Property from the Descendants of David Goldmann
Paris Bordone
Portrait of a woman
Auction Closed
May 20, 03:42 PM GMT
Estimate
15,000 - 20,000 USD
Lot Details
Description
Property from the Descendants of David Goldmann
Paris Bordone
Treviso 1500 - 1571 Venice
Portrait of a woman
canvas: 23 ¾ by 19 ¾ in.; 60.3 by 50.1 cm.
framed: 32 by 28 in.; 81.2 by 71.1 cm.
Seized from the above by Hitler's agents and allocated in the central depot of the Kunsthistoriches Museum, Vienna (inv. D.G. 16), where it was reserved for the Führermuseum;
Transferred to Alt Ausse (inv. 2639) for the Kunstmuseum Linz;
Recovered by the Allied Forces on 15 October 1945 and sent to the Munich Central Collecting Point (inv. no. 2339);
Given over to the Austrian Government Kremsmünster depot (inv. no. K1322) on 25 April 1946;
Restituted to David Goldmann 15 May 1948, New York;
Thence by descent to the present owner.
G. Gombosi, Palma Vecchio: Des Meisters Gemälde und Zeichnungen, Berlin 1937, p. 116, as 'Bonifacio Veronese';
G. Mariacher, Palma, il Vecchio, Milan 1968, p. 112, as 'Bonifacio Veronese';
G. Fossaluzza, Paris Bordon e il suo tempo : atti del convegno internazionale di studi Treviso, Treviso 1987 (1985), p. 189, fig. 10, as 'Paris Bordone';
G. Fossaluzza, in Pinacoteca di Brera, Scuola Veneta, 1990. p. 81;
A. Donati, Paris Bordone, Catalogo Ragionato, Soncino 2014, pp. 407-8 (illustrated).
Andrea Donati dates this elegant portrait to circa 1525-30 but the identity of the sitter remains unknown. Shown in a shimmering, voluptuous dress with an underlying silk embroidered garment, the woman exudes wealth while her round face and delicate facial features are characteristic of Bordone's portraits. It is noted by Donati that the current location of the painting is unknown. However, it can be confirmed that the portrait has been in New York since its return to David Goldmann in 1948.
A note about the provenance:
Lots 10, 87, 91 and 92 come from the noteworthy collection of David Goldmann, an Austrian businessman who fled his home country with his family in 1938 after the annexation of Austria to Nazi Germany. Goldmann amassed a significant fine and decorative arts collection consisting of Italian, Northern and Austrian paintings as well as Viennese porcelain and furniture. Soon after the Anschluss, the Gestapo deemed Goldmann’s apartment and contents as “enemy property”.1 The most valuable items of the group were removed and reserved for Hitler’s Führermuseum while the rest were auctioned off by the Dorotheum.
The reverse of the paintings memorializes this complicated period of their history with labels noting each depot and storage facility the paintings moved to while under German control. After being taken to the central depot of the Kunsthistoriches Museum, the paintings were then stored in the Altaussee salt mine, which was then seized by the U.S. Army on May 8, 1945, and the artworks transferred to the Munich Central Collecting Point marking the beginnings of the restitution process. Goldmann managed to successfully have most of these items returned to him in New York by the late 1940s. The paintings and drawings have remained in the family since this time.
1. A. Reininghaus, Recollecting. Raub und Restitution, exhibition catalogue, Vienna 2009, p. 133.
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