The art and antiques dealership J. & S. Goldschmidt was among the leading German art firms of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The business originated in Frankfurt am Main, where the brothers Jacob and Selig Goldschmidt began dealing in old books, Judaica and works of art in the mid-nineteenth century, probably as early as 1863.[1]
Over the following decades, the family business developed into an internationally active art dealership. In addition to antiques, the firm handled paintings, sculpture, precious metalwork and other works of art. A representative office was opened in New York in 1905, and from 1921 the firm also maintained a branch in Berlin. Arthur Goldschmidt, a grandson of one of the founders, joined the business in 1907.[2]
An international art dealership
Goldschmidt operated at the highest level of the European art market of its day. The firm maintained contacts with collectors, museums and other art dealers throughout Europe and the United States. A notable example of its international standing was its involvement with the famous Welfenschatz, or Guelph Treasure. In 1929, J. & S. Goldschmidt was part of the consortium of art dealers that acquired this important medieval ecclesiastical treasure.[3]
Paintings by Dutch and Flemish Old Masters also passed through the firm’s hands. Their provenance histories illustrate how works from long-established aristocratic and private collections entered the art market, passed to new collectors and, in some cases, ultimately entered museum collections.
A good example is Anthony van Dyck’s Portrait of Jacques Le Roy of 1631. The painting came onto the market in 1929 from the English collection of Baron Brownlow and was acquired through J. & S. Goldschmidt for the Thyssen-Bornemisza collection. It is now in the Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza in Madrid.[5]
A small dune landscape by Jan van Goyen can likewise be traced in considerable detail. J. & S. Goldschmidt sold the painting on 7 December 1927 to the American collector Mrs H.J. Lutcher Stark. This documented transaction provides a clear example of the role German art dealers played in the movement of Dutch Old Master paintings into American collections.[6]
Forced closure under National Socialism
The rise of National Socialism ultimately brought the family business to an end. J. & S. Goldschmidt was a Jewish-owned art dealership and, from 1933 onward, was increasingly affected by the exclusion of Jews from German economic and cultural life.
Arthur Goldschmidt closed the original Berlin gallery in 1935 and left for Paris via London in 1937. In November 1937, the Reichskammer der bildenden Künste informed him that he was no longer permitted to conduct an art business in Germany and that the Frankfurt and Berlin branches had to be closed. In early 1938, the process of removing the company from the commercial register was initiated.[2]
In Paris, Arthur Goldschmidt subsequently became a shareholder and co-director of Paul Graupe & Cie, together with, among others, the art dealer Paul Graupe, who had likewise fled Germany. The business was thus able to continue its activities outside Germany.[7]
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Footnotes
[1] National Gallery of Art, Washington, provenance authority record for J. and S. Goldschmidt; the NGA dates the firm’s establishment to 1863.
[2] Institut national d’histoire de l’art (INHA), AGORHA, biographical dossier on Arthur Goldschmidt; history of J. & S. Goldschmidt, its branches in Frankfurt, New York and Berlin, and the forced closure of the firm.
[3] INHA/AGORHA, Arthur Goldschmidt; J. & S. Goldschmidt was part of the consortium that acquired interests in the Welfenschatz in 1929.
[4] Sotheby’s London, Old Master & British Paintings Evening Sale, 4 July 2012, lot 2, Master of the Magdalene Legend, Portrait of an Infant Princess; provenance: Albert Figdor, Cassirer auction, Berlin, 29 September 1930, lot 49, sold to Goldschmidt.
[5] Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza, Anthony van Dyck, Portrait of Jacques Le Roy, inv. no. 135 (1929.9); acquired through J. & S. Goldschmidt for the Thyssen-Bornemisza collection.
[6] Christie’s, Jan van Goyen, A Dune Landscape with Peasants in a Horsedrawn Cart and Travellers Resting on a Path; provenance: J. & S. Goldschmidt, Frankfurt am Main; sold to Mrs H.J. Lutcher Stark on 7 December 1927.
[7] INHA/AGORHA, dossier on Arthur Goldschmidt; Arthur Goldschmidt acquired shares in Paul Graupe & Cie in Paris in 1937 and subsequently became a member of the firm’s management.