Import from France

As museum director in Zwickau and head of the Kunstverein in Hamburg, Dr Hildebrand Gurlitt (1895-1956) was repeatedly rejected in conservative circles. This was due to the fact that he favoured modern art. When he was forced to step down in 1933, he switched to the art trade. Despite his Jewish origins, he soon became one of the most influential dealers in the Nazi state. Against the backdrop of the Degenerate Art campaign of 1937, he was authorised to sell confiscated works. In 1943, he became the main buyer for the Special Commissioner of Linz in occupied France.

The museum acquired three paintings from Gurlitt in Dresden in 1943, including Balthasar Denner’s Elderly Woman and Ferdinand von Rayski’s Gustav Baron von Normann. In Gurlitt's account books, the previous owner of these paintings is listed as the art dealer Theo Hermsen, Paris. However, it is likely that they had long been in Gurlitt's possession. Had an import from France been faked to obtain foreign currency?