Family of art collectors Carl and Thomas Heumann sign the Golden Book of the City of Chemnitz
The special exhibition with donations from Carl and Thomas Heumann opened today at the Kunstsammlungen Chemnitz. In honour of the generous donations, the City of Chemnitz is honouring their family on the occasion of the 27th Days of Jewish Culture 2018 with an entry in the city's Golden Book, which was made this afternoon by the surviving relatives of the two Chemnitz art collectors.
Background: Exhibition "Donations from Carl Heumann and Thomas Heumann to the Chemnitz Art Collections"
To mark the donation from the estate of Thomas Heumann in memory of his father Carl Heumann, the Kunstsammlungen Chemnitz are showing around 70 graphic works from the Carl and Thomas Heumann collection in a special exhibition from 25 February to 15 April 2018.
These include works by Christian Friedrich Gille, August Gaul, Adolph von Menzel and Ernst Barlach. The banker Carl Heumann (1886-1945) was one of the most important art collectors in Chemnitz. The co-owner of the Chemnitz bank "Bayer und Heinze" and Portuguese vice-consul was a recognised connoisseur of art from the 18th to the early 20th century.
He had amassed an important collection of hand drawings and watercolours and was a sought-after lender for exhibitions throughout Germany. He exhibited a selection of his collection several times at the Kunsthütte Chemnitz art association.
Between 1921 and 1934, Carl Heumann donated eight drawings and 82 prints to the Kunstsammlungen Chemnitz. Nine works were lost during the National Socialist era. Today, six drawings and 75 prints are still in the collection.
The Heumann family
Carl Heumann was forced to leave his bank in 1938 and withdrew completely into private life. His two sons were deported to a labour camp.
Heumann died on 5 March 1945 during a bombing raid on Chemnitz while trying to rescue a suitcase of drawings from the cellar of his already destroyed house.
However, the majority of his collection was moved to a safe place beforehand and passed into the possession of his daughter Ulrike and his two sons Rainer and Thomas. Thomas Heumann (1928-2017) emigrated to the USA after difficult times in a labour camp in Munzig near Meißen after the Second World War.
In his will, he bequeathed three works to the Chemnitz Art Collections in honour of his father: the drawing "Waldlandschaft (Eichenwald) " by Christian Friedrich Gille (1805-1899), the drawing "Junger Mann, trauernd" by Eduard Bendemann (1811-1889) and the oil study "Maler im Biedermeierzimmer " by Friedrich Loos (1797- 1890).
The exhibition is part of the 27th Days of Jewish Culture Chemnitz and can be seen in the Chemnitz Art Collections until 15 April.