Leopold Weinstein (April 6, 1884 – November 8, 1948, Vienna) was an Austrian businessman and art collector persecuted by the Nazis because he was Jewish.
Life
editWeinstein was born on April 6, 1884, in Vienna where he owned "Leopold Weinstein & Co.", a manufacturer of glassware and lighting, located at Vienna VII, Hermanngasse 18, and collected art.[1]
Art collection
editThe Leopold Weinstein collection included works by Waldmüller, Rudolf von Alt, Schindler, Ranftl, Pettenkofen as well as Jettel, Windhager and Hampel.[2][3][4][5]
Nazi era
editOf Jewish origin, Weinstein was persecuted by the Nazis after Austria's Anschluss with Nazi Germany in 1938.[6] Weinstein fled to London and returned to Vienna after the end of the war.[7]
In 1938 Franz Bock took over the provisional management of the company "Leopold Weinstein & Co. In 1938 some paintings from Weinstein's collection were "seized", among them by Ferdinand Georg Waldmüller and von Alt. These were consigned to the Wiener Städtische Sammlung and the Landesmuseum Joanneum.[8]
In January 1939 Karl Wagner, director of the Städtische Sammlungen / Historical Museum of Vienna requested art objects from the Aryanized collections of Leopold Weinstein, as well as from the collections of Oskar Bondy, Ferdinand Bloch-Bauer and Serena Lederer.[9]
Postwar
editAfter the war Weinstein returned to Vienna. Restitution claims were filed for the artwork stolen by the Nazis and their collaborators in Vienna. August von Pettenkofen's Gypsy hut in the Puszta was restituted to Weinstein's heirs on November 23, 2004[10][11]
Readings
edit- Source Lillie, Sophie, "Was einmal war - Handbuch der entteigneten Kunstsammlungens Wiens," Vienna 2003, p. 1295 f.
- Restitutionsbericht 2007 - Kunst
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ "Restitutionsbericht-2007: chter Bericht des amtsführenden Stadtrates für Kultur und Wissenschaft über die gemäß dem Gemeinderatsbeschluss vom 29. April 1999 erfolgte Übereignung von Kunst- und Kulturgegenständen aus den Sammlungen der Museen der Stadt Wien sowie der Wienbibliothek im Rathaus". 2006-11-27. p. 49-61. Archived from the original on 2023-08-17.
- ^ Lessing, Mag. Hannah (2007-05-11). "The National Fund – Activities in Art Restitution Sotheby´s Restitution symposium, Vienna Friday 11th May 2007" (PDF).
- ^ "Der Vestatempel in Rom". sammlungtest2.belvedere.at (in German). Retrieved 2021-12-19.
- ^ "Laundress standing at the washtub, 1922 - Art Database". www.kunstdatenbank.at. Retrieved 2021-12-19.
- ^ "Martin Ferdinand Quadal". rkd.nl. Retrieved 2021-12-19.
- ^ Sophie, Lillie (2003). Was einmal war Handbuch der enteigneten Kunstsammlungen Wiens. Czernin, Wien. ISBN 978-3-7076-0049-0. OCLC 231981591.
- ^ "Weinstein, Leopold | Kommentierte Online-Edition der fünf Reisetagebücher Hans Posses (1939 -1942)". editionhansposse.gnm.de. Retrieved 2021-12-19.
- ^ "Lost Art Internet Database - Jüdische Sammler und Kunsthändler (Opfer nationalsozialistischer Verfolgung und Enteignung) - Weinstein, Leopold". www.lostart.de. Retrieved 2021-11-09.
- ^ "Wagner, Karl | Lexikon Provenienzforschung". www.lexikon-provenienzforschung.org. Retrieved 2021-12-19.
Wagner was very interested in acquiring objects formerly owned by Jews. In a letter to the mayor of Vienna in January 1939, he pointed out that "a movement had occurred in the art market through the Jewish emigration that had not been seen since the dissolution of the monasteries in 1782" and that this offered a "favourable opportunity". He requested art objects from the Aryanized collections of Oscar Bondy, Leopold Weinstein, Ferdinand Bloch-Bauer and Serena Lederer and in other cases exploited the difficult position of the Jews to acquire objects for the Städtische Sammlungen cheaply.
- ^ "Restitutionsbericht Universalmuseum Joanneum, Graz 2010" (PDF).
- ^ "An die Erben nach Leopold Weinstein - Restituierte Objekte | Neue Galerie Graz". www.museum-joanneum.at. Retrieved 2021-12-19.