Dr Curt Glaser (1879-1943), sale, Max Perl (Berlin), 18-19 May 1933, lot 535, as Italian seventeenth century; purchased there by Count Antoine Seilern, London (1901-1978); Princes Gate Bequest 1978. This drawing was formerly in the collection of Dr Curt Glaser (1879-1943), the German Jewish art historian and collector. Glaser was the Director of the Staatliche Kunstbibliothek in Berlin until April 1933 when he was forced to resign his post as a result of the Nazis’ Laws for the Reestablishment of Civil Service, forbidding Jews from holding positions in the civil service and other professions. He sold the greater part of his collection of paintings and works on paper in two auctions in Berlin in May 1933. This drawing was acquired by Count Antoine Seilern, and in 1978 formed part of the Princes Gate bequest to the Home House Society (now the Samuel Courtauld Trust) for the benefit of The Courtauld Gallery. It shares this provenance with seven other drawings in The Courtauld’s collection. In 2003, Dr Glaser’s heirs submitted a claim for restitution of these eight drawings. Considering the claim in 2009, the UK’s Spoliation Advisory Panel found that the sale was not forced and that the prices paid for the drawings were fair. The Panel recommended therefore that the drawings should remain in ownership of the Samuel Courtauld Trust, held for public benefit at The Courtauld Gallery, London. The Panel also recommended that a note outlining the history and provenance of the drawings during and since the Nazi era should be included whenever they are displayed. Read the Spoliation Advisory Panel’s full report: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/248231/0757.pdf

Seilern, Count Antoine, Italian paintings and drawings at 56 Princes Gate, London, SW7, London 1959; II
no. 114
pl. LXXIV

Watermark: Watermark: Recto, left upper edge: possibly a name, written in fine, single-line letters, but too faint to discern.

Collector's mark: none.

Inscription: Verso: centre, graphite, lot in Curt Glaser auction: "535"; lower left, graphite: "18".

Stamp: blue ink: eagle within a triangle: "von der zentralstelle für denkmalschutz zur ausfuhr freigegeben".