2 Work List Histories of a Collection. 1933-1945
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List of Works: Histories of a Collection. 1933–1945 Karl Hofer (1878–1955), The Black Rooms (Version II), 1943 The backdrop is reminiscent of the musical interlude that bridges two acts of a play while the set is being changed. There is nothing casual about the atmosphere of the scene, however. On the contrary: the drumming conveys a high degree of tension. The first version of the picture was painted in 1928 and bore the title “The Drummer”. This could be a reference to Adolf Hitler, who had been casting himself as drumming up support for the national cause since 1919. When the first version was destroyed in the artist’s studio during an air raid in 1943, Hofer immediately set about painting a second version. The replacement became a metaphor for the “black years” of National Socialism. In 1943 the dark vision of the picture became a reality. More than ever the colour black symbolises mourning and obliteration. Acquired in 1953 from the artist by the State of Berlin PROLOGUE: AN EXCHANGE OF PICTURES WITH ITALY Carlo Carrà (1881–1966), Houses Beneath Hills, 1924 Acquired 1932 Felice Casorati (1883–1963), The Mother, 1923/24 Acquired 1932 Giovanni Colacicchi (1900–1992), Sunny Street, 1931 Acquired 1932 Giorgio de Chirico (1888–1979), Serenade, 1909 Acquired 1932 Giorgio de Chirico (1888–1979), Portrait of Brother Andrea, 1909/10 Acquired 1932 Achille Funi (1890–1972), Saint Sebastian, 1925 Acquired 1932 Achille Funi (1890–1972), Publius Horatius Murders His Sister, 1932 Acquired 1932 Giuseppe Montanari (1889–1976), The Death of Christ, 1932 Acquired 1932 Alberto Salietti (1892–1961), Woman with Headscarf, 1927 Acquired 1932 Gino Severini (1883–1966), Composition: The Dove, c. 1930 Acquired 1932 Mario Sironi (1885–1961), Industrial Outskirts, 1922/1927 Acquired 1932 Mario Sironi (1885–1961), Composition: Girl, seated, c. 1927/28 Acquired 1932 Mario Tozzi (1895–1979), The Closed Door, c. 1932 Acquired 1932 Gigiotti Zanini (1893–1962), Still Life with Violin, 1932 Acquired 1932 THE DISPUTE OVER MODERN ART Edvard Munch (1863–1944), Melancholy, 1906/ 07 In December 1933 articles appeared in German newspapers celebrating the 70-year-old Edvard Munch as a “Nordic-Germanic” artist. Joseph Goebbels was among the personalities lauding Munch, who was on display permanently at the Kronprinzenpalais depicting him as “the Nordic father of Expressionism”. He was to be shown in juxtaposition to the French Impressionists and assist in the legitimisation of German Expressionist artists. Yet the Norwegian was another casualty of the confiscations in 1937. Hermann Göring had his “Melancholy” sold in Oslo for foreign currency. Acquired in 1930 from the Curt Glaser Collection; displayed at the Kronprinzenpalais until 1936; confiscated as “degenerate” in 1937; confiscated by Hermann Göring in 1938 and sold in Oslo in 1939, afterwards in private ownership in Oslo; acquired in 1997 with assistance from the Ernst von Siemens Kunststiftung and the Kulturstiftung der Länder. Emil Nolde (1867–1956), The Sinner (Jesus Christ and the Sinner), 1926 Emil Nolde, whose Expressionist pictures were classified as “Nordic-Germanic”, hoped the 1933 Nazi takeover would lead to official acknowledgement of his work. He himself had watched with some satisfaction as Hitler rose to power, but his approval ended when his work was targeted by Nazi cultural policymakers. “The Sinner” was featured in the 1937 “Degenerate Art” exhibition in Munich and other cities. A photo from the Berlin station of the tour shows Joseph Goebbels, Minister of Propaganda, beside “The Sinner”. Acquired in 1929 from the artist; exhibited at the Kronprinzenpalais until 1933; confiscated in 1937 and shown as part of the “Degenerate Art” exhibition in Munich and other cities until 1938 in Salzburg; auctioned by Galerie Fischer, Lucerne; private ownership; acquired in 1999 by Galerie Kornfeld, Bern, with assistance from Verein der Freunde der Nationalgalerie and the State of Berlin. Werner Scholz (1898–1982), Two People, 1935 In the summer of 1935 the Verein der Freunde der Nationalgalerie made its final purchase of the Nazi period – “Two People” by Werner Scholz. Eberhard Hanfstaengl, director of the Nationalgalerie, displayed the expressive, realistic painting, with its references to street prostitution, right up until the closure of the Kronprinzenpalais. In the case of Max Beckmann and the Expressionists he had had their paintings depicting human figures taken down, leaving only their landscapes and still lifes on display. Acquired in 1935 by Verein der Freunde der Nationalgalerie Rudolf Schlichter (1890–1955), Portrait of Ernst Jünger, c. 1929/1930 In April 1933 Rudolf Schlichter’s portrait of Ernst Jünger arrived at the Nationalgalerie as part of an exchange of pictures. Jünger was known among the military and nationalists for his war diaries. The Nationalgalerie returned Schlichter’s portrait of Henri Guilbeaux, acquired in 1930. Guilbeaux having worked as a Berlin correspondent of the Communist daily “L’Humanité”, was not opportune anymore. In a letter to the artist on 5th April 1933 Ludwig Justi, director of the Nationalgalerie wrote: “Today we have to consider the political aspect of a work, not just its artistic value: […] Naturally it went against my grain to honour a French writer. I would have preferred to swap the picture for another of yours.” Acquired from the artist in 1933 in return for another of his pictures Ernst Barlach (1870–1938), Reading Monks III, 1932 In the 1920s Ernst Berlach was considered a typically “German” or “Nordic” artist, yet in 1932 the NSDAP party newspaper “Völkischer Beobachter” was already rejecting the “eastern […] type in all of Barlach’s creations”. National Socialist racial ideology was projected onto the physiognomy of his human figures. In 1934 the Nationalgalerie bought, direct from the artist, his sculpture depicting silent and withdrawn “Reading Monks”, handing over a strikingly expressive 1925 relief in exchange. Acquired from the artist in 1934 in return for another of his pictures; displayed at the Kronprinzenpalais until 1936; confiscated in 1937 and shown at the “Degenerate Art” exhibition in Munich; sold in 1939 at an auction in Galerie Fischer, Lucerne, to Curt Valentin, Buchholz Gallery, New York; Albert Rothbart, Ridgefield, Connecticut/USA; bought back in 1962 via Galerie Beyeler, Basel, with funding from the Deutsche Klassenlotterie Berlin EMIGRATION Paul Klee (1879–1940), Time, 1933 1933 marked the end of Paul Klee’s art career in Germany. His decade teaching at the Bauhaus School had brought him a reputation as one of the best-known exponent of modern art in the Weimar Republic. Following his dismissal as professor at the Düsseldorf Academy of Art and the inclusion of his works in the first defamatory exhibitions, Klee left Germany forever on 24 th December 1933, emigrating to Switzerland. His collage “Times”, produced in the same year, gives the impression of a piece of fabric that has been provisionally patched together. Two black lines in the centre represent the hands of a clock without numbers and point laconically to an uncertain future. Lily and Felix Klee, Bern; 1996 Heinz Berggruen, Paris; 1996-2000 on permanent loan in the Collection Berggruen; acquired in 2000 with assistance from the Federal Government and the State of Berlin Ernesto de Fiori (1884–1945), The Fugitive (The Desperate Man), 1934 The bronze “The Fugitive”, also known as “The Desperate Man”, was produced in 1934, the year the sculptor Ernesto de Fiori first considered leaving Germany. In the spring of 1933 de Fiori was still aligning himself with National Socialist Germany, posing the question in a newspaper article: “How can we artists be of help to the government?” However, he was against artists adjusting their style to fit the political climate. The gallery owner representing all of de Fiori’s work was Alfred Flechtheim, a Jew who was forced by circumstances to leave Germany in May 1933. In 1936 de Fiori, too, left for Brazil, where he remained until his death in 1945. Discovered in 1948 in the scrap yard of the Czechoslovakian Military Mission in Berlin’s Osthafen wharf district; transferred in 1949 from the Magistrat of Greater Berlin to the Nationalgalerie (Ost/ East) and formally donated in 1951 Ernesto de Fiori (1884–1945), Marlene Dietrich, 1931 Marlene Dietrich achieved stardom with the film “The Blue Angel” (1930). Sculptor Ernesto de Fiori produced the bust of Dietrich, a native of Berlin-Schöneberg, during her stay in the capital in the winter of 1930/31, prior to her definitive move to the US. Attempts by the Nazi Minister of Propaganda, Joseph Goebbels, to lure the actress back to Germany failed. Instead Marlene Dietrich helped Jews to emigrate to the States and in 1943/44 visited American troops in the field, giving around 500 performances and exposing herself to danger in the process. From 1935 onwards on loan from the former Gesellschaft der Kunstfreunde Berlin; confiscated in 1937 as “degenerate art” but returned to the Nationalgalerie in 1939 with the proviso that the bust not be exhibited; added to the inventory in 1968 Max Beckmann (1884–1950), Self-Portrait, 1936 The works of Max Beckmann do not include many sculptures. Despite the menacing conditions in which he was living and working at the time, Beckmann’s self-portrait from 1936 presents the artist facing forward with a self-assured expression on his face. He had already been dismissed from his teaching post at the Städelschule in Frankfurt in 1933 and exhibitions featuring his works were cancelled. The day after the opening of the “Degenerate Art” exhibition in Munich in July 1937 Beckmann left Germany for good. His self-portrait was one of the few pieces that the artist took with him into exile in Holland and in 1947 when he resettled in the US. Acquired in 1993 from Galerie Pels-Leusden, Berlin, as part of the estate of the artist’s widow, Mathilde Beckmann, by Verein der Freunde der Nationalgalerie Theo Balden (1904–1995), Head with Nail, 1939 Theo Balden’s life path was etched into his very name: Born in 1904 as Otto Koehler, in 1935 the artist fled to Prague and then England under the false name of Theo Balden, retaining the pseudonym until his death.