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Editor:
Presscouncil City of Chemnitz
Pressrelease: 668

"The Carl Heumann Art Collection" - An example of provenance research at the Albertina Vienna

Lecture in the series "The city archive presents" on 8 November, 6 pm

The City Archive invites you to the lecture "The Carl Heumann Art Collection" - An Example of Provenance Research at the Albertina Vienna on Wednesday, 8 November at 6 pm(not on 15 November as printed in the programme) in the building of the City Archive, Aue 16. The guest speaker will be Julia Eßl, Albertina Vienna/Commission for Provenance Research at the Federal Chancellery of the Republic of Austria.

Admission is free.

Since 2011, the Albertina's provenance research has focussed on acquisitions made between 1938 and 1945. During the systematic review of acquisitions, objects with a common provenance, be it a person or an institution, are summarised in the reports to be compiled wherever possible. A glance at the Albertina's inventory books between 1938 and 1945 shows that numerous acquisitions were made via the art trade during this period. One of the most important addresses for graphic works in these years was the art antiquarian bookshop C.G. Boerner in Leipzig. Among the acquisitions from the Kunstantiquariat C.G. Boerner were sheets from the former Carl Heumann collection from Chemnitz, which were analysed in detail. These drawings will be used to illustrate the possibilities, but also the fundamental problems and challenges involved in provenance research on works on paper.

Keywords:

  • Carl Heumann (1886 - 1945) was a Jewish banker (Bankhaus Bayer & Heintze) and consul in Chemnitz. As an art collector, he was interested in German Romantic art. His collection is still recognised by experts today. The majority of this collection survived the war in storage. Carl Heumann died during an Allied bombing raid in an attempt to save some of the items still in the house. (Source: Addi Jacobi)
  • Provenance research deals with the history of the origin (provenance) of works of art and cultural assets.
  • The Albertina is a renowned art museum in the centre of Vienna.