Hugo Nathan

Hugo Nathan (1861-1921) was a German banker and art collector.

Life

Hugo Nathan was a director at the Deutsche Bank in Frankfurt am Main.[1]

He married Martha Adrianna Nathan.

He died in 1921.

Art Collection

Nathan collected art.[2] His collection included Dutch art (Josef Israels, "Alte Frau"), German art, with works by Max Liebermann ("Schreitende Bauerné, 1894/95, "Selbstbildnis" 1908, "Reiter am Meeresstrand" 1901, "Schulgang in Laren" 1899,), Wilhelm Trübner ("Kunstpause", "Brustbild einer Frau", "Blick auf Kloster Seon", "Kirchengang im Klster Seeon", "Atelierecke", "Waldinneres", "Vorgang ds Stift Neuburg", "Weg am Buchenwald", "Neustift bei Heidelberg", "Screinerwerkstatt") and Max Slevoft ("Spaziergan"), as well as Swiss art by Ferdinand Hodler (Aussicht vom Thunersee bei Niesen" 1876, "Jungfrau, Mönch und Eiger", "Mönch in Abendbeleuchtung").[1]

In 1912 he purchased Van Gogh's The Diggers.[3][4] In 1913, he lent artworks to an exhibition at the Kunstverein (July-September) entitled Frankfurter Kunstschatze.[1]

Family and Nazi persecution

When the Nazis came to power in Germany in 1933, Nathan's widow Martha was persecuted because of her Jewish heritage. In January 1937, she fled Germany and moved to Paris, France where she obtained French citizenship. She returned briefly to Germany around May 1938 to sell her house, and was forced by the Nazi government to transfer six paintingsremaining in her home to the Staedel Art Institute. She moved to Switzerland around 1939. After the Nazis occupied Paris in 1940, property that she had managed to store there was seized too[5] She had managed, however, to move some paintings to safety Switzerland. The circumstances surrounding the sale of these paintings have been disputed in lawsuits.[6][7][8][9][10]

Postwar claims for restitution

In May 2004, Nathan's heir contacted the Detroit Institute of Arts after seeing Van Gogh's The Diggers on the museum website.

In 2013, Simon J. Frankel and Ethan Forrest defended the museums' use of legal tactics such as declaratory judgement against Nathan.[11]

Lawsuits concerning Hugo and Martha Nathan's art collection

Toledo Museum of Art v Claude George Ullin, et al.,[5]

References
  1. GRODZINSKI, VERONIKA. "FRENCH IMPRESSIONISM AND GERMAN JEWS The Making of MODERNIST ART COLLECTORS AND ART COLLECTIONS IN IMPERIAL GERMANY 1896-1914" (PDF).
  2. Swarzenski, Georg. "'Die Sammlung Hugo Nathan in Frankfurt am Main', Kunst und Kunstler, no. XV". Kunst und Kunstler. no. XV (1917): 105-120.
  3. "The art of the matter, p. 101 (page 1 of 3)". Detroit Free Press. 2006-03-19. p. 101. Retrieved 2022-02-09.
  4. "International Foundation for Art Research (IFAR)-Case Summary-Detroit Institute of Arts v. Ullin". www.ifar.org. Retrieved 2022-02-09.
  5. "Case: 3:06-cv-07031-JZ Doc #: 36 Filed: 12/28/06" (PDF).
  6. "Museums Respond to Biting Report on Nazi-Looted Art". Observer. 2015-07-02. Retrieved 2022-02-07.
  7. "KKK, NAZIS' LIABILITY IN SLAYING A VICTORY FOR FOES OF HATE GROUPS". Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved 2022-02-07.
  8. "Toledo Museum of Art v. Ullin, 477 F. Supp. 2d 802 | Casetext Search + Citator". casetext.com. Retrieved 2022-02-07.
  9. "Family drops claim to two paintings". Los Angeles Times. 2007-05-12. Retrieved 2022-02-07.
  10. Micucci, Dana (2006-04-21). "Of museums, heirs and lawsuits". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2022-02-07.
  11. "Museums' Initiation of Declaratory Judgment Actions and Assertion of Statutes of Limitations in Response to Nazi-Era Art Restitution Claims - A Defense".
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