PROVENANCE RESEARCH FOR THE LENTOS MUSEUM

In May 2003 the LENTOS Kunstmuseum Linz was opened as the successor institution to the New Gallery of the City of Linz.
The New Gallery, instituted in 1953, was based on the collection of the Berlin art dealer Wolfgang Gurlitt (1888-1965), which was purchased by the City of Linz in 1952/53 and included paintings and graphic works by Klimt, Schiele, Kokoschka, Nolde, Corinth and Pechstein.

Commissioned by the City of Linz, research has been conducted for years on the provenance of the Gurlitt Collection.
The City of Linz was able to publish a first extensive report on provenance research in 1999:

 Walter Schuster: Die Sammlung Gurlitt der Neuen Galerie der Stadt Linz. Linz 1999 [The Gurlitt Collection of the New Gallery of the City of Linz 1999]

Two artworks have been restituted on the basis of this report:

1999   Ury Lesser: Die Näherin (Inv. Nr. 138) to the heirs of an art collector from Berlin
2003   Egon Schiele: Stadt am Fluss (Inv. Nr. 13) to the heirs of Daisy H. (formerly of Vienna).

The LENTOS Kunstmuseum continues its systematic examination of its museum holdings. A working group for provenance research was commissioned in 2007 by the Mayor and the City Administration Director for the Museums of the City of Linz. Head of the working group is Stella Rollig, director of Lentos since 2004, other members are the LENTOS business director Dr. Gernot Barounig, the collection curator Dr. Elisabeth Nowak-Thaller, head of the Archive of the City of Linz Mag. Dr. Walter Schuster, and the provenance researchers Dr. Vanessa Voigt (Germany).

Based on the investigations of the working group and two external experts, the Linz City Council unanimously passed a resolution on 4 June 2009 for the restitution of the painting

Gustav Klimt: Damenbildnis / Bildnis Maria Munk, 1917/18 (Inv. Nr. 149)

to the legal successors of Aranka Munk.

The systematic investigation of the holdings of the LENTOS Kunstmuseum Linz continues to concentrate on the following sections of the collection:

- paintings with incomplete provenance
- hand drawings and graphic works with incomplete provenance
- sculptures with incomplete provenance

The LENTOS Kunstmuseum Linz strives to clarify the provenance of its holdings as completely as possible.

We are grateful for all leads and especially request scholars working in this field to support us with information. If you have inquiries about individual objects among our holdings, or if you can contribute additional information, please contact us:

by email to: provenienzforschung@lentos.at
by fax: +43-732-7070-3604

or by post to:

LENTOS Kunstmuseum Linz
Provenienzforschung
Ernst-Koref-Promenade 1
4020 Linz