02.02.2011
Kupferstichkabinett
Like all other collections at the National Museums in Berlin, the Kupferstichkabinett (Museum of Prints and Drawings) keeps a list of all significant losses incurred as a result of the Second World War. Such missing works include illustrated books, printing plates, historic auction catalogues, as well as huge numbers of drawings and prints from all schools. After painstaking research extending over several years, the Kupferstichkabinett is now about to publish the first volume documenting its losses which lists some 800 German and almost 200 Netherlandish drawings. Each entry contains a description and, where possible, is also accompanied by old illustrations of the original works.
The catalogue features in the series 'Dokumentation der Verluste' (or 'Documentation of the Losses'), which the National Museums in Berlin have periodically brought out since 1995. These editions provide a complete list for each individual museum of objects that have to be viewed as lost. It is often unclear which works were irretrievably destroyed in the turmoil and confusion of the war, and which survived and are now possibly held elsewhere. By documenting our losses we aim to support efforts to find the missing objects from our collections and help identify and retrieve missing cultural artefacts. At the same time, the catalogue exposes the often painful gaps that appeared in the Kupferstichkabinett's original collection.
Published by the General Directorate of the National Museums in Berlin
152 pages, paperback
numerous b/w illustrations
Order no.: GD0009690
Price: €15.00