How solid is an art provenance text? Analysis of a Degas sculpture at the NGA

"Probably", "possibly", "apparently", "proposes" and "allegedly" in texts for Degas' Dancer Adjusting the Shoulder Strap of Her Bodice, original wax 1880s/1890s, cast 1920/1949 at the NGA

DATASET: Art Provenances AFTER Restitution of Looted Art

Claims for Nazi-looted art or duress sales sometimes result in restitution or settlement agreements which cause the restituted artwork to be sold at auction.

Below are artworks whose provenance, as published by Christie's auction house, mentions a restitution or settlement agreement with the heir of a victim of Nazi persecution.

These provenance texts provide valuable information to art historians and Holocaust researchers, offering insights into the art market networks that dealt in Holocaust-linked artworks between the time they left the possession of the persecuted Jewish collectors and the time they were restituted.

(original source of information: Christie's auction website)

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Dataset:  CSV Download 

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URL: 

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/e/2PACX-1vT9UtnanPSGuAIi63ObN4G4xtK2Ya6_eIzgIAM2ILah-kxKJhHRmvgeFdCnWdKxcEDfHKpQvNJfUNCh/pubhtml?gid=1713651722&single=true

Erasing Jewish owners from provenance: Martha Liebermann

 

Martha Liebermann committed suicide the day before her planned deportation by the #Nazis to the Theresienstadt Ghetto

Her heirs list this portrait of her daughter Käte by her husband Max on Lost Art.

You would not know this from the #NGA's #provenance.https://t.co/5JY2Clrb0b pic.twitter.com/q0xVQLhDkb

— Open Art Data | @openartdata.bsky.social (@OpenLinkArtData) July 9, 2024

Graupe in provenance texts of American museums

The Paul Graupe auction house was a key player in sales of Jewish art collections during the Nazi-era.

In this post, we look at a selection of  88 artworks in American museums that mention "Graupe" in the provenance text.

 Some texts refer to sales prior to 1933. Some texts specify that an artwork was NOT sold at Graupe's. And some texts clearly refer to sales at Graupe's during the Nazi era. Some texts are factual while others contain speculative language.

Holocaust victims in the provenances include:

- Friedrich Gutmann (murdered)

- Max Silberberg (murdered)

- Rosa Oppenheimer (murdered)

Where possible, post-Graupe dealers and owners are highlighted in yellow.

Graupe	Museum
43	National Gallery of Art
26	Metropolitan Museum of Art
7	Yale University Art Gallery
3	Harvard Art Museums
2	J. Paul Getty Museum
2	Cleveland Museum of Art
2	Philadelphia Museum of Art
2	Art Institute of Chicago
1	The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art
88

Provenances for Chagall at the Kunstmuseum Basel in Switzerland?

 How are Swiss museums progressing on Nazi-era provenances?

A search for Marc Chagall at the Kunstmuseum Basel.

• Marc Chagall
• • Ma fiancée aux gants noirs, 1909
• Öl auf Leinwand
• 87.4 x 64.4 cm
• Kunstmuseum Basel, mit einem Beitrag von Dr. h.c. Richard Doetsch-Benziger erworben 1950
• Inv. 2239

Provenienz

spätestens 1920 – Datum unbekanntHerbert von Garvens-Garvensburg (1908–1953), Hannover
1926Alfred Flechtheim (1878–1937), Berlin (in Kommission?)
Datum unbekannt – ca. 1930Christoph Bernoulli (1897–1981), Basel
ca. 1930 – 1950Eduard Freiherr von der Heydt (1882–1964), Ascona, angekauft bei Christoph Bernoulli
1950 – heuteKunstmuseum Basel, angekauft bei Eduard von der Heydt