| | Restituted
Objects Each object tells a story. Some are still missing,
some are restituted or resolved, and some have cases still pending. The circumstances
of looting and the efforts for recovery are just as fascinating as the famous
works of art themselves.
Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Street Scene, Berlin (Strassenszene, Berlin), 1913
 Ernst
Ludwig Kirchner's painting Street Scene, Berlin depicts human-beings caught
in a big city on the brink of its crucial change into a modernised metropolis.
The glimpse into a street scene in Berlin reveals the city as a fast-paced and
highly populated place.
This famous work was painted soon
after Kirchner returned from serving as a soldier in World War I. The war deeply
traumatised Kirchner and he suffered from severe depression and had a nervous
breakdown. However, as common to many artists, during his darkest period Kirchner
produced the most outstanding series of pictures depicting Berlin life. Painted
in 1913, Street Scene, Berlin was also among these unique art works. Nevertheless,
the misery of the World War I was not the only hardship that Kirchner had to go
through. Much more hurtful was the fact that along with many other modern artists,
who failed to fit the Nazi ideal, Kirchner was labeled a 'degenerate' artist and
nearly 600 of Kirchner's works were destroyed by the Nazis in the 1930s. Before
Hitler came to power, Street Scene, Berlin was acquired by Jewish shoe
manufacturers Alfred and Thekla Hess. The Hess's were renowned collectors of German
Expressionist art and supported many local art museums and artists. Alfred
Hess died in 1931, and two years later, when Hitler seized power, the Hess family
was forced to leave Germany. They managed to save Street Scene, Berlin,
together with many other works, by shipping it to an art exhibition in Zürich,
Switzerland in 1933. The painting remained in the Kunsthaus (Gallery) in Zürich
for several years, until one day the Gestapo forced Mrs. Hess to bring the collection
back to Germany by threatening the lives of her relatives. Having been severely
pressured, Thekla Hess requested the return of the collection in 1936. The
Nazis then forced Mrs. Hess to sell the painting Street Scene, Berlin at
a very low price - 3000 Reichmarks. Carl Hagmann, a collector from Frankfurt purchased
it, and after Hagemann's death, his wife gave the painting to Ernst Holzinger,
former director of Städel Museum in Frankfurt, where it resided until 1980. It
it was acquired by the Brücke Museum in Berlin and remained there for 26 years. In
2004, Ms. Anita Halpin, the granddaughter of Alfred Hess, filed a restitution
claim for the painting. Two years later the city of Berlin agreed to give it back
to her. Ms Halpin, who is the chairman of Britain's Communist Party, consigned
the work for sale at Christie's. In November 2006, Street Scene, Berlin
was sold for over £19 million. Although the painting has
been restituted, the case still remains controversial. In November 2006, the German
government hosted an extended meeting inviting Jewish organizations to discuss
overhauling the restitution law. Street Scene, Berlin was cited as an example
of a nontransparent and rushed case. Some restitution critics claim that Thekla
Hess received proper payment for selling the painting, and others believe that
the work should have stayed in the Brücke Museum as a part of German heritage.
With its interesting and long story, the case of Street Scene, Berlin stays
ambiguous and calls for deeper investigations in other cases. | |
Gustav
Klimt, Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I Ernst
Ludwig Kirchner, Street Scene, Berlin Henri
Matisse, Odalisque Edvard
Munch, Summer Night on the Beach Nicholas
de Nuefchatel, Portrait of Jan van Eversdyck Egon
Schiele, Autumn Sun (Herbstonne)
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