Rudolf von Alt (1812-1905). Drawings and watercolours

Funding area:
Nazi-looted cultural property
Funding recipient:
Staatliche Graphische Sammlung München
Federal state:
Bavaria
Type of project:
long-term project
Project duration:
until
Description:

Initiated jointly with the Central Institute for Art History, the project involved research into the provenance of 617 drawings and watercolours by Jakob von Alt (1789-1872) and his son Rudolf von Alt (1812-1905).

Transferred in 1959 by the cultural property trustee organisation "Treuhandverwaltung von Kulturgut" in Munich, the bundle was mainly assembled on Hitlers behalf by senior Nazi Party official NSDAP-Reichsleiter Martin Bormann (1900-1945) and his intermediaries. Many of the prints were still in the possession of Jewish collectors in Vienna up until the 1930s.

This collection has now been systematically catalogued. The results were documented in an exhibition at the Pinakothek der Moderne (23 July to 11 October 2015) and in a catalogue. Both not only shed light on Rudolf von Alts problematic reception history, they also exemplify some of the challenges involved in provenance research.

© Staatliche Graphische Sammlung München