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early modern art works, but also presents historical documents to trace their journeys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