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Research – Provenance Research Project
Introduction | Objects | Restitued Objects | Interim Reports | Press Releases | Resources
Objects
An initial search of the Gallery's Catalogue revealed 219 paintings and sculptures of European origin which were created before 1946 and acquired from 1933 onwards by the Gallery. More than half of these are objects by British artists, however, and were discarded from the group leaving only several which may have been in continental Europe in the relevant period. Other objects were also discarded from the group as they indicated satisfactory provenance details from 1933 to 1945. The remaining 59 objects have been prioritised into two groups loosely according to importance and value. Prints and decorative arts objects such as ceramics, metalwork and furniture have been omitted because of the problems associated with attempting to distinguish between non-unique objects.
Details of objects under investigation will not be released until the Research Team concludes it has either resolved issues of ownership, or its enquiries have exhausted all available avenues. Interim Reports will be posted on this website as developments occur.
Two listings will appear on this website: ‘Restituted Objects' and ‘Objects Lacking Provenance Data'. One will include objects which were taken from their rightful owners during the period of Nazi rule but were restituted prior to acquisition by the Gallery. The second will identify objects which have gaps in provenance during the period 1933–45.
Restituted Objects
The volume of art objects restituted to their owners or heirs after having been confiscated, sold under duress, or stolen during the course of the Nazi era makes it entirely plausible that these objects could have been acquired later by museums.
Research undertaken to date has revealed that the Queensland Art Gallery Collection contains a painting which had been confiscated by Nazi officials and eventually restituted to the rightful heir of the individual from whom it had been taken. The details of this object and its history appear on the ‘Restituted Objects' list as will any further objects identified in this category.
Objects Lacking Provenance Data
Objects with incomplete ownership histories are being researched in as much detail as possible prior to disclosing their identities to the public. Due to the intense media interest generated by any suggestion of an association with Nazi looting, it is considered inappropriate to do otherwise. Such action may draw unwarranted attention to the objects as well as the individuals associated with them when provenance, in fact, may not be an issue.
These objects will be listed in the hope that others may be able to contribute knowledge to help fill those gaps. As research proceeds, this list will be updated and objects added or removed. The presence of an object in this list does not imply that it has been associated with the illicit activities of the Nazis or the haphazard looting which occurred at various times during the course of World War 2. Objects can be included because they show a connection to a collection which was confiscated, or to an individual reported to have been involved in the trafficking of objects on behalf of, or to, the Nazis. The majority of objects will appear in this list because the Research Team has been unable to secure fully documented information and cannot confirm ownership for all or part of the period 1933–45.
Note: Objects with provenance still in question for the period 1933–45 will not be listed until the Research Team concludes that all available avenues have been exhausted. Until that time, Interim Reports will document the research progress to date.
How to Read Catalogue and Provenance Data
The objects on these lists will be described using basic data from the Gallery¹s Catalogue. This will usually include:
- artist's name
- the country the artist is most commonly associated with; birth and death dates
- title and date of object
- medium and support of object (e.g. oil on canvas)
- dimensions (paintings are measured without frame, height followed by width)
- accession number (a unique identification number assigned by the Gallery)
- credit line (how the object came into the possession of the Gallery)
- This description will be followed by the object¹s known provenance details.
The provenance details are recorded in reverse, and commence with the date of acquisition by the Queensland Art Gallery and then work back through previous owners in chronological order. Each known period of ownership of an object will be followed by the name of the owner and their city of residence. Parentheses around a name denotes a dealer, agent or auction house, not a collector; a question mark is inserted after a date or a name when there is uncertainty regarding that element of information. An owner's name without a date or dates indicates that the precise period of the ownership is not known. Anonymous indicates that the owner did not wish to be identified when ownership of the object was transferred to another party, and that this confidential information is held by the Gallery but not available for release. Unknown is used when the identity of the owner is not known.
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