munch's work "degenerate art." Some 82 pieces by Munch were confiscated in German museums in 1937.
Image: Bundeskunsthalle/Foto: Mick Vincenz
Francois Boucher, 'Male Nude,' undated
Hitler venerated 18th-century French painting. He secured exceptional paintings for his own collection by targeting the collection of the Rothschild Family after the annexation of Austria. Hildebrand Gurlitt supplemented them with drawings by renowned French painters. He acquired this work by Boucher from a Parisian art merchant in 1942.
Image: Kunst- und Ausstellungshalle der Bundesrepublik Deutschland GmbH / Foto: David Ertl
In Gurlitt's apartment
Cornelius Gurlitt hoarded the sculpture along with many other artworks for decades in his Munich apartment. Before his death in 2014, he consented to have his stocks researched and — should they include articles of stolen art — have them returned to their rightful owners in accordance with the Washington Principles on Nazi-looted art.