THE COLLECTOR CURT GLASER
FROM CHAMPION OF MODERNISM TO REFUGEE

Director of the Berlin Kunstbibliothek, the Jewish art historian Curt Glaser (1879-1943) was a central figure on the German arts scene of the 1910s and 1920s. With his wife Elsa, he built an outstanding art collection. After Elsa’s death in 1932, and the Nazis’ rise to power in 1933, his life took a dramatic turn: having been removed from his position, he auctioned off most of his assets in Berlin and went into exile via Switzerland to New York, where he died in 1943. His fate and his collection sank into obscurity.

The Kunstmuseum Basel acquired 200 drawings and prints from Glaser’s auction in 1933 for its Department of Prints and Drawings, including major works by Edvard Munch. In 2017, Glaser’s heirs demanded the restitution of these works and an acknowledgment that he had been a victim of persecution. As part of the settlement the museum reached with the heirs, the exhibition pays tribute to Glaser and his active commitment to modern artists including Max Beckmann, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Henri Matisse, and Edvard Munch. It is the first time that works from this distinguished collection are reunited.