Fair and just solution for Kirchner's ''Judgement of Paris''

March 18, 2016 (MMD Newswire) — The Wilhelm-Hack-Foundation, the City of Ludwigshafen and the heir of the Hess collection, after several years, have after extensive provenance research come to a fair and just solution regarding the painting by Ernst Ludwig Kirchner “Judgement of Paris,” which is intended to assure that the Painting remains in Ludwigshafen. The Foundation and the City act on the basis of the Washington Conference principles and the Joint Declaration by the Federal Government, the Lander (Federal States) and the National Associations of Local Authorities on the tracing and return of Nazi-confiscated art, especially Jewish property dated 14 December 1999.

The “Judgement of Paris” is a core piece of the collection of the Wilhelm-Hack-Museum and is one of the most important paintings in Rhineland-Pfalz. According to all facts and findings in this matter, and an expert report which was mandated by the Cultural Foundation of the Lander it is to be assumed with a high probability that there was a loss due to Nazi persecution.

In order to preserve the painting for the collection of the Wilhelm-Hack-Museum and for the public, the heir, together with the city of Ludwigshafen and the Wilhelm-Hack-Foundation have agreed to a settlement in the spirit of a just and fair solution, which includes either that the Wilhelm – Hack Foundation will pay an amount below market value of the painting to the heir and covenants to make it accessible to the public permanently (which is the mutual wish of both parties) or that the painting will be physically returned to the Hess heir. So far the financing is supported by the City of Ludwigshafen and other foundations, individuals, public institutions and corporations: including the Cultural Foundation of the Länder, the German Government’s Envoy for Culture and Media, the Ernst Siemens Cultural Foundation, and the Dr. Harald Hack Foundation (a list of all sponsors can be found at the end of this document). The City of Ludwigshafen is working to obtain the financing with all due diligence and is optimistic that the painting will remain in the collection of the Wilhelm-Hack-Museum.

The Erfurt shoe manufacturer Alfred Hess who died in 1931 was a well known art collector and patron and had one of the most important collections of expressionist art in Germany. His heir was his son Hans Hess, who only a few months after the Nazi seizure of power emigrated first to France then to England. His mother Tekla Hess had sent large parts of the collection on a free pass to Switzerland, to Basel, and later to Zurich, including the painting “Judgement of Paris” by Ernst Ludwig Kirchner. The provenance report determined that in March 1937, under duress, Tekla Hess had to send the painting, together with other paintings, back to Germany to the Cologne Art Union. Thereafter its whereabouts are unknown until 1957, when it was shown on the cover of an exhibition catalogue for an exhibition at the Cologne Art Union mentioning that its owner was “Wilhelm Hack”. Tekla Hess was able to leave Germany and emigrate to Great Britain in 1939. At the End of WW II, the Cologne Art Union informed her that the paintings that were once stored with them were probably destroyed, but in any case, were not there anymore.

It was not until the so-called “Cologne counterfeiter proceeding” in 1949/50 that some of the allegedly destroyed paintings reappeared as stolen property. In connection with this criminal proceeding it was determined that the former art custodian of the Cologne Art Union, as well as others, had taken the paintings from the Hess collection. Some artworks that had been located during the police investigations were returned to the Hess family. The painting “Judgement of Paris” by Ernst Ludwig Kirchner was not among those returned and was also not mentioned in the course of the criminal proceeding.

The painting first reappeared in 1957 in the possession of Wilhelm Hack, a Cologne business man and collector. Together with other artworks it is part of the Wilhelm-Hack-Foundation founded in 1973. It is today in the City of Ludwigshafen’s Wilhelm-Hack-Museum.

Participating sponsors as of today:

- BASF SE - Beauftragte der Bundesregierung für Kultur und Medien - Bezirksverband Pfalz - Boehringer Ingelheim - Ernst von Siemens Kunststiftung - Förderkreis des Wilhelm-Hack-Museums - Dr. Manfred Fuchs - Dr. Harald Hack Stiftung - IHK Pfalz - Kulturstiftung der Länder - Land Rheinland-Pfalz - Pbb Stiftung Deutsche Pfandbriefbank - Stiftung der ehemaligen Stadtsparkasse Ludwigshafen - VR Bank Rhein-Neckar eG.

For further information, contact: For the Wilhelm-Hack-Foundation / City of Ludwigshafen:

Museum Director René Zechlin Phone: +49-621-504-2045 Email: rene.zechlin@ludwigshafen.de

For the heir:

David J. Rowland, Esq. Law Offices Rowland & Associates Two Park Avenue, 19th floor New York, N. Y. 10016/ USA Tel.: 001- 212 - 685 5509 Fax: 001- 212 - 685 88 62 E-Mail: davidjohnrowland@cs.com

and

Law offices of Schink & Studzinski Ostseestraße 109 10409 Berlin / Germany Tel.: 00 49 - 30 – 42 8511 77 Fax: 00 49 - 30 - 42 85 11 78 E-Mail: info@schink-studzinski.de