Picasso dispute: ‘Madame Soler’ is looted art?

Madame Soler’s gaze is serious, alert and focused. That intense gaze is how painter Pablo Picasso captured the wife of his friend, tailor Benet Soler, in 1903.

Since then, Picasso’s Blue Period portrait has become the subject of a prolonged and bitter dispute between the heirs of the Jewish banker and art collector Paul von Mendelssohn-Bartholdy (1875-1935) and the Bavarian State Painting Collections. Both sides claim rightful ownership of “Madame Soler”.

The State Painting Collections of Bavaria are custodians of much of the public art collections belonging to the Free State of Bavaria, as well as of the museums and public art galleries in Bavaria in which these works of art are displayed.

Tug of war over Picasso’s painting

The dispute over “Madame Soler” is complicated by the fact that the parties disagree on whether the painting was sold under duress – in the context of the persecution and expropriation of Jews in Nazi Germany from 1933 onwards. However, there is no conclusive evidence to this end.

Since it is not possible in Germany to legally process claims for restitution – and because US courts have denied jurisdiction – the dispute over “Madame Soler” has reached an impasse. Public pressure is being used to break this impasse.

However, there is a possible remedy in Germany in such cases: the Limbach Commission. Created in 2003 by the German government, the commission can be called upon to mediate disputes involving the restitution of works of art looted by the Nazis, mainly of Jewish citizens persecuted during the Third Reich, now in the possession of museums, libraries, archives or other public institutions. in Germany. He can then review the case and make legally non-binding – though morally no less important – recommendations for resolving the dispute.

However, the disputing parties must agree to the Commission’s review of the case. The Bavarian State Painting Collections were reluctant to take this step.

‘Madame Soler’: timeline of provenance

Together with his first wife, Paul von Mendelssohn-Bartholdy amassed a considerable private collection of modern artists in Berlin, which may have included Picasso’s “Madame Soler” from 1913/14, but no later than 1930.

In 1934, however, the manager of the Lucerne branch of the art dealership Justin K. Thannhauser noticed that there was evidence of intent to sell. Thannhauser, himself a Jew, helped establish the painter’s worldwide fame with his large Picasso exhibition in Munich in 1913.

Mendelssohn-Bartholdy died of a heart attack on May 11, 1935, and his second wife became his heir.

In August 1935, “Madame Soler” was listed by the Thannhauser Gallery in Berlin as “bought”.

In October 1935, Thannhauser put the painting up for sale, along with four other works by Picasso. But he himself came under increasing pressure in Nazi Germany, went to Paris and from there fled in 1940 – with many unframed works in his luggage – to the USA.

From then on, “Madame Soler” became part of Thannhauser’s private collection in New York – in a prominent place and clearly visible to guests.

In November 1964, the Bavarian State Painting Collections purchased Picasso’s “Madame Soler” for CHF 1.7 million (DM 1.6 million) from Justin Thannhauser through a company based in Vaduz, Liechtenstein.

Is it art looted by the Nazis?

Mendelssohn-Bartholdy’s heirs doubt that the painting was sold without pressure on their ancestor, or even that it was sold at all. Other than internal documentation from the Thannhauser Gallery, there is no direct evidence of the purchase itself. It is therefore also possible that the painting was only sold on commission from Thannhauser. So argues Julius H. Schoeps, historian, holder of the Federal Cross of Merit and descendant of Mendelssohn-Bartholdy – not only in the statement of claim, but also in his book “Who Owns Picasso’s Madame Soler?” published in 2022.

He considers it likely that Mendelssohn-Bartholdy gave the paintings to Thannhauser on order, in order to find a buyer before they were confiscated by the Nazi authorities. He had not sold a single painting before, but between 1933 and 1935 he sold 15 of his paintings. The Free State of Bavaria, however, maintains that the painting “does not constitute cultural property seized by the Nazis”.

And now?

In the case of the other four Picasso paintings that were sold, the heirs reached an agreement with the Guggenheim Museum, the Museum of Modern Art in New York and the Andrew Lloyd Webber Foundation. In each case, the works remained in the collections in exchange for payment of an undisclosed sum. The National Gallery in Boston returned his Picasso to his heirs.

Since it currently does not appear that a restitution law will be introduced in Germany anytime soon, or that the Limbach Commission processes will be reformed to allow a right of appeal, even unilaterally, the only recourse left is public debate.

Of course, the Bavarian State Painting Collections may continue to maintain its position in an attempt to stay out of the “Madame Soler” controversy. Still, the heirs’ emphatic insistence that an injustice has been committed may be reason enough for the Limbach Commission to seek clarification.

This article was originally written in German.