Nazi Looted Art and the Fight for Open Data

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In 2000 the American newspaper Chicago Tribune examined the struggle to publish long hidden Holocaust-related art looting archives. 

The article, "KEY TO ART NAZIS STOLE MAY BE LOCKED AWAY"written by journalist and history professor Ron Grossman, recounts the struggle to provide open access to:

 a massive cache of World War II records documenting Nazi looting of works by some of the greatest artists in history 

The context of the article is that a United States government commission on Holocaust reparations is preparing to issue its final report, and there is fear that these crucial archives, which had been marked classified and locked away, will remain inaccessible despite the efforts of the Presidential Commission. The Commission is planning to publish a public database, but there are problems. Additional government funding is needed. A deadline looms.

Cailleux in the provenance of artworks listed by the German Lost Art Foundation

The German Lost Art Foundation lists 17 artworks that mention Cailleux in the provenance, most of which are "acquisitions for the so-called Führer Museum in Linz".

Where to find provenance information about Gurlitt items

Even today, six years after more than one thousand artworks were found in Munich in the possession of Cornelius Gurlitt, son of one of Hitler's official art dealers, Hildebrand Gurlitt, remarkably little light has been shed.

Several sites list artworks from the Gurlitt "collection". However it is not always easy to obtain a file that contains all the items with their provenance. Lootedart.com published a table in 2014 (see below), but since then the information has been updated.

For Holocaust and art provenance researchers who need Gurlitt provenance data in tabular form, here is a dataset in a public google sheet and as a CSV.

Google Sheet: Gurlitt provenance data (unites public data originally published by the Lostart Datenbank and lootedart.com) 

CSV: Gurlitt provenances CSV

(Holocaust research dataset published under Creative Commons for reuse)


Below are the sources for the dataset as well as additional sites that provide information about artworks found in Gurlitt's possession.

1. Lootedart.com Gurlitt Case :

17 January 2014: Table of 458 Gurlitt Works of Art posted on www.lostart.de

458 artworks are posted in a table that can be easily copied. The provenance is not in the table but can be reached via a link to the internet archive. This link no longer works but one can extract the original lostart.de link within the lootedart link.  

 2. Lostart Datenbank: 

One can search on Gurlitt, and consult each record individually

http://www.lostart.de/Webs/DE/LostArt/Service/GlobalSuche/ServiceSuche.html;jsessionid=C10BF326E6A3628D40FF28E9366A98BB.m0?nn=4084&resourceId=33792&input_=4084&pageLocale=de&templateQueryString=gurlitt&suche_typ=Global&submit=Suchen

Lost Art-Datenbank:

• 1.019 Ergebnisse im Bereich "Such- und Fundmeldungen"

Modul "Provenienzrecherche":

• 4 Ergebnisse im Bereich "Kunst- und Kulturgutauktionen 1933-1945"

3. Freie Universitäte Berlin Beschlagnahmeinventar "Entartete Kunst"

http://emuseum.campus.fu-berlin.de/eMuseumPlus

One can search on Gurlitt and consult records one by one.

4. Victoria and Albert Museum digitized 'Entartete Kunst'Inventory at the V&A 

See Lootedart.com at https://www.lootedart.com/QH3E7U275681

Download the Entartete Kunst inventory

Entartete Kunst inventory, volume 1 (PDF file, 32.8 MB)

Entartete Kunst inventory, volume 2 (PDF file, 31 MB)

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. 

Kunstmuseum Bern: Nachlass Gurlitt – Salzburger Kunstfund:

  

http://www.kunstmuseumbern.ch/admin/data/hosts/kmb/files/page_editorial_paragraph_file/file_en/1021/141127_gurlitt_salzburg.pdf?lm=1417099001

Tate Provenance Research Project Spoliation Reports

UK Museums Provenance Research Projects: TATE

Lists of works with incomplete provenance during the period 1933 - 1945

Spoliation Reports Phases 1,2 and 3

Phase 4 - List of works with incomplete provenance during the period 1933 - 1945

ABBOTT, Lemuel Francis (1760-1803)

Portrait of the Engraver Francesco Bartolozzi, No date
Oil paint on canvas
756 x 676 mm
Presented by Mrs M. Bernard 1968
T01067

Provenance:

• …; Mrs M Bernard, by 1968
Questions in the operative period:
No published provenance pre-1968
AGASSE, Jacques Laurent (1767-1849)
Two Hunters with a Groom (circa 1805)
Oil on canvas
638 x 759 mm
Presented by Paul Mellon through the British Sporting Art Trust 1979
T02350

Provenance:

• …; reportedly bought by Oscar Johnson (d.1968), before 1963
• Oscar & Peter Johnson Ltd
• From whom purchased by Paul Mellon 1968
• Presented by Paul Mellon, 1979
Questions in the operative period:
No information on whereabouts prior to acquisition by Oscar Johnson
ALKEN, Henry Thomas (1785-1851)
The Belvoir Hunt: Jumping into and out of a Lane (circa 1830-40)
Oil on canvas
451 x 648 mm
Presented by Paul Mellon through the British Sporting Art Trust 1979
T02353
Provenance:
• …; Arthur Ackermann and Son Ltd
• From whom purchased by Paul Mellon 1964
Questions in the operative period:
No information on whereabouts prior to acquisition by Ackermann and Son Ltd

Art Market Networks of Adolf Wuester during the Nazi occupation of Paris

The ALIU mentioned these people, places and organisations in its entry for Adolf Wuester in the 1946 Final Report

There are several ways to view Adolf Wuester's art market networks as described in the Art Looting Investigation Unit Red Flag List of Names.

1. All the contacts mentioned in the ALIU entry for Wuester, as in the above chart.

or

2. All the Red Flag entries that mention Wuester in the ALIU list (below)

3. Connections to an organisation (below, all the ALIU Red Flag entries that mention the ERR)

4. Or to a place... (below, 416 Red Flag entries mention Paris )

5. Or to other art dealer or art market networks (Wuester, Lohse, ERR, Rochlitz..) 

ALIU Red Flag list entry for Adolf Wuester

Wuester, Adolf. Bernau, Bavaria Bonn Schloesel. Painter and amateur dealer, long-time pre-war resident of Paris. Chief agent in France for acquisition of works of art for Ribbentrop. Intimate contactws with von Behr and Lohse. Acted as expert for ERR on French 19th century painting. Appointed art adviser to the German Embassy on 16 July 1942, with the rank of Consul. Involved in two exchanges with the ERR. With Rochlitz, probably the leading intermediary for German official buyers in the Paris art market. Close contact of Bornheim, Dietrich, Bammann (among German dealers); Martin, Rademacher, Kuetgens and Goepel (among German museum buyers). Supplied with works of art primarily by Schoeller, Mandl, Leegenhoek, Raphael Gerard and Hotel Drouot. Close contact of Goetz, Rochlitz, Schoeller, Pfannstiel, Avogli-Trotti and the Duc de Trevise. Travelled in Switzerland, Sweden and Spain, purchasing works of art. Extradition requested by French Government.

ALIU Red Flag Names whose entries mention Wuester

Name1	Name2	Location	Role1	Role2	Role3	Role4	Role5
Wuester, Adolf	Abels Brothers, Hermann	Cologne, Komoedienstrasse 26	Dealers	Specialists in 16th to 19th century painting and graphic arts	Active in Paris	In touch with Wuester, who was advised on purchases for Ribbentrop
Wuester, Adolf	Bammann, Hans	Dusseldorf, Blumenstrasse 11	Dealer, drafted into the army in 1942 and transferred to the ERR in Paris in December 1943 at the request of Lohse and Wuester	Believed to have acted as agent for art purchases in France for museums of Dusseldorf, Cologne, Aachen and Bonn	Contact of Rochlitz and Manteau	Introduced Lohse to important German museum directors and dealers
Wuester, Adolf	Breker, Prof Arno	Starnberg (Buchhof uber Pocha), Bavaria	Celebrated Nazi sculptor, often in Paris during the war	Took part in arranging tour of French artists through Germany	Active as buyer	Advised Goering through Bunjes	In touch with Wuester, Adrion, Fabre, Jansen and other French dealers
Wuester, Adolf	Goepel, Dr Erhard	Leipzig, Stieghtstrasse 76	Official Linz agent and buyer in Holland under Posse and Voss	Bought extensively in Holland and also travelled frequently in Belgium and France	Negotiated the forced sale of the Schloss Collection in Paris	Chief contacts: Vitale Bloch (Holland), Wuester, Wandl and Holzapfel (Paris)
Wuester, Adolf	Knothe, Dr		Secretary of the German Embassy, Paris and reported to have worked with Wuester on art matters for von Ribbentrop and possibly Goebbels
Wuester, Adolf	Kuetgens, Dr Felix	Aachen, Heinrichsallee 18	Member of Kunstschutz, Paris	Mentioned as also in charge of Kunstschutz in Serbia and Greece	Assisted by Wuester in art purchases in Paris
Wuester, Adolf	Loewenisch, Albert	Cologne Paris, 8 ave Victor Massel	Purchasing agent for the Gauleitung Dusseldorf-Koln-Aachen-Bonn, and one of the official representatives of German museums in France	Contact of Hermssen, Wuester, Weinmueller and Lange	Partner of Toulinot and agent for Bornheim
Wuester, Adolf	May, Frau Wismer	Zurich, Seefeldstrasse 90	Colleague of Wuester in the art section of the German Embassy, Paris	Ardent Nazi and well connected in high Party circles	Considered harmless by a British art looting investigation officer
Wuester, Adolf	Mohnen, Wilhelm Jacob		German national	Captured in Rome, 5 February 1945, after taking refuge in the Vatican	Minor Embassy official and espionage agent	Attached informally 1941-43 to the staff of Wuester in Paris	Some activity as intermediary in German art purchases and looting
Wuester, Adolf	Muthmann, Dr		Director of Museum of Krefeld	In contact with Wuester, Paul Cailleux, Dr Kurt Martin and Dr Hopp
Wuester, Adolf	Pfannstiel, Arthur	Paris	German painter and dealer, resident in Paris before the war	Member of staff of ERR, Bordeaux and of GIS	Friend of von Behr, for whom he is said to have acted as an informer	In touch with Wuester	Believed under indictment for espionage
Wuester, Adolf	Rademacher, Dr Bernard	Bonn	Assistant at the Landesmuseum, Bonn	Agent for art purchases in France	Dealt with Leegenhoek, Postma and Rochlitz	In touch with Wuester and Plietzsch
Wuester, Adolf	von Waldthausen		In charge of interior decoration of the German Embassy, Paris, 1940	Assisted by Wuester, 1942
Wuester, Adolf	Wuester, Adolf	Bernau, Bavaria Bonn Schloesel	Painter and amateur dealer, long-time pre-war resident of Paris	Chief agent in France for acquisition of works of art for Ribbentrop	Intimate contactws with von Behr and Lohse	Acted as expert for ERR on French 19th century painting	Appointed art adviser to the German Embassy on 16 July 1942, with the rank of Consul
Wuester, Adolf	Blot	Paris	Dealer, dealt with Wuester
Wuester, Adolf	Cailleux, Paul	Paris, 136 rue du Fbg St Honore	Dealer in contact with Rochlitz, Wuester, Frau Dietrich, Haberstock	Knew Lohse, who claims to have freed his wife from a concentration camp	Authority on 18th century French art	President of the Art Dealers Association, Paris
Wuester, Adolf	Cloots, F G	Paris, 14 rue de l’Abbaye	Small dealer specialising in 17th century Dutch painting	In contact with Wuester and Hofer	Husband of Alice Manteau
Wuester, Adolf	Gairac, Georges	Paris, 17 rue de Seine	French art dealer who sold to Wuester and Bornheim
Wuester, Adolf	Gerard, Raphael Louis Felix	Paris, 4 ave de Messine	Dealt in confiscated pictures; main source of supply to Wuester and other German buyers	Indicted by French Government (Seine Tribunal, Judge Frapier)
Wuester, Adolf	de Haucke, Cesar Monge	Paris, 14 rue du Cherche-Midi	Dealer active in Paris and New York before the war	Active in Paris during the occupation; in contact with Wuester, Haberstock and Hofer; documentary evidence in Unit files
Wuester, Adolf	Kalebjian, Irene	Paris, 52 bis ave d’Iena	Schenker documents indicate sales to German buyers	One of Wuester’s chief sources
Wuester, Adolf	Leegenhoek, M O	Paris, 1 rue de Rennes/230 blvd Raspail	Belgian national	Prominent restorer and subsequent dealer who sold extensively to Hofer, Lohse, Wendland, Wuester, Dietrich, Haberstock, Miedl, Goepel and the great majority of important German purchasers	Formerly associated with Lagrand, and connected with van der Veken and Renders in Belgium	Believed still to be in Paris	Possibly active in Wendland’s behalf
Wuester, Adolf	Mandl, Victor	Paris, 9 rue du Boetie	German refugee dealer, formerly active in Berlin	Highly important figure in German art purchases in Paris	Close contact of Wendland, Dietrich, Voss, Goepel, Muehlmann, Lohse, Loebl, Perdoux, Birtschansky and Wuester	Indicted by French Government for collaborationist activity
Wuester, Adolf	Montag, Charles	Sevres Meudon Val Fleury, 72 rue de Paris	Swiss; naturalised French	Artist and dealer	Strongly implicated in German activity in Paris	Associate of Dequoy	Close contact of Wuester and Wendland
Wuester, Adolf	Renand, Georges	Paris, 30 quai de Bethune	Sold to Ribbentrop through Wuester	Schenker documents indicate sales to German buyers
Wuester, Adolf	Schmit, Jean	Paris, 22 rue de Charonne	Important antique dealer and decorating concern	Dealt with Bornheim, Angerer, Haberstock and other Germans brought to him by Wuester	Schenker documents indicate sales to German buyers
Wuester, Adolf	Schoeller, Andre	Paris, 13 rue de Teheran	Well known expert in French 19th century painting	President of the Art Editors Syndicate and appraiser for the Hotel Drouot	Appraised paintings confiscated by the ERR	Sold extensively to Wuester, Brueschwiller and Lohse	Possibly involved in the Schloss Collection confiscation, as informer
Wuester, Adolf	Toulinot (Toulino)	Paris, 8 ave Victor Massel	Small dealer	Partner of Loewenisch	Occasionally agent for Bornheim	In contact with Wuester and Hofer
Wuester, Adolf	de Trevise, Duc	Paris	Pre-war sponsor and friend of Rochlitz and Wuester
Wuester, Adolf	Trotti, Count Rene Avogli	Paris, 1/88 rue de Grenelle	Well known art dealer of Italian birth; in touch with many German art agents during the war, particularly Wuester, an old friend	Also did business with Haberstock	Indicted by French Government (Seine Tribunal, Judge Frapier)
Wuester, Adolf	Wuester Adolf	See Germany
Wuester, Adolf	Raeber, Dr Willi	Basle, St Albans Anlage 68	Prominent art dealer	Vice president of the Swiss syndicate of art dealers and its most active member	Involved in various looted art transactions	Possessed certain paintings on the Allied List	Contact of Hofer and Wuester
Wuester, Adolf	Wendland, Dr Hans	Versoix/Geneva	German national	Art dealer, resident alternately in France, Switzerland, Italy and Germany since World War I	Partner of Reber until about 1930	Probably the most important individual engaged in quasi-official looted art transactions in France, Germany and Switzerland in World War II	Acted as intermediary between Hofer and Fischer, and as Fischer’s chief purchasing agent