Mar 28, 2025

VIDEO Detecting Deception: A Computational Approach to Detecting Nazi-looted Art

Description*: 

Researching a Rigged Game: Open Source Data & the Trade of Cultural Objects, September 14 and 15, 2023. This YouTube video transcript presents a computational method for detecting potentially Nazi-looted art by analyzing the language used in artwork provenance records. The speaker, Laurel Zuckerman, explains how counting words indicating uncertainty, unreliability, and anonymity can reveal patterns suggestive of deception, drawing inspiration from her own experience with a family artwork. A software tool is demonstrated that allows users to upload provenance data and custom lists of keywords to quantify these indicators. While acknowledging limitations and the need for further research, the approach offers a scalable and objective way to prioritize artworks for closer scrutiny regarding their wartime history.

Mar 5, 2025

Alsdorf at the Art Institute of Chicago: Provenance Research Dataset

The Art Institute of Chicago announced yesterday that it plans to restitute to Nepal one of the objects looted from it. The looted object, Buddha Sheltered by the Serpent King Muchalinda, (Reference Number 2014.1030) was gifted to the AIC by its trustee Marilynn Alsdorf in 2014.

One may recall the Nazi looted art case filed by the heirs of Carlota Landsberg for the Picasso Woman in White that Marilynn Alsdorf acquired from art dealer Stephen Hahn in 1975 with the provenance  "Private Collection, Paris."

Or one may recall the investigations by Crain’s Chicago Business and ProPublica into "at least nine objects once owned by James and Marilynn Alsdorf that have been sent back to their countries of origin since the late 1980s".

Or one may simply be intrigued by hundreds of objects in a major US museum that still lack clear provenance despite a history of acquiring looted objects by their donors. Or, perhaps, the curious way the story is told by the museum when forced to return an obviously looted object.

RESEARCH DATASET

The following dataset includes objects linked to James or Marilynn Alsdorf with the basic object information, credit line and provenances published by the Art Institute of Chicago on its website in June 2024.

VIEW DATASET

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/e/2PACX-1vQrxDJ9bsWEeiFE8Jx1kBapk4GjnurmjQthd-H9qG2jmV_e07fFReJvDrAYLsbk4mrl1jUltK17znhL/pubhtml?gid=527394334&single=true


Download CSV file:


https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/e/2PACX-1vQrxDJ9bsWEeiFE8Jx1kBapk4GjnurmjQthd-H9qG2jmV_e07fFReJvDrAYLsbk4mrl1jUltK17znhL/pub?gid=527394334&single=true&output=csv


Description


This file contains provenance information related to artworks associated with the Alsdorf collection. Here are the key details:

  • Rows: 317 entries
  • Columns: 14
  • Main Fields:
    • RetrievalDate: All entries have the same date, "19June2024".
    • Url: Direct links to the artworks on the Art Institute of Chicago’s website.
    • Artist: Names of artists where available (only 44 entries have this).
    • Title: Titles of the artworks.
    • Medium: The materials used in the artworks.
    • Credit Line: How the artwork was acquired or credited (e.g., "Gift of Marilynn B. Alsdorf").
    • Acc Num: Accession numbers of the artworks.
    • Provenance: Historical ownership information, partially available (161 entries have data).
    • Exhibitions: Exhibition history (120 entries have data).
    • References: Completely empty column.
    • Date Created: The estimated or known date of creation.
    • Dimensions: Physical dimensions of the artworks.
    • Publication History: Records of where the artwork has been published (136 entries have data).
    • Status: Mostly empty, but one entry states: "Loot-Deaccessioned for repatriation to Nepal Museum".

Mar 3, 2025

Data Visualization of Double Itineraries: Schiele artwork and persecuted Jewish owner

Richard Lanyi was killed in the Holocaust but artworks, like this Schiele, from his collection ended up in museums.

This dataviz shows two itineraries: that of the paintings "Offenbarung" by Egon Schiele (on the top) and, connected to it, that of Richard Lanyi, who owned the artwork before being deported and murdered by Nazis in the Holocaust.


Below is the code to run in Google Colab

https://colab.research.google.com/drive/10eMNAVfg_v9t3ndttibBNzh2U1iKYl_a?usp=sharing

This Google Colab notebook will create a data visualization based on the provenance information published by the Austrian Commission at https://web.archive.org/web/20220703142133/https://www.bmkoes.gv.at/dam/jcr:2d092829-c6e9-43ae-9073-f8d77cb1d219/dossier_lanyi.pdf

You can replace the data in this file with your own data and run it.

(The python code was created by ChatGPT4O after a conversation involving a dozen iterative prompts.)

---


import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
import networkx as nx
import textwrap
from google.colab import files # Import files module for download

# Function to wrap text labels for better readability
def wrap_labels(labels, width=12):
return {k: "\n".join(textwrap.wrap(v, width)) for k, v in labels.items()}

# Define the ownership timeline of the artwork
ownerships = [
("Egon Schiele", "Dr. Hermann Engel"),
("Dr. Hermann Engel", "Richard Lanyi"),
("Richard Lanyi", "Hans Zernatto"),
("Hans Zernatto", "LB (Hans Zernatto's daughter)"),
("LB (Hans Zernatto's daughter)", "Rudolf Leopold"),
("Rudolf Leopold", "Leopold Museum")
]

# Define Richard Lanyi's persecution itinerary
lanyi_itinerary = [
("Richard Lanyi", "Nazi Targeting (1938)"),
("Nazi Targeting (1938)", "Bookstore Shut Down (1938)"),
("Bookstore Shut Down (1938)", "Johannes Katzler Takes Over (1938)"),
("Johannes Katzler Takes Over (1938)", "Financial Constraints (1938-1942)"),
("Financial Constraints (1938-1942)", "Gestapo Arrest (1942)"),
("Gestapo Arrest (1942)", "Deportation to Auschwitz (1942)"),
("Deportation to Auschwitz (1942)", "Murdered in Auschwitz (1942)")
]

# Define timeline years
timeline_years = [1910, 1920, 1930, 1940, 1950, 1960]

# Positioning nodes: Artwork ownership above, Lanyi's path below
owner_positions = {
"Egon Schiele": (1910, 2),
"Dr. Hermann Engel": (1920, 2),
"Richard Lanyi": (1930, 2),
"Hans Zernatto": (1940, 2),
"LB (Hans Zernatto's daughter)": (1950, 2),
"Rudolf Leopold": (1960, 2),
"Leopold Museum": (1970, 2)
}

# Adjusted Y positions for better readability and spacing of Lanyi's path
improved_lanyi_positions = {
"Nazi Targeting (1938)": (1938, -1),
"Bookstore Shut Down (1938)": (1938.5, -2),
"Johannes Katzler Takes Over (1938)": (1939, -3.2),
"Financial Constraints (1938-1942)": (1940, -4.5),
"Gestapo Arrest (1942)": (1942, -6),
"Deportation to Auschwitz (1942)": (1942.5, -7.5),
"Murdered in Auschwitz (1942)": (1943, -9)
}

# Merge both positions
positions = {**owner_positions, **improved_lanyi_positions}

# Wrap labels for better readability
wrapped_owner_labels = wrap_labels({node: node for node in owner_positions.keys()}, width=12)
wrapped_lanyi_labels = wrap_labels({node: node for node in improved_lanyi_positions.keys()}, width=20)

# Create graph
G = nx.DiGraph()
G.add_edges_from(ownerships, color="gray")
G.add_edges_from(lanyi_itinerary, color="darkred")

# Define edge colors
edge_colors = [G[u][v]['color'] for u, v in G.edges()]

# Create figure
plt.figure(figsize=(12, 12))

# Draw ownership path above the timeline
nx.draw_networkx_nodes(G, positions, nodelist=owner_positions.keys(), node_color="steelblue", node_size=3500, edgecolors="black")
nx.draw_networkx_edges(G, positions, edgelist=ownerships, edge_color="gray", arrows=True, width=2)
nx.draw_networkx_labels(G, positions, labels=wrapped_owner_labels, font_size=10, font_weight="bold", font_family="serif", font_color="white") # White text for better contrast

# Draw Lanyi's persecution path below the timeline with stronger visual impact
nx.draw_networkx_edges(G, positions, edgelist=lanyi_itinerary, edge_color="darkred", arrows=True, width=2.5, style="dashed")

# Display Lanyi’s persecution labels with bold emphasis
for node, (x, y) in improved_lanyi_positions.items():
plt.text(x, y, wrapped_lanyi_labels[node], fontsize=10, ha="center", fontweight="bold", color="darkred", fontfamily="serif")

# Draw the enhanced timeline with stronger markers
for year in timeline_years:
plt.scatter(year, 0, color="black", s=120) # Larger timeline markers
plt.text(year, 0.4, str(year), fontsize=11, ha="center", fontweight="bold", fontfamily="serif")

# Add dashed timeline line
plt.axhline(0, color="black", linestyle="dashed", linewidth=1.5)

# Title and annotations
plt.title("Itinerary of Egon Schiele's 'Offenbarung' (Above) and Richard Lanyi's Persecution (Below)",
fontsize=14, fontweight="bold", fontfamily="serif")

# Subtitle for context
plt.text(1925, 3, "Tracing the Fate of an Artwork and Its Jewish Collector", fontsize=12, fontweight="bold", color="black", fontfamily="serif")

# Final annotation to emphasize injustice
plt.text(1943, -10, "Richard Lanyi was murdered in Auschwitz in 1942.\nHis collection was lost to history.",
fontsize=11, fontweight="bold", color="darkred", fontfamily="serif", ha="center")

# Adjust display settings
plt.ylim(-10.5, 3.5) # Ensure spacing between sections
plt.xlim(1905, 1975)
plt.xticks([]) # Hide automatic ticks

# Save the figure to a file
filename = "Schiele_Offenbarung_Lanyi_Itinerary.png"
plt.savefig(filename, dpi=300, bbox_inches="tight")

# Show the plot
plt.show()

# Provide a download link for Google Colab users
files.download(filename)

Feb 27, 2025

Chagall Search Requests for Nazi-looted art

Shagal Choumoff

The Picasso Museum currently is showing 'L'Art Dégéneré', an exhibition about art seized from German museums by the Nazi government which sought to ban so-called "degenerate" art and persecute artists it didn't like.

As so often with "degenerate art" the focus is on paintings lost by German museums to the predations of their own government. 

However, many of the dealers and collectors of the artists in question were German Jews, and for this reason they were targeted for persecution and plunder very early in the Nazi regime, when life was still pretty normal outside of Germany. Their assets were plundered and they were eventually murdered if they did not manage to escape. Later, after Nazi Germany attacked Poland in 1939 and France, Belgium and the Netherlands in 1940, the ERR and other Nazilooting organisations seized artworks from Jews in these countries, before murdering them. 

This post looks at some of the Jewish collectors of artworks by Marc Chagall who were plundered by the Nazis. The transfer of artworks by so-called "degenerate" artist Marc Chagall to museums and collectors around the world (and notably in the USA) cannot be told without the stories of these looted Jewish collectors.

Feb 24, 2025

Restitutions by the Bavarian State Painting Collections since 1998 (summarized in English)

Restitutions

Overview of the Restitutions by the Bavarian State Painting Collections

Since 1998, the Bavarian State Painting Collections have restituted 24 works from 15 collections. On this page, you can find more information about past restitutions.


March 13, 2024: Restitution of a Painting and Two Sculptures to the Heirs of Jakob Goldschmidt

The Bavarian State Painting Collections and the Bavarian National Museum have restituted a painting by Hans Wertinger (Count Palatine Philipp, Bishop of Freising, Inv. No. 12030) and two 16th-century Nuremberg sculptures(wood statuettes "Adam and Eve", Inv. No. 53/137 and 53/138) to the heirs of Jakob Goldschmidt (1882–1955), a Berlin banker and entrepreneur.

The painting was transferred to the Bavarian State Painting Collections in 1953 as part of former Nazi art holdings, and the sculptures were acquired by the Bavarian National Museum that same year through an exchange.

Jakob Goldschmidt, the Collector

Jakob Goldschmidt was one of the most influential bankers of the Weimar Republic and was considered a central figure in the financial world. He held a leading position on the board of the Danat Bank (Darmstädter and Nationalbank) and served on more than 100 supervisory boards.

Goldschmidt began collecting art during World War I and built a significant collection. He was also a patron of Berlin museums and the Kaiser Wilhelm Society. His villa in Potsdam's Neubabelsberg district, built in 1921, was adorned with numerous artworks, as was the villa he acquired in Berlin’s Matthäikirchstraße in 1929.

Following the Great Depression of 1931, when Danat Bank collapsed, the Nazis blamed him for the banking crisis. In April 1933, he fled to Switzerland and later to New York in 1936.

The Nazis imposed severe financial restrictions on him, including a Reich Flight Tax of over 1.8 million Reichsmarks, revoked his German citizenship in 1940, and confiscated his remaining assets in Germany in 1941.

Goldschmidt managed to smuggle part of his art collection abroad with the help of industrialist Fritz Thyssen. However, much of his collection remained in Germany, with major portions being auctioned off in 1936 and 1938.

Provenance of the Works

  • The Hans Wertinger painting was purchased in June 1936 by Julius Streicher, the Gauleiter of Franconia, at the Hugo Helbing auction house in Frankfurt.
  • Around 300 works from Goldschmidt’s collection were anonymously listed as coming from a "Berlin collector."
  • The two sculptures were also auctioned in 1936 but remained unsold. They were later offered again in March 1938 at Lempertz Auction House in Cologne.
  • The sculptures’ provenance traces them to Johannes Hinrichsen, an art dealer from Bad Aussee, who likely acquired them at Lempertz and later sold them to Swiss arms manufacturer Emil Bührle.
  • In 1953, the Bavarian National Museum acquired them from Bührle through a trade involving a 14th-century Pietà.

It is undeniable that Goldschmidt’s financial downfall was a direct result of Nazi persecution. The forced sales of his art collection would not have taken place without the Nazi regime, classifying them as persecution-related asset seizures.

As a result, the Bavarian Ministry of Science and Arts approved the restitution.


Statements on the Restitution

Markus Blume, Minister for Science and Arts:
"Provenance research results are clear: Jakob Goldschmidt was wrongfully persecuted by the Nazi regime and dispossessed of his wealth. Returning these works is not just a given—it is an ethical obligation. Restituting stolen cultural property restores justice and contributes to addressing Nazi crimes. I sincerely thank the Bavarian State Painting Collections and the Bavarian National Museum for their meticulous research that led to this restitution."

Prof. Dr. Bernhard Maaz, Director of the Bavarian State Painting Collections:
"Hans Wertinger was a masterful Renaissance portraitist. We are honored to return this exceptional artwork to Goldschmidt’s descendants, ensuring that this remarkable collection’s history is remembered."

Dr. Frank Matthias Kammel, Director of the Bavarian National Museum:
"Restituting the two statuettes from the workshop of Veit Stoß is an important moment for the museum."

Statement from the Goldschmidt heirs:
"The heirs of Jakob Goldschmidt are pleased with the restitution, which acknowledges that the loss of these artworks was the result of Nazi persecution and anti-Semitic propaganda."


Previous Restitutions

May 9, 2022: Restitution of "Ulanen auf dem Marsch" by Hans von Marées to the Max Stern Estate

  • Following a 2015 restitution request from the Max Stern Estate, the case was brought before the Advisory Commission for Nazi-Looted Art Restitution.
  • The commission recommended returning the painting under two conditions:
    1. The Max Stern Estate cannot sell the painting for 10 years, allowing time for a possible primary victim to be identified.
    2. If new evidence suggests that the sale was not Nazi-related, the foundation must return the painting to the Bavarian State Painting Collections.
  • The painting was restituted on May 9, 2022 under these conditions.

August 27, 2021: Restitution of "Frühlingslandschaft" by Johann Sperl to the Heirs of Sigmund Waldes

  • Research confirmed that Sigmund Waldes lost the painting due to Nazi persecution in 1939/41.

May 31, 2021: Restitution of "Fischerboote bei Frauenchiemsee" by Joseph Wopfner to the Heirs of Alfred Isay

  • Originally planned for March 2020, the restitution was delayed due to COVID-19 travel restrictions.

April 23, 2021: Restitution of a Late Medieval Panel Depicting St. Florian

  • The art dealership A.S. Drey had owned the panel before the Nazis confiscated it.

August 5, 2019: Restitution of Nine Artworks to the Heirs of Julius and Semaya Franziska Davidsohn

  • The couple’s collection was confiscated in Munich in 1938.

July 25, 2018: Restitution of a Painting by Ernst Immanuel Müller

  • The work originally belonged to Ludwig Friedmann, a Nazi victim.

July 21, 2017: Restitution of "The Raising of Lazarus"

  • Formerly part of the James von Bleichröder collection.

May 15, 2013: Restitution of Two Max Pechstein Watercolors

  • Belonged to Curt Glaser and George Behrens.
    Streit um NS-Raubkunst: «Der Fisch stinkt vom Kopf»
  •  and a Marian painting by Cristoforo de' Moretti.

June 23, 2008: Restitution of a Willem Kalf Still Life

  • Returned to Peter Block, grandson of collector Josef Block.

September 14, 2005: Restitution of "Musical Entertainment" by Fritz Schider

  • Originally owned by Max Meirowsky.

October 5, 2004: Restitution of "Twilight at Lake Garda" by Hans Thoma

  • Formerly in the Ottmar Strauss collection.

March 13, 2000: Restitution of "The Three Ages of Man" by Leopold Graf Kalckreuth

  • Returned to the heirs of Elisabeth Glanville.


****

Press


For more information about the current state of Nazi-era provenance research in the Bavarian State Paintings Collections see:

Nazi-looted art: Red alert



Dispute over Nazi-looted art: “The fish stinks from the head”



Jewish heirs: “Bavaria betrayed us” - Claims Conference speaks of “breach of trust”



Nazi-looted art scandal in Bavaria
Concealed and abducted

The Bavarian State Painting Collection in Munich is sitting on Nazi-looted art. To the detriment of heirs, it does not pass on its knowledge about the artworks.



Fierce criticism of Bavaria's handling of Nazi-looted art




***

"

The Glanville Case

In 1999 the Glanville family approached the Commission for assistance in locating a triptych looted from their home in Vienna when the family fled the Nazis in 1938. 

Marietta Glanville described the looted painting as "an icon of my childhood."  Her mother, Elizabeth Glanville, had searched for the looted von Kalckreuth painting since 1948.  In 1971 she learned that the painting was in the Bavarian State Paintings Collection, Munich which had acquired it from a private collector in 1942.  But, in the same year, her claim was denied by the Bavarian Compensation Office on the grounds that the deadlines for restitution had expired in 1948.  In 1983 Elizabeth Glanville died without having been able to recover her painting."