The Staatliche Graphische Sammlung in Munich restitutes the “Prince Regent Cycle”

The Staatliche Graphische Sammlung in Munich (state graphic arts collection) has restituted the watercolours of the so-called “Prince Regent Cycle” to the heirs of the original owner, along with the watercolour Motiv bei Oberbozen by Max Slevogt (1868–1932). The Bavarian State Ministry of Science and the Arts and the Directorate of the Staatliche Graphische Sammlung in Munich returned the works to the representatives of the heirs of the collector Leo Lewin, Breslau (now Wrocław), and his brother, the lawyer Salo Lewin, Berlin.

Dr. Ilse von zur Mühlen, provenance researcher at the Staatliche Graphische Sammlung Munich, investigated the provenance of the eleven watercolours of the “Prince Regent Cycle” and that of the watercolour Motiv bei Oberbozen by Max Slevogt in a research project funded by the German Lost Art Foundation and the Bavarian State Ministry of Science and the Arts.

Owing to the cycle’s specific association with the House of Wittelsbach, the group of heirs reached an agreement with the compensation fund Wittelsbacher Ausgleichsfonds (WAF) that it would acquire the watercolours. The paintings will therefore remain in Bavaria.   

The history of the cycle

In the summer of 1909, Max Slevogt was invited by Prince Regent Luitpold (1821–1912) to stay as a guest at Hohenschwangau for a period of time. During this stay he painted at least fifteen watercolours and several oil paintings of motifs from the Prince Regent’s immediate surroundings in Hohenschwangau. The Prince Regent did not purchase the watercolours, however, and they remained in the artist’s possession. The watercolour Motiv bei Oberbozen, painted by Slevogt in 1914 during a stay in South Tyrol, also appears to have remained the artist’s property.

Both works were sold on 1 August 1938 by Salo Lewin to the Staatliche Graphische Sammlung in Munich via Galerie Ferdinand Möller. It is at least known that the “Prince Regent Cycle” remained in the possession of Leo Lewin of Breslau up until some point in time after 9 May 1931.

Leo and Salo Lewin were sons of the Breslau textile manufacturer and art collector Carl Lewin (1855–1924). Leo Lewin (1881–1965), who continued to run his father’s company, was a member of several Breslau art associations and began building his own art collection during the First World War. On 17 May 1917 he acquired the watercolours of the “Prince Regent Cycle” directly from Max Slevogt. This purchase is documented in Slevogt’s account book and in several letters: it was made with the intention of furnishing Lewin’s villa in Breslau following his marriage to Helene Koslowsky (1896–1976). The collector displayed some paintings from the cycle at various exhibitions and made them available to Berlin publisher Bruno Cassirer for a deluxe edition with colour plates in 1918. Leo Lewin unsuccessfully attempted to sell the watercolours to the Nationalgalerie in Berlin on 9 May 1931: this is the last confirmed date of his ownership prior to the sale of the works by Salo Lewin in 1938.

Having been transformed in 1921 into a joint-stock company for woven goods and clothing in Breslau, the textile company ran into serious difficulties as a result of the global economic crisis, as well as due to early agitation by the National Socialists, and Leo Lewin was personally liable with his assets. Several auctions of works from the collection are documented from 1927 onwards. Following the National Socialist seizure of power on 30 January 1933, personal and economic circumstances changed dramatically for Leo Lewin, as was the case for all Jewish citizens. From at least January 1934 onwards, his house was searched on more than one occasion by the Gestapo and he was detained for certain periods. At the beginning of 1939 he succeeded in fleeing to Great Britain; his wife Helene followed him into exile in May 1939.

Leo’s older brother, the lawyer Salo Lewin (1880–1975), likewise inherited their father’s interest in art. As a member of the supervisory board of the joint-stock company for woven goods and clothing, he remained jointly responsible for the company’s affairs until 1934. Salo Lewin was subjected to an occupational ban as early as July 1933, and his wife Susanna, née Gottstein (1899–1972), also lost her job – she had worked as a technical assistant at the Pathological Institute in Breslau, having previously studied chemistry, physics and art history. The couple relocated to Berlin in August 1934: there is documentary evidence of the sale of household furnishings and works of art there from at least 4 July 1935 onwards. On 28 March 1938, Salo Lewin consigned twelve Slevogt watercolours to Galerie Ferdinand Möller, which reached a sales agreement with the Staatliche Graphische Sammlung in Munich. The sale coincided with Salo Lewin’s imprisonment at Sachsenhausen concentration camp. He was able to flee via Cuba to the United States in March 1939; his wife Susanna followed him via Great Britain in June 1939.