Max Stern was a very successful art dealer and gallery owner in Dusseldorf, Germany, until the Nazis came to power.
By a convoluted route he ended up in Canada where he became a very successful art dealer here, and a champion of Canadian artists.
Formal portrait of Max Stern by renowned Canadian photographer Yousuf Karsh.
An exhibition of artworks to highlight his life and work entitled, “Max Stern: From Dusseldorf to Montreal“ was to open in his original home of Dusseldorf, then travel to Israel, then to Montreal.
Three years in the making the show in Dusseldorf was suddenly cancelled last year before by the mayor apparently over restitution claims against art in the Stadtmuseum.
Restitution and “too Canadian”
In cancelling the show in November, Mayor Thomas Geisel said it was due to, “a number requests for information and restitution relating to the Max Stern Gallery, which were addressed to German museums and are currently under examination.”
In February 2017, FBI agents unwrap “Young Man As Bacchus” by Jan Franse Verzijl which was formally returned to representatives of the Max and Iris Stern Foundation. PHOTO: Mary Altaffer/The Associated Press
Under international pressure, he later recanted in December saying the show would be held, but in a different format as it was “too Canadian”. A date however has not been set.
As a Jew, Stern was forced by the Nazis to sell off his gallery works at firesale prices in 1937, while others were simply taken by the Gestapo.
He fled to London, but distrust of Germans in 1940 led to his being held as an “enemy alien” in a British prison camp. Later transferred to Canada, he was met by the same attitude.
Working in a forestry camp he began teaching fellow prisoners about art.
He caught the attention of wealthy Montreal jeweler William Birks who helped him get released and started in the art business where he flourished.
Portrait of a Musician Playing a Bagpipe, by an unknown artist of Northern Netherlandish School. The 1632 oil on wood was restituted in April 2009. IMAGE: Max Stern Art Restitution Project
He died in 1987 and left the bulk of his estate to Concordia and McGill Universities in Montreal, and the Hebrew University in Jerusalem.
In 2002 Concordia created the Max Stern Art Restitution Project to locate and return artworks to rightful owners and heirs. It has since recovered about 16 works, but at least 200 remain to be located.
Additional information –sources
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