WOLFFSON COLLECTION

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FROM MENZEL TO MONET | THE HAMBURG WOLFFSON COLLECTION | 12 Nov 2021 - 27 Feb 2022
Exhibition catalogue | 96 pages | 47 colour illustrations | softcover | german edition

The exhibition "From Menzel to Monet" sheds light on the hitherto hardly explored high-quality Hamburg Wolffson Collection, its position in the collection landscape of the Hanseatic city and the relationship of the collector Albert Martin Wolffson (1847-1913) to the Hamburger Kunsthalle. The occasion is that the Wolffson Collection became known in the course of research for the exhibition Bestandsaufnahme Gurlitt (most recently at the Gropius Bau in Berlin, September 2018 to January 2019), which showed the controversial legacy of the art dealer Hildebrand Gurlitt in its historical context. Following the inheritance within the Wolffson family, numerous works from the collection had to be sold during the Nazi persecution, including several drawings by the artist Adolf Menzel (1815-1905). The works belonged to a total of 36 drawings by Menzel, which formed the centre of the Wolffson collection. After the Berlin exhibition, six outstanding Menzel drawings, which have since been returned to family ownership, went on permanent loan to the Hamburger Kunsthalle.

These six are now on display alongside other Menzel drawings from the holdings of the Kupferstichkabinett (Museum of Prints and Drawings) of the Hamburger Kunsthalle as well as, among others, the painting The Waterloo Bridge (1902) by Claude Monet (1840-1926), which the Kunsthalle acquired from Wolffson's widow Helene Marie in 1927. In addition to these key works of the exhibition in the Harzen Cabinet, other works and objects from the Wolffson Collection are also brought together. It included paintings, drawings, prints and autographs by Balthasar Denner, Louis Douzette, Gerdt Hardorff, Thomas Herbst, Arthur Illies, Hermann Kauffmann, Paul Kayser, Leopold Graf von Kalckreuth, Gotthardt Kuehl, Franz von Lenbach, Max Liebermann, Ascan Lutteroth, Anton Melby, Carl Osterley, Valentin Ruths, Frits Thaulow, Fritz von Uhde and Heinrich von Zügel, among others. Decorative art objects, photographs and archival material will complement the presentation.

Albert Wolffson (21 July 1847-16 December 1913) was the son of the Hamburg lawyer Isaac Wolffson. He studied law and was admitted to the Hamburg bar in July 1869. At first he was active in his father's law firm and formed his own successful law firm with partners Max Schramm and Otto Dehn from the 1880s. From 1895 he represented Hamburg authorities in civil cases. In addition, the art collector Wolffson had an intensive relationship with the Kunsthalle - he was a member of the "Commission" for the administration of the Hamburg Kunsthalle from 1898. From 1880 to 1910, he was politically active in the Hamburg Parliament. He also sat on the supervisory boards of the Hamburger Vereinsbank and the Hypothekenbank. Albert Wolffson is buried in the Wolffson family tomb at Ohlsdorf Cemetery.

The close ties between the collector and his family and the Hamburger Kunsthalle are still evident after Albert Wolffson's death: Helene Marie Wolffson is recorded as a patron on one of the Hamburger Kunsthalle's donor boards for the year 1916 - the year in which she donated her husband's bust to the museum. Other works of art had preceded her as donations.