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
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
· 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
· Herbert Haupt and Franz Pichorner write on 10 years of provenance research at the
· 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
· Christian Klösch and Oliver Kühschelm write on provenance research at the
NB: According to the preface, the Museum for Modern Art (
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
· 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
· 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
· 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
· Margot Werner writes on the collector Raoul Korty
· Rainald Franz and Leonhard Weidinger write on the transformation of the
· Dieter J. Hecht writes on the aryanisation of the pre-historical collection of Robert Wadler by the Natural History Museum in
· Christian Klösch writes on provenance research on aryanised motor vehicles, using the motor vehicle collection at the
· Oliver Kühschelm writes on displace private correspondence from
· Gabriele Anderl writes on gifts from Fritz Mann to the
· 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. "