Things went badly for German art dealer Hans Wendland in 1931. For one thing, there was a Depression on, and for another Wendland was getting a divorce. Wendland wasn’t a terrific guy he lost an early museum job when he was accused of personally profiting off material he acquired while working for the museum, and he appears to have profiteered during the Russian Revolution by purchasing art from fleeing aristocracy. And his divorce may have been the result of his meeting the much-younger woman with whom, a few years later, he moved to Paris.
Things went badly for German art dealer Hans Wendland in 1931. For one thing, there was a Depression on, and for another Wendland was getting a divorce. Wendland wasn’t a terrific guy he lost an early museum job when he was accused of personally profiting off material he acquired while working for the museum, and he appears to have profiteered during the Russian Revolution by purchasing art from fleeing aristocracy. And his divorce may have been the result of his meeting the much-younger woman with whom, a few years later, he moved to Paris.
A view of Amsterdam at midday. A dark forest with sunlight peeking through the trees as a woman washes clothes in a river. A young boy feeding a monkey as a man to his left holds back a swan.
These are scenes from three paintings owned by the Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco, part of a batch of 10 European artworks obtained between 1933 and 1945 that FAMSF is now reviewing for their possible connection to Nazi-looted art.
The city’s largest arts institution, which oversees the de Young Museum and the California Legion of Honor, has in total some 100,000 pieces of art. It “stands as one of the most visited arts institutions in the United States,” according to its website.