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Paul Cassirer (21 February 1871, in
Görlitz Görlitz (; ; ; ; ; Lusatian dialects, East Lusatian: , , ) is a town in the Germany, German state of Saxony. It is on the river Lusatian Neisse and is the largest town in Upper Lusatia, the second-largest town in the region of Lusatia after ...
– 7 January 1926, in
Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...
) was a German
art dealer An art dealer is a person or company that buys and sells works of art, or acts as the intermediary between the buyers and sellers of art. An art dealer in contemporary art typically seeks out various artists to represent, and builds relationsh ...
and editor who played a significant role in the promotion of the work of artists of the
Berlin Secession The Berlin Secession was an art movement established in Germany on May 2, 1898. Formed in reaction to the Association of Berlin Artists, and the restrictions on contemporary art imposed by Wilhelm II, German Emperor, Kaiser Wilhelm II, 65 artist ...
and of French
Impressionists Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by visible brush strokes, open composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating the effects of the passage of time), ordinary subjec ...
and
Post-Impressionists Post-Impressionism (also spelled Postimpressionism) was a predominantly French art movement that developed roughly between 1886 and 1905, from the last Impressionist exhibition to the birth of Fauvism. Post-Impressionism emerged as a reaction aga ...
, in particular that of
Vincent van Gogh Vincent Willem van Gogh (; 30 March 185329 July 1890) was a Dutch Post-Impressionist painter who is among the most famous and influential figures in the history of Western art. In just over a decade, he created approximately 2,100 artworks ...
and
Paul Cézanne Paul Cézanne ( , , ; ; ; 19 January 1839 – 22 October 1906) was a French Post-Impressionism, Post-Impressionist painter whose work introduced new modes of representation, influenced avant-garde artistic movements of the early 20th century a ...
.


Starting out

Paul Cassirer started out as a student of art history, and then became a writer in 1890s
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 ...
, where he worked for the weekly magazine ''
Simplicissimus :''Simplicissimus is also a name for the 1668 novel ''Der abenteuerliche Simplicissimus, Simplicius Simplicissimus'' and its protagonist.'' ''Simplicissimus'' () was a German language, German weekly satire, satirical magazine, founded by Albert ...
'' and published two novels. Cassirer moved to
Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...
, and he and his cousin
Bruno Bruno may refer to: People and fictional characters * Bruno (name), including lists of people and fictional characters with either the given name or surname * Bruno, Duke of Saxony (died 880) * Bruno the Great (925–965), Archbishop of Cologn ...
, while still in their mid 20s, opened their gallery on the ground floor of Paul's house in the up-market Viktoriastrasse. The cousins came from a prominent family, whose members included the neurologist
Richard Cassirer Richard Cassirer (23 April 1868 – 20 August 1925) was a German neurologist born into a Jewish family in Breslau. After receiving his medical doctorate in 1891, he became assistant at the psychiatric clinic in Breslau under Karl Wernicke (1848 ...
and the philosopher
Ernst Cassirer Ernst Alfred Cassirer ( ; ; July 28, 1874 – April 13, 1945) was a German philosopher and historian of philosophy. Trained within the Neo-Kantian Marburg School, he initially followed his mentor Hermann Cohen in attempting to supply an idealistic ...
. Paul was born into a
Jew Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, religion, and community are highly inte ...
ish family. His father, Louis, was an engineer and businessman, whose company — Kabelwerke Dr. Cassirer & Co. — manufactured telegraphic cables, and was eventually taken over by
Siemens Siemens AG ( ) is a German multinational technology conglomerate. It is focused on industrial automation, building automation, rail transport and health technology. Siemens is the largest engineering company in Europe, and holds the positi ...
. In 1895 he married Lucie Oberwarth. In 1901 Cassirer visited Julien Leclercq's retrospective of Van Gogh's work, and later that year he organized the inclusion of five Van Gogh canvases in the May show of the Berlin Secession. On 21 May 1904, Cassirer and Lucie divorced.


Second marriage

In 1910 he married Ottilie Godefroy (18 August 1880, Vienna – 21 February 1971, Berlin), the actress well known under her pseudonym
Tilla Durieux Tilla Durieux (born Ottilie Godeffroy; 18 August 1880 – 21 February 1971) was an Austrian theatre and film actress of the 20th century. Early years Born Ottilie Helene Angela Godeffroy on 18 August 1880 in Vienna, she was the daughter of the ...
. Tilla had very briefly been married to the painter Eugen Spiro six years earlier. She and Cassirer were married for sixteen years, but the union was to end tragically. In 1910 Cassirer also resurrected the periodical ''Pan''.


Art dealing and collecting

On April 11, 1900, Paul Cassirer purchased "Rue St. Honoré, après midi, effet de pluie", by French Impressionist
Camille Pissarro Jacob Abraham Camille Pissarro ( ; ; 10 July 1830 – 13 November 1903) was a Danish-French Impressionist and Neo-Impressionist painter born on the island of St Thomas (now in the US Virgin Islands, but then in the Danish West Indies). ...
(the “Painting”). from Durand-Ruel. Julius Cassirer acquired it from him, passing it to Lilly Cassirer Neubauer, after his death. The painting has been the object of a claim for restitution for Nazi-looted art by the Cassirer family Together with Hugo Helbing, Cassirer formed an auction house starting around 1916. Auctions of major artworks were held there, including the
Julius Stern Julius Stern (8 August 1820 – 27 February 1883) was a Jewish German musical pedagogue and composer. Biography Stern was born at Breslau. He received his elementary education in music from the violinist Peter Lüstner, and at the age of nine ...
Collection, in 1916.


Death

On 7 January 1926, Cassirer met his wife in a lawyer's office to finalize the divorce proceedings. He excused himself and walked into another room, where he shot himself. Like that of Van Gogh, the artist he had done so much to promote, Cassirer's suicide was not immediately successful. He died from the injury a few hours later.


Resources


Notes


References

* Brühl, Georg: ''Die Cassirers: Streiter für den Impressionismus'',
Edition Leipzig Edition Leipzig was a publisher in the German Democratic Republic (GDR/DDR), which, for the most part, placed books on Western markets as an export publisher. This was intended to serve representative purposes as well as to procure foreign curr ...
, Leipzig 1991, * Feilchenfeldt, Rahel E., & Brandis, Markus: ''Paul Cassirer Verlag, Berlin 1898-1933. Eine kommentierte Bibliographie'', K. G. Saur, München 2002, * Paret, Peter: ''The Berlin Secession. Modernism and its enemies in Imperial Germany'',
Harvard University Press Harvard University Press (HUP) is an academic publishing house established on January 13, 1913, as a division of Harvard University. It is a member of the Association of University Presses. Its director since 2017 is George Andreou. The pres ...
1980 * Saltzman, Cynthia: ''Portrait of Dr Gachet'',
Viking Penguin Viking Press (formally Viking Penguin, also listed as Viking Books) is an American publishing company owned by Penguin Random House. It was founded in New York City on March 1, 1925, by Harold K. Guinzburg and George S. Oppenheimer and then acqui ...
, 1998,


Research resources


Cassirer collection, 1906-1933
(0.5 linear ft.) is housed in th

a
Stanford University Libraries


External links


History of the Cassirer family

Biographical details of Paul Cassirer
an
other documents related to Paul Cassirer
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cassirer, Paul German art dealers Jewish art collectors 19th-century German Jews 19th-century art collectors 20th-century German art collectors People from the Province of Silesia People from Görlitz 1871 births Suicides by firearm in Germany Suicides in Germany 1926 suicides 1926 deaths