Between 1933 and 1997, the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin’s Gemäldegalerie acquired numerous works whose provenance has to date remained somewhat unclear. Their origins and the contexts surrounding their acquisition are now being investigated as part of a project funded by the German Lost Art Foundation.
The purpose of this research project is to systematically examine the collection for works of art seized as a result of Nazi persecution, particularly those previously in Jewish possession, so that the works identified can then be restituted. The project not only covers acquisitions that occurred between 1933 and 1945 but also focusses on acquisitions made by the Gemäldegalerie Dahlem in West Berlin from 1945 onwards and by the reunified collection up until 1997. The works being investigated comprise 141 paintings from all areas of the collection, including items by well-known artists such as Albrecht Dürer, Hans Holbein the Elder and the Younger, Orazio Gentileschi, Jan Davidsz. de Heem, Jacob Jordaens, Bartolomé Esteban Murillo, Thomas Gainsborough, Anna Dorothea Therbusch and Antoine Pesne. These paintings entered the collection via various avenues; including as trades for other works, purchases made on the national and international art market or from private individuals, while others came as donations, bequests, or transfers from other collections.
The project ties in with the multi-year research into the provenance of works of art from the Dresdner Bank collection, which were acquired by the Prussian state in 1935 and transferred to several collections belonging to the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin. The transfer of around 190 works to the Gemäldegalerie constitutes the largest portion of acquisitions made by the museum during the Nazi era in terms of volume.
Project partner: Stiftung Preussischer Kulturbesitz (SPK)
Institutions: Zentralarchiv and Gemäldegalerie, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin
Project management: Dr Petra Winter (director of the Zentralarchiv, Staatlichen Museen zu Berlin and head of provenance research), Dr Dagmar Hirschfelder (director of the Gemäldegalerie)
Research associate: Franziska May
Research support: Curators and conservator from the Gemäldegalerie, Dr Sven Haase (Zentralarchiv), Dr Hanna Strzoda (Zentralarchiv)
Project funding: German Lost Art Foundation, Magdeburg
Project duration: 2023 to 2025