News:

Von der Heydt Museum Wuppertal 27 July 2023

Wuppertal, July 2023: The Von der Heydt-Museum Wuppertal has restituted the painting “Portrait of Felix Benjamin” by Max Liebermann to the heirs of Felix Benjamin, who was persecuted and murdered by the National Socialists. The portrait was reacquired with funds from the Freiherr von der Heydt-Foundation and can remain in the museum’s collection.

Felix Benjamin (1871-1943) was a successful businessman. Originally from Beuthen, he lived with his family in Berlin since 1910. He was co-owner of the coal and steel company Rawack & Grünfeld, which had been founded in Beuthen by the Grünfeld family, the family of his wife Ida Benjamin née Grünfeld (1873-1943). In their prestigious mansion in Berlin-Grunewald, the Benjamin couple also collected works of art, mainly by 19th century German painters.

The Benjamin and Grünfeld families were of Jewish origin and racially persecuted by the National Socialists as of January 30, 1933. In 1935, the family was forced to part with their mansion in Grunewald. Several moves in Berlin followed, forcing the Benjamins to continually reduce the size of their household. In 1937, the company Rawack & Grünfeld was aryanized by the Friedrich Flick Group and Felix Benjamin was forced to resign from his partnership and managing position in the family company. His wife Ida Benjamin lived in a sanatorium in Breslau at the beginning of the 1940s.

Each move resulted in the sale of furniture, objets d’art and paintings. The first forced sales took place at the beginning of 1935 by the Berlin auction house “Union”. According to the memoirs of the former housekeeper Rosa Rossa, any remaining art and jewelry items were taken away or confiscated. According to the “Vermögenserklärung” (Declaration of Assets) that Felix Benjamin had to draw up on February 15, 1943, one month before his deportation, he no longer had any assets at that time. On March 17, 1943 he was deported to Theresienstadt, where he perished shortly thereafter. Ida Benjamin was also deported to Theresienstadt a short time later and murdered there on July 11, 1943. The four daughters of the Benjamin family managed to escape Nazi-persecution by emigrating to the USA and Canada between 1937 and 1939. Felix Benjamin’s art collection also included his portrait, painted by Max Liebermann in 1921 on the occasion of the entrepreneur’s 50th birthday. Since then it was in the family mansion in Grunewald. It is proven that Benjamin was able to take the painting with him when he first moved to smaller apartments. Its trace was lost in the course of 1937, and it was not until 1981 that it was briefly located again at a Sotheby's auction. The Von der Heydt- Museum acquired the painting in 2002 from the Cologne auction house Lempertz. After the provenance of the painting has been verified, it can be assumed that the Benjamin family lost the “Portrait Felix Benjamin” as a result of Nazi-persecution, even though not all gaps in the provenance could be filled conclusively despite intensive research. In the spirit of the “Washington Principles” and the “Joint Declaration”, the parties have agreed to conclude a “just and fair solution” by the City of Wuppertal restituting the painting to the heirs of Felix Benjamin.

After its return, the painting was reacquired with funds from the Freiherr von der Heydt-Foundation. Dr. Roland Mönig, Director of the Von der Heydt-Museum: “Liebermann’s painting is inseparably linked to the person, history, and fate of Felix Benjamin – and to the fate of his entire family. We are pleased and very grateful that the heirs of Felix Benjamin have placed their trust in us and, as part of a fair and just solution, were willing to leave this impressive work of art permanently with the Von der Heydt-Museum. Whenever we exhibit the painting in the future – and of course in all our publications, in our collection digitally, and in our daily outreach work – we will cherish the memory of the subject of the portrait and his family.”

Peter Margo, the grandson of Felix Benjamin: “We thank the Von der Heydt-Museum and City of Wuppertal for their leadership in working with our family to help restore and recognize the history of this painting; the first piece in our restitution efforts. In so doing, we hope this painting will forever serve as a reminder of the importance of Holocaust remembrance and honoring those who perished and survived. As a family, we also hope the painting can serve as a small and lasting tribute to Felix Benjamin’s immense legacy and bravery. We would also like to thank the lawyer Dr. Imke Gielen of the law office von Trott zu Solz Lammek in Berlin for her assistance.”

Contact for the Benjamin family in Canada: Naomi Margo, naomi@omlaw.ca

Information on the art work
Max Liebermann
Portrait of Felix Benjamin, 1921
Oil on canvas, 98.5 x 75 cm
Von der Heydt-Museum, Wuppertal Inv. no. G 1768

Provenance
1921-at least 27.04.1937: Felix Benjamin (1871-1943), Berlin │[...] │11.02.1981: Auction Sotheby’s, New York, lot 87 │[...]│ 04.12.2002: Auction Kunsthaus Lempertz, Cologne, lot 860│December 2002-today: Von der Heydt-Museum, Wuppertal; Purchase from Kunsthaus Lempertz, Cologne; 2023 restituted to and reacquired from the heirs of Felix Benjamin (Status as of July 2023)


The PDF of the Museum's press release in German and English is available here.