Flight, Exile, and Death
Between 1933 and 1945, the Nazis confiscated approximately 600,000 artworks from museums and private collections, and in the process destroyed and upended colossal amounts of European cultural heritage.69 This looting and pillage had a two–pronged aim: one, to build both German institutional as well as personal artwork collections and two, to purge and/or destroy “degenerate art,” a term they used to categorize much of modern art. This systemic policy of plunder and destruction of artworks had a particular impact on Jewish populations because they were the chief ideological targets of the Nazis and, again, because Jews were salient artwork sponsors, gallerists/merchants, and collectors (and, of course, there were also a number of well-regarded Jewish painters, such as Max Liebermann). While much “degenerate art,” was destroyed, the regime also became interested in the profit and they eventually authorized a handful of individuals to channel and sell stolen art outside the Third Reich. In exchange, these authorized dealers could purchase artwork at “shockingly low prices” and/or make a handsome commission (approximately 25%).70
This dimension of Nazi treachery generated a bonanza in the supply and demand of stolen artworks in the international market, while European and U.S. entities turned a blind eye, taking full advantage of the situation to expand permanent art collections and holdings; in troubled waters, fishermen stand to make (illicit) gains. Therefore, many individuals and institutions knowingly purchased stolen art, and their successors and heirs today prefer not to scrutinize or probe the matter.
The Nazi regime targeted Flechtheim and his galleries just a few months after assuming power in January 1933. Flechtheim stood accused of “betraying” German artists and fomenting French modernism (among other “degenerate art”) which was deemed to be a foreign and superficial aesthetic that had been “foisted upon the Germans by Jewish dealers.”71 Gallerist turned Nazi Alexander Vömel, whom Flechtheim had hired as an administrator, confiscated the Düsseldorf branch of the Flechtheim Gallery in March 1933. Other branches were confiscated soon thereafter and a Nazi art exhibit was organized in the Berlin branch later that year.72 Grotesque propaganda campaigns in Nazi posters and magazines at the time would defame Flechtheim’s persona.
Flechtheim fled to Paris where, according to Thea Sternheim, he was a bundle of nerves in mid-1933, constantly looking over his shoulder in an otherwise empty Paris restaurant.73 With the impending expiration of his German citizenship, Flechtheim embarked on failed efforts to obtain French citizenship.74 His correspondence at the time, according to those who have had accessed it, reflects profound anxiety and despair. 75
He ultimately settled in London and, in the process, divorced Goldschmidt in 1935 as a futile attempt by the couple to salvage property and make life easier for Betti (who wanted to sell the extant property to afford paying the exit tax).76 Even so, Flechtheim kept busy working at the famous Mayor Gallery in London, where he successfully organized a series of exhibits while trying to sort out his situation and perhaps infuse some logic and order into what was, in retrospect, an impossible situation beyond his control.
His poor emotional condition worsened his diabetes, and his overall health deteriorated vertiginously after stepping on a rusted nail, which led to the amputation of his leg in February 1936. Betti Goldschmidt, who had come to London during his convalescence, was present when Flechtheim passed away on March 9, 1937. She returned to Berlin where she was forced to auction her remaining assets in 1938 and three years later, committed suicide by taking an overdose of barbiturates in the face of imminent arrest and deportation by the Nazis.
The remnant of Alfred Flechtheim’s art collection, estimated to be between 100 and 120 artworks (among them 60 or 70 paintings), was confiscated and appropriated by Nazi Germany.77
El rinconcito levantino 