From Lovis Corinth to Max Ernst

Was it skilful programme planning, pure coincidence – or simply a reflection of the current moment? Independently of one another, two exhibitions currently on view at the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin draw on the results of provenance research and on the work done by the museums’ Central Archive . The archive describes itself as the “historical memory of the museums”, but its significance extends far beyond that, since it provides resources of major importance to international provenance research.

The two exhibitions offer impressive evidence of the archive’s public value, which goes well beyond the preservation and accessibility of historical sources. At the same time, the exhibitions at Berlin’s two national galleries demonstrate what provenance research is capable of achieving, generating a wide range of insights into the journeys of artworks and the connections between the histories of objects and the biographies of the people associated with them. The two exhibitions are not linked and they differ entirely in concept and presentation, yet they share the same methodological foundation. Let us take a closer look.

The Alte Nationalgalerie on Museum Island presents In Sight! Lovis Corinth, the Nationalgalerie and the “Degenerate Art” Campaign, conceived by Dieter Scholz to mark the 100th anniversary of Corinth’s death and co-curated with Andreas Schallhorn of the Kupferstichkabinett, and with Sven Haase and Petra Winter of the Central Archive. First and foremost, the exhibition showcases the National Gallery’s important collection of more than twenty oil paintings by painter and graphic artist Lovis Corinth (1858–1925). These works are not presented as an aesthetic survey of highlights or an art-historical analysis of the works: rather, as the accompanying brochure puts it, “the focus is on the different paths taken by the paintings” (p. 13).

For each work, the labels record precisely when and by what route it entered the National Gallery’s collection and, where applicable, when and why it then moved elsewhere. The central point of reference is the “Degenerate Art” campaign of 1937, which resulted in the confiscation of most of the National Gallery’s Corinth holdings, particularly his expressive works from the 1910s and 1920s (along with works by many other artists). Some paintings were returned to the gallery after the end of the Nazi defamation exhibition of “degenerate” art; some were sold off, not least at the now legendary 1939 Fischer auction in Lucerne, and others disappeared entirely.

The exhibition also includes works that are no longer held in Berlin. Displayed as full-size photographic reproductions, these convey the works' original dimensions and appearance but are clearly distinguishable from the originals as physical objects. Lost works are represented in the form of black-and-white reproductions, while works now held elsewhere are shown in colour reproductions. In this way, the gaps in the collection are clearly demonstrated, albeit not by means of empty spaces or empty frames on the walls. The exhibition allows for several different readings on the part of visitors: a tour of the artist’s masterpieces, a journey tracing the sometimes circuitous routes the works have followed, or a walk through more than a century of the National Gallery’s history.

The exhibits also include several works by Corinth’s wife Charlotte Behrendt-Corinth, who is less well known today despite having been a successful artist in her own right. Among these is her Ansicht von Toledo [View of Toledo] dating from 1925, which was purchased in 1929 by the Prussian Ministry of Culture to decorate a government office. It was removed during the NS period as the work of a Jewish artist and transferred to the National Gallery for safekeeping, where it fortunately survived the upheavals that followed.  

At the Neue Nationalgalerie, too, the focus is on the journeys and trajectories of artworks, though from a very different perspective. Max Ernst to Dorothea Tanning. Networks of Surrealism is the concise title of the small-scale exhibition based on the results of provenance research into the Pietzsch Collection. Ulla and Heinrich Pietzsch donated their important collection of Surrealist art to the State of Berlin in 2010 and in recent years the provenance of around one hundred works created before 1945 has been investigated in greater detail. Fortunately, no spectacular cases of Nazi-looted art came to light (such instances are comparatively rare among Surrealist works anyway). According to Lisa Hackmann, who is responsible for provenance research into the Pietzsch Collection at the Central Archive and who co-curated the exhibition with Sven Haase (Central Archive) and Maike Steinkamp (Neue Nationalgalerie), only one work was identified as being a case of a persecution-related loss: André Masson’s Der Jäger [The Hunter], which was confiscated in Paris in 1938 from the collection of Alphonse Kann by the “Einsatzstab Reichsleiter Rosenberg” (ERR – the Nazi organisation responsible for large-scale art and cultural looting in occupied Europe) and restituted as early as 1947. Gaps in provenance remain in some cases, though without any concrete grounds for suspicion.

Even so, the scholarly value of the provenance research is considerable and is now presented in a concentrated form. On the lower floor of the Neue Nationalgalerie, a dense network of movements emerges from the turbulent decades between the 1920s and the 1940s, encompassing the travels and migrations of both the artists and their works. Many, though not all, were driven by the increasingly difficult political circumstances in Europe. As curator Lisa Hackmann writes in the accompanying brochure: “Provenance research ... brought a key insight to light: the 1920s and 1930s in particular were marked by informal relationships. There was a remarkably vibrant exchange, with works constantly passing from one artist or writer to another within these informal networks.” (p. 14).

This lively exchange can be traced particularly well based on the labels, stickers, markings and inscriptions that appear on the backs of the paintings. Indeed, one of the exhibition’s particularly striking achievements is the way in which several paintings are displayed so that both the front and back can be viewed. Equally commendable is the detailed yet accessible presentation of provenance information on the labels – something that ought to become standard museum practice.

As with the Corinth exhibition at the Alte Nationalgalerie, this presentation also allows multiple readings: for connoisseurs, a tour of major works; for enthusiasts of Surrealism, a compact history of the movement; and for those interested in the colourful personalities of Surrealism, fresh insights into networks and collaborations.  

In short, these are two exhibitions well worth seeing – even for visitors who have little interest in either Lovis Corinth or Surrealism. They demonstrate the fascinating horizons that provenance research can open up beyond the indispensable task of clarifying cases of historical injustice and show the key role it now plays in scholarly museum work.        

The exhibitions

Alte Nationalgalerie Berlin: In Sight!Lovis Corinth, the Nationalgalerie and the “Degenerate Art” Campaign, until 25 January 2026. A publication accompanying the exhibition is also available (entitled Lovis Corinth, die Nationalgalerie und die Aktion “Entartete Kunst”, edited by Dieter Scholz, Berlin, 2025). See here for details.

Alte Nationalgalerie Berlin: Max Ernst to Dorothea Tanning. Networks of Surrealism. Provenances from the Ulla and Heiner Pietzsch Collection, until 1 March 2026. Here again, an accompanying publication is available (entitled Max Ernst bis Dorothea Tanning. Netzwerke des Surrealismus. Provenienzen der Sammlung Ulla und Heiner Pietzsch, edited by Lisa Hackmann and Sara Sophie Biver, Berlin, 2025.) See here for details.