FOLLOWER OF FRANCESCO GUARDI
The Grand Canal with a View of Santa Maria Della Salute and the Dogana
oil on canvas
22 ¼ x 29 ¼ inches (56.5 x 74.3 cm.)
PROVENANCE
Baron Maximilian von Goldschmidt – Rothschild, Frankfurt am Main (as by Guardi) until November 11, 1938 when sold to the
City of Frankfurt under National Socialist persecution and transferred to
Stadelsches Kunstinstitut und Städtische Galerie, Frankfurt am Main (inventory no. SG 208) until February 26,1949 when
Restituted to the heirs of Baron Maximilian von Goldschmidt – Rothschild by the city of Frankfurt who consigned it to
Estate of Baron Max Von Goldschmidt – Rothschild sale, Parke-Bernet Galleries, Inc., New York, March 10-11, 1950, lot 317 (as attributed to Francesco Guardi) where purchased by
Private Collection, New York, March 1950 until 1993 from whom acquired by
Lawrence Steigrad Fine Arts, New York, from whom purchased by
Private Collection, New Jersey, 1993 until the present time
LITERATURE
Inventory List of the City of Frankfurt’s Acquisition of Paintings from the Goldschmidt – Rothschild Collection at the Time in the Städische Galerie Frankfurt am Main (Liste der Seinerzeit aus der Sammlung Goldschmidt -Rothschild erworbenen Gemälde in der Städtischen Galerie Frankfurt a. Main) nr. 39, inv. nr. 866, G. R. nr. 208 (as by Guardi)
“Accession Book” of Stadelsches Kunstinstitut und Stadtische Galerie, p. 289, no. 866, price 1,500 Reichsmarks, (as by Guardi)
Nicole Roth, “Verzeichnis der in der Nach Kriegszeit Kunstewerk“ (List of Post-War Restituted Artwork) in Museum in Widerspruch: Das Stadel und der Nationalsozialismus, Akademie Verlag, 2012, p. 319 (as by Francesco Guardi)
Matthias Wagner K & Katharina Weiler eds., “Inventory List” in The Collection of Maximilian von Goldschmidt – Rothschild, Museum Angewandte Kunst, Verlag der Buchhandlung Walther und Franz König, 2023, p. 490, no. 208 (as by Guardi)
“In 1938, under extreme duress from the National Socialists, Maximilian von Goldschmidt – Rothschild forfeited to the City of Frankfurt both his collection of over 1500 art objects assembled in the course of half a century and his residence, the Palais Rothschild.”[1] This painting was among the group.
Maximilian von Goldschmidt – Rothschild was one of the wealthiest people in Germany, and the only Jew to be made a Prussian Baron by Emperor Wilhelm II. His collection was viewed as one of the most important in the country[2] and divided between three museums in Frankfurt: The Museum für Kunsthandwerk (now Museum Angewandte Kunst) received more than 1,350 art objects, the Liebieghaus 85 sculptures and statuettes, and the Städtische Galerie (Städel Museum) 71 paintings including this work.
Ninety-five years old at the time his home was seized on September 5, 1938, Maximilian von Goldschmidt – Rothschild was given a lifelong but restricted access to a small apartment in his palais for an annual rent of 25,000 RM. Two days after Kristallnacht on November 9, 1938 (the Night of Broken Glass in which the Nazis coordinated a wave of antisemitic attacks throughout Germany) there was a forced sale of his collection for 2,551,730 RM. The majority of the money was then transferred to a blocked account, that neither Maximilian von Goldschmidt – Rothschild, nor his heirs had access to after his death in 1940. After Frankfurt became a bombing target of the allies, the Goldschmidt – Rothschild collection was crated and stored at various locations and survived the war unscathed. But the Palais Rothschild was completely destroyed in 1944 during a bombing raid.[3]
In 1939 the director of the Städel Alfred Wolters wrote “the acquisition from the collections of Goldschmidt – Rothschild and [Carl van] Weinberg […] are among the most magnificent and successful that German museums have ever made”.[4] Thus it can be of little surprise that in 1949 Wolters regarded the restitution of the Goldschmidt–Rothschild collection by Frankfurt as “interference with the substance of the museums in question that goes beyond the law of restitution”, “an absolutely disastrous reduction of cultural property,” “a severe loss of cultural assets”, “and the forfeiture of exchange holdings of undeniable and substantial international value”. Yet the resistance from the city of Frankfurt as well as the directors of its museums was overcome in 1949 when most of the collection was restituted to the Goldschmidt – Rothschild heirs.[5]
On March 10 – 11 Parke Bernet Galleries in New York held a landmark sale from the “Estate of Baron Max von Goldschmidt – Rothschild” consigned by his heirs. This painting was lot 317 and catalogued as attributed to Francesco Guardi. No earlier provenance for the work was stated or is known, as all of the acquisition documents from the Goldschmidt – Rothschild collection had been destroyed in the war.[6] At this sale the painting was acquired by a New York collector, from whom we purchased it in 1993. Subsequently it was sold to a New Jersey collection from which it has now been consigned.
This work is very close to the view depicted in Francesco Guardi’s Venice: Santa Maria della Salute and the Dogana (inventory no. P507) in the Wallace Collection, London, which dates to the 1780s. The scene depicts the Grand Canal looking towards the Church of Santa Maria della Salute, the pre-eminent Baroque church in Venice. The Dogana da Mar (Customs House) at the end of the architectural row was built circa 1627 at the entrance to the Grand Canal. A golden globe with a weathervane is over the gateway to the canal. Here its waterway teems with activity under a blue sky filled with white clouds. Guardi intentionally widened the mouth of the Grand Canal to heighten the drama[7] to which this painter followed suit. But whereas Guardi opted for an aura of tranquility, this work literally hums with activity.
In 2023 the Museum Angewandte Kunst, Frankfurt published a 704-page catalog, both in German and English, on the collection of Maximilian von Goldschmidt – Rothschild. Wishing to shine a light on the collection’s history under National Socialism, research began in 2009 and continues today tracing pieces within the museum’s holdings as well as those scattered around the world to other museums and private collections. Although this painting appeared on the confiscation list, no image was known to exist, so when it was published in the exhibition catalog it was with a blank space instead of an image next to its number and description. It is with great satisfaction that we are able to fill that void for the museum and aid in the reconstruction of the collection’s history.
We are indebted to Dr. Iris Schmeisser, Head of Provenance Research and Archives, at the Städel Museum, Frankfurt, for her invaluable assistance in the writing of this entry.
[1] Matthias Wagner K & Katharina Weiler, eds., The Collection of Maximilian von Goldschmidt – Rothschild, op.cit., p. 7.
[2] “Maximilian von Goldschmidt – Rothschild “ at German Lost Art Foundation Kulturgutverluste.de; and “The Collection of Maximilian von Goldschmidt -Rothschild” at museummanagewandtekunst.
[3] Mathias Wagner K., op.cit., pp. 118, 121, 123, and 127; and Katharina Weiler, “Provenance Research and Circulation: Examples from the Maximilian von Goldschmidt – Rothschild Collection” , August 28, 2024 on historyofknowledge.hypotheses.org.
[4] Ibid, p. 134; Two hundred eight sculptures were seized from Weinberg that went to the Städel . – see “Trumpeting Angel” at MFABoston on mfa.org.
[5] Ibid, pp. 8, 134, 146.
[6] Ibid, p. 65, fn. 32.
[7] “Francesco Guardi, Venice: Santa Maria della Salute and the Dogana” at The Wallace Collection, wallace live. wallacecollection.org.