Books & Publications:

'.. wesentlich mehr Fälle als ange- nommen: 10 Jahre Kommission für Provenienzforschung'

Events and Conferences
International Conferences

Title

.. wesentlich mehr Fälle als ange- nommen: 10 Jahre Kommission für Provenienzforschung

Author

Gabriele Anderl et al

Date

October 2008

Description

This book, whose title in English is "...Substantially more cases than expected: 10 years of the Commission for Provenance Research", records the first ten years of the Austrian Commission for Provenance Research, established in 1998 under the 1998 Austrian restitution legislation.

Published in Vienna by Böhlau, ISBN 3-205-78183-X, ISBN-13: 978-3-205-78183-7, the book is written by various researchers involved with the Commission and the Federal Institutions which undertook research in accordance with the restitution legislation.  It documents the provenance research results of the individual federal museums and collections and explores individual case examples.

Brief description:

In the first part of the publication, Eva Blimlinger gives an overview of restitution and compensation in Austria between 1945 and 2008. Anneliese Schallmeiner focuses on the year 1998 and writes about the Commission for Provenance Research and the path towards the Austrian Federal Art Restitution Law. The publication then reproduces the texts of the Austrian Federal Art Restitution Law and the Washington Principles. After that, an insight is given into the working practices of the Commission for Provenance Research by its researchers.

The second part of the publication focuses on the research undertaken in Austrian Federal Museums. Ingo Zechner opens the section with an article on provenance research in Austria’s public museums and collections.

·         Maren Gröning writes on provenance research at the Albertina

·         Monika Mayer writes on provenance research at the Belvedere

·         Ilsebill Barta and Herbert Posch write on provenance research and the restitution of “aryanized” furniture in the collections of the Federal Furniture Administration

·         Christoph Hatschek writes on provenance research at the Army History Museum

·         Herbert Haupt and Franz Pichorner write on 10 years of provenance research at the Kunsthistorisches Museum

·         Rainald Franz and Leonhard Weidinger write on provenance research at the Museum for Applied Arts (MAK)

·         Gabriele Anderl and Ildiko Cazan write on provenance research at the Anthropological Museums

·         Christa Riedl-Dorn writes on provenance research at the Museum for Natural History

·         Margot Werner writes on looting and restitution at the Austrian National Library.

·         Karin Neuwirth writes on provenance research at the Austrian Theatre Museum

·         Christian Klösch and Oliver Kühschelm write on provenance research at the Technical Museum in Vienna (with Austrian media library)

NB: According to the preface, the Museum for Modern Art (Salzburg) is not represented because it undertook provenance research and presented a report in 1998.

The  third part consists of papers by Provincial Museums and other institutions involved in provenance research and restitutions

·         Ingo Zechner writes on the Jewish community of Vienna and its Holocaust Victims’ Information and Support Center

·         Michael R. Seidinger, Claire Fritsch and Hannah M. Lessing write on the activities of the Austrian National Fund and its art database

·         Felicitas Thurn-Valsassina writes on provenance research at the Dorotheum

·         Michael Wladika takes stock of 10 years of provenance research, tracing heirs and restitution at the Municipal Museums of Vienna

·         Monika Löscher and Markus Stumpf write on provenance research at the University Library of Vienna, focusing on the English and American Studies Departmental Library as an example

·         Birgit Kirchmayr writes on provenance research at the Provincial Museum of Upper Austria

·         Susanne Rolinek writes on provenance research in Salzburg and the protracted search for missing pieces of the mosaic

·         Karin Leitner-Ruhe writes on provenance research and restitution at the Provincial Museum of Styria

In the fourth section, individual cases and issues are discussed and claimants describe their experiences

·         Werner Fürnsinn writes on the role of the Viennese painter Carl Moll in the restitution concerning an Edvard Munch painting, which was returned to the heir of Alma Mahler-Werfel

·         Anita Stelzl-Gallian writes on the Blauhorn case

·         Sabine Loitfellner writes on provenance research in the Albert Egger-Lienz collection at Bruck Castle and on the handling of looted works of art

·         Margot Werner writes on the collector Raoul Korty

·         Rainald Franz and Leonhard Weidinger write on the transformation of the Austrian Museum for Art and Industry into the Museum for Applied Art under the directorship of Richard Franz. 

·         Dieter J. Hecht writes on the aryanisation of the pre-historical collection of Robert Wadler by the Natural History Museum in Vienna.

·         Christian Klösch writes on provenance research on aryanised motor vehicles, using the motor vehicle collection at the Technical Museum in Vienna as an example

·         Oliver Kühschelm writes on displace private correspondence from Ukraine

·         Gabriele Anderl writes on gifts from Fritz Mann to the Anthropological Museum in Vienna

·         Alexandra Caruso publishes an interview with Alice Kantor on aryanization and the difficulties in obtaining restitution

The text on the publisher's website reads as below:

"Die aktuelle Diskussion um Arisierung und Rückstellung von Kunstgegenständen wurde unter anderem durch die Beschlagnahme zweier Bilder von Egon Schiele aus der Sammlung Leopold in New York ausgelöst. Aus diesem Anlass wurde im März 1998 die Kommission für Provenienzforschung eingerichtet und im Dezember desselben Jahres das Kunstrückgabegesetz beschlossen. Seither werden die Bestände der österreichischen Bundesmuseen und Sammlungen systematisch und lückenlos auf ihre Provenienz überprüft. Hunderte Dossiers über Sammlungen, Bibliotheken, einzelne Kunstwerke, Bücher oder auch natur- und kulturhistorische Objekte wurden bis dato erarbeitet. Im Sammelband werden die Ergebnisse der Provenienzforschung in den jeweiligen Museen dargestellt und einzelne Fälle exemplarisch beleuchtet. "

return to list of books and publications
© website copyright Central Registry 2024