Results of the Provenance Research

By the conclusion of the project, it was possible for researchers to definitively rule out acquisition via seizure as part of the Nazis’ policies of persecution for more than half of the research collection (54 artworks); this means that it was possible to trace the provenance of the collection items acquired in the period between 1933 and 1945, and that these items’ provenance was determined not to present cause for concern.

In one particular instance, André Masson’s Hunter, researchers determined that the artwork had been confiscated by the Einsatzstab Reichsleiter Rosenberg (ERR) in France in 1940 as part of the seizure of the collection of Alphonse Kann, who hailed from a Jewish banking family. This painting was restituted to its rightful owners as Nazi plunder immediately after the end of World War II. It was subsequently acquired for the collection of Ulla and Heiner Pietzsch.

A total of 42 artworks lack provenance information for the period between 1933 and 1945. The gaps in question either relate to unidentified former owners, or to cases where it was not possible to conclusively determine the exact time periods in which the works were in those collectors’ possession. At this point, there is nothing to indicate that any of these artworks were seized as part of the Nazis’ campaign of persecution.

Project Conclusion and Digital Publication

Following the completion of the research project, there is no longer any suspicion that any of the artworks were unlawfully seized during the Nazi era. The provenances of each individual artwork will be published online at recherche.smb.museum as the results of the research project.

Insights into the Network of Surrealism and the Circulation of Artworks

The research into the provenance of the surrealist artworks from the Pietzsch Collection revealed a key finding: the period from the 1920s to 1930s in particular was very much characterised by informal relationships. The circulation of artworks in these years between acquaintances and friends in writer and artist circles was highly dynamic, with paintings continually changing hands from one owner to the next.

When it comes to the artworks from the Pietzsch Collection, it is clear that their provenances are highly international. The artists, owners and objects themselves all travelled widely. This was due in part to the fact that many of the surrealist groups coalesced in a variety of locations (including Paris, Brussels, Prague and London); they were in active contact with one another and frequently exhibited their artwork together.

Another contributing factor was the relatively early emergence of a transatlantic trade in surrealist artworks. The Nazi occupation of large parts of Europe from 1939 onwards, however, resulted in mass waves of displacement and emigration. When the German Wehrmacht invaded and occupied Paris in 1940, the majority of the city’s artists and art collectors fled to the unoccupied southern region of France. Those who had the option emigrated to the USA or Mexico.

As early as the 1930s, several of the paintings analysed as part of this research project were shown at exhibitions in the USA, facilitated in part by New York gallery owners Julien Levy and Pierre Matisse, among others. They thereby contributed to the large-scale popularisation of surrealism, even before many of the surrealist artists themselves had even been to the United States.

Exhibition and Publication of Research Findings

The exhibition From Max Ernst to Dorothea Tanning: Networks of Surrealism. Provenances from the Ulla and Heiner Pietzsch Collection (duration: 17 October 2025 to 1 March 2026) at the Neue Nationalgalerie presents the results of the research project. The exhibition is accompanied by a brochure featured as part of the Zentralrchiv’s series “Begleithefte zur Provenienzforschung” (Booklets on Provenance Research, German only), which presents the biographies and provenances of selected collection items.