The Art that Hitler stole for Himself

Monday, March 25, 2024
The Art that Hitler stole for Himself

Like no other region in Austria, the Salzkammergut served as a point of transit and salvage for important works of European art history during the Second World War, including art looted by the National Socialists.

After the first bombing raids, exhibits for Adolf Hitler’s Führer Museum” and works of art from the Schack art collection in Munich were stored in the Altaussee salt mine and in makeshift depots such as inns and churches. Austrian museums also used a mine, the Franz-Josef-Erbstollen (Franz Josef adit) in Lauffen near Bad Ischl in the Salzkammergut, as a refuge facility in 1944/45.

Art transport from the Altaussee salt mine, 1943/44

The exhibition features more than 80 paintings and objects that were collected, stored, retrieved and rescued in the Salzkammergut during the war years. All of the items are on loan from public museums, and their current and historical ownership status is documented in the exhibition. They include artworks that were looted by the Nazis and later restituted to their owners, as well as works of art whose origins are the subject of ongoing provenance research.

Masterpieces from the 8th to the 20th centuries by Arnold Böcklin, Goya, Edvard Munch, Lovis Corinth, Jacob van Ruisdael, Anthony van Dyck, Giovanni Battista Tiepolo, Max Liebermann, Jakob Jordaens, Titian, Moritz von Schwind and Ferdinand Georg Waldmüller, among others, as well as a historical model of the Ghent Altarpiece tell the stories of their odysseys with many stops along the way.

Main Image :Anthony van Dyck, Jupiter as Satyr at Antiope, about 1620

The exhibition The Journey of Paintings from March 28 until September 8 at Lentos Museum, Austria

Stephanie Cime

ArtDependence WhatsApp Group

Get the latest ArtDependence updates directly in WhatsApp by joining the ArtDependence WhatsApp Group by clicking the link or scanning the QR code below

whatsapp-qr

Subscribe to the Newsletter

Image of the Day

Anna Melnykova, "Palace of Labor (palats praci), architector I. Pretro, 1916", shot with analog Canon camera, 35 mm Fuji film in March 2022.

Anna Melnykova, "Palace of Labor (palats praci), architector I. Pretro, 1916", shot with analog Canon camera, 35 mm Fuji film in March 2022.

Search

About ArtDependence

ArtDependence Magazine is an international magazine covering all spheres of contemporary art, as well as modern and classical art.

ArtDependence features the latest art news, highlighting interviews with today’s most influential artists, galleries, curators, collectors, fair directors and individuals at the axis of the arts.

The magazine also covers series of articles and reviews on critical art events, new publications and other foremost happenings in the art world.

If you would like to submit events or editorial content to ArtDependence Magazine, please feel free to reach the magazine via the contact page.