Provenance Research Project
This work is included in the Provenance Research Project, which investigates the ownership history of works in MoMA's collection.
The artist, Berlin. Stadtmuseum and Gemäldegalerie, Dresden, 1919 [1]; removed as "degenerate art" by the Reich Ministry for Public Enlightenment and Propaganda, 1937 [2]; in storage at the repository for propaganda exhibitions, Velten (Mark), 1938 [3]. Sold through Stuttgarter Kunstkabinett (Roman Norbert Ketterer), May 10-12, 1950 [3]. On consignment from German private collection to Galerie Wilhelm Grosshennig, Düsseldorf [4]; sold to Curt Valentin Gallery (formerly Buchholz Gallery), New York, [1953] [5]; acquired by The Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1955 (Gertrud A. Mellon Fund).
[1] Inventory no. 1919/88. Before the painting was removed from the collection in 1937, it was included as "degenerate art" in the exhibition "Entartete Kunst" at the Städtische Galerie, Nürnberg, September 7, 1935-September 21, 1935; at the Haus der Kunst, Dortmund, November 11, 1935-December 8, 1935; and at the Volksbildungsheim Frankfurt a.M., September 9, 1936-September 30, 1936 (see Beschlagnahmeinventar "Entartete Kunst", "Degenerate Art" Research Center, FU Berlin).
[2] EK no. 15938: Pharisäer.
[3] Included in the exhibition "Entartete Kunst," Hofgarten-Arkaden, Munich, July 19-November 30, 1937 and other venues (Berlin, Leipzig, Düsseldorf). See Beschlagnahmeinventar "Entartete Kunst", "Degenerate Art" Research Center, FU Berlin.
[4] Auction no. 8, lot no. 1893. See Beschlagnahmeinventar "Entartete Kunst", "Degenerate Art" Research Center, FU Berlin).
[5] Collection files 160.1955, Department of Painting and Sculpture, The Museum of Modern Art, New York.
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Degenerate art
The term adopted by the Nazi regime to describe works deemed to be “an insult to German feeling.” An exhibition of the same name opened in Munich in 1937, which included works in a range of mediums that the Nazis had confiscated from public institutions in Germany.
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Die Brücke (The Bridge)
The artists’ group Die Brücke was established in 1905, a moment that is recognized as the birth of Expressionism. The affiliated artists often turned to simplified or distorted forms and unusually strong, unnatural colors to jolt the viewer and provoke an emotional response.
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