Provenance Research

The Belvedere's provenance research team examines all works of art created before 1945 and acquired since 1933. The collection, which includes roughly 5,400 paintings, sculptures, and graphic works, is processed through the museum's in-house database, which provides an object-related overview of archive and literature searches. The reviewed works are categorized as follows: “uncritical,” “questionable,” “unresolved – no indication of questionability,” and “unresolved.”

Sections of the database which contain sensitive data are reserved exclusively for in-house provenance research and are not accessible to the public.

Nachlass, Aktenordner auf einem Tisch
© Belvedere, Vienna

Provenance Dossiers

The provenance dossiers drawn up by the Belvedere are sent to the Commission for Provenance Research in the Federal Monuments Office and from there to the Art Restitution Committee in the Federal Chancellery, which issues recommendations regarding the restitution of works of art.

Of the 79 dossiers drawn up as of April 2019, 74 have been dealt with by the Art Restitution Committee. It recommended restitution in 46 cases concerning 70 works of art and 6 publications. 59 of these works have been handed back to the descendants of the former owners. The remainder will remain in the museum until the rightful heirs can be identified.

In 15 cases involving 28 works of art, the Committee advised against restitution. Among these were the 5 Klimt pictures from the Bloch-Bauer collection, which have subsequently been restituted, and also Edvard Munch’s Summer Night at the Beach from the Mahler-Werfel collection. In this latter case, the Committee reversed its negative decision of 1999 and on November 8, 2006 recommended that it be restituted to the heiress, to whom the painting was returned on May 9, 2007. The Comitee meeting on March 6, 2015 could not recommend the restitution of the Beethovenfries by Gustav Klimt from the Lederer collection.

The Art Restitution Committee is currently working on five dossiers involving nine works of art.

Provenance Database

 

 

Categories

"Uncritical" indicates that the chronology of ownership can be traced end-to-end. Even if the work of art had been confiscated from Jewish property between 1938 and 1945, it was returned to its original owners after the war and properly acquired by the Belvedere.

"Questionable" is the term used by the Belvedere provenance research team to describe acquisitions as defined in § 1 of the Art Restitution Act. This article refers to works of art which

  1. were subject to restitution to either the original owners or their legal successors, but could not be exported under the Export Prohibition Act of 1919 and subsequently passed gratuitously into the ownership of the Federation.

  2. although lawfully transferred into the ownership of the Federation, had previously been the subject of a legal transaction within the scope of the Annulment Act from 1946 and are still in possession of the Federation.

  3. had not been returned to their original owner or their legal successors after conclusions of restitution proceedings and therefore are still held by the Federation as “property without heirs.”

The category "unresolved – no indication of questionability" refers to art objects which can be plausibly assumed to have been acquired lawfully and do not originate from expropriated Jewish property, though a potential confiscation could not be ruled out with absolute certainty.

"Unresolved" indicates that the artwork in question currently lacks sufficient information to determine its provenance. There are no indications that the work is questionable, and no evidence that it is uncritical. This applies especially to acquisitions from the art trade from the years 1938 to 1945 and the post-war era.

 

Restitutions

 

 

 

XXXX

2021

XXXX

To the heirs of Dr. Eugen Herz:

 

Restitution
Belvedere, Vienna

 

Publication of the library

Bruno Grimschitz, Die österreichische Zeichnung im 19. Jh., Vienna 1928, Inv. No. of the library 1988

Decision (German)

 

 

Inhalt 4

 

 

XXXX

2020

XXXX

To the heirs of Dr. Josef Morgenstern:
 

Restitution
Photo: Johannes Stoll / Belvedere, Vienna

 

Schiele, Egon: Four Trees, Inv. No. 3917

Decision (German)

 

 

Inhalt 4

 

 

XXXX

2019

XXXX

To the heirs of Gertrude Felsövanyi:

 

Restitution
Belvedere, Vienna

 

Waldmüller, Ferdinand Georg: Bildnis Magdalena Werner, Inv. No. 3660

Decision (German)

Decision (German)

Restitution
Belvedere, Vienna

 

Waldmüller, Ferdinand Georg: Bildnis Johann Werner, Inv. No. 3661

Decision (German)

Decision (German)

 

Inhalt 4

 

To the heirs of Felicia Lachmann-Mosse:

 

Restitution
Belvedere, Vienna

 

Schindler, Emil Jakob: Park Landscape in Plankenberg (Lilac), Inv. No. 3815

Decision (German)

 

 

Inhalt 4

 

 

XXXX

2018

XXXX

To the heirs of Alice und Carl Bach:

 

Restitution
Photo: Johannes Stoll / Belvedere, Vienna

 

Schirmer, Johann Wilhelm: Landscape Study, Inv. No. 3972

Decision (German)

 

 

Inhalt 4

 

 

XXXX

2015

XXXX

To the heirs of Martha Liebermann:
 

Restitution
Belvedere, Vienna

 

Leibl, Wilhelm: Bauernküche/Kücheninterieur, Inv. No. 3388

Decision (German)

 

 

Inhalt 4

 

 

XXXX

2013

XXXX

To the heirs of Rudolf Bittmann:

 

Restitution
Belvedere, Vienna

 

Daffinger, Moritz: Marie Daffinger, née Smolk von Smolenitz, the Artist´s Wife, Inv. No. 4254

Decision (German)

 

 

Inhalt 4

 

To the heirs of Josef Blauhorn:

 

Restitution
Belvedere, Vienna

 

Kupelwieser, Leopold: The Three Magi, Inv. No. 3768

Decision (German)

Restitution
Belvedere, Vienna

 

Schnorr von Carolsfeld, Ludwig Ferdinand: Chamonix with Mont Blanc, Inv. No. 3769

Decision (German)

 

Inhalt 4

 

To the heirs of Valerie Karplus:

 

Restitution
Belvedere, Vienna

 

Makart, Hans: Entry of Charles V. in Antwerp, Inv. No. 4453
The painting was re-acquired by the Austrian Gallery Belvedere and re-catalogued.

Decision (German)

 

 

Inhalt 4

 

To the heirs of Alice und Hans Rubinstein:

 

Restitution
Belvedere, Vienna

 

Romako, Anton: Portrait Berthold Winder, Inv. No. 3802

Decision (German)

 

 

Inhalt 4

 

To the heirs of Friedrich Spiegler:

 

Restitution
Belvedere, Vienna

 

Master of The Veit Legend: Winged altarpiece, Inv. No. 4851
The panel painting was re-acquired by the Austrian Gallery Belvedere and re-catalogued.

Decision (German)

 

 

Inhalt 4

 

 

XXXX

2012

XXXX

To the heirs of August Blumberg:

 

Restitution
Belvedere, Vienna

 

Zanusi, Jakob: Apotheosis of Holy Kajetan, Inv. No. 3902

Decision (German)

 

 

Inhalt 4

 

To the heirs of Dr. Hermann Eissler:
 

Restitution
Belvedere, Wien

 

Waldmüller, Ferdinand Georg: 4 Signboards for an apothecary: Hygieia Inv. No. 5621

Decision (German)

Restitution
Belvedere, Wien

 

Waldmüller, Ferdinand Georg: 4 Signboards for an apothecary: Hippokrates Inv. No. 5622

Decision (German)

 

Inhalt 4

 

Restitution
Belvedere, Wien

 

Waldmüller, Ferdinand Georg: 4 Signboards for an apothecary: Galen Inv. No. 5623

Decision (German)

Restitution
Belvedere, Wien

 

Waldmüller, Ferdinand Georg: 4 Signboards for an apothecary: Flora, Inv. No. 5624

Decision (German)

 

Inhalt 4

 

 

XXXX

2011

XXXX

To the heirs of Dr. Ludwig Neurath:

 

Restitution
Belvedere, Vienna

 

Alt, Jakob: The Cholera Chapel near Baden, Inv. No. 3662

Decision (German)

Decision (German)

 

 

Inhalt 4

 

To the heirs of Max Mandl-Maldenau:

 

Restitution
Belvedere, Vienna

 

Krafft, Johann Peter: Portrait of a Man, Inv. No. 3400

Decision (German)

 

 

Inhalt 4

 

To the heirs of Josefine Winter:
 

Restitution
Belvedere, Vienna

 

Hellmer, Edmund: Beethoven-Büste, Inv. No. 5956

Decision (German)

 

 

Inhalt 4

 

 

XXXX

2010

XXXX

To the heirs of Mary Wooster:

 

Restitution
Belvedere, Vienna

 

Raffalt, Johann Gualbert: Hungarian Herdsboy, Inv. No. 4342

Decision (German)

 

 

Inhalt 4

 

To the heirs of Alice Kolb:

 

Restitution
Belvedere, Vienna

 

Danhauser, Josef: Ladislaus Pyrker, Inv. No. 4030

Decision (German)

 

 

Inhalt 4

 

To the heirs of Marianne Nechansky:

 

Restitution
Belvedere, Wien

 

Hans Gasser: Der Maler Carl Rahl, Inv. No. 5958

Decision (German)

 

 

Inhalt 4

 

 

XXXX

2009

XXXX

To the heirs of Alice and Carl Bach:

 

Restitution
Belvedere, Vienna

 

Trübner, Wilhelm: Still Life with Roses, Inv. No. 3666

Decision (German)

 

 

Inhalt 4

 

To the heirs of  Wilhelm Freund:

 

Restitution
Belvedere, Vienna

 

Feuerbach, Anselm: Medea on the Urn, Inv. No. 3704

Decision (German)

Restitution
Belvedere, Vienna

 

Romako, Anton: Hungarian Barnyard, Inv. No. 3683

Decision (German)

 

Inhalt 4

 

To the heirs of Max Roden (Rosenzweig):

 

Restitution
Belvedere, Vienna

 

Franz Wiegele, Frauenbildnis (Portrait Frau Z.), Inv. No. 3401

Decision (German)

 

 

Inhalt 4

 

 

XXXX

2008

XXXX

To the heirs of Franz und Helen Erlach:

 

Restitution
Belvedere, Vienna

 

Master of Großlobming: Pfennigberger Schmerzensmann, Inv. No. 6153

Decision (German)

 

Inhalt 3

Inhalt 4

 

To the heirs of Ernst Gotthilf-Miskolzy:

 

Restitution
Belvedere, Vienna

 

Friedrich Amerling: Mädchen mit Strohhut, Inv. No. 3657

Decision (German)

 

Inhalt 3

Inhalt 4

 

To the heirs of Otto Klein:

 

Restitution
Belvedere, Vienna

 

Daffinger, Moritz Michael: The Actor Josef Koberwein as Duke Alfons in Goethe's Tasso, Inv. No. 4319Decision (German)

 

 

Inhalt 3

Inhalt 4

 

XXXX

2007

XXXX

To the heirs of Mahler-Werfel:

 

Restitution
Belvedere, Vienna

 

Munch, Edvard: Sommernacht am Strand, Inv. No. 3772 

Decision (German)

Decision (German)

Decision (German)

 

Inhalt 3

Inhalt 4

 

To the heirs of Ferdinand Bloch-Bauer:

 

Restitution
Belvedere, Vienna

 

Georges Minne: Kniende Knaben, Inv. No. 3869

Decision (German)

Decision (German)

Restitution
Belvedere, Vienna

 

Georges Minne: Kniende Knaben, Inv. No. 3870

Decision (German)

Decision (German)

Inhalt 3

Inhalt 4

 

 

XXXX

2006

XXXX

To the heirs of Ferdinand Bloch-Bauer:

 

Restitution
Belvedere, Vienna

 

Gustav Klimt, Beech Forest / Birch Forest, 1903, Inv. No. 4283

Decision (German)

Restitution
Belvedere, Vienna

 

Gustav Klimt, Adele Bloch-Bauer I, 1907, Inv. No. 3830

Decision (German)

Inhalt 3

Inhalt 4

 

Restitution
Belvedere, Vienna


Gustav Klimt, Apple Tree I, 1911/12, Inv. No. 3342

Decision (German)

Restitution
Belvedere, Vienna

 

Gustav Klimt, Adele Bloch-Bauer II, 1912, Inv. No. 4210

Decision (German)

Inhalt 3

Inhalt 4

 

Restitution
Belvedere, Vienna

 

Gustav Klimt, Houses in Unterach am Lake Attersee, around 1916, Inv. No. 4209

Decision (German)

 

Inhalt 3

Inhalt 4

 

To the heirs of Dr. Heinrich Rieger:

 

Restitution
Belvedere, Vienna

 

Egon Schiele, Meadows with Houses, Inv. No. 4326

Decision (German)

 

Inhalt 3

Inhalt 4

 

 

XXXX

2004

XXXX

To the heirs of Bernhard Altmann:

 

Restitution
Belvedere, Vienna

 

Klimt, Gustav: Portrait of a Lady, Inv. No. 5449

Decision (German)

Decision (German)

 

Inhalt 3

Inhalt 4

 

To the heirs of Gottlieb Kraus:

 

Restitution
Belvedere, Vienna

 

Markó, Carl:  Sea piece with Ino and Melicerte, Inv. No. 5606

Decision (German)

Restitution
Belvedere, Vienna

 

Pettenkofen, August von: Gypsy Wagon at a Ford, Inv. No. 3886

Decision (German)

Inhalt 3

Inhalt 4

 

To the heirs of Leo und Elise Smoschewer:

 

Restitution
Belvedere, Vienna

 

Slevogt, Max: Conrad Ansorge at the Piano, Inv. No. 3794

Decision (German)

 

Inhalt 3

Inhalt 4

 

 

XXXX

2003

XXXX

To the heirs of Moriz und Otto Eisler:

 

Restitution
Belvedere, Vienna

 

Romako, Anton: Portrait of Countess Maria Magda Kuefstein, Inv. No. 3803

Decision (German)

 

Inhalt 3

Inhalt 4

 

 

XXXX

2001

XXXX

To the heirs of Hermine Lasus:

 

Restitution
Belvedere, Vienna

 

Klimt, Gustav: Farmhouse with Birch Trees, Inv. No. 5448

Decision (German)

Restitution
Belvedere, Vienna

 

Klimt, Gustav: Lady with Feather Boa, Inv. No. 4415

Decision (German)

Inhalt 3

Inhalt 4

 

To the heirs of Jenny Steiner:

 

Restitution
Foto: Johannes Stoll / Belvedere, Wien

 

Klimt, Gustav: Country House on Lake Attersee, Inv. No. 8983

Decision (German)

 

Inhalt 3

Inhalt 4

 

To the heirs of Nora Stiasny:

Restitution
Belvedere, Vienna

 

Klimt, Gustav: The Apple Tree II, Inv. No. 5447

Decision (German)

Decision (German)

 

Inhalt 3

Inhalt 4

 

 

XXXX

1999

XXXX

To the heirs of Clarice (Alphonse) Rothschild:

 

Restitution
Belvedere, Wien

 

Auerbach, Johann Gottfried: Portrait of Empress Maria Theresa, Inv. No. 4259

Decision (German)

Restitution
Belvedere, Wien

 

Auerbach, Johann Gottfried: Portrait of Emperor Franz I Stephan von Lothringen, Inv. No. 4314

Decision (German)

Inhalt 3

Inhalt 4

 

Restitution
Belvedere, Wien

 

Donner, Matthäus: Venus and Adonis, Inv. No. 4261

Decision (German)

Restitution
Belvedere, Wien

 

Austrian painter circa 1770/80: Portrait of Emperor Joseph II, Inv. No. 4258

Decision (German)

Inhalt 3

Inhalt 4

 

Restitution
Belvedere, Vienna

 

Pettenkofen, August von: Straw-loaded Wagon with Three Horses, Inv. No. 4553Decision (German)

Restitution
Belvedere, Vienna

 

Mollinarolo, Jakob Gabriel: Venus and the Dead Adonis, Inv. No. 5856

Decision (German)

Inhalt 3

Inhalt 4

 

Restitution
Belvedere, Vienna

 

Mollinarolo, Jakob Gabriel: Venus and Adonis, Inv. No. 5857

Decision (German)

 

Inhalt 3

Inhalt 4


The last two listed Baroque lead reliefs by Mollinarolo were re-acquired by the Austrian Gallery Belvedere and re-catalogued.

 

To the heirs of Louis N. Rothschild:

 

Restitution
Belvedere, Wien

 

Amerling, Friedrich von: The Engraver Franz Xaver Stöber, Inv. No. 4262

Decision (German)

Restitution
Belvedere, Wien

 

Amerling, Friedrich von: Study of a Woman's Head, Inv. No. 4263

Decision (German)

Inhalt 3

Inhalt 4

 

Restitution
Belvedere, Wien

 

Schindler, Emil Jakob: Landscape with Water, Inv. No. 4267

Decision (German)

Restitution
Belvedere, Wien

 

Unterberger, Michelangelo (signed 1947 Troger): The Baptism of Christ, Inv. No. 4260

Decision (German)

Inhalt 3

Inhalt 4

 

Inhalt 3

Inhalt 4

 

 

Restitutions recommended by the Art Restitution Advisory Board but not yet undertaken

 

To the heirs of E. and A. Silbermann:

 

Restitution
Belvedere, Wien

 

Maulbertsch, Franz Anton: Allegory On Galicia And Lodomeria, Inv. No. 3402

Decision (German)

To the heirs of Vally Honig-Roeren:

 

Restitution
Belvedere, Wien

 

Waldmüller, Portrait of a Gentleman Dressed in Black, Inv. No. 3899

Decision (German)

To the heirs of Käthe Kellner:

 

Restitution
Foto: Johannes Stoll / Belvedere, Wien

 

Neder, Michael: Der Kutscherstreit, Inv.-Nr. 4392

Decision (German)

Inhalt 4

 

To the heirs of Wally Kulka:

 

Restitution
Belvedere, Wien

 

Raffalt, Johann Gualbert: Two Hungarians with Two Horses in Puszta, Inv. No. 5596

Decision (German)

To the heirs of Serena Lederer/Elisabeth Bachofen-Echt:

 

Restitution
Belvedere, Wien

 

Grützner, Eduard: In der Klosterbibliothek, Inv. No. 7983

Decision (German)

To the heirs of Ella Lewenz:

 

Restitution
Foto: Johannes Stoll / Belvedere, Wien

 

Leistikow, Walter: Danish Parkland with Mansion, Inv. No. 3971

Decision (German)

Inhalt 4

 

To the heirs of Ludwig Mayer:

 

Restitution
Foto: Johannes Stoll / Belvedere, Wien

 

Grützner, Eduard: Allegory of Arts (4 parts of a ceiling painting), Inv. No. 7986-7989

Decision (German)

To the heirs of Salomon Meisels:

 

Restitution
Belvedere, Wien

 

Ruben, Christoph Christian: Blick in die Ferne, Inv. No. 4654

Decision (German)

To the heirs of Dr. Max Berger and Dr. Erich Arthur Bien:

Publications of the library

The four publications from former ownership of Dr. Erich Arthur Bien and also the one from former ownership of Dr. Max Berger were donated to the Belvedere Library in 2022 by his legal successors.

Decision (German)

Inhalt 4