These are questions that the Albertinum, in collaboration with the German Lost Art Foundation (Deutsches Zentrum Kulturgutverluste), is addressing in an ongoing research project initiated in October 2022. The findings of the initial year of this two-year research the project, which is funded by the German Lost Art Foundation can be seen in the exhibition “Private art trade after 1945 in Dresden. Insights into the research project”. The exhibition is being shown at the Georg-Treu-Kabinett in the Albertinum and runs until 21 April 2024.

Following the leadership change within the SED in 1971 and the establishment of the state-owned Kunst und Antiquitäten GmbH in 1973, this trade was increasingly controlled and restricted by governmental authorities, including the Ministry for State Security (Stasi). Some traders faced allegations of tax evasion, but in the end, with a very few exceptions, all the businesses were closed down. A central aim of this project is to reassess and give a new visibility to these largely forgotten enterprises and individuals, which include art dealers such as the following:

Known as “NOVA” from 1955 onwards, the business had a good reputation among art collectors, art enthusiasts and museums in Dresden. A special relationship developed as NOVA brokered and sold the Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden objects of great artistic value. Special mention should be made here of works by Erich Heckel and Otto Dix, for example, which were generously donated to the Albertinum in 1970 by the Bautzen artist and patron Marianne Britze (1883-1980) thanks to the work of Kempe.

Horst Kempe not only shared a friendly rapport with artist Otto Dix, who had been residing at Lake Constance since 1933, but he also maintained a good business relationship. Kempe sold a large number of the lithographs that Dix, working together with the printer Roland Ehrhardt, whom Dix held in high esteem, produced in the print workshop of the University of Fine Arts (Hochschule für Bildende Künste) after 1945.

In 1955, for example, the Gemäldegalerie acquired Ferdinand Dorsch’s 1922 painting “Encounter in the Park” from Alphons Müller.

These kind of attributes provide information about a work’s owners, possessors, uses and date of origin. These labels, notes or stamps can help to reconstruct the sometimes very chequered history of a work when trying to ascertain the history of an object from its creation through to the present day. However, for provenance research, as conducted by the Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden’s Daphne project since 2008, written sources such as letters and invoices are indispensable.

The Kunsthandlung Müller, for example, has an extensive collection of company files that provide detailed insight into the structure and organisation of the private art and antiques business in the GDR. It is a valuable source for the project, and you can watch Claudia Maria Müller present the archive and report on her own family history here:

The interviews conducted so far have already yielded important material and information about the private art and antiques trade after 1945. We would also like to invite you to share any contemporary documents or stories you may have. Any correspondence, receipts, photos of art dealers, acquisition histories of artworks or memories you have, share them with the project so that these can be incorporated into the ongoing academic research.

We would very much like to get in touch with contemporary witnesses such as (former) art dealers, their descendants and customers - perhaps thanks to your support.

All stories, descriptions, historical correspondence, memories and photographs can be sent to this e-mail address or to the postal address:

Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden | Albertinum/Project “Private Art Trade after 1945 in Dresden” | P.O. Box 120551 | 01006 Dresden

You can also reach the project team by phone at either +49 351 4914 9735 or +49 351 4914 9364