Galerie Matthiesen was one of Berlin’s leading art dealerships during the interwar period. The firm was founded in 1923 by the German-Jewish art dealer Franz Zatzenstein-Matthiesen (1897–1963), who later used the name Francis M. Matthiesen in England. The gallery dealt both in Old Masters and in nineteenth- and early twentieth-century French art, and rapidly developed a strong international network.[1]
From Manet to Old Masters
During the 1920s, the gallery gained recognition for its ambitious exhibitions. In 1924, Matthiesen organized an exhibition devoted to Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, followed by Honoré Daumier in 1926 and a major retrospective of Édouard Manet in 1928.[2] The Manet exhibition brought together paintings, pastels, watercolours and drawings from a range of public and private collections and confirmed the gallery’s position within Berlin’s art world.
At the same time, Matthiesen dealt extensively in Old Masters. Dutch, Flemish, Italian and Spanish paintings formed an important part of the firm’s international transactions.
The Hermitage sales
The name Matthiesen has become particularly associated with one of the most famous art transactions of the twentieth century. Around 1930–1931, the Soviet Union secretly sold a number of masterpieces from the Hermitage in Leningrad in order to obtain foreign currency.
Galerie Matthiesen collaborated in these transactions with the London art dealership P. & D. Colnaghi & Co. and M. Knoedler & Co. in New York. Through this consortium, the American banker and collector Andrew W. Mellon ultimately acquired a group of 21 masterpieces from the Hermitage.[3]
The group included works by artists such as Jan van Eyck, Raphael, Titian, Botticelli, Frans Hals and Rembrandt. The paintings later formed part of Mellon’s gift to the United States and today belong to the core collection of the National Gallery of Art in Washington.
These transactions illustrate the level at which Matthiesen operated. The gallery was far more than a local Berlin dealership: it formed part of an international network connecting major European collections with wealthy American collectors.
Flight from Germany
Following the National Socialist seizure of power, the position of the Jewish gallery owner changed dramatically. Franz Zatzenstein-Matthiesen fled the Gestapo in 1933, first going to Switzerland and eventually settling in London. The Berlin business continued for some time, but was ultimately taken over under National Socialist pressure and Aryanized in 1939.[5]
The history of the gallery’s stock is complex. During the 1920s, Zatzenstein-Matthiesen had taken out substantial loans for his business. In 1934, he transferred works of art from his stock to the Dresdner Bank in settlement of outstanding debts. Some of these works passed into the possession of the Prussian state in 1935 and subsequently entered the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin.
It is therefore too simplistic to state that the entire stock of Galerie Matthiesen was destined directly for the planned Führermuseum. The former business did, however, become entangled in the National Socialist art trade after the forced removal of its Jewish owner, and the Aryanized firm later carried out transactions connected with the Sonderauftrag Linz.[5]
Restitution to the Matthiesen family
The history of the gallery remains the subject of provenance research. In October 2024, the Stiftung Preußischer Kulturbesitz restituted five paintings from the Gemäldegalerie in Berlin to the descendants of the original owners of Galerie Matthiesen. An agreement was reached concerning a sixth painting, allowing it to remain in the museum collection.[6]
Francis and Patrick Matthiesen
Francis Matthiesen continued his activities in London after leaving Germany. His gallery remained in operation there until his death in 1963.[7]
More than a decade later, the family name returned to the international art trade. His son Patrick Matthiesen founded Matthiesen Fine Art Ltd. in London at the end of 1977. The firm once again developed into an important Old Master dealership, but historically it should be distinguished from Francis Matthiesen’s original Berlin and London gallery.[7]
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Footnotes
[1] Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Galerie Matthiesen, Berlin/London; National Gallery of Art, provenance authority record for Franz M. Zatzenstein, 1897–1963.
[2] Galerie Matthiesen, Ausstellung Gemälde und Zeichnungen von Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Berlin, 1924; Ausstellung H. Daumier, Berlin, 1926; Ausstellung Edouard Manet 1832–1883, Gemälde, Pastelle, Aquarelle, Zeichnungen, Galerie Matthiesen, Berlin, 6 February–18 March 1928.
[3] National Gallery of Art, A History of the Dutch Paintings Collection at the National Gallery of Art; documentation concerning Andrew W. Mellon’s acquisition of 21 paintings from the Hermitage through Matthiesen Gallery, P. & D. Colnaghi & Co. and M. Knoedler & Co.
[4] National Gallery of Art, Washington, Rembrandt van Rijn, A Polish Nobleman, inv. no. 1937.1.77; provenance: Imperial Hermitage Gallery, St Petersburg; sold in February 1931 through Matthiesen Gallery, Colnaghi and Knoedler to Andrew W. Mellon.
[5] Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Galerie Matthiesen, Berlin/London; Deutsches Zentrum Kulturgutverluste, documentation concerning Galerie Matthiesen and the forced termination of the Jewish-owned business under National Socialism.
[6] Staatliche Museen zu Berlin / Stiftung Preußischer Kulturbesitz, Fünf Werke aus der Gemäldegalerie an Erben der Inhaber der Galerie Matthiesen restituiert, 22 October 2024.
[7] Matthiesen Gallery, London, history of Francis and Patrick Matthiesen; Francis’s London gallery closed after his death in 1963. Patrick Matthiesen founded Matthiesen Fine Art Ltd. at the end of 1977.