Showing posts with label Cornelius Gurlitt. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Cornelius Gurlitt. Show all posts

Jul 14, 2025

Kunstmuseum Bern's donors, Nazi looted art and problems of transparency and accessibility in a leading Swiss museum

The Kunstmuseum Bern does not make it easy to find provenance information.

Instead of publishing the artworks in its collection on its website in the normal way with all the normal information (title, artist, inventory number, image, credit line, provenance, dimensions, et), accessible via url, the Kunstmuseum Bern has compartmentalised information in various PDF files and on special sections of its website.

Frustrated by the difficulty of obtaining a unified vision of the acquisitions after 1933, we searched for another approach, one adapted to the existing publications. 

In this post we attempt to map the information associated with important donors to the Kunstmuseum Bern during and after the Nazi period -- and fail.  

Why? Because we did not manage to find a central website or dataset or even PDF with all the necessary information.

Even if one has the inventory number or the digital ID of the artworks, it is not easy to find the provenance information unless it is Gurlitt-related. (And even then it is gappy.)

Donors we looked at include:

1. Max Huggler (c. 1945–2007)

  • President of Swiss museum associations and private collector

  • Bequeathed his collection to the Kunstmuseum Bern, including around 80 significant works by artists such as Cuno Amiet, Joseph Beuys, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Paul Klee, Joan Miró, Pablo Picasso, and othersWikipedia+15Wikipedia+15Artnet News+15.

2. Georges Frédéric Keller (gifted lifetime loan starting in 1951; passed in 1981)

  • Swiss‑Brazilian collector and dealer

  • Lent around 120 modern paintings and sculptures (Cézanne, Matisse, Soutine, Modigliani, Renoir, Dali, Picasso) to the museum from 1951; bequeathed the collection upon his death, considered the museum’s largest donation to that date The Times of Israel+1Wikipedia+1Wikipedia.

3. Hermann Rupf (donation 1954)

4. Nell Walden & Marguerite Arp‑Hagenbach (1960s)

5. Adolf Wölfli Estate (1975)

6. Stiftung Othmar Huber (1979)

  • Deposited key works including Picasso, Klee, Franz Marc, Alexej von Jawlensky, Kandinsky, contributing major modernist pieces Wikipedia.

7. Anne‑Marie & Victor Loeb Foundation (1970s–1980s)

  • Their foundation gifted works by Johannes Itten, Victor Vasarely, Max Bill, Richard Paul Lohse, Piero Manzoni, Jean Tinguely, and others, further boosting the post‑war avant‑garde holdings Wikipedia.

8. Meret Oppenheim Legacy & Other Gifts (1980s onward)

9. Eberhard W. Kornfeld (bequest in 2024)

  • Renowned Swiss art dealer (1923–2023)

  • In 2024, gifted significant works including Kirchner’s Junkerboden (1919) and Giacometti’s Caroline (1965)WikipediaWikipedia+1Kunstmuseum Bern+1.

10. Cornelius Gurlitt Estate (accepted in 2014; subsequent restitutions)

  • Inherited the controversial Gurlitt collection (1,400+ works, including Matisse, Renoir, Monet) under the condition that provenance research and restitution be pursued Wikipedia+3USA Art News+3Wikipedia+3.

Ongoing provenance research has led to the return of identified Nazi‑looted artworks, though most remain part of the museum’s collection under review (ex The Times of Israel )


Gurlitt, Huggler, Kornfeld, Keller and Rupf have all been linked to Nazi looted art previously owned by Jewish collectors, and Othmar Huber is known to have purchased art seized by the Nazi authorities from their own German museums.

***

In 2014, Matthias Frehner, the Director of the Kunstmuseum Bern, stated that the museum does not want any "Kunst aus illegitimem Besitz" (illegitimately owned artworks). (https://www.lootedart.com/news.php?r=QMYDSA865171) 

But where is the transparency?

Unlike nearly all other museums in its class, Kunstmuseum Bern appears to offer no public REST or developer-facing API to access its collection or metadata. 

There are isolated datasets, like for (some of) Gurlitt,  published at https://gurlitt.kunstmuseumbern.ch/de/collection/item.

There are PDFs with various reports, published here and there.

There is a "Gesamtliste_Slg.Präsentation_26.05.2025.pdf" which is not complete and which changes depending on which artworks are currently exhibited.

There is a 18MB PDF with a "Findmittel". (One can apparently travel to Bern and access information.)

There are various catalogues offering a slice of the collection.


But who among us had ever been able to consult or analyse the complete list of all the artworks created before 1945 and acquired by Kunstmuseum Bern after 1932?

One does not even appear to be able to  access a complete list of the artworks held by the Kunstmuseum Bern for a specific artist.

After a restitution claim has resulted in a restitution, a settlement or a refusal, one can not ask the question "what else" passed through the same hands because the data is not publicly available.

There is, however, a simple solution to this lack of transparency.

Kunstmuseum Bern could publish its collection online, like other museums do, with title, artist, medium, inventory number, digital object ID, and credit line.

That's not hard. Why not do it now?

***

Below is what appears to be the current procedure:

The Kunstmuseum Bern's collection, as a whole, comprises over 4,000 paintings and sculptures and approximately 44,000 drawings, prints, photographs, videos, and films, spanning from the Gothic period to the present. This vast collection means many works acquired since 1932 would have been created before 1945.
3. Procedure for Obtaining the List
1. Consult the "Museumsarchiv Findmittel" (PDF): Identify the specific document numbers and titles mentioned above that fall within your target acquisition period (since 1932) and indicate the presence of creation dates.
2. Submit a Request: Contact the archive via email (archiv@kunstmuseumbern.ch) to inquire about accessing these specific documents. Explain your research scope (artworks acquired since 1932, created before 1945).
3. Review the Documents: Once you gain access, you will need to meticulously go through the "Eingangsjournal für Kunstwerke", "Verzeichnis der Schenkungen und Legate", and the "Sitzungsprotokolle" to extract the relevant information. You would filter the entries by the "Eingangsdatum" (acquisition date) to be on or after 1932, and then by the "Datierung" or "Zeitraum" (creation date) of the artwork to be on or before 1945.

By leveraging these specific archival materials identified in the "Findmittel," you should be able to compile a comprehensive list of artworks meeting your criteria.

***

Provenance information for the Kunstmuseum Bern in a patchwork of  PDFs and the Gurlitt Nachlass site:


DER NACHLASS GURLITT

The database publishes all artworks and artefacts from the Cornelius Gurlitt Estate. It contains some 1,600 objects, including paintings, drawings, aquarelles, sculptures, and prints, as well as archaeological finds and works of Asian art. Most of the provenances (1000+) have gaps and uncertainties for the Nazi years.



Bequest of Cornelius Gurlitt: Decisions by the Foundation of the Kunstmuseum Bern

This "News" page from the Commission for Looted Art in Europe details the Kunstmuseum Bern's approach to the Cornelius Gurlitt bequest. It explains the "Provenance Traffic Light" system (red, yellow-green, yellow-red, green categories) for classifying artworks based on provenance certainty during the Nazi era (1933-1945)301. It outlines the museum's decisions regarding acceptance and restitution, ongoing research, adherence to international ethical principles like the Washington Principles and Terezín Declaration, and plans for transparency and scientific reappraisal.... It also lists some of the works from the Gurlitt bequest and the Kunstmuseum Bern's own collection that require further provenance research


Werkliste Sammlungspräsentation

This PDF lists artworks currently on display. The content changes.


"Wir machen uns auch angreifbar" - "We're also vulnerable"

This "News" page from the Commission for Looted Art in Europe includes an interview snippet with Marcel Brülhart (Member of the Board of Trustees of the Kunstmuseum Bern), who discusses the  provenance research project for 525 works, acknowledging the incompleteness and contradictions in existing internal source


Provenienzbericht Stand:2022-11-16

This PDF document is a provenance report from Kunstmuseum Bern, updated November 16, 2022 for 297 selected artworks



Provenienzbericht Stand:10/26/2020

This PDF is a provenance report from Kunstmuseum Bern, dated October 26, 2020,

https://archive.kunstmuseumbern.ch/admin/data/hosts/kmb/files/page_editorial_paragraph_file/file/1689/20201207_provenienzbericht-bak-gemalde-ill.pdf


Provenienzbericht Stand: 04.12.2024

KMB_BAK 2023-2024_Provenienzberichte.pdf

https://www.kunstmuseumbern.ch/de/api/files/2024-12/KMB_BAK_2023_2024_AB_Projekt%20RK.pdf


https://kmbzpk.nodehive.app/sites/default/files/2024-03/20201207_provenienzbericht-bak-gemalde-ill.pdf

Provenienzbericht 2016-2017

https://kmbzpk.nodehive.app/sites/default/files/2024-03/2016_2017_kmb_provenienzberichte.pdf



Provenance research on the legacy of Georges Frédéric Keller, 2019 – 2020

KMB_BAK_2023_2024_AB_Projekt

https://www.kunstmuseumbern.ch/de/api/files/2024-12/KMB_BAK_2023_2024_AB_Projekt%20RK.pdf


Kunstmuseum Bern: Jahresbericht 2024 

https://www.kunstmuseumbern.ch/de/api/files/2025-05/P100151_Jahresbericht_KMB_2024_web_3.pdf


German Lost Art Foundation: Kulturgüter aus dem Kunstfund Gurlitt

Thirteen artworks 


German Lost Art Foundation: Fundmeldung

21 artworks


Sammlung von Hermann und Margrit Rupf


***


Documents found in www.kunstmuseumbern.ch/en/node/1083 on 7/16/2025 at 5:50:37 AM

Information published by the Kunstmuseum Bern about restitutions and settlements

Documents found in www.kunstmuseumbern.ch/de/proven...ung/restitutionen on 7/16/2025 at 6:07:00 AM



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Apr 27, 2022

Gurlitt Status: source German Lost Art Foundation website April 27 2022


What are the results of a decade of provenance research into the origins of the stash of artworks found in the home of Cornelius Gurlitt, the son of Hitler's art dealer Hildebrand Gurlitt? 

The German Lost Art Foundation publishes online a selection color coded Green, Yellow or Red from the "Provenienzrecherche Gurlitt".

At present, only four are coded RED. A whopping 615 are coded YELLOW. And 28 have received the GREEN code. As for the artworks that have not been coded, there is a note:

After the research reports on works originally suspected of Nazi looting have successfully undergone an expert review, they are approved by the board of the project sponsor. The final note summarizes the key data and research findings on the work and completes the Object Record Excpert (ORE). Then the investigated artwork is assigned to one of the categories of the agreement. Works that are classified as so-called "Degenerate Art" with a clearly unencumbered origin and the family collection* do not undergo a review and therefore do not receive a final note.

*The family holdings are works that are attributed to the Gurlitt family because they were either created after 1945, were created by family members, or can be directly attributed because of personal dedications

Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)

Below are the  artworks in each color category:

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May 29, 2020

Comparative Art Provenances: Kornfeld and Kallir

Kornfeld, Kallir and Nierenstein in several museum provenances


(attention: some artworks appear more than once)

It can be enlightening to gather provenances from different museums or institutions to see what patterns or similarities might emerge for a given art dealer. 
Below, we look at provenances that mention Eberhard Kornfeld (famously, the dealer of Cornelius Gurlitt) and Otto Kallir, also known as Nierenstein.  
Museums include the NGA, Carnegie Museum of Art, Harvard Art Museums, UK Museums listed in the Spoliation Reports of the Collections Trust, The Art Institute of Chicago and the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston
urlprovenanceaccnumName
https://www.nga.gov/content/ngaweb/Collection/art-object-page.57152.html(Galerie Kornfeld); acquired 1979 by the National Gallery of Art1979.45.1Kornfeld
https://www.nga.gov/content/ngaweb/Collection/art-object-page.57153.html(Galerie Kornfeld); acquired 1979 by the National Gallery of Art1979.45.2Kornfeld
https://www.nga.gov/content/ngaweb/Collection/art-object-page.46794.html(Klipstein and Kornfeld, 1957); Lessing J. Rosenwald, Alverthopre, PA; gift to NGA, 1963.1963.11.61Kornfeld
https://www.nga.gov/content/ngaweb/Collection/art-object-page.56393.html(sale, Bern, Kornfeld und Klipstein 10 June 1976, lot 729, ill.); (Fischer Fine Art, London); (William H. Schab Gallery, New York); purchased by NGA, 1977.1977.62.1Kornfeld
https://www.nga.gov/content/ngaweb/Collection/art-object-page.139129.html(sale, Galerie Kornfeld, Bern, 22 June 1990, no. 984); Wolfgang Ratjen, Munich; purchased 2007 by NGA.2007.111.41Kornfeld
https://www.nga.gov/content/ngaweb/Collection/art-object-page.139257.html(sale, Gerd Rosen, Berlin, 18 November 1957, no. 512). (sale, Kornfeld, Bern, 17 June 1987, no. 251). Wolfgang Ratjen; purchased 2007 by NGA.2007.111.176Kornfeld
https://www.nga.gov/content/ngaweb/Collection/art-object-page.72170.html(sale, Klipstein & Kornfeld, Bern, 25 May 1962, no. 530); unidentified stamp on back of mount. (L'Oeil Galerie, Paris), c. 1965. Ruth Carter Stevenson; gift 1991 to NGA.1991.38.1Kornfeld
https://www.nga.gov/content/ngaweb/Collection/art-object-page.131153.htmlCarl Heumann, Chemnitz [1886-1945](Lugt 555b and 2841a); taken to West Germany by his heirs after the war and remained in the family (sale, Galerie Kornfeld, Bern, 17 June 2004, no. 43); (C.G. Boerner, Inc., New York); purchased 2004 by NGA.2005.15.2Kornfeld
https://www.nga.gov/content/ngaweb/Collection/art-object-page.63217.htmlDr. Rüdiger Graf von der Goltz, Düsseldorf; (sale, Kornfeld und Klipstein, Bern, 20-21 June 1973, no. 362); D. Thomas Bergen, London; Carus Gallery, New York.1984.18.1Kornfeld
http://collection.cmoa.org/CollectionDetail.aspx?item=1011345Egon Schiele [1890-1918], Vienna, Austria. Franz Friedrich (Fritz) Grunbaum collection, Vienna, Austria, before WWII [1]; his sister-in-law Mathilde Lukacs, Vienna, Austria and Brussels, Belgium; Gutekunst & Klipstein, Bern, Switzerland, 1956 [2]; Galerie St. Etienne, New York, NY, 1956; gift of Otto Kalir (owner of Galerie St. tienne) to Department of Fine Arts, Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh, PA, February 1960.

Notes:
[1]. See information in curatorial file on extensive litigation regarding another Schiele drawing, which also involves a Gutekunst & Klipstein and Galerie St. tienne provenance. It includes claims/counter claims of legal ownership of the Grunbaum collection during/after WWII and the role of various parties, including Mathilde Lukacs and the aforementioned galleries, in its eventual disposition.
[2]. Eberhard Kornfeld was gallery partner at the time; now Galerie Kornfeld, Bern, Switzerland.

Updated by CGK and under review
December 2012		60.5Kornfeld
http://collection.cmoa.org/CollectionDetail.aspx?item=1011345Egon Schiele [1890-1918], Vienna, Austria. Franz Friedrich (Fritz) Grunbaum collection, Vienna, Austria, before WWII [1]; his sister-in-law Mathilde Lukacs, Vienna, Austria and Brussels, Belgium; Gutekunst & Klipstein, Bern, Switzerland, 1956 [2]; Galerie St. Etienne, New York, NY, 1956; gift of Otto Kalir (owner of Galerie St. Étienne) to Department of Fine Arts, Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh, PA, February 1960.

Notes:
[1]. See information in curatorial file on extensive litigation regarding another Schiele drawing, which also involves a Gutekunst & Klipstein and Galerie St. Étienne provenance. It includes claims/counter claims of legal ownership of the Grunbaum collection during/after WWII and the role of various parties, including Mathilde Lukacs and the aforementioned galleries, in its eventual disposition.
[2]. Eberhard Kornfeld was gallery partner at the time; now Galerie Kornfeld, Bern, Switzerland.

Updated by CGK and under review
December 2012		60.5Kornfeld
https://www.harvardartmuseums.org/art/299487Ernest (?) Chausson, sold [through Nouvelle Galerie Simonson, Paris, December 16, 1933, lot 525 ("La Veillée dans un Intérieur Moldave, étude prep. pour la gravure (Bonvenne 56) en contre-partie. Dessin à la plume sur papier bis. Signé et daté sur la hotte de cheminée: Rodolphe Bresdin 1856. 150 x 105."]. Louis Godefroy, Paris. [Kornfeld and Klipstein, Bern, June 13-14, 1974, lot 78]. [Robert M. Light & Co., Santa Barbara], sold, to David P. Becker, Portland, Maine, 1977, gift, to Harvard University Art Museums, 2004.2004.182Kornfeld
http://records.collectionstrust.org.uk/spoliation/kirchner-ernst-ludwig-1880-1938Given by the artist as part of a donation to the Kunstverein Jena in 1918, in honour of Botho Graef (1857-1917), Professor of Classical Archaeology at Jena University and Kirchner's mentor. The whole gift, including this work, was confiscated from the museum by the Nazis as 'degenerate' in 1937. *Galerie Ferdinand Möller, Cologne by 1940. *Offered in a sale at Galerie Kornfeld, Bern in June 1966.*Acquired at this sale by Hanna Bekker vom Rath, Frankfurt for 6,000 Swiss Francs. It appeared in the stock catalogues of the Frankfurter Kunstkabinett Hanna Bekker vom Rath of 1967 (estimate DM 11,000) and of 1968 (estimate DM 9.700). Bought from there in 1968 by a private collector, Wiesbaden. Offered by Hauswedell und Nolte, Hamburg in June 1973 at an estimate of DM 16,000. Acquired from above by Dr Ernst Hauswedell for DM 22,000. According to Dr Hauswedell's last will, the work was sold at auction by his firm in June 1984. Acquired in 1984 by Lutz Riester, Freiburg.GMA 2924Kornfeld
https://www.nga.gov/content/ngaweb/Collection/art-object-page.46355.htmlJ.D. Lempereur, Paris; (sale, Paris, 1773, no. 696 ?). Junius S. Morgan, Princeton and Paris [1867-1932]; ( Dr. John Audley Harvey (Lugt 1409); Dr. Rossieux, Vevey, Switzerland; (sale, Bern, Kornfeld and Klipstein, 7 February 1957); Lessing J. Rosenwald, Alverthorpe, PA; gift to NGA, 1961.1961.17.51Kornfeld
http://collection.cmoa.org/CollectionDetail.aspx?item=1011021Klipstein & Kornfeld, Bern, Switzerland59.43Kornfeld
http://collection.cmoa.org/CollectionDetail.aspx?item=1011021Klipstein & Kornfeld, Bern, Switzerland59.43Kornfeld
https://www.harvardartmuseums.org/art/296827Possibly Isaac Walraven, Amsterdam, sold through [De Winter, Yver, Amsterdam, 14 October 1765, lot 562]. Cornelis Ploos van Amstel, Amsterdam (L. 3002-3004 with his mark). Karl Eduard von Liphart, Dorpat, Bonn and Florence (L. 1687 with his mark), bequest, to Freiherr Reinhold von Liphart, Rathshof near Dorpat, Russia (L. 1758 with his mark), sold through [C. G. Boerner, Leipzig, 26 April 1898, lot 101], to Meder. Rudolf Philip Goldschmidt, Berlin (L. 2926, with his mark), sold through [F.A.C. Prestell, Frankfurt am Main, 4-11 October 1917, lot 46]. [Karl Ernst Henrici, Berlin, 29 May 1918, lot 68]. H. Deiker, Braunfels. [Klipstein and Kornfeld, Bern], sold, to Dr. and Mrs. George C. Shattuck, Brookline, MA, 1961, gift, to Fogg Art Museum, 1961.1961.52Kornfeld
https://www.nga.gov/content/ngaweb/Collection/art-object-page.118731.htmlProbably (Moderne Galerie Heinrich Thannhauser, Munich).[1] Dr. Walter Minnich [1864-1940], Montreaux; gift 1937 to the Kunstmuseum, Lucerne; (sale, Klipstein & Kornfeld, Bern, 25-26 May 1962, no. 931); London art market; private collection, Rome; [2] (Galerie Anne Abels, Cologne); sold c. 1970 to Mr. and Mrs. Arnold Saltzman, Sands Point, New York; [3] gift (partial and promised) 2000 to NGA.[1] A seal of the Galerie Thannhauser is recorded as having been on the back of the painting, on the stretcher, when it was sold in 1962. However this seal is no longer evident. [2] Post 1962 sale provenance according to Aya Soika, Max Pechstein : das Werkverzeichnis der Ölgemälde, Munich, 2011, p. 326, repro.[3] The Saltzmans lent the painting to the 1970 exhibition in Ithaca and Rochester.2000.178.1Kornfeld
http://records.collectionstrust.org.uk/spoliation/drawn-by-barnuevo-sebastian-de-herreraPurchased from Hazlitt, Gooden & Fox Ltd;Previous owner/ex-collection Kornfeld;Previous owner/ex-collection Houthakker, Lodewijk1993,0724.2Kornfeld
http://records.collectionstrust.org.uk/spoliation/rembrandt-harmensz-van-rijn-14R.Peltzer, Cologne, sold Gutekunst, Stuttgart, 13-14 May 1914 (308);H. Wendland, Lugano;Sale, Kornfeld and Klipstein, Berne, 14 June 1967 (254);where acquired through Colnaghi by SeilernD.1978.PG.404Kornfeld
https://www.nga.gov/content/ngaweb/Collection/art-object-page.46198.htmlReportedly from the chapel of the Château de Sassangy, Saône-et-Loire. Reportedly Dr. Simon Meller, former curator of sculpture, Szépmüvészeti Múzeum [Museum of Fine Arts], Budapest, possibly in his Munich house before 1934, or at an unknown date in Paris;[1] Dr. Jacob Hirsch, New York, by 1935; (Jacques Seligmann et Cie, New York);[2] purchased 1957 by the Samuel H. Kress Foundation, New York; gift 1961 to NGA.[1] The references to the sculpture's provenance from the chapel of the Château de Sassangy and Simon Meller's Paris collection are in an undated text presumably provided either by Seligmann or the Kress Foundation, in NGA curatorial files. On the Château de Sassangy, its owners and construction phases since the fifteenth century, see Françoise Vignier, Bourgogne, Nivernais (Dictionnaire des château de France, ed. Yvan Christ, vol. 9) (Paris, 1980), 285. In the nineteenth century the château belonged to the La Roche La Carelle family, at least one of whose members was reputedly a great collector of works of art. No inventories or sale records for their collection are known to survive. This information was supplied by the Service Régional de l'Inventaire Général des Monuments et des Richesses Artistiques de la France en Bourgogne, letter to Alison Luchs, 18 December 1986, in NGA curatorial files. The reference to Meller's Munich house is inscribed on a photograph in the possession of William Forsyth, curator emeritus of medieval art, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, bearing a date 1935 and inscribed "New York, Hirsch Collection." In a letter to Alison Luchs, 14 February 1986, Prof. Willibald Sauerländer of the Zentralinstitut für Kunstgeschichte, Munich, reported that Meller had come to Munich after 1920 and emigrated in 1934, and that Professor Theodor Müller, who had visited his home there, did not recall seeing the marble Madonna there or elsewhere in Munich. Anthony Geber has pointed out that a limestone Virgin and Child with a jewel-encrusted crown, strikingly similar to the marble example now in Washington, once belonged to Meller. Conceivably the source that placed the Washington sculpture in Meller's house had confused the two. For the limestone Virgin and Child see Régi Egyházmüvészet Országos Kiállítása [Ausstellung Alter Kirchlicher Kunst], exh. cat., Országos Magyar Iparmüvészeti Muzeum, (Budapest, 1930), no. 5, pl. 2. This work at the time belonged to Baron Móric Kornfeld. Notes of c. 1952-1962 by Anthony Geber's father (typescript copy in NGA curatorial files), Antal Geber, on the Kornfeld collection indicate this sculpture was "from Meller, but returned."[2] Raphael Stora was also "involved in the sale" to Seligmann (letter, Perry Cott to Mme Georges Bouchot Saupique, 9 October 1964, in NGA curatorial files).1961.9.99Kornfeld
https://www.harvardartmuseums.org/art/297426Von Eelking, sold, [Heberle, 3-4 June, 1902, lot 133]. Private Collector, (Scandinavia), sold, Amsler and Ruthardt, Berlin, 25-27 May 1908, lot 415]. F. Güterbock. Dr. E. Schilling, London.;Dr. W. Feilchenfeldt, Zurich. Eberhard Kornfeld, Bern, sold, to Fogg Art Museum, 1955, through [Richard H. Zinsser, Forest Hills, New York].1955.93Kornfeld
https://www.nga.gov/content/ngaweb/Collection/art-object-page.56662.html(Galerie Nebehay, Vienna); sold 1919 to Otto [d. 1926] and Eugenia Primavesi, Vienna;[1] acquired 1928 with other paintings from Eugenia Primavesi by Hugo or Otto Bernatzig (or Bernatzik), Vienna. Brought to the United States by Josef Urban [1872-1933], New York.[2] (Galérie St. Etienne, New York), possibly by 1959;[3] Otto and Franciska Kallir, New York; acquired 1978 through gift and purchase by NGA.[1] According to Tobias G. Natter, cited in Klimt, Schiele, Moser, Kokoschka. Vienne 1900, Exh. cat., Galeries nationales du Grand Palais, Paris, 2005-2006: unnumbered catalogue. The name Sigmund Primavesi that is listed in the painting's provenance in the 1965 Guggenheim exhibition catalogue is probably an error.[2] According to Jane Kallir, Saved from Europe: Otto Kallir and the History of the Galerie St. Etienne, Exh. cat., Galerie St. Etienne, New York, 1999: pl. 16. [3] The Galerie St. Etienne, whose owners were Otto and Franciska Kallir, included the painting in its 1959 Klimt exhibition. Mrs. Josef Urban was listed in the catalogue as a lender, but which painting(s) she lent is not specified, so it is possible she had inherited the painting from her husband and still owned it in 1959.1978.41.1Kallir
http://www.artic.edu/aic/collections/artwork/154235Arthur von Franquet (died 1931), Braunschweig, from 1893 [acquired directly from the artist; see correspondence in Munch Museum archives, Oslo]; by descent to his nephew Herbert von Franquet, 1931. Sold to Neue Galerie, Vienna, 25 September 1935 [letter from Otto Kallir Nirenstein, Neue Galerie, to Edvard Munch, 26 September 1935, in Munch Museum archives, in which he states that he bought the picture the previous day and it "stammt aus der Sammlung Franquet," copy in curatorial file]. Harald Hort Halvorsen, Oslo, 1937 [bought in Paris in 1937 according to Halvorsen 1952]; sold by him to Pål Kavli, Oslo, c. 1937; by descent to Kavli’s second wife, Reidun Kavli (died 1996) [see correspondence and notes in curatorial file]; sold to Mr. Allan Andersen, Denmark; Luc Bellier, Paris as agent for Allan Andersen; sold to the Art Institute, 2000.2000.50Kallir
https://www.nga.gov/content/ngaweb/Collection/art-object-page.53996.htmlDr. Otto Kallir (Galerie St. Etienne, New York); Purchased 1973 by NGA.1973.39.1Kallir
https://www.nga.gov/content/ngaweb/Collection/art-object-page.53826.htmlDr. Otto Kallir; gift to NGA, 1973.1973.24.1Kallir
http://collection.cmoa.org/CollectionDetail.aspx?item=1011410Erich Lederer; Mrs. Walter Feilchenfeldt, Zurich, Switzerland

[Erich Lederer, Austrian, fled to Switzerland in 1930s, brought most of his Schiele collection with him (Kallir, Schiele Catalogue raisonne)]		61.27Kallir
https://www.harvardartmuseums.org/art/299849Gift of the artist to Emilie Flöge, Vienna, Austria. [Neue Galerie, Vienna, Austria (by 1933), Galerie St. Etienne, Paris, France (by 1939), Galerie St. Etienne, New York (by 1950)], Otto Kallir, gift, to Fogg Museum (1956-1966);Note: Otto Kallir owned the Neue Galerie, Vienna, and the Galerie St. Etienne, Paris and New York.BR66.4Kallir
http://collection.cmoa.org/CollectionDetail.aspx?item=1011166Gustav Klimt [1862-1918], Vienna, Austria; Gustav Nebehay [1881-1935], Vienna, Austria [1]; Joseph Urban [1872-1933], Yonkers, NY and New York, NY, by June 1922 until July 10, 1933 [2]; private collection, New York, NY, 1959 [3]; Galerie St. Etienne, New York, NY [4]; purchased by Department of Fine Arts, Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh, PA, February 1960.

Notes:
[1]. From Fritz Novotny and Johannes Dobai, "Gustav Klimt," Verlag Galerie Weltz, Salzburg, 1967, no. 164, p. 347, illustrated.
[2]. Carl (Karl) Maria Georg Joseph (Josef) Urban, born in Vienna, Austria, was a noted stage and film designer and architect, who immigrated to the United States in 1912. See letter from Neue Galerie, New York, dated June 13, 2016, regarding Urban's ownership of the painting and its exhibition at the opening of Wiener Werkstätte of America, Inc. in June1922.
[3]. Mrs. Joseph Urban (Mary Porter Beegle Urban.) Mrs. Urban is listed as a lender to the 1959 Klimt exhibition at Galerie St. Etienne in New York City, where the painting was included and illustrated in the catalogue. Information from Jane Kallir and Hildegard Bachert of Galerie St. Etienne (specifically e-mails reporting on conversations with them, dated May-June 2003) confirms the descent of the painting in the Urban family, specifically his widow, who sold it to the gallery after the 1959 Klimt exhibition there.
[4]. Galerie St. Etienne (Otto Kallir) sent the painting to the museum on approval sometime in late 1959, likely in December 1959. The museum agreed to terms for the purchase of the painting in January 1960 and accessioned it the following month.		60.1Kallir
https://collections.mfa.org/objects/34173/two-nudes-loversJuly, 1913, sold by the artist to Franz Hauer (b. 1867 – d. 1914), Vienna [see note 1]. Probably about 1914/1915, acquired Oskar Reichel (b. 1869 - d. 1943), Vienna [see note 2], February, 1939, transferred by Reichel to Otto Kallir (b. 1894 - d. 1978), Galerie St. Etienne, Paris and New York [see note 3], 1945, sold by Galerie St. Etienne, New York, to the Nierendorf Gallery, New York, 1945, sold by Nierendorf to Silberman Galleries, New York, 1947/1948, probably sold by Silberman to Sarah Reed (Mrs. John) Blodgett, later Sarah Reed Platt (d. by 1972), Grand Rapids, Portland, Oregon and Santa Barbara, 1973, bequest of Sarah Reed Platt to the MFA. (Accession Date: April 11, 1973);NOTES;[1] Kokoschka wrote to Franz Hauer on July 21, 1913 outlining the terms of Hauer’s acquisition of the painting Lovers (“Liebespaar”) the following day. After Hauer’s death in 1914, the painting was listed in an inventory of his estate as the Dancing Nude Couple (“Akt Tanzender Paar”). Many thanks to Christian Bauer of the State Gallery of Lower Austria and Katharina Erling of the Kokoschka catalogue raisonné project for supplying this information. Also see Bernadette Reinhold, "Art Enthusiast and Enfant Most Terrible," in Franz Hauer: Self-Made Man and Art Collector (exh. cat., Landesgalerie Niederösterreich, 2019), pp. 94-95.;[2] Dr. Oskar Reichel was an admirer, collector, and patron of Kokoschka's work. Tobias G. Natter, Die Welt von Klimt, Schiele und Kokoschka: Sammler und Mäzene (Cologne, 2003), 254, suggests he acquired the painting around 1914/1915. It was first published as being in Dr. Reichel's collection by Paul Westheim in Das Kunstblatt 1 (1917), p. 319.;[3] On February 1, 1939, Reichel transferred the painting--along with four other Kokoschka paintings--to the dealer Otto Kallir, who at that time ran the Galerie St. Etienne in Paris. Kallir exhibited it in Paris that spring and brought it to the United States later that year. After his arrival in the United States, he paid Reichel's two sons, who had already immigrated to North and South America, for the paintings. Kallir opened a branch of his Galerie St. Etienne in New York and exhibited this work often between 1940 and 1945.;For further information, please see "Resolved Claims" at http://www.mfa.org/collections/provenance/nazi-era-provenance-research1973.196Kallir
https://www.nga.gov/content/ngaweb/Collection/art-object-page.82933.htmlLeopold Hauer [1896-1984], Vienna; Otto Kallir (Galerie St. Etienne, New York); Hildegard Bachert, New York, 1950; gift to NGA, 1997.1997.127.1Kallir




See also: Klipstein or Kornfeld in Lostart Provenances



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