¹ 1The Munich Central Collecting Point property card for the van Beyeren painting notes the following under “identifying marks”: “exposition Monte Carlo/[sous?] Pierrey, Paris/ca. 1908 (?),” an indication that the van Beyeren may have been listed under Pierrey’s name and was lent by him to an exhibition in Monte Carlo. Pierrey’s full name and identity have not been determined. One possibility is the artist Louis Maurice Pierrey (1912-1854). However, he is suggested here only because of his connection to the art world, not because of any substantive link with the van Beyeren; further research is required to determine if he had an art collection and, if so, whether it included the Cleveland picture. Further information about the Monte Carlo exhibition is also unknown: a search of exhibitions in Monte Carlo/Monaco from c. 1905-1912 yielded no references to the van Beyeren or to Pierrey. Additional pre-WWII provenance details for this painting are unknown at this time. It was previously thought that the CMA van Beyeren appeared in a May 10, 1921 sale at Lepke, Berlin, and/or was formerly in the Huldschinsky collection. However, the Lepke painting was in fact a different version of the CMA painting’s composition that later appeared at auction at Sotheby Mak van Waay (May 15, 1984, no. 2) and at E&VE (June 20, 2005, no. 60), and the Huldschinsky collection contained a different van Beyeren still life.

² Thus far, our research has not identified documentation that locates the van Beyeren with Galerie A.S. Drey in Munich prior to the war. However, given the painting’s wartime path and postwar return to Drey, it seems likely that the painting was indeed with Galerie A.S. Drey or possibly in the personal collection of the family before the war. Upon his decision in 1936 to move to the United States, Franz Drey, owner of A.S. Drey, asked sculpture dealer Bornheim to take over upon the “Aryanization” of the gallery. Bornheim paid RM 30,000 for the firm and took over its stock, valued at RM 300,000. He agreed to hold certain works, which German museum curators felt complemented objects held in German museums that they wanted to remain in the country, until the Dreys could return and resume business (Lynn H. Nicholas, The Rape of Europa, 1994, p. 30).

³ 1We do not have documentation concerning Bornheim’s initial acquisition of the van Beyeren. The following reflects the current state of research into Bornheim and his connection to the van Beyeren, and it will continue to be updated as research permits. Operating under Bornheim as Galerie für Alte Kunst, the former Galerie A.S. Drey became a main source for artworks given to Goering as gifts and, according to the Card Files on Art-Looting Suspects, part of the records of the Roberts Commission, Bornheim was Goering’s most important buyer in France. Bornheim received permission from Goering’s headquarters to buy foreign currency and in return was obliged to give Goering first refusal on all art objects he purchased (Bornheim, Walter. Card File on Art-Looting Suspects. Records of the American Commission for the Protection and Salvage of Artistic and Historical Monuments in War Areas (Roberts Commission), 1943-1946. Record Group 239. National Archives Identifier, 1518884. M1944, Roll 44, page 566, Fold3.com, https://www.fold3.com/image/270083432, retrieved June 1, 2016). Bornheim exported many works of art from France to Germany during the war. At the end of the war, Bornheim was captured and interrogated by the O.S.S., and it was recommended that he be held as a material witness in the Goering trial (Detailed Interrogation Report No. 11. Walter Bornheim. Subject Files. Records of the American Commission for the Protection and Salvage of Artistic and Historical Monuments in War Areas (Roberts Commission), 1943-1946. Record Group 239. National Archives Identifier 1537311. M1944, Roll 84, pages 9-10. Fold3.com, https://www.fold3.com/image/273523052 and https://www.fold3.com/image/2735230523, retrieved Oct. 24, 2014). On June 14, 1945, Bornheim wrote to Drey in New York about the condition of Drey’s artworks and property in Germany. The Galerie für Alte Kunst had been moved to Palais Arnulf, Briennerstrasse 13, and its contents were destroyed (Bornheim does not mention the date that this occurred); however, Bornheim had transferred much of the gallery stock, as well as Drey’s own collection, to various depots outside of Munich – although at the time of this letter he did not know of the condition of those objects. (Detailed Interrogation Report No. 11. Walter Bornheim. Subject Files. Records of the American Commission for the Protection and Salvage of Artistic and Historical Monuments in War Areas (Roberts Commission), 1943-1946. Record Group 239. National Archives Identifier 1537311. M1944, Roll 84, page 13, Fold3.com, https://www.fold3.com/image/273523056, retrieved Oct. 24, 2014). Bornheim wrote: “I can buy out the remaining business partner at any time so that I am the only owner of the firm. In case my depots are in good condition, I have a sufficient stock in good objects and shall be able to cover all my responsibilities. I am presuming, of course, that a confiscation of works of art will not take place. In any case, I shall do everything possible to keep your capital, including interest, as well as your works of art, in my custody. But I would be relieved if someone could come here to take over these assets” (Detailed Interrogation Report No. 11. Walter Bornheim. Subject Files. Records of the American Commission for the Protection and Salvage of Artistic and Historical Monuments in War Areas (Roberts Commission), 1943-1946. Record Group 239. National Archives Identifier 1537311. M1944, Roll 84, page 14, Fold3.com,
https://www.fold3.com/image/273523057, retrieved Oct. 24, 2014). In the end, however, Bornheim’s depots were emptied by the Allies (see Note 4).

⁴ 1The MCCP card says that the van Beyeren came to the Collecting Point from Tegernsee, one of Bornheim’s depots: he used the Tegernsee branch of the shuttered Dresdener Bank as a repository for the art in his possession. As of May 1946, the depot had been completely cleared by the Allies and its contents brought to the Munich Central Collecting Point on May 15, 22, and 23, 1946 (Tegernsee; Landkreis Miesbach. Repositories: Straubing-Tergling. Records Relating to the Status of Monuments, Museums, and Archives. Records Concerning the Central Collecting Points (“Ardelia Hall Collection”): Munich Central Collecting Point, 1945-1951. Record Group 260. National Archives Identifier 3725272. M1946, Roll 97, page 120, Fold3.com, https://www.fold3.com/image/270132945, retrieved July 25, 2013). The List of Cultural Objects evacuated from Dresdener Bank, Tegernsee on 15, 22, and 29 May 46 lists one oil still life from the collection of A.S. Drey, evacuated on May 22, 1946 (Investigations Correspondence, Bornheim-Dietrich. Restitution Claim Records. Records Concerning the Central Collecting Points (“Ardelia Hall Collection”): Munich Central Collecting Point, 1945-1951. Record Group 260. M1946, Roll 69, page 723, Fold3.com, https://www.fold3.com/image/269943981, retrieved July 25, 2013). This date is consistent with the arrival date of the van Beyeren as per the MCCP card, although the absence of any further details about this still life make it difficult to confirm whether or not this painting is the Cleveland van Beyeren. The Vollständige Liste des Warenlagers der Galerie Für Alte Kunst München – Gräfelfing, Grosostrasse 18, vom 19. Juli 1946 mit dem augenblicklichen Aufenthaltsort includes (no. 136) “1 Ölgemälde v. Beyeren “Silleben” – Collecting Point” (Investigations Correspondence, Bornheim-Dietrich. Restitution Claim Records. Records Concerning the Central Collecting Points (“Ardelia Hall Collection”): Munich Central Collecting Point, 1945-1951. Record Group 260. National Archives Identifier 3725265. M1946, Roll 69, page 713, Fold3.com, https://www.fold3.com/image/269943935, retrieved July 8, 2013). Again, it cannot be determined whether this is the CMA painting or the same painting as that listed in the Dresdener Bank, Tegernsee list. Another list, A List of Objects Stored by Walter Bornheim in the Dresdener Bank, Tegernsee only has several entries vaguely titled “oil paintings,” but nothing that refers specifically to the van Beyeren (Bornheim Walter: Detailed Interrogation Report (Dir) No 11. Restitution Research Records. Records Concerning the Central Collecting Points ("Ardelia Hall Collection"): Munich Central Collecting Point, 1945-1951. Record Group 260. M1946, Roll 118, page 27, Fold3.com, https://www.fold3.com/image/270038869, retrieved July 2, 2013). Upon its arrival at the Collecting Point, the van Beyeren was assigned Munich no. 30958. The Collecting Point card notes that on Sept. 17, 1947 the painting was returned to Bornheim, as is documented on the “Schedule A” list of objects, attached to Bornheim’s Custody Receipt Form (Custody Receipts Bavaria XIII. Restitution and Custody Receipts. Records Concerning the Central Collecting Points (“Ardelia Hall Collection”): OMGUS Headquarters Records, 1938-1951. Record Group 260. National Archives Identifier 1561463. M1941, Roll 43, page 227, Fold3.com, https://www.fold3.com/image/293332505, retrieved March 23, 2015).

⁵ 1On August 4, 1949, Bornheim and Paul Drey reached a compromise wherein the former was obliged to return some artworks to the owners of A.S. Drey because they were only held in trust by Bornheim; among these objects was “1 Ölgemälde Stilleben van Beyeren” (Out-Shipment 145 Through Out-Shipment 153 (September 23, 1949-October 21, 1949). Cultural Object Movement and Control Records. Records Concerning the Central Collecting Points (“Ardelia Hall Collection”): Wiesbaden Central Collecting Point, 1945-1952. Record Group 260. M1947, Roll 34, page 84, Fold3.com, https://www.fold3.com/image/231912312, retrieved March 23, 2015). The archives of the Bundesamt für zentrale Diensteund offene Vermögensfragen confirm that the dimensions and composition of the Bornheim/Drey painting are the same as those of the Cleveland picture; therefore, and because there was only one van Beyeren painting in Bornheim’s possession at the end of the war, it can reasonably be assumed that the Cleveland and Bornheim/Drey paintings are one and the same. It should be noted, however, that the back of the Cleveland picture’s frame and stretcher do not currently display any traces of the Munich number: several patches of discoloration on the stretcher suggest that at some point after the painting left the Collecting Point, the Munich number, written in ink, and any other ink inscriptions were sanded off. The “identifying marks” noted on the Collecting Point card (“exposition Monte Carlo/[sous?] Pierrey, Paris/ca. 1908 (?)”) were likely also written in ink and later removed (if this text had been present on labels, there would likely be residue left on the stretcher, which is not the case). The circumstances of these removals are unknown.

⁶ 1The records of the image library of the RKD Netherlands Institute for Art History locate the painting in the Drey collection (specific dates of ownership unknown). The painting was certainly still with the Drey family or their gallery after Paul’s death in 1953, as his widow Elizabeth provided a photograph of the van Beyeren painting to the RKD at some point after he died (it was Elizabeth, not the more likely Paul, who was the sender of the photograph). The photograph was taken by John D. Schiff, a photographer who often took photographs of the inventory of galleries in New York; the Paul Drey Gallery was among his clients. The circumstances of Elizabeth Drey’s sale of the painting are unknown, but she may have still been the owner when the painting appeared in a 1956 exhibition at Lempertz in Cologne (see Note 7). It is also possible that Drey sold it to the Terry-Engell Gallery, from whom CMA purchased the painting; however, no pattern of transactions between Drey and the Terry-Engell Gallery has been established, and Margot Drey Catherwood, Paul Drey’s daughter, knew of no connection between her family and the Terry-Engell Gallery. Catherwood also did not know whether the van Beyeren would have been in the Drey gallery stock or in the family’s personal collection. Another unknown possible component of the provenance is indicated by a photocopy of the CMA van Beyeren in the National Gallery of Art photo archive that is annotated: “James. J. Post” (the surname is not clearly legible, but appears to read “Post”). A New York address is given: “Savoy-Hilton, room 1439,” as well as a reference to a letter dated December 1, 1959. It is not clear to what these annotations refer, and whether or not Post owned or sold the painting at some point. The Edgar Preston Richardson Papers finding aid at the Archives of American Art does record a “James J. Post” among a list of art experts with whom Richardson corresponded. More research is needed to learn about Post or to investigate other possible identities of the individual noted on the National Gallery photocopy.

⁷ In 1956 the van Beyeren appeared in an exhibition (Erlesene Kunstwerke aus amerikanishem Besitz; no. 2A), jointly organized by New York dealer French & Co. with Lempertz auction house in Cologne. All of the works came from an American collection and were offered for sale at the exhibition. Lempertz records show that the van Beyeren failed to sell and was sent back to its owner in the United States. It is unclear from the Lempertz archive whether the exhibited objects were the property of French & Co., or whether they had some of the objects on commission from private collections. It is possible that Margaret Drey was the owner of the van Beyeren at the time, either loaning the painting on commission to French & Co., or perhaps she had sold it outright to French & Co. by the time of the Lempertz exhibition.

⁸ 1The Terry-Engell Gallery provided no provenance to CMA when the painting was sold to the museum. Because the gallery is no longer in existence and there are no extant records, it is not known from whom the gallery acquired the painting, and no particular connection between Terry-Engell and either the Drey family or French & Co. has been established.