Grosz, shedding light on itineraries

The German Expressionist artist George Grosz (1893–1959) was persecuted by the Nazis for his art, while Grosz's art dealer, Alfred Flechtheim (1878-1937), was persecuted by the Nazis for being Jewish*. Both fled Nazi Germany in 1933, Grosz to America Flechtheim to English. Both were plundered.

Some pretty elaborate speculation has been advanced concerning the itineraries of artworks via Grosz and Flechtheim. So how to cut through all the noise? Where is bedrock solid information to be found? 

This post explores what the museums who have Grosz in their collections have to say about where they got it from.

First, a few numbers.

Grosz is thought to have created more than two thousand artworks, including paintings, drawings, sketches and prints. For the first part of his career, he painted in Germany. After 1933 most of his work was done in America. The Beschlagnahmeinventar "Entartete Kunst" published by the Freie Universität Berlin lists 501 works by Grosz.

Where is this art today?

VIDEO on the Challenges Posed by False Provenances

The Grosz was acquired from...

URL: https://www.openartdata.org/2024/11/the-grosz-was-acquired-from.html

The German Expressionist artist George Grosz (1893–1959) was persecuted by the Nazis for his art, while Grosz's art dealer, Alfred Flechtheim (1878-1937), was persecuted by the Nazis for being Jewish*. Both fled Nazi Germany in 1933, Grosz to America and Flechtheim to England. Both were plundered.

Some pretty elaborate speculation has been advanced concerning the itineraries of artworks via Grosz and Flechtheim. This post explores what the museums who have Grosz in their collections have to say about where they got it from.

Art Institutions Table

National Gallery of Art

Cleveland Museum of Art

Rosenwald Collection

Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

"Degenerate Art" Collection

Dallas Museum of Art

Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum

Museum of Modern Art

Bavarian State Painting Collections

King Baudouin Foundation

Where is this art today?

We're going to focus on the art created in early years, until 1932.

The itineraries of many of these artworks are contested. We will focus on the one piece of information that museums must know: who they acquired the Grosz artworks from and when.

Recommendation of the Advisory Commission on Nazi-looted property in the case heirs of George Grosz v. Freie Hansestadt Bremen

 https://kulturgutverluste.de/sites/default/files/2024-11/24-10-30-recommendation-grosz-freie-hansestadt-bremen.pdf

Patterns of "incorrect" in provenances: samples

 

Provenance Still Life: Corner of a Table, 1873, Art Institute of Chicago

Elizabeth Ruth Edwards (c. 1833-1907), Fantin-Latour’s art agent, London. Gustave Tempelaere (died 1904), Paris in 1901 [Tempelaere inventory no. 4679; see letter from Sylvie Brame to Gloria Groom, dated April 10, 2002, in curatorial file]. Antonio Mancini (died 1930), Rome by 1906 until at least 1924 [acc. to Bénédite1906 and Gibson 1924]. Possibly E. Lernoud, Paris [acc. to Ottawa 1983; mentioned in Paris 1955 as the owner preceding Mancini, but this cannot be confirmed]. Mme. Vincent Daniel, Rennes by 1936 [acc. to letter from Philippe Brame to Gloria Groom, dated April 30, 2001, in curatorial file; in Grenoble 1936 she is incorrectly listed as Madame Vincent Danielo, Vannes; in Ottawa 1983, she is incorrectly located in Vennes]; sold to Hector Brame, Paris in 1951 [acc. to letter from Philippe Brame citied above]; Hector Brame and César de Hauke, Paris; sold to the Art Institute in September 1951.