René Gimpel
René Albert Gimpel (4 October 1881–3 January 1945) was a prominent French art dealer of Alsatian Jewish descent who died in 1945 in Neuengamme concentration camp, near Hamburg, Germany.[1]
Art dealer and collector
Friend and patron of living artists and collectors, he was the son of a picture dealer and the brother-in-law of Sir Joseph Duveen. His witty and acerbic journal, kept for twenty-one years and published posthumously as Journal d'un collectionneur: marchand de tableaux (1963, revised edition 2011), with a preface by Jean Guéhenno of the Académie française, was translated and published in English as Diary of an Art Dealer (1966),[2] and is a primary source for the history of modern art and of collecting between the World Wars.[3]
Trained in the classic traditions of
In 1902 his father, Ernest Gimpel, opened E. Gimpel & Wildenstein in New York; the firm would continue in partnership until 1919.
Nazi era persecution in France
Both Jewish and in the resistance, Gimpel was doubly persecuted by the French collaborators with the Nazis during World War II. His Paris apartment was seized in 1942, and his possessions, including 82 crates of works he had placed in storage, were looted. [7] In 1944, the Gestapo seized contents of bank safe in Nice. Gimpel was interned by the Vichy authorities for his activities in the Resistance, released in 1942, but then re-arrested. In confinement he taught English to his fellow prisoners, in preparation, he said, for their coming liberation. He died in the Neuengamme concentration camp, near Hamburg, Germany.[8]
Legacy and restitution
In 2019 Gimpel's grandchildren accused the French culture ministry of blocking restitution of works from Gimpel's collection that were held by French state museums. [7] In 2020 the decision was taken to restitute three paintings by André Derain to Gimpel's heirs.[9][10][11]
See also
List of claims for restitution for Nazi-looted art
References
- ^ Diana J. Kostyrko, ‘René Gimpel’s Diary of an Art Dealer ‘, The Burlington Magazine, Sept. 2015, no. 1350, vol. 157, pp. 615-619.
- Sir Herbert Read; it covers the years 1918-39.
- ^ Kostyrko, 'René Gimpel's Diary of an Art Dealer ', The Burlington Magazine, Sept. 2015, no. 1350, vol. 157, pp. 615-619.
- ISBN 0-241-11761-5
- ISBN 978-1-909400-51-1
- ^ Gimpel 1966:98-100.
- ^ a b "Court case over three Derain paintings will test France's promise to speed up Nazi-era claims". The Art Newspaper - International art news and events. 2019-06-03. Retrieved 2023-02-06.
Three paintings by Derain from Gimpel's collection, two views of the Riviera in Cassis and The Mill (1910), hang in museums in the cities of Marseilles and Troyes; the latter canvas was renamed La Chapelle-sous-Crécy. The works were connected to Gimpel by the British researcher Ian Locke a decade ago.
- ^ Read, "Introduction" 1966.
- ^ "Décision de restituer trois tableaux d'André Derain à la famille de René Gimpel". www.culture.gouv.fr (in French). Retrieved 2023-02-06.
- ^ Selvin, Claire (2020-10-01). "French Judge Orders Restitution of Nazi-Looted André Derain Paintings to Family of Jewish Art Dealer". ARTnews.com. Retrieved 2023-02-06.
- ^ "Marseille : un tableau du peintre fauviste Derain, butin des nazis, restitué à ses propriétaires". France 3 Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur (in French). 2021-01-28. Retrieved 2023-11-10.