From Monet to Picasso. Jewish Art Collectors in Germany

 

Bucerius Kunst Forum
11 SEPTEMBER 2026 UNTIL 29 MARCH 2027

The exhibition From Monet to Picasso. Jewish Art Collectors in Germany reconstructs
fifteen major collections of modern art built up by German Jews before 1945, and thus
reunites works now scattered all over the world. Not only does it showcase outstanding
early modern art works, but also presents historical documents to trace their journeys
and the lives of their former owners. The fate of the collectors during the Shoah as
well as the associated dissolution of their collections are essential elements in the
show’s conceptual design.

The exhibition commemorates the pioneering role of German Jews in establishing,
fostering and defending modern forms of art in Germany. The works on show range
from the time of Realism and Impressionism to Expressionism and New Objectivity.
They include around 100 paintings, prints, graphic works and sculptures by artists
such as Paul Cezanne, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Paula Modersohn-Becker,
Claude Monet, Max Pechstein and Pablo Picasso.

The exhibition is designed and curated by Stefan Koldehoff and
Dr. Kathrin Baumstark.

The exhibition focuses exemplarily on fifteen families, couples and individuals from 
all arts of the former German Reich. Their activities as collectors not only promoted
modern art in particular, but in this and other ways also demonstrated a commitment 
to serving society as a whole, for instance through public institutions. These collectors
include, for instance, the Hirschland family, Paul and Clothilde Schüler, 
Max Meirowsky, Rosa Schapire and Margarete Mauthner.

The works from their collections include paintings, drawings, prints, artists’ postcards 
and sculptures by Georges Braque, Paul Cezanne, Lovis Corinth, Vincent van Gogh,
Ferdinand Hodler, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Franz Marc, Paula Modersohn-Becker,
Claude Monet, Edvard Munch, Max Pechstein, Pablo Picasso, Camille Pissarro,
Karl Schmidt-Rottluff, Milly Steeger and many others.
The exhibition commemorates these collectors who, after the Nazi Party took power, 
were often driven into exile or murdered, or had family members suffering this fate. 
Moreover, by presenting each collector’s works in their historical context, the exhibition 
also does justice to their achievements in cultural history. To pay due tribute to them, 
each collection is shown in a dedicated room facilitating an encounter with the art 
works and their journeys to the present day, as well as the figures of the collectors
 and their stories.
These physical and conceptual spaces show how the individual collections came about, 
the motivations behind them and the support they received – and the reasons for each 
collector to focus especially on the cutting-edge art of their day. After all, in contrast to 
Imperial Germany’s official art policy which remained conservative well into the 1910s,
they met new movements and styles with an open mind. Through their individual activities,
 they also contributed to establishingmodern art in society. A key role here was played by 
selecting, presenting and engaging intellectually with the works, as well as the public 
support for these forms of art in museums, art associations and 
publications, the cooperation with gallerists, and the direct promotion of the artists.
To illustrate these aspects, contemporary documents and photographs offer an insight
into the personalities of the collectors and their individual paths in life. Their biographies 
were shaped,at the latest during the Nazi years, by marginalization, a deprivation of rights, 
expropriation,persecution, forced emigration and murder. As one facet of this history of 
injustice, the exhibition focuses on how political pressure, confiscatory taxes, bans on 
leaving the country, the freezing of assets, and foreign exchange controls forced Jewish 
collectors to surrender their collections.
Furthermore, it explores how networks of art dealers, museum, state actors and 
international buyers were involved in the exploitation processes. After 1945, the art works 
were scattered across the globe, ending up in private collections or institutional holdings. 
In some cases, a work’s background was no longer known, although often it was 
deliberately obscured.
The exhibition’s overall design builds a bridge to research and analysis in the history and 
sociologyof art, as well as a contextualization in cultural policy and reflections on the 
culture of remembrance. 

The extensive research over many years for this exhibition has shown that many 
individuals of Jewish heritage whose collecting practices were an integral factor in German 
modern art are now only known, if at all, by experts in the field. Rekindling a 
social awareness of these collectors and their cultural achievements through art is one 
of the exhibition’s core objectives.
Collectors in the exhibition:
Adolf and Luise Bensinger (Mannheim), Martha and Walter Blank (Cologne), 
Max Emden (Hamburg), the Hirschland family (Essen), Wilhelm Landmann (Mannheim), 
Antonie and Ernst Lessing (Berlin), Margarete Mauthner (Berlin), Max Meirowsky (Cologne), 
the Mendelssohn family (Berlin), Martha and Hugo Nathan (Frankfurt am Main), 
Margarete Oppenheim (Berlin), Rosa Schapire (Hamburg), 
Clothilde and Paul Schüler (Bochum), Max Silberberg (Breslau), Alfred Wolf (Stuttgart).
The exhibition is accompanied by a catalogue issued by Hirmer Publishers.IMAGES 
Martha and Walter Blank Collection (Cologne)

Franz Wilhelm Seiwert, Discussion, 1926, Collection of the Kunstmuseum Bonn

Unknown, Martha and Walter Blank at the Carnival in Cologne, 1928
Max Emden Collection (Hamburg)

Edvard Munch, Old Fisherman and his Daugther, 1902, Städel Museum, Frankfurt am Main, Property of Städelscher Museums-Vereins e.V.

Camille Pissarro, Le Pont Neuf, Paris, 1902, Musée des Beaux-Arts de Lyon
© Lyon MBA - Photo Alain Basset
Hirschland Family Collection (Essen)

Paul Cezanne, Montagne Sainte-Victoire, Seen from Gardanne, 1892-95, Yokohama Museum of Art

Unknown, Portrait of Kurt, Franz and Georg Hirschland, undated
Julie and Wilhelm Landmann Collection (Mannheim)

Paula Modersohn-Becker, Four Children in Front of a Moor Canal Landscape, around 1900, Kunstsammlungen Chemnitz - Museum Gunzenhauser, Owned by the Gunzenhauser Foundation

Wladimir von Zabotin, Sunday Morning in Danzig, n.d., Kunsthalle Mannheim, Donated by William Landmann, Toronto, 1973 © Collection Emma Zabotin

Maurice Utrillo, Le Moulin de la Galette, c. 1915, private collection
 Antonie ‘Toni’ Lessing Collection (Berlin)

Lovis Corinth, Colourful Sweet Peas and Roses, 1913, Niedersächsisches Landemuseum Hannover
Margarete Mauthner Collection (Berlin)

Unknown, Portrait of Antonie Lessing, undated

Henri Manguin, Still Life with Flowers, 1903, Klassik Stiftung Weimar, Museen, Property of Andrew Jonathan Orkin of Canada. 1996
Max Meirowsky Collection (Köln)

Karl Hofer, Tropical Bath, c. 1913, private collection

Unknown, Portrait of Max Meirowsky, undated
von Mendelssohn Family Collection (Berlin)

Pablo Picasso, Barrel Organ Player and Young Harlequin, 1905, Kunsthaus Zürich, 1942
© Picasso Succession / VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2026
Martha and Hugo Nathan Collection (Frankfurt am Main)


Claude Monet, The Lighthouse of Honfleur, 1864, Kunsthaus Zürich, Donated by Dr. Adolf Jöhrʼs heirs (President of the Zurich Society of Art 1922-1940), 1975

Ferdinand Hodler, Lake Thun with the Blüemlisalp and the Niesen, 1882, On loan from the SKKG, courtesy of the community of heirs of Martha Nathan, © Foto: SKKG 2020, CC BY 4.0

Margarete Oppenheim Collection (Berlin)





                               Vincent van Gogh, Gril with Ruffled Hair (The
                               Mudlark), 1888, Collection of the Musée des
                               beaux-arts de La Chaux-de-Fonds
Rosa Schapire Collection (Hamburg)

Dr Rosa Schapire, 1919, Karl Schmidt-Rottluff, Tate
© VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2026. Photo: Tate

Two Women, 1912, Karl Schmidt-Rottluff, Tate © VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2026. Photo: Tate
Clothilde and Paul Schüler Collection (Bochum)

Max Pechstein, Dialogue, 1921, Collection of the Kunstmuseum Bochum

Unknown, Portrait of Paul Schüler, undated
Max Silberberg Collection (Breslau)

Ferdinand Hodler, Lake Thun with Stockhorn Chain, c. 1913, Kunstmuseum St. Gallen, On loan from the Simon and Charlotte Frick Foundation 2011

Unknown, Portrait of Max Silberberg, undated
Alfred Wolf Collection (Stuttgart)

Alfred Sisley (1839-1899), Orchard Scene, 1885, A.G. Leventis Gallery, Nicosia/Cyprus
                               

Advertisement by W. Wolf & Söhne, Stuttgart –
                               Untertürkheim, undated

Whistler. Dandy and Disruptor

Van Gogh Museum

16 October 2026 - 10 January 2027

James McNeill Whistler is one of the most important artists of the 19th century. With his belief that art – like music – should above all evoke a mood, he helped shape modern art. Alongside his paintings, he is also renowned for his many etchings and drawings, made in cities such as Paris, Amsterdam and Venice.

Whistler’s rebellious nature and strong convictions regularly set him on a collision course with critics and patrons. With his distinctive and innovative art, he was at times considered too progressive – even by avant-garde artists. Whistler spent months, sometimes even years, working on a single artwork, while the final work appears almost effortless.

At the time, the influential English art historian Roger Fry wrote about Whistler:

‘… he seemed to be always inaugurating a revolution, leading intransigent youth against the strongholds of tradition and academic complacence.’

Whistler & Van Gogh

Vincent van Gogh admired Whistler and mentioned his etchings in various letters. He counted Whistler among the artists he and his brother Theo had ‘loved in our time’.

Whistler and Van Gogh shared a fascination with Japanese aesthetics and pushed the boundaries of what art could be. Van Gogh referred to the famous portrait of Whistler’s mother in a letter to his sister Willemien, writing:

‘There’s a painting that Whistler did of his mother which is like that. But above all in our old Dutch paintings we find it sometimes. When I think of Mother she too appears like that to me.’

This retrospective was realised in collaboration with Tate Britain in London. The exhibition James McNeill Whistler, which received widespread critical acclaim, will be on display there from 21 May to 27 September 2026.

The exhibition Whistler. Loving the Netherlands runs concurrently at The Mesdag Collection in The Hague, focusing on Whistler’s time in the Netherlands and work he produced during his visits. 

IMAGES

James Abbott McNeill Whistler, Arrangement in Grey: Portrait of the Painter, 1872, oil paint on canvas, 74.9 x 53.3 cm, Detroit Institute of Arts. Bequest of Henry Glover Stevens in memory of Ellen P. Stevens and Mary M. Stevens. Photocredit: © Detroit Institute of Arts / Bridgeman Images

James Abbott McNeill Whistler, Arrangement in Grey and Black: Portrait of the Painter's Mother, 1871, Oil paint on canvas, 144.3 x 162.5 cm, Musée d'Orsay, Paris, Photocredit: © Musée d’Orsay / RMN-Grand Palais / Patrice Schmidt

James Abbott McNeill Whistler, At the Piano, 1858–59, Oil paint on canvas, 67.6 × 93.4 cm, Taft Museum of Art, Cincinnati, Bequest of Louise Taft Semple

James Abbott McNeill Whistler, Nocturne: Blue and Silver – Chelsea, 1871, Oil paint on wood, 50.2 × 60.8 cm, Tate, Bequeathed by Miss Rachel and Miss Jean Alexander 1972

James McNeill Whistler, Symphony in White, No. 3, 1865–67, Oil paint on canvas, 52.0 × 76.5 cm, The Henry Barber Trust, the Barber Institute of Fine Arts, University of Birmingham

James McNeill Whistler, The Last of Old Westminster, 1862, Oil paint on canvas, 61 × 78.1 cm, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, A. Shuman Collection—Abraham Shuman Fund

James McNeill Whistler, The Coast of Brittany, 1861, Oil paint on canvas, 87.3 × 115.6 cm, Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford, CT, In memory of William Arnold Healy, given by his daughter, Susie Healy Camp

James McNeill Whistler, The Palace: white and pink, 1879/80, Pastel and conté crayon on paper, 19.7 × 30 cm, National Gallery of Art, Washington, Paul Mellon Fund and Patrons’ Permanent Fund

James McNeill Whistler, Nocturne, c.1875–78, Oil paint on canvas, 50.6 × 76.7 cm, The White House.

James McNeill Whistler, Brown and Gold: Self-portrait, c.1895–1900, Oil paint on canvas, 95.8 × 51.5 cm, Hunterian Art Gallery, University of Glasgow, Bequeathed by Rosalind B. Philip (1958)

James McNeill Whistler, Variations in Violet and Green, 1871, Oil paint on canvas, 61.5 × 36 cm, Musée d’Orsay, Paris

James McNeill Whistler.Arrangement in Yellow and Gray: Effie Deans  1876–1878 Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam

James McNeill Whistler, Rotherhithe, 1860, Etching on paper, 27.6 × 20 cm, Joan M. Winchell Collection / Rijksmuseum Amsterdam, Gift of the Art Institute of Chicago

Whistler. Loving the Netherlands

The Mesdag Collection, The Hague

16 October 2026 - 10 January 2027

The pioneering artist James McNeill Whistler (1834–1903) visited the Netherlands more than ten times between 1863 and 1902. It was one of his favourite destinations. He regarded the dreamlike etchings he made of Amsterdam’s canals as his finest work.

Whistler’s refined watercolours and small-scale paintings also reveal his love of the watery Dutch landscape. He worked in towns and provinces including Dordrecht and Zeeland.

‘Holland is the country for artists. It has atmosphere.’

In this exhibition, Whistler’s work is shown alongside that of Dutch contemporaries. His visits to the Netherlands did not go unnoticed. Whistler had a keen eye for the beauty of the Dutch landscape, prompting Dutch artists to look anew at their own country. This resulted in atmospheric waterscapes by artists including Willem Witsen and George Hendrik Breitner.

Contact with Mesdag

Whistler was also frequently in contact with Hendrik Willem Mesdag, who likely encouraged him to paint the Scheveningen coastline and the North Sea. On his final day in the Netherlands, Whistler visited Museum Mesdag. More than a century later, this is where the remarkable works and stories of his time in the Netherlands are on view.

This exhibition is presented in parallel with Whistler. Dandy and Disruptor at the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam.

James McNeill Whistler, Snow, Amsterdam, 1882, watercolour on paper, private Collection

James McNeill Whistler, The Embroidered Curtain, 1889, Etching and drypoint on paper, 24 × 16 cm, Amsterdam City Archives

James McNeill Whistler, The Pierrot [from the Amsterdam Set], 1889, Etching and drypoint on paper, 23.1 × 15.9 cm, Amsterdam City Archives

James McNeill Whistler, Zaandam, 1889, Etching and drypoint on paper, 13 × 21.6 cm, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, Purchased with the support of the F.G. Waller-Fonds

Portraits! Surprising Encounters from Botticelli to Lempicka

Gemäldegalerie – Staatliche Museen zu Berlin

16 October 2026 – 14 March 2027 

How do we see ourselves – and how have people in different historical periods wished to be seen? The special exhibition “Portraits! Surprising Encounters from Botticelli to Lempicka at the Gemäldegalerie (Old Master Paintings) ‒ Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, invites viewers on a fascinating journey through the history of portraiture. Unusual juxtapositions of works spanning five centuries reveal striking similarities, bringing the pieces to life and providing opportunities to reflect on the presentation of the self and others, as well as on staging, roles, and character. Masterpieces by artists such as Botticelli and Lempicka, Mino da Fiesole and Rogier van der Weyden, Dürer and Giorgione, or Rubens and Gainsborough are brought into conversation with one another, revealing striking and often surprising affinities. 

Works that have never “met” before come together for the first time, offering a fresh perspective on themes such as identity, beauty, status and power. 

Portraits reveal more than just people’s outward appearance. They also reveal details about self-awareness, character, emotion and staged representation. Clothing, posture, and accessories act as codes for social, political and gender affiliation. By comparing portraits from different regions and eras, visitors can recognise, trace, and understand artistic decisions and visual strategies: What was considered beautiful, dignified or worthy of authority? How did these ideals evolve over the centuries? The exhibition reveals the variety of these responses, while also highlighting the surprising connections between them. 

The exhibition’s starting point is the outstanding international collection of portraits at the Gemäldegalerie, which is complemented by a selection of loans from other museums of the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, including the Alte Nationalgalerie (Old National Gallery) and the Neue Nationalgalerie (New National Gallery), the Ägyptisches Museum (Egyptian Museum) and the Skulpturensammlung (Sculpture Collection). It presents a multifaceted panorama of portraiture from the 15th to the 20th centuries.

Around 90 masterpieces by artists such as Petrus Christus, Mino da Fiesole, Botticelli, Giorgione, Dürer, Cranach the Elder, Holbein the Younger, Titian, Sofonisba Anguissola, Rembrandt, Zurbarán, Anna Dorothea Therbusch, and Tamara de Lempicka encompass a wide variety of portraiture’s diverse aspects, ranging from glorious portraits of rulers to intimate scenes of friendship and proud self-proclamations. Each encounter tells its own story and invites wonder, comparison and discovery. 

The Exhibition Sections 

Various forms and functions of portraits are examined in the four sections of the exhibition. The prologue highlights the astonishing constancy of mimetic portrait art, which has spanned many centuries, and also sheds light on the genre’s roots in Europe. 

Portrait Types North and South of the Alps 

The first section of the exhibition explorse the development of portraiture in Italy and the North during the Renaissance. Various prototypes emerged, such as the northern three-quarter profile used by Rogier van der Weyden and the strict profile preferred by Filippo Lippi. Differing tendencies towards naturalism and idealisation soon mingled and influenced the development of portrait painting in the following centuries. 

Self-Representation of the Elite 

Portraits were a powerful means of social representation and distinction. The clothing, poses, and size of a work all revealed the aspirations and status of the person depicted. Anthonis Mor’s prestigious, knee-length portrait of the Duchess Margaret of Parma, with her regal gaze, is on a par with Giambattista Moroni’s portrait of the nobleman Don Gabriel de la Cueva. 

Family, Friendship and Intimacy 

On the one hand, the section on family, friendship and intimacy is dedicated to the private aspects of portraiture. Relatives, close friends, and loved ones are captured in images that serve as personal mementos. Sofonisba Anguissola’s mother, Bianca, engages with her daughter while she paints, in a manner that is similar to how the wife of the painter Eugen Spiro looked at her husband 380 years later. Portraits of the deceased offer a final glimpse of them. 

Portraits of Art Collectors and Artists 

The final section of the exhibition focuses on portraits of art collectors and artists. For centuries, self-portraits have not only served as a means of self-exploration, but also as a way of positioning oneself and one’s work within traditional contexts. Therbusch portrays herself as an intellectual, while Poussin and Anton Raphael Mengs use their self-portraits to reflect on their lives and artistic fame.Self-Reflections in the Age of Selfies 

“Portraits“ is not just an art historical exhibition; it also reflects our current image-obsessed world. In the age of selfies and social media:how do we construct our identity? How do we read faces? And what does our view reveal about ourselves? The reflection of masterworks from the past provides the perfect opportunity to study and understand these current questions. 

Curatorial Team 

The exhibition is curated by Sven Jakstat and Stephan Kemperdick, with assistance from Marie-Luise Hugler.

Exhibition Catalogue 

A richly illustrated catalogue provides an in-depth exploration of the works and their relationships with each other (Michael Imhof-Verlag, Petersberg). 

Porträts! Überraschende Begegnungen von Botticelli bis Lempicka (Petersberg: Michael Imhof-Verlag, 2026), 256 pages, ISBN: 978-3731915980, €49.

IMAGES

Sofonisba Anguissola, Bianca Ponzoni Anguissola, 1557, 100 x 76,3 cm, Gemäldegalerie, Kat.Nr. 1705
Foto: Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Gemäldegalerie / Jörg P. Anders

Sandro Botticelli, Giuliano de'Medici, 1478, 57,1 x 38,4 cm, Gemäldegalerie, Kat.Nr. 1068
Foto: Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Gemäldegalerie / Jörg P. Anders

Sebastiano del Piombo, Junge Dame mit Fruchtkorb, 1512/13, 77,7 x 61,3 cm, Gemäldegalerie, Kat.Nr. 259B
Foto: Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Gemäldegalerie / Jörg P. Anders

Giovanni Cariani, Bildnis eines Astronomen, um 1520, 91,9 x 82,1 cm, Gemäldegalerie, Kat.Nr. 2201
Foto: Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Gemäldegalerie / Jörg P. Anders

Anthonis Mor, Herzogin Margarete von Parma, um 1562, 106,8 x 77,6 cm, Gemäldegalerie, Kat.Nr. 585B
Foto: Christoph Schmidt, Berlin

Eugen Spiro, Die Gattin des Künstlers, 1929, 100,5 x 81,5 cm, Neue Nationalgalerie, Inv.-Nr. A II 706
© VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2026

Tamara de Lempicka, Porträt, um 1931, 45 x 37 cm, Neue Nationalgalerie, Inv.-Nr. B UHP 87/13
Foto: Jochen Littkemann © Tamara de Lempicka Estate, LLC / VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2026

Wilhelm Schadow, Italienerin, 1831, 70,3 x 59 cm, Alte Nationalgalerie, Inv.-Nr. W.S. 196
Foto: Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Nationalgalerie / Andres Kilger

Hans Holbein d.J., Der Kaufmann Georg Gisze, 1532, 97,5 x 86,2 cm, Gemäldegalerie, Kat.Nr. 586
Foto: Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Gemäldegalerie / Jörg P. Anders

Giambattista Moroni, Don Gabriel de la Cueva, 1560, 114,8 x 90,8 cm, Gemäldegalerie, Kat.Nr. 79.1
Foto: Christoph Schmidt, Berlin