Click here to read a press release regarding Auktion 392 going to Liverpool.

Click here to read forward letter by Chairman David Glasser

Click here for more information on “Auktion 392: Reclaiming the Galerie Stern, Dusseldorf”: http://www.auktion392.com

Click here for more information on the Max Stern Art Restitution Project led by Concordia University: http://maxsternproject.concordia.ca

BEN URI MUSEUM LAUNCHES WORLD TOUR OF GROUND BREAKING NAZI LOOTED ART EXHIBITION

16 SEPTEMBER - 24 DECEMBER 2007

'AUKTION 392: RECLAIMING THE GALERIE STERN DUSSELDORF'

"It was not simply the largest genocide in history but a meticulous and wholesale cultural and heritage cleansing in the name of ayranization and ethnic purification. This unique exhibition raises issues of how, in a modern society, art collectors, the art trade and government address and redress the consequences of spoliation. In particular Auktion 392 focuses on the history and current issues of redress from the titanic scale of Nazi looting, forced sales and dispersal of a people’s property and their cultural iconography from the expanse of mainland Europe from 1935 to 1945." David Glasser, Chair Ben Uri Gallery & Museum, July 2007.

Summary:

Ben Uri is honoured to bring the extraordinary story of Dr Max Stern and the 1937 ‘Auktion 392’ in Cologne to life in a dramatic physical reconstruction of the Galerie Stern and of the auction environment of the forced sale of his Galerie’s extensive stock which Max Stern had consigned to Cologne’s leading auctioneers, Lempertz, to hold literally within days - then as now titled ‘Auktion 392’. The exhibition includes up to 70 images of missing works sold at prices that reflected the speed and the overall circumstances during this time. The exhibition will conclude with provenance research and restitution updates led, on behalf of the estate of Dr Stern, by Concordia University Montreal. The Estate’s ambitious restitution project in less than two years has led to the successful restitution of two works of art with a third under court proceedings in America. Ben Uri is delighted that The Montreal Museum of Fine Art has agreed to loan the first work of art restituted in October 2006 ‘Aimee, eine junge agypterin’ 1869 by Emile C. H. Vernet-Lecomte and is in negotiation to exhibit the second work currently shown at a European Foundation.

The historical and majority part of this exhibition was curated simultaneously but wholly independently by Dr Catherine MacKenzie of the History of Art department of Concordia University as a unique record and valuable new scholarship of this dark period of 20th century art history.

THIS EXHIBITION RAISES QUESTIONS AND ISSUES FOR OPEN DEBATE:

Often neglected and difficult category of 'forced sales' involving thousands of works of art from 1933

Complexities of restitution in the private sector particularly surrounding ethical disclosure against client confidentiality post provenance research

Challenges of how the restitution of mid to low value goods are funded

Understandable unwillingness of private collectors and the art trade to address the problem positively and openly when they have purchased in good faith and find they are the innocent holders of tainted property

Unwillingness of private collectors and the art trade to address the problem positively and openly if they have purchased on the basis of ‘caveat emptor’ without due diligence and find they are the holders of tainted property

What approach to compensation should be taken to the category known as ‘the innocent buyer’

Whether there should be a time limit set for lodging claims

Government proposed anti seizure legislation for international touring museum exhibitions which may include 'looted artworks'

Need for the UK art trade associations to take the lead internationally and establish a universally accepted Code of Ethics and set of practical and reasonable procedures to reflect international protocols. The procedures should encourage and establish a minimum level of provenance research and lock in disclosure over client confidentiality when artworks are discovered to be tainted or the subject of claim.

The Story:

DR. MAX STERN 1904 - 1987

1904 born in Munchen-Gladbach - 1933, Galerie Stern Düsseldorf - 1937 Auktion 392 Lempertz Cologne - 1937 Escaped to Paris and then London - 1938-41 Worked in London Old Master Dealer West’s Galleries and then interned in the Isle of Man - 1941 Volunteered to be interned in Canada as part of a shipment of German citizens agreed by the Canadian government - 1942 - 87 The driving force behind the famous Dominion Gallery Montreal.

This unique exhibition tells the extraordinary story of Dr Max Stern, second generation owner of the successful Galerie Stern in Düsseldorf, who was informed in August 1935 that as a result of the Nazi's 'aryanization' of Jewish assets his professional accreditation had been withdrawn. He was given 4 weeks to sell / dissolve all his holdings. Stern appealed the mandate as he tried to find a suitable and willing 'Aryan' owner of the gallery.

In September 1937 he was given final notice and 17 days to close his business under the supervision of the Gestapo. In November 1937 the remainder of his Galerie stock was forcibly sold at his request by Lempertz auctioneers in Cologne – Auktion 392 - at the instructions of the ‘Reichskammer fur bildenden Kunste’, one of seven chambers developed by Goebbels to control all forms of cultural production in Germany. Shortly thereafter he escaped to Paris with little but a suitcase of clothing before joining his sister Hedi in London. The funds raised by Stern from liquidating his assets funded the tax imposed to secure his mother’s freedom to leave Nazi Germany and join them in London the following year. Stern worked in their 'West's Galleries' in Duke Street St James’s dealing in old master paintings but when Germany invaded France in 1940 Stern was interned in the Isle of Man as an 'enemy alien' along with the majority of German citizens living in the UK.

Max Stern’s sister, Hedi settled in Birmingham England after war time conditions ensured their failure to replicate the success of Düsseldorf at London’s ‘West’s Galleries’. In1941 Stern finally received permission to emigrate to Canada as an 'unthreatening refugee'. When he arrived he found himself interned again for close to two years as a ‘civilian alien’ first near Fredericton and later in Farnham, Quebec. Finally arriving in Montreal at the end of 1942 Stern joined the Dominion Gallery of Fine Art working for Rose Millman. Within two years Millman agreed to make Stern a partner in the business. In 1946 he married Iris Westerberg and together they pooled their resources and bought the Dominion Gallery outright. From then on Stern transformed the gallery into a power house of contemporary art and the Dominion Gallery became a beacon of modernism in North America.

Stern was a pioneer and shrewdly built the international reputations of many of today's great names of Modern Art in Canada including Emily Carr, Paul-Emile Borduas, Stanley Cosgrove to name but a few. His passion for extraordinary sculpture took him back to Europe and the Dominion Gallery became the representative for Henry Moore, Jean Arp, Aristide Maillol and had the largest holding of Rodin sculpture outside the Musee Rodin in Paris. Having no children they devoted their lives to extraordinary paintings, sculptures and artists and died leaving an unparalleled private and gallery collection in Canada. Stern died in 1987 at the age of 83.

Long after his death the full story of his traumas in Nazi Germany come to light. In 2005 the executors of his substantial estate decided to embark on a long journey, full of obstacles, to search and ‘Reclaim Galerie Stern, Düsseldorf’ and his collection of some 400 European paintings and commit to each county’s different restitution laws.

A further unique feature of this exhibition is its design to incorporate the month to month progress over the coming eight years and is a constant live reflection of the ongoing restitution process.

European & World Tour:

The Estate of Max Stern benefits three institutions of higher learning in Canada and Israel.

Concordia University in Montreal, which has taken the lead on behalf of the beneficiaries, has formed a long term partnership with Ben Uri, The London Jewish Museum of Art.

Concordia University President, Dr. Claude Lajeunesse, states: “We are very pleased that Ben Uri has agreed to tour this unique exhibition around the world in parallel with the ongoing efforts to recover works lost to Dr. Max Stern during the Nazi period. The subject of forced sales, addressed in Auktion 392 by Concordia Art History Professor Catherine MacKenzie raises awareness of the moral and ethical issues surrounding the return of looted art.

“We are delighted to be working with a highly-regarded museum that has established an international reputation for scholarship and an ability to communicate effectively across all communities and countries through exhibitions and award winning education programmes.”

Ben Uri, The London Jewish Museum of Art, has been awarded an 8 year exclusive distribution agreement to tour this exhibition worldwide following its launch by Concordia University in Montreal and its showing it at the Leo Baeck Institute in New York earlier this year.

Chairman David Glasser said

"It is a remarkable honour for Ben Uri, The London Jewish Museum of Art to be entrusted with Dr Max Stern's remarkable legacy as told through this important and seminal exhibition. Whilst preparing to host the exhibition in London we are actively setting up a team in London and America to extensively tour the show over the coming eight years.

We hope very much that the exhibition will build awareness of the historical and contemporary issues arising from the exhibition and simultaneously help recover more of Dr Stern's paintings. In each country our education programming will raise the challenging questions surrounding restitution that too regularly are sidelined."

Editors Notes:

Galerie Stern Restitution update:

Dr Clarence Epstein, a cultural property specialist and Director of Special Projects in the office of the President of Concordia University, Montreal, was appointed to take charge of the restitution project on behalf of the estate of Dr Max Stern. The leading art researcher Dr Willi Korte has been engaged to lead the search and the team work closely with the New York State Banking Department’s Holocaust Claims Processing Office.

Already over 200 works have been identified through catalogue research and the whereabouts of over 40 works by masters such as Jan Brueghel, Lodovico Carracci and Max Liebermann have been identified in public and private collections.

Two works have been successfully restituted and one more is under legal action:

October 2006: 'Aimee, eine junge agypterin',1869, by Emile C.H. Vernet-Lecomte which will be exhibited in London on loan from the Montreal Museum of Fine Art.

February 2007: 'Portrait of Jan van Eversdyck', 1850, by Nicolas Neufchatels, of the Jakober Foundation Mallorca.

June 2007: The estate won a legal round in Providence, Rhode Island USA in its battle to restitute 'Girl from the Sabiner Mountains' by Franz Xaver Winterhalter.

It was proved the picture had been clandestinely moved from the USA to Germany where there are more accommodating statutes of limitation regarding good title compared to the USA. The Rhode Island court has ruled against any further movement of the work without court permission.

Codes of Ethics:

The Washington Conference in 1998 established the Washington Principles that addressed the need to establish accurate provenance for museum collections. As a result comprehensive and generally adopted Codes of Ethics were established for the international museum sector by UNESCO and ICOM.

However to date no similar agreed authoritative Code of Ethics addresses the international Art Trade in general or the UK in particular that related to the specific period between 1933 and 1945.

Galerie Stern's works are majority 'gallery / domestic' rather than ‘international museum’ quality.

This exhibition raises the question whether, and against what benchmark, art dealers and auction houses engage in sufficient provenance research or whether they regularly ignore at this mid price level and primarily operate on measured commercial risk?

Should there be a universally adopted new very specific code of ethics that establish a clear road map for the art trade to follow? What, if any incentives are necessary to encourage open and public disclosure elevating ethical and moral codes over client confidentiality in the case of tainted or claimed works?

Should there be a second independent body established – ‘son of’ the Spoliation Advisory Panel to determine speedy conclusion and, where appropriate, compensation to cover this majority segment of the problem?

Ben Uri Education Programme

The museum will present and host a range of public forums with distinguished international guest speakers addressing many of the issues raised above throughout September, October and November 2007. Full details to follow.

Exhibition;

'Auktion 392; Reclaiming Galerie Stern, Düsseldorf' has been conceived, researched and curated by the Faculty of Fine Arts Gallery, Concordia University, Montreal, Canada. The exhibition launched at Concordia University in late 2006 and transferred to New York in April 2007 and has been curated by Dr Catherine MacKenzie, Professor, Department of Art History, Concordia University and is toured and presented by Ben Uri Gallery, The London Jewish Museum of Art.

For further information and images please contact:

Suzanne Lewis Suzanne@benuri.org.uk