Rutgers University returned the portrait of the Renaissance, selected by the Nazis

USA, New Brunswick, New Jersey. On January 14, 2011, the Zimmerli Art Museum of Rutgers University transmitted a rare 16th-century painting to Simon Goodman, formerly Gutmann, grandson of Friedrich and Lucy Gutmann, victims of the Holocaust and former owners of the painting. We are talking about "Portrait of a Young Man", written by German artist Hans Baldung Grien (Hans Baldung Grien, 1484-1545). The transfer took place at Rutgers University.

Hans Baldung Grien,
“Portrait of a Young Man”, 1509.
Photo: Roy Groething

Since 1946, the Gutmann family has been looking for this picture of Green, an artist who has long been considered the most gifted of all the followers of Albrecht Dürer. Despite the fact that many works of art belonging to the family were successfully returned to them earlier, this canvas eluded them, and the French, Dutch and West German governments. Due to lack of data, the French and West German governments closed the case of the painting without resolving this issue in 1960. Last year, Mr. Gutmann discovered the painting in a 1983 catalog.

The return of works of art after the Second World War is one of the most important state and moral problems facing museums today. “We at the University of Rutgers and Zimmerli, took the Gutmann family lawsuit in all seriousness and devoted almost a year to studying this case,” says Susanna Deleanti, director of the museum.

"Portrait of a Young Man" was planned to be exhibited in European museums since April 2011. However, the Zimmerli Museum voluntarily returned the painting to its rightful owner. Philippe Furmansky, Acting Vice President for Rutgers, said: “From the very beginning of this process, we set ourselves the goal of doing everything right.” “After many years of doing business with art museums around the world, it was a pleasure working with Rutgers and Zimmerli. Their professionalism and delicacy are exceptional, ”said Mr. Gutmann.

History of the painting

Until the spring of 1941, “Portrait of a Young Man” by Baldung Green, was on the estate owned by Frederick and his wife Lucy Gutmann. The thirteen-inch painting was part of the art collection, which consisted of the works of 60 artists, including the works of Bosch, Botticelli, Cranach, Holbein and Memling, as well as the works of the impressionists Degas and Renoir. Baldung hung on red velvet among other portraits of men in the "Room of Gentlemen" in Bosbek.

Well-known in Europe, the Gutmann collection was laid by Karl Haberstock, a German art dealer representing Adolf Hitler. Haberstock was introduced to agent Fritz Gutmann with orders to give him seven paintings, including Baldung Green. Apparently, the agent was forced to do this, and when the cargo arrived in Berlin, the picture of Baldung Green disappeared. After the war, agent Gutmann requested the authorities to return these paintings.

The further path of the paintings is evasively described in the 1983 catalog (“raisonné” von der Austin), which states that the paintings were held by some London dealers between 1948 and 1950, despite the ongoing investigation by the French and West German governments, as well as the search for the heir to the Gutmanns to restore the lost property. By 1953, the "Portrait of a Young Man" was at the disposal of Rosenberg and Stibel in New York, who sold or transferred it to Rudolf Heineman. Mr. Heinemann gave the painting to Rutgers University in 1959.

Gutmann family

In the midst of negotiations on seven paintings, the Nazis promised Fritz and Lucy Gutmann the right to travel safely to Italy. But in 1943, two SS officers arrived in Bosbek to escort both of them on a train and transported them to Theresienstadt concentration camp. Fritz Gutmann died there, and Lucy Gutmann died a little later in Auschwitz.

Immediately after the war, their children - Bernard (Father Simon Gutmann) and Lily began to work to restore the right to lost property and seek compensation. Since that time, the Gutmanns actively participated and played an important role in establishing the rules for restitution of stolen works of art.

The high-profile case involving the removal of the Degas painting from the Gutmann collection prompted the conference, which was attended by representatives of 44 countries, to adopt in 1998 the basic rules on resolving issues of property confiscated by the Nazis.

Today, 91-year-old Lily Gutmann lives in Florence in Italy. According to Simon Gutmann, she was very happy to learn about the return of Green’s lost painting, however, like her brother Nicholas, who lives in London and Los Angeles.

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