Justin K. Thannhauser (1892–1976) was a German art dealer and collector who was an important figure in the development and dissemination of
modern art
Modern art includes artistic work produced during the period extending roughly from the 1860s to the 1970s, and denotes the styles and philosophies of the art produced during that era. The term is usually associated with art in which the tradi ...
in Europe.
Biography
Early years
Justin K. Thannhauser was born in Munich, the son of Charlotte (Nachtigall) and
Heinrich Thannhauser
Heinrich Thannhauser (born February 16, 1859 in Hürben, today a district of Krumbach (Swabia); died 1934 on the German-Swiss border) was a German gallery owner and art collector. As an art dealer, he was one of the most important promoters of ear ...
(1859–1935), who was also an art dealer.
His family was Jewish. As a child, Justin assisted his father in his Moderne Galerie, one of the three
Thannhauser Galleries The Thannhauser Galleries were established by the Thannhauser family in early 20th century Europe. Their cutting-edge exhibitions helped forge the reputations of many of the most important Modernist artists.
History
Heinrich Thannhauser (1859–193 ...
, which was located in Munich. In 1911, Heinrich sent him abroad to further his academic studies, including art history, philosophy, and psychology. Justin studied in Munich, Berlin, Florence, and Paris, with renowned scholars such as
Henri Bergson
Henri-Louis Bergson (; 18 October 1859 – 4 January 1941) was a French philosopherHenri Bergson. 2014. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Retrieved 13 August 2014, from https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/61856/Henri-Bergson ,
Adolf Goldschmidt, and
Heinrich Wölfflin. He later brought Wölfflin and other eminent guests to hold private lectures at the Moderne Galerie, helping to turn it into one of Munich's leading art galleries. While abroad, he also strengthened business contacts with artists and other important art dealers, such as Kahnweiler (
Pablo Picasso
Pablo Ruiz Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist and Scenic design, theatre designer who spent most of his adult life in France. One of the most influential artists of the 20th ce ...
's Parisian dealer) and
Wilhelm Uhde.
In 1912, Justin returned to Munich to work full-time at the gallery, which had become known for its combination of Munich Modernism (see
Neue Künstlervereinigung München
The Neue Künstlervereinigung München (N.K.V.M.), ("New Artists' Association Munich") was an Expressionism art group based in Munich. The registered association was formed in 1909 and prefigured ''Der Blaue Reiter'' (The Blue Rider), the first ...
and
Der Blaue Reiter) and French avant-garde painting (see
Impressionism
Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by relatively small, thin, yet visible brush strokes, open Composition (visual arts), composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating ...
and
Post-Impressionism
Post-Impressionism (also spelled Postimpressionism) was a predominantly French art movement that developed roughly between 1886 and 1905, from the last Impressionist exhibition to the birth of Fauvism. Post-Impressionism emerged as a reaction ag ...
). His new business relationship with
Filippo Tommaso Marinetti, however, led to an unprecedented exhibition of works by the
Italian Futurists
Futurism ( it, Futurismo, link=no) was an artistic and social movement that originated in Italy, and to a lesser extent in other countries, in the early 20th century. It emphasized dynamism, speed, technology, youth, violence, and objects suc ...
. This exhibition, while controversial, brought even greater notoriety to the gallery. In 1913, it held the largest and most comprehensive exhibition of Picasso's work.
Justin wrote the introduction to the exhibition catalogue and soon began a close personal and professional relationship with the artist.
He acquired many of Picasso's works over the years, including ''
Woman Ironing
''Woman Ironing'' (French: ''La repasseuse'') is a 1904 oil painting by Pablo Picasso that was completed during the artist's Blue Period (1901—1904). This evocative image, painted in neutral tones of blue and gray, depicts an emaciated woman wi ...
'' (1904) and ''The Blind Man's Meal'' (1903).
World War I and the interwar period
Justin was called to serve in
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
in 1914. After being wounded in 1916, he returned to Munich and helped Heinrich to publish three large volumes cataloguing a selection of the gallery's inventory and activities. In 1918, he married his first wife, Kate. She gave birth to their two sons, Heinz and Michel, in 1918 and 1920, respectively. In 1919, as the political and economic situation in Germany continued to decline, Justin decided to move his family to Lucerne, Switzerland. There, he opened a second branch of what was now called Moderne Galerie/Thannhauser. This new venue allowed the family to sell works that were found unfavorable in Germany. Justin ran the Lucerne branch until 1921, when he was called back to Munich to assist his father, who had developed a serious condition in his larynx. The Lucerne gallery continued to be under Justin's direction until 1928, when his cousin
Siegfried Rosengart
Siegfried Rosengart (1894 – 1985) was a German-Swiss art dealer.
Early life
Rosengart was born in 1894. His parents were Heinrich Rosengart (1850–1921), a bed feather maker, and Selma Thannhauser. His uncles, Joseph Rosengart and Heinrich Th ...
assumed control and changed its name to Galerie Rosengart.
Once in Munich, Justin assumed complete control of his father's gallery and brought the two branches under the name Galerien Thannhauser. He began to slowly rebuild the business's reputation, which had weakened during the war, by organizing conservative exhibitions of German paintings and works on paper. He soon returned to the avant-garde, however, showing works by Picasso and
Kandinsky in 1922, an exhibition of contemporary American artists in 1923, and paintings by
Vlaminck
Maurice de Vlaminck (4 April 1876 – 11 October 1958) was a French painter. Along with André Derain and Henri Matisse, he is considered one of the principal figures in the Fauve movement, a group of modern artists who from 1904 to 1908 w ...
in 1925. His most daring endeavors took place in 1926, when he held exhibitions of work by
George Grosz
George Grosz (; born Georg Ehrenfried Groß; July 26, 1893 – July 6, 1959) was a German artist known especially for his caricatural drawings and paintings of Berlin life in the 1920s. He was a prominent member of the Berlin Dada and New Objec ...
and
Otto Dix.
In 1927, Justin opened a third gallery in Berlin. The success of this branch quickly surpassed that of the one in Munich; he thus decided to focus completely on the former and closed the latter in 1928. His greatest achievement in the Berlin space took place in 1930, when he presented the largest exhibition of works by
Matisse
Henri Émile Benoît Matisse (; 31 December 1869 – 3 November 1954) was a French visual artist, known for both his use of colour and his fluid and original draughtsmanship. He was a draughtsman, printmaker, and sculptor, but is known prima ...
ever held in Germany.
World War II and post-war years
In 1937, Justin moved with this family to Paris to escape the
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...
regime. Although the Nazi government considered Modern art to be "degenerate," he had paid a steep export tax and was thus permitted to bring many important works and archive materials with him. He was, however, forced to liquidate his family's collection of classic German art in order to make this financially possible. Despite this considerable loss, he was able to open a private gallery on rue de Miromesnil. He was also voted into the Syndicat des Editeurs d'Art et Négotiants en Tableaux Modernes, Paris's professional society of art dealers.
After the outbreak of
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, Justin moved his family back to Switzerland, and then to New York. There, he opened another private gallery. Fortunately, he had managed to bring several important works with him to the United States; the house in Paris would later be looted by Nazi soldiers. However, due to the death of Heinz (who was killed in combat in 1944) and the poor health of Michel (who would ultimately die in 1952), Justin canceled his plans to open a public gallery and placed a large number of works up for auction in 1945. He remained in New York until 1971, where he continued to operate the private gallery, collected art, and assisted museums and galleries with exhibitions and acquisitions. He also hosted many international cultural luminaries in his home, including Picasso,
Louise Bourgeois
Louise Joséphine Bourgeois (; 25 December 191131 May 2010) was a French-American artist. Although she is best known for her large-scale sculpture and installation art, Bourgeois was also a prolific painter and printmaker. She explored a varie ...
,
Henri Cartier-Bresson
Henri Cartier-Bresson (; 22 August 1908 – 3 August 2004) was a French humanist photographer considered a master of candid photography, and an early user of 35mm film. He pioneered the genre of street photography, and viewed photography as cap ...
,
Marcel Duchamp
Henri-Robert-Marcel Duchamp (, , ; 28 July 1887 – 2 October 1968) was a French painter, sculptor, chess player, and writer whose work is associated with Cubism, Dada, and conceptual art. Duchamp is commonly regarded, along with Pablo Picasso ...
,
Jean Renoir
Jean Renoir (; 15 September 1894 – 12 February 1979) was a French film director, screenwriter, actor, producer and author. As a film director and actor, he made more than forty films from the silent film, silent era to the end of the 1960s. ...
,
John D. Rockefeller
John Davison Rockefeller Sr. (July 8, 1839 – May 23, 1937) was an American business magnate and philanthropist. He has been widely considered the wealthiest American of all time and the richest person in modern history. Rockefeller was ...
, and
Thomas M. Messer, then Director of the
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum
The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, often referred to as The Guggenheim, is an art museum at 1071 Fifth Avenue on the corner of East 89th Street on the Upper East Side of Manhattan in New York City. It is the permanent home of a continuously exp ...
, among many others. Kate died in 1960, and he married his second wife, Hilde, two years later.
In 1963, Justin decided to bequeath the essential works of his collection to the Guggenheim. The size and quality of this gift was unparalleled by any that he had made or would make again.
Because the terms called for the works to be permanently installed in a designated space so that they would be publicly accessible, the Guggenheim created the Thannhauser Wing in 1965. The museum space housing the Thannhauser collection has since been expanded and restored.
Justin and Hilde retired to Switzerland in 1971, and Justin died in Gstaad on December 26, 1976. After his death, Hilde continued to donate works of art to institutions around the world, including the
Kunstmuseum Bern
The Museum of Fine Arts Bern (German: ''Kunstmuseum Bern''), established in 1879 in Bern, is the museum of fine arts of the de facto capital of Switzerland.
Its holdings run from the Middle Ages to the present. It houses works by Paul Klee, Pab ...
and the Guggenheim. She died in Bern in 1991.
Controversies and lawsuits concerning Holocaust-related art transactions
Thannhauser was involved in art transactions that have resulted in Nazi-era art claims against the Guggenheim Museum, the
National Gallery of Art
The National Gallery of Art, and its attached Sculpture Garden, is a national art museum in Washington, D.C., United States, located on the National Mall, between 3rd and 9th Streets, at Constitution Avenue NW. Open to the public and free of char ...
, the Andrew Lloyd Webber Art Foundation, the
Bavarian State Paintings Collections, and Chicago art collectors James and Marlynne Alsdorf, among others. In each case, the lawsuits were filed in courts by the families of the Jewish collectors who had owned the artworks before Thannhauser dealt with them.
In January 2023, a claim was filed in the Manhattan Supreme Court against the Guggenheim Museum by the heirs of Karl Adler and Rosi Jacobi demanding the repatriation of Picasso's ''
Woman Ironing
''Woman Ironing'' (French: ''La repasseuse'') is a 1904 oil painting by Pablo Picasso that was completed during the artist's Blue Period (1901—1904). This evocative image, painted in neutral tones of blue and gray, depicts an emaciated woman wi ...
''. Thannhauser purchased the painting in 1938 during the Nazi era. When Thannhauser died in 1978, he gifted it, along with the rest of his artwork, to the Guggenheim Museum. The Guggenheim Museum's position concerning Picasso's "Woman Ironing" is that when the painting’s owner sold it, he made a “fair transaction.” However, the heirs claim that it was sold under duress.
See also
*
Thannhauser Galleries The Thannhauser Galleries were established by the Thannhauser family in early 20th century Europe. Their cutting-edge exhibitions helped forge the reputations of many of the most important Modernist artists.
History
Heinrich Thannhauser (1859–193 ...
References
Notes
Sources
* Bäckström, Per; Hjartarson, Benedikt, eds. (2014). Decentering the Avant-Garde, Volume 30 of Avant-Garde Critical Studies. Rodopi. p. 189. .
* Barnett, Vivian Endicott (1978). The Guggenheim Museum, Justin K. Thannhauser Collection. Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum. p. 14. .
* Drutt, Matthew: "A Showcase for Modern Art: The Thannhauser Collection," in: Drutt, Matthew (Ed.), Thannhauser: The Thannhauser Collection of the Guggenheim Museum, The Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation 2001, pp. 1–25
* The Thannhauser Gallery: Marketing Van Gogh, Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam, 2017.
ook review in: http://www.cosmopolis.ch/english/art/e0021000/thannhauser_gallery_e0210000.htm
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thannhauser, Justin K.
German art dealers
Jewish emigrants from Nazi Germany to the United States
1892 births
1976 deaths