Analysis of information sources in references of the Wikipedia article "Wolfgang Gurlitt" in English language version.
The painting was originally part of the collection of Wilhelm (Willy) and Daisy Hellmann of Vienna. Willy was a textile magnate and his wife, Daisy, was a member of one of the most important families of art patrons in Vienna in the first quarter of the 20th century. The Hellmanns bought Landscape at Krumau directly from Schiele, who was a personal friend, soon after it was painted. The work hung in the Hellmann's apartment until October 1938 when it was seized by the Nazis and put up for sale in Vienna in 1942. It was bought by Wolfgang Gurlitt who sold it to the Neue Galerie in Linz in January 1953, where it has been on public display until its restitution earlier this year.
Hildebrand's cousin, Wolfgang Gurlitt, was also active on behalf of Hitler in acquiring artworks
art dealer Gurlitt was repeatedly said to have had unsound business practices
To date, 64 works of art have been investigated, with the focus of the investigation being on the Gurlitt Collection. On the basis of this research 13 paintings have been restituted so far
The life and activities of the art dealer Wolfgang Gurlitt (1888–1965) are closely intertwined with the beginnings of the LENTOS Kunstmuseum: for the museum, the Gurlitt Collection is a legacy that is as brilliant as it is problematic. The exhibition casts light on the turbulent life of the passionate collector and controversial art dealer Wolfgang Gurlitt, who was involved in deals with looted art during the National Socialist era. Having been made honorary director of the Neue Galerie der Stadt Linz (today: LENTOS Kunstmuseum) in 1946, he put on more than a hundred exhibitions. In 1952/53 the City of Linz acquired what was to become the core of the new museum's collection – 84 paintings, 33 drawings and a Kubin collection – works Gurlitt had managed to protect from the ravages of war. Since 1999, Linz has restituted thirteen works from the Gurlitt collection to the lawful heirs of their pre-War Jewish owners
The systematic scrutiny of the holdings of the LENTOS and/or of its predecessor institution, the Neue Galerie der Stadt Linz, has been going on since 1998. In 1999, the City of Linz published a first comprehensive report compiled by the head of the City Archives, Dr. Walter Schuster, on the Sammlung Gurlitt, the Gurlitt Collection, which originally formed the core of the Museum's holdings. A working group for provenance research was established by the mayor and the city's chief executive director in 2007 to focus the process. The group is assisted by the internationally acknowledged expert in provenance research in the context of museums and public institutions, Dr Vanessa-Maria Voigt (Germany), and headed by the LENTOS's artistic director, Stella Rollig. Its chief focus, in addition to more topical provenance queries, is systematic research into the provenance of works acquired by the City of Linz from the Gurlitt Collection.
Last year, the Austrian city of Linz recommended that the work up for sale be transferred from its Lentos gallery to Aranka Munk's descendants. It cited the findings of an independent expert, Sophie Lillie, who confirmed the painting had been seized from Munk by the Nazis after she was deported to a concentration camp where she died in 1941. Vienna lawyer Alfred Noll applied in 2007 for the return of the painting, which made its way into Linz's collection from an art dealer after World War Two.
Wolfgang Gurlitt (centre), a dealer in Nazi-looted art who acquired works for Hitler's unrealised museum in Linz, Austria, reinvented himself after the Second World War as the director of the city's art gallery
art dealer Gurlitt was repeatedly said to have had unsound business practices
Wolfgang Gurlitt (centre), a dealer in Nazi-looted art who acquired works for Hitler's unrealised museum in Linz, Austria, reinvented himself after the Second World War as the director of the city's art gallery
