Ja. Vielleicht? Nein! – zur Provenienz von drei Entwürfen Oskar Kokoschkas für das Breslauer Krematorium

Abstract

Provenance research means working with primary sources. But what if those sources are contradictory or even contain false information? This is how an artwork quickly becomes a suspected case – an artwork that cannot be lent because its provenance seems questionable. Using the example of the three large draft drawings by Oskar Kokoschka for the Breslau crematory planned in 1914, which are today located at the Kupferstich-Kabinett in Dresden, the article retraces the aforementioned way towards forming a suspected case and back again. Even without any written evidence for purchase, donation, or relinquishment, which is still lacking, these artworks could be proven to have been part of Staatliche Sammlungen für Kunst und Wissenschaft holdings since at least 1927. The fact that these objects left the museum again nearly 20 years later, albeit by different means than part of the relevant literature indicates, and not until another 35 years later have been inventoried at their current location, also forms part of their exciting object biography.