Institut für Kunstgeschichte der LMU
The focus of research and teaching at the Institut für Kunstgeschichte der LMU (Institute for Art History at Ludwig Maximilian University) lies in a number of different related fields: provenance research, the history of art collecting in museums and private collections, the history of art history, art during the Nazi era, emigration and remigration of artists, exchange and transfer procedures (colonial/post-colonial), modern and contemporary art in Africa and the diaspora.
Provenance Research advanced seminar: introduction, overview, perspectives (Christian Fuhrmeister); accompanying seminar course (Meike Hopp): Provenance Research – hands on: cases studies in winter semester 2013/2014, based on concept of ‘research-based studies’ and presentation and mediation of results of provenance research in summer semester 2014 (Fuhrmeister/Hopp) emanated not only from the exhibition ‘Zwischen den Seiten ‒ eine Spurensuche’ (30.06.–17.10.2014) at the University Library in Munich but also a number of theses and dissertations (see below).
The seminar lasting several semesters (summer semester 2016, winter semester 2016/17 and summer semester 2017) under Christian Fuhrmeister, ‘Rosenheimer Künstler im Nationalsozialismus und in der Nachkriegszeit’ is to provide the preparatory work for an exhibition and publication. The seminar examines the founding and institutional history of the Städtische Galerie and individual artists from Rosenheim and the Chiemgau region who were represented at the ‘Große Deutsche Kunstausstellungen’ (Great German Art Exhibitions). A holistic view of the museum as an institution under National Socialism, acquisition and purchasing policies, exhibition and mediation practices, and the history of reception during the Nazi and the post-war eras are to be explored. Current questions and problems in the field of provenance research are equally well of importance: what objects entered the holdings when and why? How can this be researched? The Master’s seminar ‘Fremde Heimat. Exil und Rückkehr deutscher Bildhauer/innen’ (summer semester 2016) under Burcu Dogramaci, held in conjunction with the Kunsthaus Dahlem (Berlin), has provided the preparatory work for an exhibition to be held in 2017. Discussions and research work focuses on which sculptors/sculptresses were given virtually no consideration after 1945 or whose works were only aknowledged in the history of art in the 20th century after some difficulty (or with considerble delay). To what extent did emigration and the personnel constellation of post-war society effect how artists were perceived? Research into works and their provenance was also carried out in the seminar and a body of objects selected for the exhibition. Preparation for an extensive exhibition and catalogue project was made in the tutorial ‘Entartete Kunst – die Sammlung Schneider im Kallmann-Museum Ismaning’ (winter semester 2015/16), held by Rasmus Kleine (Director, Kallmann Museum, Ismaning). In seminars and lectures on the art history of Africa, questions on the history of (colonial) acquisitions and post-colonial restitution debates are treated; seminars on the art museum in a global context are also offered (Prof. Dr. Kerstin Pinther).
Theses and dissertations written at the Institute as part of bachelor and master degree courses are focussed on protagonists in art, the museum world and the art trade in the Nazi and post-war eras. In cooperation with institutions in Munich and the region relevant sources are analysed that, to date, have barely been tapped, or exhibitions during the Nazi period, their dramaturgy and narrative examined. The following theses and dissertations for bachelor and master degree courses are worthy of mention here:
Bachelor degree theses
2014
Sophia Barth, ‘Maria Almas-Dietrich’
Constanze Viktoria-Sophie Nogler, ‘Die Galerie Caspari und der Münchner Kunsthandel in der Weimarer Republik und im Nationalsozialismus’
2016
Volha Karankevich-Koch, ‘Das Handelsprofil der Münchner Kunsthandlung/Galerie Wimmer in den 1950er Jahren’
Saskia Khamneifar, ‘Künstlerische Strategien zur Thematisierung der Provenienz von Kunst – eine Gegenüberstellung der Ausstellung »Restitutionspolitik« von Maria Eichhorn und der Installation »La Loi Normale des Erreurs« von Raphael Denis’
Master degree dissertations
2015
Christine Bach, ‘Robert Oertel und der »Sonderauftrag Linz« unter Hermann Voss – Ein ambivalentes Profil im NS-Kunstraub’ (supervisor: Christian Fuhrmeister)
Maja Sarah Catarina Bock, ‘Der Wiener Kunstauktionsmarkt in der Zwischenkriegszeit: Das Auktionshaus für Altertümer Glückselig GmbH (1919–1941)’ (supervisor: Christian Fuhrmeister)
Esther Rahel Heyer, ‘Rose Valland und die Rückführung von Kunst- und Kulturgut aus Deutschland’ (supervisor: Christian Fuhrmeister)
Sophie Oeckl, ‘Die Zusammenarbeit der Kunsthandlungen Julius Böhler München und Karl Haberstock Berlin: Eine Analyse gemeinsam gehandelter Gemälde zwischen 1936 und 1945’ (supervisor: Christian Fuhrmeister)
Melida Steinke, ‘»Sonderfall Bernheimer«? Die Enteignung des Privatbesitzes und die Übernahme der L. Bernheimer KG durch die Münchner Kunsthandels-Gesellschaft/Kameradschaft der Künstler München e.V.’ [https://epub.ub.uni-muenchen.de/27234/] (supervisor: Christian Fuhrmeister)
2016
Sofie Eikenkötter, ‘Die Städtische Galerie in Rosenheim. Zwischen Tradition und Propaganda von 1935 bis in die frühen Nachkriegsjahre’ [https://epub.ub.uni-muenchen.de/28166] (supervisor: PD Dr. Christian Fuhrmeister)
Franziska Eschenbach, ‘Die Überlieferung zum Kunsthandel des Antiquariats Jacques Rosenthal im Firmen-und Familienarchiv des Stadtarchivs München’ (supervisor: Christian Fuhrmeister)
Katharina Sprang, ‘»(…) dem Wirken der Blauen Reiter ein Denkmal in München zu setzen« (H.K. Röthel) – Hans Konrad Röthel und seine Position zur Klassischen Moderne’ (supervisor: Burcu Dogramaci)
Lecturers at the Institute took part both in the 7th colloquium on provenance research (22.07.2015) as well as at the international ‘Winter School Provenance Research’ (22.‒26.02.2016) ‒ both at the Zentralinstitut für Kunstgeschichte (ZI) ‒ (Burcu Dogramaci, Meike Hopp, Kerstin Pinther) or were involved in their concept and organisation (Christian Fuhrmeister). In particular, the cooperation between the Institut für Kunstgeschichte and the ZI that has existed since 2012 forms an important basis for further expanding the teaching and research programme on provenance research.
