SPK restitutes work from Hans Purrmann's collection
Press release from 01/16/2020
The Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation has agreed with the heirs of the artist Hans Purrmann on the restitution of a work from the National Museums' Picture Gallery. Purrmann had sold the fragment of a painting by Hans Baldung Grien in 1937 due to his difficult situation as a "degenerate" artist.
Purrmann was publicly attacked by the National Socialists at an early stage and was therefore hardly able to sell any of his own works. In May 1937, he sold a fragment of a painting by Hans Baldung, gen. Grien, to the National Museums. Although he received a price that was customary on the market at the time, today we believe that the reason for the sale was Purrmann's difficult financial situation as a result of the persecution.
The fragment of the painting "Lot" (around 1537) by Hans Baldung Grien can remain on loan in the Picture Gallery for 10 years thanks to the concession of the heirs. It was part of a much larger, rectangular panel showing the old man with his two naked daughters. According to biblical legend, they had made their father drunk in order to be impregnated by him, as there were no other men available after the fall of Sodom and Gomorrah. Baldung created at least two almost identical versions of this composition.
Born in Speyer, Hans Purrmann (10 April 1880 - 17 April 1966) moved to Paris in 1905 after studying at the Academy of Fine Arts. Purrmann was forced to leave Paris at the beginning of the First World War and moved to Berlin in 1916. His first major solo exhibition took place here in 1918 at the Paul Cassirer art dealership. In the following years, the state museums also repeatedly acquired works by Purrmann. During the National Socialist era, his art was declared "degenerate". As early as 1933, his murals in Speyer were draped with swastika flags and a number of works were confiscated from museums. From then on, he had difficulties selling his works. In 1935, Purrmann took over the management of the Villa Romana in Florence, albeit an honorary position that did not provide him with a regular income. He finally emigrated to Switzerland in 1943, where he died in Montagnola in 1966.