Provenance Research on the Acquisitions of the Graphic Arts Collection of the Museum der bildenden Künste Leipzig between 1933 and 1945

The Museum der bildenden Künste Leipzig was established by the Leipziger Kunstverein (Art Association), founded in 1837. The first building was completed in 1858. It housed and managed the municipals art collection as well as the collection of the Kunstverein. Today’s museum collection has been significantly shaped by important civic donations. It currently comprises about 4,600 paintings, 1,800 sculptural works, 5,000 photographs and 70,000 works on paper.

The inventory books of the museum’s prints and drawings collection contain 1,943 handwritten entries for the period from 1933 to 1945. These are drawings, watercolors and prints. In this research project 750 were focussed to find Nazi-confiscated art. This selection of 750 works on paper was based on the following three criteria: 1. acquisitions from the municipal art market made by the Graphische Sammlung (Prints and drawings Collection) in the period from 1933 to 1945 (195) 2. acquisitions from private collections in Leipzig or Dresden (ca. 400) 3. acquisitions through official transfers (155).

The research project wanted to focus on the activities of the art market in Leipzig, among other things. The galleries and auction houses C.G. Boerner, Curt Naubert, Carl Beyer & Sohn, F.W. Haschke, and Willy Franke should be mentioned here in particular. Furthermore, three municipal institutions have been of special interest relating to official transfers to the museum, namely the Stiftungsamt (Foundation Office), the city‘s Council, and the Städtisches Leihamt (Municipal Lending Office). With regard to acquisitions from private ownership, only Leipzig citizens were considered, as well as the extensive estate of Adda von Helldorff from Dresden. Another goal foreseen was the systematic grouping of the total of almost 2,000 acquisitions for the Graphische Sammlung in the period from 1933 to 1945 into the traffic light system.

(c) Museums der bildenden Künste Leipzig