Showing posts with label art market networks. Show all posts
Showing posts with label art market networks. Show all posts

Jan 16, 2024

Tracking Looted Art with Knowledge Graphs: A Wikidata Case Study

Art looting networks operate on many levels, many of them hidden, over long periods of time. The native graph function of Wikidata enhanced by federated queries can help track them.


April 9, 2022, Laurel Zuckerman

Graphs and Networks in the Humanities 2022 Technologies, Models, Analyses, and Visualizations

6th International Conference, 3. – 4. February 2022, Online

The 6th international conference on Graphs and Networks in the Humanities took place from Thursday 3. February to Friday 4. February 2022 online, co-organized by scholars from the Huygens Institute (Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences), the Academy of Sciences and Literature | Mainz, Vienna University, University of Leipzig, and the University Ca’ Foscari Venice

Paper: Tracking Looted Art with Graphs: A Case Study 



See also:

The Error is the Message: Extracting Insights from Deceptive Data for Nazi looted art

10.5281/zenodo.7908630


The Knowledge Graph Conference, 2023

VIDEO: 

https://youtu.be/WBMpZ3NDNRQ?si=wsFtV9wzBEghCSoB

Nov 29, 2021

Swiss Art Dealers Association connections

Art Historians and Provenance Researchers might find the history of the famed Swiss Art Trading Association to be an interesting source of study





1. The OSS Art Looting Investigation Unit had this to say about Dr. Willi Raeber in 1946 when they placed him on the Red Flag List of Names.



"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."

The ALIU also specified that Raeber was involved in trafficking Courbet's  Woman Asleep At Table which the Nazi looting organisation known as the E.R.R. had seized from the Paul Rosenberg collection:

Truessel, Dr Fritz.  Bern, Beautusstrasse 32.  Was offered the Matisse Open Window confiscated by the ERR from the Paul Rosenberg Collection, by Martin. Purchased the Courbet, Woman Asleep At Table confiscated from the Paul Rosenberg collection by the ERR.  This painting was imported into Switzerland in April 1942 by German diplomatic bag, given by Wendland to Fischer for sale, then passed into the hands of Willi Raeber and finally to Truessel,  Max Stoecklin was also involved. 


2. Gottfried Tanner was also put on the ALIU Red Flag list. The investigators described his activities as follows:


Tanner. Zurich, Bahnhofstrasse 39. President of the Federation of Swiss Art Dealers. Involved in the traffic of looted works of art having sold a Renoir, Girl with a Fishing Net, confiscated by the ERR from the Paul Rosenberg Collection. The painting was received by Tanner from Neupert of Zurich. May have other looted objects. Possibly involved in the disposal in Switzerland of the two paintings by Corot confiscated by the Germans from the Bennheim firm in Paris in 1940, and most recently held by Frau Veraguth of Zurich.

 

3. Peter Nathan, who was born only in 1925, was not on the ALIU Red Flag list, unlike his father, and business partner, Fritz Nathan, about whom the ALIU wrote:


Nathan, Dr Fritz. St Gallen, Rorschacherstrasse 25. German refugee art dealer in Switzerland since 1935. Adviser to Buehrle, and intermediary between Fischer, Hofer and Buehrle. Has denied knowledge that paintings and drawings acquired by Buehrle from Fischer were looted; all evidence to the contrary.


(Fritz Nathan has been a frequent topic here because of the simply unbelievable number of misspellings, mistranscriptions, miscodings, data errors, odd redirects and other improbable shannanigans surrounding his digital records, especially where Emil Bührle is concerned).


4. As for Eberhard Kornfeld, neither he nor his partner Klipstein were mentioned by the ALIU.  However....

Kornfeld is probably best known these days as  the dealer whose cash payment to Cornelius Gurlitt (son of Hitler's dealer Hildebrand Gurlitt) was discovered on a train between Switzerland and Germany, setting off the investigation that led to the (still ongoing) Gurlitt scandal. 
Kornfeld also has attracted media attention for his role in several claims concerning demands for restitution of Nazi-looted art 

"Kornfeld told Swiss Public Television, SRF, that he paid Gurlitt in cash or by cheque for the artworks he sold."

"he travelled to Zurich every four to six weeks and fetched his €9,000 to pay his living costs. He had no job. He lived off the sales of works in this collection." 

"It was during one of those trips that the elderly recluse first drew the attention of the German customs authorities. In a fast train from Zurich to Munich on Sept. 22, 2010, they searched him to find €9,000 in cash – below the limit of €10,000, but enough to arouse suspicion."


Kornfeld served as president of the Swiss Art Trading Association for 37 years (1959-1996) (with Peter Nathan as vice-president).



4. Walter Feilchenfeldt, also known as Walter Feichenfeldt Jr to distinguish him from his father, the art dealer of the same name, took over from 1997 until 2007 with Doris Ammann as vice-president .


 




Jan 14, 2020

Sep 30, 2019

Otto Wertheimer Galerie Les Tourettes

Otto Wertheimer was an art dealer who owned Galerie Les Tourettes.

(photo: Hercules and the Lion, Boston Museum of Fine Arts)

The (always informative) RKD says Otto Wertheimer was born about 1878 in Germany and died in 1972 or 73 in Paris. It lists 41 artworks (see below) that belonged to Wertheimer.


Aug 3, 2019

What does it mean to find Cailleux in art provenance research?

Sleep
Jean Bernard Restout
c. 1771
Cleveland Museum of Art

http://www.clevelandart.org/art/1963.502

What does it mean to find the name "Cailleux" in a Nazi-era provenance, an artwork listed by a museum on NEPIP (the Nazi Era Provenance Internet Portal) or an artwork whose provenance shows a gap or uncertainty for the years 1933-1945?


In this series of posts, we will explore the name "Cailleux" where it appears in art provenances throughout the world.

Apr 27, 2019

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



Name1Name2LocationRole1Role2Role3Role4Role5
Wuester, AdolfAbels Brothers, HermannCologne, Komoedienstrasse 26DealersSpecialists in 16th to 19th century painting and graphic artsActive in ParisIn touch with Wuester, who was advised on purchases for Ribbentrop
Wuester, AdolfBammann, HansDusseldorf, Blumenstrasse 11Dealer, drafted into the army in 1942 and transferred to the ERR in Paris in December 1943 at the request of Lohse and WuesterBelieved to have acted as agent for art purchases in France for museums of Dusseldorf, Cologne, Aachen and BonnContact of Rochlitz and ManteauIntroduced Lohse to important German museum directors and dealers
Wuester, AdolfBreker, Prof ArnoStarnberg (Buchhof uber Pocha), BavariaCelebrated Nazi sculptor, often in Paris during the warTook part in arranging tour of French artists through GermanyActive as buyerAdvised Goering through BunjesIn touch with Wuester, Adrion, Fabre, Jansen and other French dealers
Wuester, AdolfGoepel, Dr ErhardLeipzig, Stieghtstrasse 76Official Linz agent and buyer in Holland under Posse and VossBought extensively in Holland and also travelled frequently in Belgium and FranceNegotiated the forced sale of the Schloss Collection in ParisChief contacts: Vitale Bloch (Holland), Wuester, Wandl and Holzapfel (Paris)
Wuester, AdolfKnothe, DrSecretary of the German Embassy, Paris and reported to have worked with Wuester on art matters for von Ribbentrop and possibly Goebbels
Wuester, AdolfKuetgens, Dr FelixAachen, Heinrichsallee 18Member of Kunstschutz, ParisMentioned as also in charge of Kunstschutz in Serbia and GreeceAssisted by Wuester in art purchases in Paris
Wuester, AdolfLoewenisch, AlbertCologne Paris, 8 ave Victor MasselPurchasing agent for the Gauleitung Dusseldorf-Koln-Aachen-Bonn, and one of the official representatives of German museums in FranceContact of Hermssen, Wuester, Weinmueller and LangePartner of Toulinot and agent for Bornheim
Wuester, AdolfMay, Frau WismerZurich, Seefeldstrasse 90Colleague of Wuester in the art section of the German Embassy, ParisArdent Nazi and well connected in high Party circlesConsidered harmless by a British art looting investigation officer
Wuester, Adolf
Mohnen, Wilhelm Jacob
German nationalCaptured in Rome, 5 February 1945, after taking refuge in the VaticanMinor Embassy official and espionage agentAttached informally 1941-43 to the staff of Wuester in ParisSome activity as intermediary in German art purchases and looting
Wuester, AdolfMuthmann, DrDirector of Museum of KrefeldIn contact with Wuester, Paul Cailleux, Dr Kurt Martin and Dr Hopp
Wuester, AdolfPfannstiel, ArthurParisGerman painter and dealer, resident in Paris before the warMember of staff of ERR, Bordeaux and of GISFriend of von Behr, for whom he is said to have acted as an informerIn touch with WuesterBelieved under indictment for espionage
Wuester, AdolfRademacher, Dr BernardBonnAssistant at the Landesmuseum, BonnAgent for art purchases in FranceDealt with Leegenhoek, Postma and RochlitzIn touch with Wuester and Plietzsch
Wuester, Adolf
von Waldthausen
In charge of interior decoration of the German Embassy, Paris, 1940Assisted by Wuester, 1942
Wuester, AdolfWuester, AdolfBernau, Bavaria Bonn SchloeselPainter and amateur dealer, long-time pre-war resident of ParisChief agent in France for acquisition of works of art for RibbentropIntimate contactws with von Behr and LohseActed as expert for ERR on French 19th century paintingAppointed art adviser to the German Embassy on 16 July 1942, with the rank of Consul
Wuester, AdolfBlotParisDealer, dealt with Wuester
Wuester, AdolfCailleux, PaulParis, 136 rue du Fbg St HonoreDealer in contact with Rochlitz, Wuester, Frau Dietrich, HaberstockKnew Lohse, who claims to have freed his wife from a concentration campAuthority on 18th century French artPresident of the Art Dealers Association, Paris
Wuester, AdolfCloots, F GParis, 14 rue de l’AbbayeSmall dealer specialising in 17th century Dutch paintingIn contact with Wuester and HoferHusband of Alice Manteau
Wuester, AdolfGairac, GeorgesParis, 17 rue de SeineFrench art dealer who sold to Wuester and Bornheim
Wuester, AdolfGerard, Raphael Louis FelixParis, 4 ave de MessineDealt in confiscated pictures; main source of supply to Wuester and other German buyersIndicted by French Government (Seine Tribunal, Judge Frapier)
Wuester, Adolfde Haucke, Cesar MongeParis, 14 rue du Cherche-MidiDealer active in Paris and New York before the warActive in Paris during the occupation; in contact with Wuester, Haberstock and Hofer; documentary evidence in Unit files
Wuester, AdolfKalebjian, IreneParis, 52 bis ave d’IenaSchenker documents indicate sales to German buyersOne of Wuester’s chief sources
Wuester, AdolfLeegenhoek, M OParis, 1 rue de Rennes/230 blvd RaspailBelgian nationalProminent restorer and subsequent dealer who sold extensively to Hofer, Lohse, Wendland, Wuester, Dietrich, Haberstock, Miedl, Goepel and the great majority of important German purchasersFormerly associated with Lagrand, and connected with van der Veken and Renders in BelgiumBelieved still to be in ParisPossibly active in Wendland’s behalf
Wuester, AdolfMandl, VictorParis, 9 rue du BoetieGerman refugee dealer, formerly active in BerlinHighly important figure in German art purchases in ParisClose contact of Wendland, Dietrich, Voss, Goepel, Muehlmann, Lohse, Loebl, Perdoux, Birtschansky and WuesterIndicted by French Government for collaborationist activity
Wuester, AdolfMontag, CharlesSevres Meudon Val Fleury, 72 rue de ParisSwiss; naturalised FrenchArtist and dealerStrongly implicated in German activity in ParisAssociate of DequoyClose contact of Wuester and Wendland
Wuester, AdolfRenand, GeorgesParis, 30 quai de BethuneSold to Ribbentrop through WuesterSchenker documents indicate sales to German buyers
Wuester, AdolfSchmit, JeanParis, 22 rue de CharonneImportant antique dealer and decorating concernDealt with Bornheim, Angerer, Haberstock and other Germans brought to him by WuesterSchenker documents indicate sales to German buyers
Wuester, AdolfSchoeller, AndreParis, 13 rue de TeheranWell known expert in French 19th century paintingPresident of the Art Editors Syndicate and appraiser for the Hotel DrouotAppraised paintings confiscated by the ERRSold extensively to Wuester, Brueschwiller and LohsePossibly involved in the Schloss Collection confiscation, as informer
Wuester, AdolfToulinot (Toulino)Paris, 8 ave Victor MasselSmall dealerPartner of LoewenischOccasionally agent for BornheimIn contact with Wuester and Hofer
Wuester, Adolfde Trevise, DucParisPre-war sponsor and friend of Rochlitz and Wuester
Wuester, AdolfTrotti, Count Rene AvogliParis, 1/88 rue de GrenelleWell known art dealer of Italian birth; in touch with many German art agents during the war, particularly Wuester, an old friendAlso did business with HaberstockIndicted by French Government (Seine Tribunal, Judge Frapier)
Wuester, AdolfWuester AdolfSee Germany
Wuester, AdolfRaeber, Dr WilliBasle, St Albans Anlage 68Prominent art dealerVice president of the Swiss syndicate of art dealers and its most active memberInvolved in various looted art transactionsPossessed certain paintings on the Allied ListContact of Hofer and Wuester
Wuester, AdolfWendland, Dr HansVersoix/GenevaGerman nationalArt dealer, resident alternately in France, Switzerland, Italy and Germany since World War IPartner of Reber until about 1930Probably the most important individual engaged in quasi-official looted art transactions in France, Germany and Switzerland in World War IIActed as intermediary between Hofer and Fischer, and as Fischer’s chief purchasing agent