Curt Glaser (May 29, 1879 ( Leipzig) – November 23, 1943 ( Lake Placid, New York, USA)) was a German Jewish art historian, art critic and collector who was persecuted by the Nazis.

Life

Gedenktafel_Matthäikirchplatz_8_(Tierg)_Curt_Glaser

Glaser's parents, the businessman Simon Glaser (1841–1904) and his wife Emma Glaser, née Haase (1854–1927), moved to Berlin soon after their son was born. Glaser, born of the Jewish faith, converted to the Protestant faith around 1911. He had two brothers, the physician Felix Glaser (1874–1931) and the art dealer Paul Glaser (1885–1946). Curt Glaser received his doctorate in medicine in Munich in 1902 and then began studying art history in Freiburg, Munich, and Berlin, where he worked with Heinrich Wölfflin in 1907 with a thesis on Hans Holbein the Elder. In 1903 he married Elsa Kolker from Breslau († 1932), daughter of the industrialist and art collector Hugo Kolker, with whom he built up an important art collection including works by Max Beckmann, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Ernst Oppler, Henri Matisse and

Edvard Munch Edvard Munch ( , ; 12 December 1863 – 23 January 1944) was a Norwegian painter. His best known work, ''The Scream'' (1893), has become one of Western art's most iconic images. His childhood was overshadowed by illness, bereavement and the dr ...

. As an art historian, he campaigned for the re-evaluation of old German art and, together with

Karl Scheffler Karl Scheffler (* February 27, 1869 in Hamburg; † October 25, 1951 in Überlingen) was a German art critic and publicist. Life The son of the master painter John Scheffler first learned the painter's trade in the business of his uncle Claus ...

, edited the series Deutsche Meister, published by Insel Verlag. At the same time he dealt with contemporary art and is one of the early supporters of Expressionist art in Germany, as well as one of the first art scholars to deal with East Asian art. In addition to his academic work, Glaser wrote regular art reviews for the daily newspaper Hamburgischer Correspondent from 1902 to 1910. From 1909 he contributed to the journal Kunst und Künstler published by Karl Scheffler and was also the Berlin editor of the Kunstchronik. In 1924 Glaser became Director of the Berlin Staatlichen Kunstbibliothek tate Art Library From 1918 to 1933 he was the art reporter for the daily newspaper Berliner Börsen-Courier. In 1933 he married Maria Milch (daughter: Eva Renate 1935–1943) .

Nazi persecution

When the National Socialists took power, Glaser was persecuted because of his Jewish descent, and in June 1933, he emigrated to Switzerland. Before emigrating, he was forced to sell large parts of his collection below value through the Max Perl auction house. The couple managed to emigrate to the USA via Cuba in 1941 and settled in New York. Glaser died in 1943 after a long illness without having found another professional foothold in exile.

Claims for restitution

Glaser's descendants in Germany, Brazil and the US have successfully petitioned museums and private owners to return artworks. Cologne's

Ludwig Museum Museum Ludwig, located in Cologne, Germany, houses a collection of modern art. It includes works from Pop Art, Abstract and Surrealism, and has one of the largest Picasso collections in Europe. It holds many works by Andy Warhol and Roy Lich ...

and Amsterdam's

Rijksmuseum The Rijksmuseum () is the national museum of the Netherlands dedicated to Dutch arts and history and is located in Amsterdam. The museum is located at the Museum Square in the borough of Amsterdam South, close to the Van Gogh Museum, the St ...

have both restituted artworks. In 2009 the UK Spoliation Advisory Committee considered a claim by Glaser's heirs against the Samuel Courtauld Trust (the

Courtauld Courtauld is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: *Adam Courtauld Butler or Adam Butler (British politician), DL (1931–2008), British Conservative Party politician and MP *Augustine Courtauld (1904–1959), often called August Cour ...

) for eight drawings acquired by Count

Antoine Seilern Count Antoine Seilern (17 September 1901 – 6 July 1978) was an Anglo-Austrian art collector and art historian. He was considered, along with Sir Denis Mahon, to be one of a handful of important collectors who was also a respected scholar. The ...

(Seilern) at an auction of part of Glaser’s collection held in Berlin in May 1933. The drawings were part of the Princes Gate bequest in 1978 to the Home House Society. In 2012, Glazer's heirs and the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation reached an agreement on the division of the works of art held by the State Museums in Berlin from Glazer's property, which had been auctioned off at a lower price. On May 9, 2016, a memorial plaque was unveiled in the Berlin Art Library, Berlin-Tiergarten, Matthäikirchplatz 8. In 2008 Curt Glaser's heirs made a claim for restitution against the Basel art museum for more than100 drawings and prints, including works by Henri Matisse, Max Beckmann,

Auguste Rodin François Auguste René Rodin (12 November 184017 November 1917) was a French sculptor, generally considered the founder of modern sculpture. He was schooled traditionally and took a craftsman-like approach to his work. Rodin possessed a uniqu ...

Marc Chagall Marc Chagall; russian: link=no, Марк Заха́рович Шага́л ; be, Марк Захаравіч Шагал . (born Moishe Shagal; 28 March 1985) was a Russian-French artist. An early modernism, modernist, he was associated with se ...

, Oskar Kokoschka, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner and

Erich Heckel Erich Heckel (31 July 1883 – 27 January 1970) was a German painter and printmaker, and a founding member of the group ''Die Brücke'' ("The Bridge") which existed 1905–1913. His work was part of the art competitions at the 1928 Summer Oly ...

. Among the most valuable pieces are two Munch lithographs, “Self Portrait” and “Madonna.” The Kustmuseum refused for more than a decade. However after the Swiss news media unearthed documents that contradicted the museum's version of events, the museum reversed its position in 2020, agreeing to pay a settlement to Glaser's heir. The German Lost Art Foundation lists 1806 objects that belonged to Glaser and his wife in its database.

Writings

* ''Hans Holbein d.Ä.'' (= ''Kunstgeschichtliche Monographien'' 11). Hiersemann, Leipzig o. J. * ''Die Kunst Ostasiens. Der Umkreis ihres Denkens und Gestaltens.'' Insel Verlag, Leipzig 1913 * ''Zwei Jahrhunderte deutscher Malerei. Von den Anfängen der deutschen Tafelmalerei im ausgehenden 14. Jahrhundert bis zu ihrer Blüte im beginnenden 16. Jahrhundert.'' Bruckmann, München 1916 * ''Edvard Munch.'' Cassirer, Berlin 1917 * ''Der Holzschnitt. Von seinen Anfängen im 15. Jahrhundert bis zur Gegenwart.'' Cassirer, Berlin 1920 * ''Vincent van Gogh'' (= ''Bibliothek der Kunstgeschichte'' 9). E. A. Seemann, Leipzig 1921 * ''Lukas Cranach.'' Deutsche Meister. Insel, Leipzig 192
Glaser, Curt Lukas Cranach
* ''Die Graphik der Neuzeit. Vom Anfang des 19. Jahrhunderts bis zur Gegenwart.'' Cassirer, Berlin 1922 * ''Eduard Manet: Faksimiles nach Zeichnungen und Aquarellen.'' Veröffentlichungen der Marées-Gesellschaft. Piper, München 1922 * ''Gotische Holzschnitte.'' Propyläen, Berlin 1923 * ''Paul Cézanne'' (= ''Bibliothek der Kunstgeschichte'' 50). E. A. Seemann, Leipzig 1923 * ''Hans Holbein d. J. Zeichnungen.'' Schwabe, Basel 1924 * ''Die Altdeutsche Malerei.'' Bruckmann, München 1924 * ''Ostasiatische Plastik, Band 11: Die Kunst des Ostens.'' Hrsg. William Cohn. Cassirer, Berlin 1925 * ''Japanisches Theater.'' Würfel, Berlin 1930 * ''Les peintres primitifs allmands du milieu du XIV.e siècle à la fin du XVe.'' van Oest, Paris 1931 * ''Amerika baut auf!'' Cassirer, Berlin 1932 * ''Zu Besuch bei Edvard Munch in Ekely – 1927.'' Meyer, Basel 2007,

Literature

* * ''Glaser, Curt'', in: Ulrike Wendland: ''Biographisches Handbuch deutschsprachiger Kunsthistoriker im Exil. Leben und Werk der unter dem Nationalsozialismus verfolgten und vertriebenen Wissenschaftler''. München : Saur, 1999, , S. 197–200 * ''Glaser, Curt.'' In: ''Lexikon deutsch-jüdischer Autoren.'' Band 9: ''Glas–Grün.'' Hrsg. vom Archiv Bibliographia Judaica. Saur, München 2001, , S. 3–6. * * Andreas Strobl: ''"Man bleibt mit Worten immer draußen". Curt Glaser – zwischen Kunstkritik und Sammellust.'' In: ''Aufbruch in die Moderne. Sammler, Mäzene und Kunsthändler in Berlin 1880–1933''. Hrsg. von Anna-Dorothea Ludwig, Julius H. Schoeps, Ines Sonder, Mitarbeit Anna-Carolin Augustin. DuMont, Köln 201,2 . * ''Curt Glaser. Historiker der ostasiatischen Kunst. Mit seinem nachgelassenen Werk "Materialien zu einer Kunstgeschichte des Quattrocento in Italien".'' Mit Einleitung, Schriftenverzeichnis und Register bearb. und hg. von Hartmut Walravens. Beiträge von Setsuko Kuwabara (= Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin. Neuerwerbungen der Ostasienabteilung, Sonderheft 31). Berlin 2012, . * ''Glaser, Curt'', in: Joseph Walk (Hrsg.): ''Kurzbiographien zur Geschichte der Juden 1918–1945''. München : Saur, 1988, , S. 114 * ''Glaser, Curt'', in: Werner Röder;

Herbert A. Strauss Herbert Arthur Strauss (1 June 1918, Würzburg, Germany – 11 March 2005, New York, NY) was a German-born American historian. Life Strauss spent his youth in his home town of Würzburg, Bavaria. After school he began a commercial apprenticeshi ...

(Hrsg.): ''International Biographical Dictionary of Central European Emigrés 1933-1945''. Band 2,1. München : Saur, 1983 , S. 379

External links

*
Jüdische Sammler und Kunsthändler (Opfer nationalsozialistischer Verfolgung und Enteignung) Glaser, Prof. Dr. Curt

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Glaser, Curt 1943 deaths 1879 births American art critics Emigrants from Nazi Germany American art historians Jewish emigrants from Nazi Germany to the United States Jewish art collectors Converts to Lutheranism from Judaism German art critics German art historians Jews and Judaism in Germany Subjects of Nazi art appropriations