| Das Bunte Leben | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Artist | Wassily Kandinsky |
| Year | 1907 |
| Medium | Tempera on canvas [1] |
| Dimensions | 130 cm× 162.5 cm(51 in× 64.0 in) |
| Location | Lenbachhaus, Munich |
Das Bunte Leben (The Colourful Life) is a 1907 tempera painting by Russian artist Wassily Kandinsky.
Dutch art collector, Emanuel Lewenstein bought the painting immediately after it was finished in 1907. After his death, his widow Hedwig loaned it to Amsterdam's Stedelijk Museum for safekeeping. [2]
On 3 March 2017, three of his heirs filed suit in New York City against Bayerische Landesbank who believe they now own it, in respect of the painting, now valued at $80 million. [2] [3]
The lawsuit claimed that the painting was effectively taken and sold without permission, "The painting was taken from its legitimate owners in 1940 in violation of international law during the period of the Nazi occupation in the Netherlands in furtherance of the Nazi campaign of Jewish genocide". [3] In June 2023, a German restitutions committee ruled in favor of the Lewenstein heirs' case against Bayerische Landesbank, resulting in the return of the painting to the Lewensteins. [4] [5] [6] According to the commission Hedwig Lewenstein, the sole owner after her husband's death, loaned the painting to the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam. Under murky circumstance the artwork was "collected" from the museum in 1940 by an art dealer named Abraham Mozes Querido and then auctioned at Frederik Muller & Co, where it was purchased by Salomon B. Slijper. Slijper concealed the painting during the war, and, after his death, his widow sold it, and it ended up in the possession of the Bayerische Landesbank. [7]
Wassily Wassilyevich Kandinsky was a Russian painter and art theorist. Kandinsky is generally credited as one of the pioneers of abstraction in western art. Born in Moscow, he spent his childhood in Odesa, where he graduated from Odesa Art School. He enrolled at the University of Moscow, studying law and economics. Successful in his profession—he was offered a professorship at the University of Dorpat —Kandinsky began painting studies at the age of 30.
Emil Nolde was a German-Danish painter and printmaker. He was one of the first Expressionists, a member of Die Brücke, and was one of the first oil painting and watercolor painters of the early 20th century to explore color. He is known for his brushwork and expressive choice of colors. Golden yellows and deep reds appear frequently in his work, giving a luminous quality to otherwise somber tones. His watercolors include vivid, brooding storm-scapes and brilliant florals.
Franz Moritz Wilhelm Marc was a German painter and printmaker, one of the key figures of German Expressionism. He was a founding member of Der Blaue Reiter, a journal whose name later became synonymous with the circle of artists collaborating in it.
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German: Raubkunst, was the organized stealing of art and other items which occurred as a result of the organized looting of European countries during the time of the Nazi Party in Germany.
Bayerische Landesbank, also known as BayernLB, is a publicly regulated bank based in Munich, Germany and one of the six Landesbanken. It is 75% owned by the Free State of Bavaria and 25% owned by the Sparkassenverband Bayern, the umbrella organization of Bavarian Sparkassen. With a balance of €220 billion and 7,703 employees, it is the seventh-largest financial institution in Germany.
Jacques Goudstikker was a Jewish Dutch art dealer who fled the Netherlands when it was invaded by Nazi Germany during World War II, leaving three furnished properties and an extensive and significant art collection including over 1200 paintings, many of which had been previously catalogued as "Old Masters". The entire collection, which had been surveyed by Hermann Goering himself, was subsequently looted by the Nazis. Between the two World Wars, Jacques Goudstikker had been the most important Dutch dealer of Old Master paintings, according to Peter C. Sutton, executive director and CEO of the Bruce Museum of Arts and Science. Despite efforts of Goudstikker's widow after the war to regain possession of the collection, it was not until after her death that the Dutch government finally restituted 202 paintings to the Goudstikker family in 2006. To finance efforts to reclaim more of the stolen art, a large portion of them were sold at auction in 2007 for almost $10 million.
The Bavarian State Painting Collections, based in Munich, Germany, oversees artwork held by the Free State of Bavaria. It was established in 1799 as Centralgemäldegaleriedirektion. Artwork includes paintings, sculptures, photographs, video art and installation art. Pieces are on display in numerous galleries and museums throughout Bavaria.
Alfred Flechtheim was a German Jewish art dealer, art collector, journalist and publisher persecuted by the Nazis.
Emanuel Albert Lewenstein was a Dutch-Jewish art collector.
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Johanna Margarethe Stern-Lippmann was a German Jewish art collector and victim of the Holocaust.
Moderne Kunstkring was a progressive artists' club and society of Dutch artists founded in 1910 by the painter and critic Conrad Kickert with Jan Sluijters. Each year Moderne Kunstkring curated an exhibition of Dutch and foreign avant-garde art.
Hedwig Frida Ullmann, née Nathan, was a German Jewish art collector and refugee.
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