Books and Publications

Title

Verlorene Bilder, verlorene Leben. Jüdische Sammler und was aus ihren Kunstwerken wurde

Author

Melissa Müller and Monika Tatzkow

Date

January 2009

Description

This book, written by Melissa Müller and Monika Tatzkow, with contributions by Thomas Blubacher and Gunnar Schnabel, is an original contribution to knowledge of Jewish pre-war collectors in Europe.  

The publisher writes: “In what was the largest art theft of all times, the Nazi regime seized about 600,000 works of art owned by Jews. They were stolen, confiscated, seized, forcibly sold or auctioned. Since 1945 the victims and their heirs have been trying, mostly with limited success, to recover their “lost pictures”, which are often the last tangible memories of the “lost lives” during the Nazi period.  While the media often only report on the sale prices the pictures can fetch today, this book tells of the people behind the former collections and gives profound insights into the issue of art restitution.

The book includes biographies of the following collectors: Lilly and Claude Cassirer , Berlin; Paul Westheim, Berlin; Alfred, Tekla and Hans Hess, Erfurt; Leo Bendel, Berlin; Eleonora and Francesco von Mendelssohn, Berlin; Walter Westfeld, Düsseldorf Sophie Lissitzky-Küppers, Hanover/Munich; Max Silberberg, Breslau; Max Steinthal, Berlin; Oscar Huldschinsky and Ann Sommer, Berlin; Adele and Ferdinand Bloch-Bauer, Vienna; Karl Grünwald, Wien; Alma Mahler-Werfel, Vienna; Alphonse Mayer und Louis Nathaniel de Rothschild, Vienna; and Jacques Goudstikker, Amsterdam.

The book has 256 pages and 180 images.  Its retail price in Germany is 34€ and the ISBN is
978-3-938045-30-5.
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