In pursuit of provenance: seascape with sailboat
Weblog
In the In pursuit of provenance blogs series, we focus each month on a different object from the Netherlands Art Property (Nederlands Kunstbezit, NK) collection, which is the subject of provenance research. This collection is made up of objects that were returned to the Netherlands after the Second World War. They include paintings, works on paper, as well as furniture and ceramics. By giving this research renewed impetus, we hope to be able to identify new information on provenance. This month: a seascape by Hans von Bartels.
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En plein air
The painting depicts a sailboat on a rough sea under a cloudy sky. It is painted in gouache, opaque pigmented watercolour. The German artist Hans von Bartels (1856-1913) completed this work in 1904. Von Bartels spent many years working in the Netherlands, mainly in fishing villages such as Katwijk and around the Zuiderzee. From 1887, he visited the Dutch beaches every year, taking inspiration from the sea, cloudscapes and traditional local costume. In 1904, he was in Katwijk, where this gouache was probably painted.
It is likely that he painted this seascape outdoors, in order to capture the changing Dutch light. Von Bartels often painted outdoors, en plein air. The pinpricks in the corners of this work provide a clue to this: they show that the paper was probably pinned onto his artist’s box. It is possible that Von Bartels regarded this work as a study drawing for a larger oil painting. However his watercolours and gouache paintings were decent works in themselves. Von Bartels was acclaimed for his technique with materials that had previously been considered to be study materials or subordinate to painting with oils. The dynamic, relaxed style of painting and clear colours are characteristic of Von Bartels’ later work.
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Art dealers
At the end of the Second World War, this gouache turned up at the Central Collecting Point in Munich, where American troops were collecting cultural goods stolen by the Germans. From there, the paintings, drawings, furniture and other objects were returned to their countries of origin, including the Netherlands. But how did this seascape by Hans von Bartels end up in Germany?
Shortly before the German invasion in 1940, Aloid Miedl had taken over Jacques Goudstikker’s art dealership in Amsterdam and continued to run it under the name of his predecessor. In the Goudstikker-Miedl cashbooks, there is a reference to a landscape by a certain Max Bartels, dated 4 December 1941. Because of the almost illegible signature on the work, it was assumed for a long time that Max Bartels painted this work, even after the war. Since then, further research has proved that it was painted by Hans von Bartels and there has never been a well-known painter by the name of Max Bartels.
Owner unknown
The next question is how the work ended up at the Goudstikker-Miedl art dealership. In the stock book, ‘Kohlman’ in Hilversum is listed as the vendor, and this name also features alongside 16 other paintings in the Miedl stock book. Most of them are works by 19th-century German artists.
But who was Kohlman? An art dealer? A collector who had been forced to sell his collection? Is the name spelt correctly, or should it be Kohlmann, Köhlman, Koolman or Kolman? We are also unaware of who owned the work between 1904 and 1941. Did Kohlman purchase it directly from Von Bartels? Or did it pass through several hands before ending up with Miedl?
We do know what happened after that. Alois Miedl sold the paintings that had originated from Kohlman to Johannes Witzig in Munich, together with fifty other artworks. Witzig had previously been a business partner of Miedl. The two men often worked together: they probably shared the profits made from the artworks.
Help wanted
A specialist team of researchers at the Cultural Heritage Agency of the Netherlands (RCE) is currently working on new and additional research into the provenance of objects in the NK collection. They are also providing digital access to the results of their research and making relevant information and data permanently available. The aim of the initiative is to gain a better overall picture of the objects.
Do you have more information about this seascape (NK3282) or do you know anything else about Kohlman? If so, please contact us at: restitutie@cultureelerfgoed.nl
This blog was written by Daniël Hendrikse, junior provenance researcher at the RCE
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