Emanuel Albert Lewenstein (5 December 1870 – 10 June 1930)
was a Dutch-Jewish art collector.
Early life
Emanuel Albert Lewenstein was born in Amsterdam on 5 December 1870, the son of German-Jewish Adolph Lewenstein and Dutch-Jewish Lea Joachimsthal from Amsterdam.
His parents founded the Sewingmachinetrade A. Lewenstein (Dutch: Naaimachinehandel v/h A. Lewenstein) in Amsterdam in 1868 and designed the famous sewingmachine Lewenstein. Their daughters Rosa and Betty Lewenstein ensured that the company grew into one of the largest supply companies for the clothing industry in the Netherlands. Rosa (Amsterdam, April 4, 1872) was murdered in Auschwitz, but Betty (Amsterdam, Jan 25, 1880) survived the shoa. Art collector Emanuel Albert Lewenstein was their older brother.
Kandinsky's ''Das Bunte Leben''
Lewenstein bought
Wassily Kandinsky
Wassily Wassilyevich Kandinsky ( – 13 December 1944) was a Russian painter and art theorist. Kandinsky is generally credited as one of the pioneers of abstract art, abstraction in western art. Born in Moscow, he spent his childhood in ...
's oil painting ''
Das Bunte Leben'' (The Colourful Life) immediately after it was created in 1907. After his death, his widow Hedwig loaned it to Amsterdam's
Stedelijk Museum
The Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam (; Municipal Museum Amsterdam), colloquially known as the Stedelijk, is a museum for modern art, contemporary art, and design located in Amsterdam, Netherlands. for safekeeping.
On 3 March 2017, three of his heirs filed suit in New York City against
Bayerische Landesbank
Bayerische Landesbank, also known as BayernLB, is a publicly regulated bank based in Munich, Germany and one of the six Landesbanken. It is 75% owned by the Free State of Bavaria (indirectly via BayernLB Holding AG) and 25% owned by the ''Sparka ...
who believe they now own it, in respect of the painting, now valued at $80 million.
The lawsuit claims that the painting was effectively taken and sold without permission, "The painting was taken from its legitimate owners in 1940 in violation of international law during the period of the Nazi occupation in the Netherlands in furtherance of the Nazi campaign of Jewish genocide".
''Das Bunte Leben'' is on show at the
Städtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus
The Lenbachhaus () is a building housing the Städtische Galerie (English: Municipal Gallery) art museum in Munich's ''Kunstareal''.
The building
The Lenbachhaus was built as a Florentine-style villa for the painter Franz von Lenbach between ...
, in
Munich
Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...
, Germany.
In July 2023 the Advisory Commission recommended restituting the Kandinsky to the Lewenstein heirs.
Personal life
On 11 March 1901 in
Bonn
Bonn () is a federal city in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, located on the banks of the Rhine. With a population exceeding 300,000, it lies about south-southeast of Cologne, in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr region. This ...
, Germany, Lewenstein married
Hedwig Weyermann (11 Oct 1875 Bonn, Germany - 20 May 1937, Amsterdam), the daughter of Gottschalk Weyermann and Mina Oppenheimer.
They had two children:
*Robert Gotschalk Lewenstein (30 Oct 1905, Amsterdam - 1975 Blue Creek, Ohio, US), who married Henriëtte Ruth Opprower
*Wilhelmina Helena Lewenstein, who married José Augusto Da Silva
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lewenstein, Emanuel
1870 births
1930 deaths
Art collectors from Amsterdam