Alfred Sommerguth
Alfred Sommerguth (born September 23, 1859, in Magdeburg) was a German Jewish art collector and businessman.
Life
Alfred Sommerguth (born September 23, 1859, in Magdeburg) was a prominent German art collector and businessman. Director and co-owner of Loeser and Wolff, one of the largest tobacco factories in pre-WWII Germany, he became an official in the Ministry of the Interior in Berlin in 1920, overseeing town planning. He and his wife, Gertrude Sommerguth, were well-known figures in Berlin society and amassed a diverse art collection, including Dutch and Italian Renaissance masterpieces and works by French Impressionists.[1][2]
Nazi persecution
When the Nazis came to power in Germany in 1933, the Sommerguths were persecuted due to their Jewish heritage.
Sommerguth was forced to register his assets and compile a list of his artworks for the Nazi authorities. To pay the “flight tax” imposed by the Nazis on Jews, Sommerguth was forced to sell most of his art collection at the February 7, 1939 Hans W. Lange auction titled Eine Berline Privatsammlung.[1] In 1941, to avoid deportation, the couple fled to Cuba, where Alfred was hospitalized for typhus before ultimately settling in New York.[3][4]
Alfred Sommerguth died in New York on October 15, 1950, and his wife Gertrude died on April 8, 1954. They never recovered their art collection during their lives. In recent years, their heirs, with the help of representatives, have successfully recovered several artworks sold at the 1939 Lange auction.[1][5][6]
References
- ^ a b c "HCPO Gallery: Alfred Sommerguth - biography | Department of Financial Services". web.archive.org. 2024-12-20. Retrieved 2025-02-09.
- ^ Tully, Judd. "Judd Tully || Sotheby's London Solid Impressionist and Moderns Night". juddtully.net. Retrieved 2025-02-11.
A majestic and busy Parisian street scene by Camille Pissarro, "Le Boulevard Montmartre, fin de journee" from 1897 and part of storied series of brilliantly observed city life, sold to yet another telephone bidder for a estimate topping £7,145,900/$8,979,538 (est. £3.5-5 million). It was once a Christmas gift (1928) from Berlin collector Alfred Sommerguth to his wife Gertrud.
- ^ "Der Berliner Kunsthandel in der Weimarer Republik und im NS-Staat: Zum Schicksal der Sammlung Graetz 9783050085890". dokumen.pub. Retrieved 2025-02-11.
- ^ AFP (2011-10-16). "Nazi-looted art found in Swiss museum". Ynetnews. Retrieved 2025-02-11.
Alfred Sommerguth, who acquired his fortune as co-director of the German tobacco manufacturer Loeser & Wolff, managed to flee to Cuba in 1941 at the age of 82, before reaching New York where he died a destitute in 1950.
- ^ "A Serene Monet and Several Restituted Treasures Reassure the Market at Sotheby's $124 Million Impressionist and Modern Sale". Artnet News. 2019-06-20. Retrieved 2025-02-11.
A better Pissarro in the sale has been the subject of a restitution claim, having belonged to Swiss collectors Alfred and Gertrude Sommerguth before World War II. The collectors gave the painting to the Sturzzeneggersche Gemäldesammlung in St. Gallen for safekeeping before they fled to America. The 1897 painting of a busy Montmartre boulevard at the end of the day is from a popular series
{{cite web}}:|first=missing|last=(help) - ^ AFP (2011-10-16). "Nazi-looted art found in Swiss museum". Ynetnews. Retrieved 2025-02-11.
The painting was acquired by the Sommerguths, a rich Jewish couple from Berlin who had a substantial collection of 106 paintings, including Renaissance masterpieces as well as works by Camille Pissaro. But after the Nazis came to power in Germany, they were forced to give up the collection, which was sold during an auction in 1939.