Stehende Maria mit Kind

keine Bezeichnung

auf der Rückseite der Figur in der Aushöhlung u. r. KHZ-Etikette [ms und hs]; auf der von vorn gesehen linken Innenseite des Sockels KHZ-Etikette: KHZ [ms]

1951

C – The provenance from 1933 to 1945 has not been conclusively clarified; gaps in the ownership history remain. According to current research, there is no evidence of Nazi-looted art. There are, however, implications of Nazi-looted art and / or conspicuous circumstances.

The wooden figure of a standing Madonna with Child was catalogued in 1951 as a purchase from Benno Griebert of Meersburg. In fact Griebert, an art historian and dealer, was acting on behalf of a still unidentified German private collection. In 1950, he had shown the figure in the exhibition «Madonnas on Lake Constance» at Schloss Meersburg, which made his name as a dealer in late-Gothic objects. Prior to 1945, Griebert had acted as advisor to an organization involved in seizing cultural property in the occupied areas. After the war ended, Griebert built his career on his old contacts from the Nazi period. Essentially, it is difficult to identify medieval wooden figures and their previous owners if there is no information about the artist and the titles are broadly descriptive. No concrete indications that the figure was confiscated as a result of Nazi persecution have been found, but Griebert’s involvement in Nazi looting gives grounds for suspicion. As the research currently stands, it is not possible to state conclusively whether the work constitutes Nazi-looted art. At present, all the known sources have been exhausted. State of research 30.09.2024 Do you have questions, criticism, suggestions, and further information? Please send us a message to provenienzforschung(at)kunsthaus.ch.

- Kunsthaus Zürich. Gesamtkatalog der Gemälde und Skulpturen, hrsg. von Zürcher Kunstgesellschaft et al., Sammlungskatalog, Ostfildern: Hatje Cantz, 2007, S. 21.