Theft and no Restitution: The portrait of Walther Silberstein by Lovis Corinth (1923)

On the occasion of the dona­tion of the Portrait Walther Silber­stein by Lovis Corinth (1923) and in honor of Leo Hepner, Silber­stein's grandson, the Jewish Museum Berlin (JMB) invites you to a sympo­sium with musical contri­butions. Two panels are dedi­cated to the painter Lovis Corinth and his Jewish network between the Hansa­viertel and the Secession, as well as to the question of what we know about the looting and why the resti­tution of the painting failed several times.

Walther Silber­stein and Lovis Corinth lived as neigh­bors and friends in Berlin’s Klopstock­straße. Corinth painted a portrait of the gentle­men’s out­fitter, who returned the favor with a fine suit. After Walther Silber­stein’s death, the painting initially re­mained in the posses­sion of his widow, who was deported to Riga in 1942. The Berlin collector Conrad Doebbeke acquired it before the end of the war, but later con­cealed this fact. In the 1960s, the family made an un­successful attempt to recover the pain­ting. At the turn of the millen­nium, it was up for sale again. Leo Hepner, Silber­stein’s grand­son, finally bought the pain­ting back. In fulfill­ment of his last wishes, the JMB received it as a gift.

The musical contri­butions by Gary Hoff­mann (cello), Tabea Zimmer­mann (viola) and Lucas Fels (cello) are linked to the stages of Leo Hepner's life and are a contri­bution by the Hepner Foun­dation.