„R. in M.“ Researching Jacques & Emma Rosenthal‘s lost art collection / Die Erforschung einer verlorenen Kunstsammlung.

For the most part, Colloquium XV of the series “Provenienz- und Sammlungsforschung” informs about the results of the research project – funded from 2020 to 2025 by the German Lost Art Foundation – that investigated the private art collection of Jacques and Emma Rosenthal. This collection had been partly documented in the privately printed catalogue “Pictures and Globes Owned by Jacques Rosenthal” that Erwin Rosenthal had dedicated to his father, Jacques, on his 60th birthday in 1914. The project attempted to reconstruct the collection, its dispersal after 1933 and, to the degree possible, the current whereabouts of the objects that had been dispossessed or sold under duress due to Nazi persecution. Some restitutions have taken place in the course of the project, others are in process, and one return will take place Oct. 6 at the Zentralinstitut für Kunstgeschichte (ZI), as part of the public program.

The colloquium, however, also branches out to include aspects beyond the project, which ends on October 30, 2025. This entails various loose ends pertaining to the internationally renowned antiquarian bookshop on Brienner Straße, such as the valuable stock that was confiscated. Presentations also address the fate of the antiquarian bookshop of Jacques’ brother Ludwig.

Like the project, the colloquium is carried out in cooperation with the descendants of the Rosenthal family, and serves as a platform or meeting point of researchers and family. It aims to share recollections and results, experiences and insights, wishes and visions, demands and reflections. Finally, we wish to discuss the nature of this specific category of research, which is being carried out on behalf of heirs or descendants of persons who lost their collections – and all else, including their stock – as a result of National Socialist persecution.

CONCEPT& ORGANISATION: Franziska Eschenbach, Christian Fuhrmeister

PROGRAMME
| Contributions in either English or German; no translations provided |

14.00 | Get-together

14.30 | Getting started / Auftakt

Welcome / Begrüßung
Franziska Eschenbach* // The Rosenthal Cosmos
Christian Fuhrmeister // Researching Rosenthal: How it began, how the project unfolded, and what happened on the way
Rebecca Friedman, Holocaust Claims Processing Office, New York // Representing the interests of the Rosenthal family
Stephan Klingen, Munich // Provenienzforschungsprojekte mit Nachfahren: Auftragsforschung oder Grundlagenforschung?

| Discussion

15.15 | PANEL I – AD FONTES – QUELLEN ZUR FAMILIE ROSENTHAL

Anton Löffelmeier, Stadtarchiv München // „NL-ROS“ – Die Geschichte eines Bestandes
Jos van Waterschoot, Universitätsbibliothek Amsterdam (UBA) // Das Ludwig Rosenthal Archiv an der Universitätsbibliothek Amsterdam

| Short discussion

15.35 | PANEL II – RESEARCH PERSPECTIVES / FORSCHUNGSPERSPEKTIVEN

Angéline Rais, University of London // Jacques Rosenthal and his dealings with medieval manuscripts in 1920s-1930s
Cosima Dollansky // „Rosenthal“ in annotierten Auktionskatalogen
Lena Schneider // Circular of the Reichskulturkammer in late August 1935
Franziska Eschenbach // Findings and results of the Rosenthal project

| Discussion

16.40 | Coffee Break

17.15 | PANEL III – TWO CASE STUDIES / ZWEI FALLSTUDIEN

William Bran, The Dutch Cultural Heritage Agency, The Hague // Frans Francken II and a gap in the provenance chain
Regina Prinz, Münchner Stadtmuseum // Die Restitution der Apostelfigur aus der Sammlung des Münchner Stadtmuseums

| Short discussion

17.35 | PANEL IV – THE FAMILY PERSPECTIVE(S)

Tony Misch, San Francisco // A Reflection
Julia Rosenthal, Oxford // Rückblick ist Zukunft
J.A. Muir Gray, Oxford // The social and political significance of research
Jacqueline Gray, Oxford // A personal Recollection

18.15 | PANEL V – PRIVATE TO PRIVATE: RETURN OF A PAINTING FROM THE ROSENTHAL COLLECTION THAT HAD BEEN SOLD UNDER DURESS

Franziska Eschenbach // Introduction
Monika Trägler, Munich // Recherchen zur Sammlung des Münchner Malers Hans Best
Monika Trägler, Munich // Handover / Übergabe

18.30 | ROUND TABLE DISCUSSION – BULLET POINTS TO TAKE AWAY

Franziska Eschenbach, Christian Fuhrmeister, Jacqueline Gray, Meike Hopp, Tony Misch, Julia Rosenthal

19.00 | End of Colloquium

*Unless indicated, all speakers are based at the ZI in Munich.

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PARTICIPATION:

The colloquium takes place in a hybrid format. You can either attend in-person or via Zoom: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/IeW4ZMeoRMGsAUO_nroMKg#/registration. Recording the event or parts of the event, as well as taking screenshots, is not permitted. By participating, you accept these terms of use.