The Land of Cockaigne,
1567Originally part of the collection of Emperor Rudolf II in Prague, Pieter Brueghel the Elder’s “Land of Cockaigne” was taken to Skokloster Castle during the Thirty Years' War after being looted by Swedish troops. At the beginning of the 20th century, the painting entered the collection of Richard von Kaufmann, a Berlin-based university lecturer and government official. On December 4, 1917, it was auctioned in Berlin by Paul Cassirer and Hugo Helbing.
The winning bid was placed by Otto Lanz, a Swiss surgeon, who purchased the painting for the sum of 310,000 Reichsmark for the Alte Pinakothek. The acquisition, however, was only made possible through joint donations from Otto Lanz, Paul Cassirer, Hugo Helbing and other anonymous supporters as well as the widow of the deceased collector, Marie von Kaufmann. She waived part of the proceeds in favour of the Alte Pinakothek, as documented in an exchange of letters with the then General Director Friedrich Dörnhöffer, kept in the painting’s documentation file.
Several of the individuals who made the acquisition of the “Land of Cockaigne” for the Alte Pinakothek possible were persecuted, marginalised and murdered as Jews during the National Socialist era. The recognition of their contributions here serves as just one example of the many patrons of the Bavarian State Painting Collections who played a significant role in expanding the art collections and were subsequently persecuted for being Jewish by the state between 1933 and 1945.
Seit 1999 forscht das Referat Provenienzforschung zur Herkunft aller Kunstwerke der Bayerischen Staatsgemäldesammlungen, die vor 1945 entstanden sind und die seit 1933 erworben wurden. Grundlage für diese Forschung bilden die „Washingtoner Erklärung“ von 1998 sowie die daran anschließende sogenannte „Gemeinsame Erklärung“ von 1999.
Die Provenienz-Angaben basieren auf den systematischen Erstchecks und orientierten sich am Leitfaden zur Standardisierung von Provenienz-Angaben des Arbeitskreis Provenienzforschung e.V. Provenienzangaben werden zeitnah aktualisiert, wenn neue Quellen oder Erkenntnisse zu den hier veröffentlichten Werken bekannt werden.
Weitere Informationen zu den Provenienzangaben finden Sie in der Präambel.
Für Rückfragen und Hinweise erreichen Sie uns unter provenienz@pinakothek.de
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