Introduction to Provenances Online

On December 3, 1998, the “Washington Principles” were passed at the Washington Conference on Holocaust-Era Assets. In this non-binding document under international law, 43 states, including Germany, and 13 non-governmental organizations affirm their commitment to finding a “just and fair solution” for the National Socialist-era confiscation of artworks. In this document, which is not binding under international law, 43 states, including Germany, and 13 non-governmental organizations affirm their commitment to finding a “just and fair solution” for the persecution-related confiscation of works of art attributable to the National Socialist state terror. The signing of the “Washington Declaration” is considered a central milestone in the history of provenance research in public museums.

The Staatsgalerie Stuttgart is using the 25th anniversary of this historic date as an opportunity to publish provenance research results in its Digital Collection for the first time. The provenance records that have been compiled since 2009 were reviewed and updated prior to publication. Nevertheless, the published provenances only represent the current state of research and may be subject to reevaluation at any time, for example, due to new findings. In this case, the information will be updated promptly.

Ideally, a complete provenance record documents the origin of a work of art from the time of its creation to its entry into the collection of the Staatsgalerie Stuttgart. The information is based on systematic initial checks or in-depth research, which, depending on the artwork, evaluate primary and secondary sources such as inventory books, purchase and correspondence files, image files, literature, databases, and the reverse sides of images, where available.

The provenance record consists of the following information, if known:

• Period of possession or ownership
• First and last names of owners or proprietors (natural persons) or corporations/institutions (legal entities), including dates of life and place of residence, if applicable
• Type of acquisition
• References

The chronological sequence of ownership is represented by a new row for each case. It is not possible to research ownership and property in a differentiated way in all cases. Therefore, both ownership and property details are displayed.

The provenances are written in accordance with the Leitfaden zur Standardisierung con Provinienzangaben (PDF, German)published by the Arbeitskreis Provenienzforschung e.V. The provenance sequence begins with the first known station of origin. Any gaps in provenance are clearly marked with the term “whereabouts unknown.” Unknown periods of ownership are indicated with the abbreviation “o.d.” (no date). As we want to be transparent for both interested non-experts and professionals alike, we have decided to publish the information with references. In addition, explanatory notes have been added where necessary. Unconfirmed information is indicated by the word “wohl” (probably). In order to comply with the General Data Protection Regulation, private ownership by natural persons after 1945 is identified as “Privatsammlung” (private collection), even if we know the names. If there is a justified scientific interest, this information will be disclosed.

In accordance with our commitment to scientific completeness, we also publish the provenances of artworks that are no longer physically present in the Staatsgalerie collection. These include works confiscated in 1937 as “entartet” (degenerate), war losses, thefts, and sales.