During World War II, the Nazi regime and its collaborators orchestrated on an unprecedented scale a system of confiscation, coercive transfer, looting, and destruction of cultural objects in Europe. This webinar explores World War II history and the market for Asian art, a little-studied subject in the field of art history, and asks how the Nazi occupation impacted the circulation of Asian art. In so doing, it also considers the unique complexities of researching and documenting Asian objects that circulated during the period.
Bringing together a panel of provenance experts for a moderated conversation, this webinar highlights the experiences of dealers and collectors of Asian art who lived through or fled the Nazi regime. The conversation will also consider how the atrocities committed by the Nazi party influenced the formation of postwar museum collections and the academic study of Asian art in the West.
Joanna M. Gohmann, National Museum of Asian Art, Washington, DC
Christine Howald, Zentralarchiv/Museum für Asiatische Kunst, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin
PROGRAMME:
Thursday, March 31, 2022
9:30–9:45 a.m. (EDT) • Welcome & Opening Remarks
Joanna M. Gohmann, National Museum of Asian Art
Christine Howald, Zentralarchiv/Museum für Asiatische Kunst, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin
9:45–10:25 a.m. (EDT) • Experiential Spotlights
GERMANY & FRANCE
Nathalie Neumann, Senior Provenance Researcher, IKM University of Mainz
AUSTRIA
Leonhard Weidinger, Commission for Provenance Research, Vienna, Austria
UNITED STATES
Laurie A. Stein, L. Stein Art Research LLC
HERBERT GINSBERG COLLECTION, BERLIN
Dodi Reifenberg, Artist and Researcher, Ginsberg Family Art Research Project
10:25–11:10 a.m. (EDT) • Moderated Discussion
11:10–11:25 a.m. (EDT) • Questions and Answers
11:25–11:30 a.m. (EDT) • Closing Remarks
Register here: https://smithsonian.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_yeZpAIFJR1KzXGU5aiww2A.
For more information: https://asia.si.edu/research/scholarly-programs/hidden-networks/asian-art-and-the-third-reich-a-provenance-discussion/#program.