Heirs of the wife of El Lisitsky not want to give a picture of Paul Klee
ARTinvestment.RU   07 февраля 2009

Whether the restitution of works confiscated by the Nazis, not a private person, but in a museum? The positions of the heirs of the spouses Эля Lisitsky and the Munich authorities on the subject differ

Recently, the City of Munich refused to give a picture of Paul Klee (Paul Klee) the heirs of its prewar owner - wife of Russian artist El Lisitsky .

history of art Kyuppers Sophie (Sophie Lissitzky-Küppers) received the canvas Klée «Legend Swamp» inherited from her husband, Paul Erich Kyuppersa (Paul Erich Küppers), who died in 1922. Four years later, she borrowed the picture (along with 15 other works), Hannover Provinzialmuseum. After a while Sophie married Lisitsky and moved to Moscow. And it belonged «Legend Swamp» and stayed in the museum.

In 1937, Nazi propaganda minister Josef Goebbels (Joseph Goebbels) has ordered to confiscate from museums and private works of modern artists, who later appeared on the infamous exhibition «Degenerative art» (Entartete "Kunst"). They added a wonderful picture of Klee label «Creation crazy». It is very hurt, but fortunately not destroyed in 1941, bought the work of the dealer Wolfgang Gurlitt (Wolfgang Gurlitt). In 1962, «The Legend Swamp» appeared at auction Lempertz, where she bought the collector Ernst Bayeler (Ernst Beyeler), head of the Fund's future spouses Bayeler in Basel. From 1973 till 1982 the work was offered for sale in the gallery Rosengart Lucerne. There she bought a power in Munich in conjunction with the Fund and Johannes Gabriel Myunter Ayhnera (Gabriele Münter und Johannes Eichner Stiftung). Since then, the picture exhibited in the Munich museum Lenbahhauz.

Sophie Lisitsky-Kyuppers settled in Russia in 1927. Career of her husband in the Soviet Union could be called successful: El Lisitsky Soviet pavilions designed for international exhibitions, designed various publications (including the famous magazine «USSR in construction»), created the posters. In 1935 he was appointed chief designer of All-Union Agricultural Exhibition. But with each passing year Lisitsky it increasingly difficult to work: he was sick with tuberculosis. At the end of 1941 the artist died. And his wife, as a citizen of Germany, was sent to Siberia. In 1978, she died in poverty in Novosibirsk.

In 1993, the son of Ian and Sophie Lisitsky (Jen Lissitzky) have tried to conquer the picture Klee, but the authorities in Munich refused to give her «for the lapse of time». This year they brought a different argument: as said Stefan Hauf (Stefan Hauf), the representative of the Mayor of Munich Christian Ude (Christian Ude), the city can not return the heirs of works which were selected by the Nazis from museums, not private individuals. He also referred to a law prohibiting the authorities given to somebody else's property.

Christoph von Berg (Shristoph von Berg), counsel for the heirs of Sophie Kyuppers, said that they would continue to fight, connecting the New York Office review of the claims of victims of the Holocaust and the United States civil court. They will try to prove that the restitution of paintings Klée Washington does not contradict the provisions of the Nazis confiscated works of art that Germany, along with 43 other states and organizations, signed in 1998.

Heirs Sophie Kyuppers fighting for the right to possession of museums works from the collection is not the first time. In 2000, Ian Lisitsky otsudil Museum Ludwig in Cologne kubisticheskuyu gouache Louis Marcoussis (Louis Marcoussis), and in 2001 th took watercolor Klée «Безлюдная area in the exotic city» Kiemidzu Sannendzaka a museum in Kyoto. In the same year Lisitsky sued the Foundation for the spouses Bayeler which exhibited another piece of those that have lent the Museum Hannover, - «Improvisation number 10» Vasily Kandinsky . Parties are able to negotiate an amicable and Lisitsky authorized Ernst Bayeleru put a picture in his fund.

According to the book Melissa Muller (Melissa Müller) and Tattskov Monica (Monica Tatzkow) «Lost picture of lost life», canvas Klée «Legend Swamp» insured 4 million euros (5.13 million dollars).

Material prepared Yulia Maksimova

Sources: bloomberg.com , goethe.de , artnet.com , artinvestment.ru

P.S. About restitution can also be read:

How the Nazis looted Europe
heirs of victims of the Nazis against the Federal Republic of Germany
Minneapolis Institute of Arts to part with the Nazis confiscated the picture Leger
exhibition of works of art stolen Nazi
In Germany, an agency that is exploring provenans works in public collections
« Pink Wall »Matisse: confiscation - restitution - inheritance - for sale
Klimt: regular restitution
Influential figures of British art-world debate about the restitution