“The works of art wander. That was and is their destiny, and it will never change.” In 1925, this is how the art critic Adolph Donath described provenance research, which is now an integral part of museum practice. She investigates property relations and unjust contexts in the history of the origin of cultural property. In museums of classical modernism, she primarily investigates paintings, sculptures or drawings that were robbed or extorted by Jewish persecuted people of National Socialism between 1933 and 1945.
The exhibition follows on from a presentation sponsored by the Ernst von Siemens Art Foundation, which was only on display for a few days due to the Corona pandemic in 2020 and 2021, and documents the current state of an ongoing investigation of the collection of the Berlin Gallery. Digital media convey research levels, knowledge gaps and research requirements to a salon suspension of almost 40 rarely shown paintings. Original documents also tell the story of the “Temple Dance of the Soul” created in 1910 by Fidus (Hugo Höppener). In 2017, this painting cycle was identified as Nazi looted art, proactively restored and reacquired from the family of the former clients for the collection of the Berlinische Galerie. It becomes clear: every work has wandered, and the knowledge of these paths broadens the view of the art.
Source: berlinischegalerie.de/ausstellungen/vorschau/provenienzen-kunstwerke-wandern/
You must be logged in to post a comment.