Summary of the binding opinion

The Restitutions Committee has assessed the application for restitution of the chalk drawing Girl Writing at a Table, which since 1959 has been in the collection of Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen and is currently in possession of Rotterdam City Council.

The Committee has come to the conclusion on the grounds of the investigation conducted by the Expert Centre Restitution (ECR) that it is highly likely that the drawing came from the estate of Max Liebermann, to which his wife Martha Liebermann was entitled. It has also become sufficiently plausible that Martha Liebermann lost possession of the drawing involuntarily as a result of circumstances directly connected with the Nazi regime.

Research has revealed that the drawing was in Max Friedländer’s possession at the time of his death. It is not clear when the drawing came into the possession of Max Friedländer. The drawing, which was in Friedländer’s estate, was auctioned off on 17 March 1959 at Paul Brandt in Amsterdam. Rotterdam City Council purchased the drawing there for the Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen Collection.

The Committee has established that Martha Liebermann suffered under the Nazi regime and had little money as a result of anti-Jewish measures. No indications were found that the drawing was offered for sale on the art market between 1935 and 1958. Similarly, no documentation was found showing that Friedländer obtained the drawing on a personal basis from Liebermann’s descendants.

The Committee has advised Rotterdam City Council to restitute the drawing Girl Writing at a Table by Max Liebermann to the rightful claimants to the Liebermann’s estate.

1. The Application

The request for an opinion concerns the drawing Girl Writing at a Table (1890-1895) by Max Liebermann (hereinafter also referred to as the Drawing), which is part of the collection of Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen in Rotterdam, under inventory number MB 1959/T. The Drawing is currently the property of the City Council.

The Applicant contends that in the summer of 1935 the Drawing was in the possession of Martha Liebermann and that at some point between 1935 and 1943 she lost possession of it involuntarily as a result of sale under duress or seizure by National Socialist authorities. As underpinning for this contention that the Drawing was the property of Martha Liebermann at some point in time, the Applicant refers to the presence of a stamped imprint of Max Liebermann’s signature on the back of the Drawing. The Applicant asserts that the presence of this stamp (hereinafter also referred to as the estate stamp) means that the Drawing was part of Max Liebermann’s estate and that it became the property of his wife Martha Liebermann after his death.

The Applicant and the Museum on behalf of the City Council (hereinafter also referred to as the parties) asked the Committee by letter on 18 May 2021 for an investigation and a binding opinion concerning the Drawing. By signing the letter, the parties declared that they accepted the Committee’s regulations (approved on 12 July 2021; most recently amended on 6 October 2023; hereinafter referred to as the Regulations) applicable for dealing with the request and considered the opinion to be issued by the Committee as binding.

3. Establishing the Facts

The Committee establishes the following facts on the grounds of the literature and archival research conducted by the ECR that involved bodies and individuals in the Netherlands, Germany and the United States.

Max and Martha Liebermann and their family

Max Martin Liebermann (hereinafter also referred to as Liebermann) was born on 20 July 1847 in Berlin. He was the second son of the industrialist Louis Liebermann and his wife, Philippine Liebermann (nee Haller). Both parents were among the Jewish middle class in Berlin. Liebermann had an older sister, an older brother and a younger brother. From 1857 the family lived in Haus Liebermann at Pariser Platz 7 in Berlin. Liebermann grew up in an era when there was growing emancipation of Prussia’s Jewish population. After he had passed his final school exam at the Friedrichwerdersche Gymnasium (Friedrich Werder Grammar School), in 1866 Liebermann started a two-year period studying chemistry in Berlin. After that, he was admitted to the Großherzoglich-Sächsischen Kunstschule (Grand-Ducal Saxon Art School) in Weimar. Between 1871 and 1884 Liebermann stayed mainly in the Netherlands and France, after which he once again settled in Berlin and got married there on 14 September 1884 to Martha Marckwald (1857-1943). Their only daughter, Käthe (1885-1952), was born a year later. From 1892 the family lived on the second floor of the parental home Haus Liebermann.

Max Liebermann’s career

Liebermann made a name for himself in Berlin primarily as a champion of ‘modern’ art. In 1898 he became chair of the Berliner Secession art movement; the year before he had been appointed a professor at the Königliche Akademie der Künste (Academy of Arts). In 1914 Liebermann founded Freie Secession (Free Secession), with him as its honorary chair. A retrospective of Liebermann’s work was organized in 1917 in the Academy of Arts to mark his seventieth birthday. Three years later he was appointed president of the Academy. The year before he had been reappointed to the Preußische Akademie der Künste (Prussian Academy of Arts). At this time, he concentrated on painting portraits. On his eightieth birthday Liebermann was awarded the Adlerschild des Deutschen Reiches (Eagle Shield of the German Reich).

During the last years of his life Liebermann witnessed the National Socialist takeover of power. On 7 May 1933 the National Socialists forced Liebermann – who had already stepped down from his position as president because of poor health – to give up his honorary presidency, senatorship and membership of the Prussian Academy of Arts. He withdrew from public life and died on 8 February 1935.

After Max Liebermann’s death

Shortly after her husband’s death, Martha Liebermann (hereinafter also referred to as Martha) received a letter from the German art historian Max Lehrs, who lived in Dresden. That letter has not survived. It emerges from Martha’s reply of 15 March 1935, which has survived, that in his letter Lehr had passed on a request from Prince Johann Georg of Saxony concerning an unspecified sketchbook that might have been in Martha’s possession. Martha wrote in her answer that she, together with the art historian Erich Hancke, was at that moment making an inventory of her late husband’s studio for the purposes of applying an estate stamp to the works left by her husband:

Was nun die Bitte Ihres Prinzen betrifft, so will ich gern sehn was sich tun lässt. Ich ordne augenblicklich mit Herrn Hancke das Atelier, da ja die Bilder und Zeichnungen einen Nachlass-Stempel bekommen müssen. Doch ist mir kein Skizzenbuch in die Hände gefallen, und ich fürchte viel werde ich nicht finden. Mein Mann hat gewöhnlich die besseren Blätter herausgenommen und einzeln in Passe-partouts tun lassen. Jedenfalls werde ich suchen, und Sie das Resultat so bald wie möglich wissen lassen.
[As far as your Prince’s request is concerned, I would like to see what can be done. I’m currently organizing the studio with Mr Hancke, since the pictures and drawings have to be given an estate stamp. But I haven’t come across a sketchbook, and I’m afraid I won’t find much. My husband usually took out the better sheets and had each of them put into mats. Anyway, I’ll look and let you know the result as soon as possible.]

On 26 March 1935 Martha reported that she had in all probability found the requested sketchbook:

Nach längerem Suchen habe ich hoffentlich das Richtige gefunden. Die grösseren Skizzenbücher sind alle zerrissen und die gezeichneten Seiten fast gänzlich entfernt. Dies Buch ist aus den ersten Jahren unseres Aufenthaltes in Wannsee, ich nehme an zwischen 1910 und 1914.
[After a long search, I hope I found the right one. The larger sketchbooks are all torn and virtually every page with a drawing has been removed. This book is from the early years of our time in Wannsee, I assume between 1910 and 1914.]

 A few days later Lehrs sent the sketchbook, which Martha had provided him with, to Prince Johann Georg of Saxony.

Persecution of Martha by the National Socialists and her attempts to flee Germany

In 1935 Martha moved to a smaller dwelling at Graf-Spee-Straße 23 in Berlin. Her daughter Käthe, who was married to the non-Jewish German diplomat and philosopher Kurt Riezler, left for New York after the 1938 November Pogrom. Her husband had accepted a position with The New School for Social Research there. At that moment Martha did not want to leave Berlin, where her husband was buried.

Martha had tried to give the house at Pariser Platz 7 to her daughter, in order to avoid expropriation. However, the notarial instrument that would have enabled this transfer was not accepted by the authorities. Jews were prohibited from residing in Pariser Platz with effect from 6 December 1938 Martha was consequently no longer permitted to enter the house. In that same month she was obliged to surrender all her silver and jewellery. On 14 December 1940 Martha was forced to sell her mansion on the Wannsee to the German Reichspost for 160,000 reichmarks. The proceeds of the sale were deposited in a frozen bank account and were not at Martha’s disposal.

Starting in the autumn of 1941, Martha made various attempts to escape from Germany. Both Sweden and Switzerland granted Martha entry visas after friends had guaranteed they would pay for her living expenses. The Reich Ministry of Economics, however, demanded 50,000 Swiss francs in Reichsfluchtsteuer (Reich Capital Flight Tax) in exchange for an exit visa. Unsuccessful attempts were made until the beginning of 1943 to raise this sum and pay the German authorities.

At the end of 1942 Martha had a stroke and became bedridden. She continued to receive help from a small number of people in her circle. On 4 March 1943 she wrote to Erich Alenfeld, who also lived in Berlin:

Verehrter, lieber Herr Alenfeld, Ich bin ganz auseinander! Die Bank hat nicht mal die kleine Summe gezahlt, ohne einen freundlichen Besuch wäre ich ohne Geld! – Dazu macht man mir von allen Seiten Angst wegen Abtransport! Ich erwarte Sie sehnlich, […] Dr. Landsberger sollte ja kommen!
Bitte, bitte Antwort
Ihre dankbare Martha L.
[Dear, dear Mr. Alenfeld, I am completely shattered! The bank didn’t even pay the small amount, without a friendly visit I would be without money! – In addition, I am being frightened from all sides about the removal! I am eagerly awaiting you … Dr Landsberger should come!
Please, please answer
Your grateful Martha L.]

 Underneath, in Erich Alenfeld’s handwriting, is the following:

Abgeholt 5.III.43
Morgens!
Gift genommen!
[Picked up 5.III.43
In the morning!
Took poison!]

On 5 March 1943 a police officer appeared at Martha’s residence with the objective of having her transported to Theresienstadt concentration camp. But Martha had taken an overdose of sleeping pills and was in a coma. She was taken to the Berlin Jewish Hospital, where she died on 10 March 1943. Erich Alenfeld saw to it that Martha Liebermann was buried on 23 March 1943 in the cemetery in Weißensee. On 10 May 1954 she was reburied next to her husband in the Schönhauser Allee Jewish cemetery in Berlin. On 26 March 1943 her entire estate was confiscated by the German State and a few days later the house in Pariser Platz was seized by the Gestapo.

Max J. Friedländer and his relationship with Liebermann

Max Jacob Friedländer (hereinafter also referred to as Friedländer) was born in Berlin on 5 July 1867. Like Liebermann he attended the Friedrich Werder Grammar School. He took his final school exam there in 1887. Friedländer then studied art history and classical archaeology in Munich and Leipzig. He returned to Berlin in 1895. Friedländer emigrated to the Netherlands in May 1939 and was able to survive during the years of the occupation. Friedländer was granted Dutch citizenship in 1954. He died on 11 October 1958 in Amsterdam.

Although Friedländer’s expertise was primarily in the field of early Dutch and German painting, he remained under the spell of Liebermann and his work throughout his life and wrote several articles about him in German magazines. Friedländer published a biography of Liebermann in 1925. In 1947, on the centenary of Liebermann’s birth, Friedländer published a biographical article about him for the monthly art magazine Maandblad voor beeldende kunsten.

A bond of friendship developed between Friedländer and Liebermann. Friedländer was invited at least twice to spend Christmas in the Liebermanns’ home. Liebermann drew Friedländer’s likeness in several drawings. In the Friedländer archive, which is in the custody of the RKD – Netherlands Institute for Art History, there are 19 letters and postcards from Liebermann and Friedländer. Friedländer was one of the few prominent members of the German art world at Liebermann’s funeral in 1935.

4. Substantive Assessment of the Application

In view of the requirements in section 1 a to e of the assessment framework, the application is eligible for substantive handling by the Committee.

The City Council has stated that it waives the right to invoke good faith. The substantive assessment of the restitution application will therefore remain limited to sections 2 and 3 of the assessment framework.

Pursuant to section 2 of the assessment framework, the Committee must assess whether it is highly plausible that the Drawing was the property of Martha Liebermann, and on the grounds of section 3 whether it is sufficiently plausible that she lost possession of the Drawing involuntarily as a result of circumstances directly related to the Nazi regime. To this end the Committee finds as follows:

Ownership requirements (section 2 of the assessment framework)

Documentation dated March 1935 that was found during the investigation indicates that Martha and the art historian Erich Hancke inventoried Max Liebermann’s studio shortly after his death in February 1935 for the purposes of applying an estate stamp to the works he left. Since there is an estate stamp on the back of the Drawing, in the Committee’s opinion it has been established that the Drawing was part of Liebermann’s estate. Martha Liebermann was heiress to this estate, so it has also been established that after Liebermann’s death, the Drawing belonged to Martha.

On the grounds of this information, the Committee has come to the conclusion that it is highly likely that the Drawing belonged to Martha. This means that the ownership requirement of section 2 of the assessment framework has been met.

The consequence of this is that the Committee now has to evaluate whether, with regard to the Drawing, there was involuntary loss of possession as a result of circumstances directly associated with the Nazi regime.

Involuntary loss of possession (section 3 of the assessment framework)

In the assessment of the nature of the loss of possession, the applicable underlying principle is that loss of possession by a private Jewish individual in Germany after 30 January 1933 must be considered to be involuntary, unless the facts expressly show otherwise. On the grounds of the established facts, the Committee finds that the latter is not the case.

It is not clear how and when the Drawing ceased to be in the possession of Martha Liebermann and came into the possession of Max Friedländer. No indications were found that the Drawing was offered for sale on the art market between 1935 and 1958. Similarly, no documentation was found showing that Friedländer obtained the Drawing on a personal basis from Liebermann’s descendants. Although there are indications that Martha once gave a drawing by Max Liebermann to an acquaintance, in the Committee’s opinion this does not prove that Martha Liebermann gave the Drawing to Max Friedländer. The fact that Max Friedländer and Max Liebermann were friends does not alter this.

The Committee finds that Martha Liebermann suffered under the Nazi regime and had little money as a result of anti-Jewish measures. For example, from December 1938 she was no longer permitted to enter her own home in Pariser Platz because of anti-Jewish measures. In December 1938 Martha was obliged to surrender all her silver and jewellery pursuant to the Verordnung über den Einsatz jüdischen Vermögens (Use of Jewish Assets Decree), In December 1940 the German authorities forced Martha to sell her mansion on the Wannsee, and the proceeds of the sale were withheld from her. Although Martha was able to obtain entry visas for Sweden and Switzerland, she was unable to flee because she was could not raise enough money to pay the required Reich Capital Flight Tax. Considering the aforementioned facts and circumstances as a whole, the Committee concludes that it is sufficiently plausible that Martha Liebermann lost possession of the Drawing as a result of measures taken by the Nazi regime.

Conclusion with regard to the restitution application

The Committee concludes that it is highly plausible that the drawing Girl Writing at a Table by Max Liebermann was the property of Martha Liebermann and that it is sufficiently plausible that she lost possession of the Drawing involuntarily as a result of circumstances directly related to the Nazi regime.

In view of sections 2 and 3 of the assessment framework (criterion 3.1 and part 2 at the end of section 3), the upshot of all this is that the Committee will recommend that the Drawing should be restituted to the Applicant.