The Jewish art historian and dealer Dr. Grete (Margarete) Ring (1887–1952) [FIG. 1, 2] was a niece of the painter Max Liebermann. One of the first female university students in Germany, Ring studied art history, archaeology and philosophy at the universities of Berlin and Munich before pursuing her graduate education. In Munich, the renowned art historian Heinrich Wölfflin (1864–1945) supervised her doctorate on Dutch 15th-and-16th-century paintings.
After embarking on her professional life at the Alte Pinakothek and the Neue Nationalgalerie, Ring joined the Kunstsalon Paul Cassirer in 1920 [FIG. 3, 4] on the recommendation of the art historian Max J. Friedländer (1867–1959). She edited and wrote scholarly texts for Cassirer’s auction catalogues and became a partner in the gallery in 1924.
By this time, and until 1933, Ring was living at Landgrafenstrasse 2, and at Landgrafenstrasse 4a from 1934 until 1938. She also frequented her summer bungalow in Sacrow near Potsdam, which was built in 1928–29 by her close friend, the architect Wilhelm Büning (1881-1958) [FIG. 5, 6].
On 7 January 1926, Paul Cassirer took his own life when his wife Tilla Durieux filed for divorce. Following this tragedy, Ring took over the management of the Kunstsalon Paul Cassirer as co-owner with Dr. Walter Feilchenfeldt (1894-1953), who had been Cassirer’s partner since 1924. Ring was both an art dealer and scholar, editing Cassirer catalogues for the collections of Oscar Huldschinsky (1928) [FIG. 7, 8] and Dr. Albert Figdor from Vienna (1930), among others.
She also wrote articles for the art periodical Kunst und Künstler, edited by Paul’s cousin Bruno Cassirer and built a significant collection of 19th-century drawings including works by Edgar Degas [FIG. 9].
Ring became widely known through the discovery of the Otto Wacker (1898–1970) forgeries of Vincent van Gogh and her articles about the ensuing 1932 trial. While organising a Van Gogh exhibition in 1928, Ring and Feilchenfeldt found that the art dealer Wacker’s contributions included forgeries. Later research revealed that he had forged more than 30 works by the artist [FIGS. 10-13]. In 1932, Wacker was found guilty and sentenced to 19 months in prison and a fine of 30,000 Reichsmark.
After the Nazis seized power in 1933, Ring left Berlin in 1937, emigrating first to Amsterdam, then finally to London. In July 1938 she opened a new branch of the Cassirer gallery on Cleveland Row in London’s St. James's with an exhibition of 45 watercolors and drawings by Paul Cézanne. In 1940, a bombing raid destroyed her home and gallery space, including most of the stock she had been able to bring from Berlin. For a time, she shared a house in Richmond with the refugee art dealer Arthur Kauffmann (1887–1983) and his wife Dr. Tamara Kauffmann (née Karp, 1891–1977), moving later to a new home in Mayfair, which became a meeting place for international scholars and intellectuals.
In 1954, the University of Oxford’s Ashmolean Museum received Ring's bequest of German and French drawings. The collection of 19th-century German drawings is unparalleled outside Germany [FIG. 14, 15].
In autumn 2023, the Max Liebermann Villa in Berlin-Wannsee opens an exhibition dedicated to Grete Ring.
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After the Nazis seized power in 1933, Ring left Berlin in 1937, emigrating first to Amsterdam, then finally to London. In July 1938 she opened a new branch of the Cassirer gallery on Cleveland Row in London’s St. James's with an exhibition of 45 watercolors and drawings by Paul Cézanne. In 1940, a bombing raid destroyed her home and gallery space, including most of the stock she had been able to bring from Berlin. For a time, she shared a house in Richmond with the refugee art dealer Arthur Kauffmann (1887–1983) and his wife Dr. Tamara Kauffmann (née Karp, 1891–1977), moving later to a new home in Mayfair, which became a meeting place for international scholars and intellectuals.
In 1954, the University of Oxford’s Ashmolean Museum received Ring's bequest of German and French drawings. The collection of 19th-century German drawings is unparalleled outside Germany [FIG. 14, 15].
In autumn 2023, the Max Liebermann Villa in Berlin-Wannsee opens an exhibition dedicated to Grete Ring.
Ring, Grete (Marianne Breslauer-Feilchenfeldt)
'Photographer and art dealer Marianne Breslauer-Feilchenfeldt (1909-2001), married to Walter Feilchenfeldt, described her saying, "Truly irresistible [...] admired by all, if occasionally a little feared, for she shrank from no one and nothing.'
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Employee and partner at the Galerie / Kunstsalon Paul Cassirer
Employee and partner at the Galerie / Kunstsalon Paul Cassirer
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Related addresses: Schöneberger Ufer 38 until May 1935 (Architect: Heinrich Schweitzer); Schöneberger Ufer 71
Budapester Strasse (1932) not identical with today’s Budapester Strasse; Lützowstrasse 32 I (October 1925–1930); Königin-Augusta-Strasse 22 (October 1930–1932) - in 1933 this street becomes Tirpitzufer 84 and in 1947 it was renamed to Reichpietschufer. Lützowufer 19a (November 1932–1937), since 1933: Galerie Nierendorf; Großadmiral-von-Koester-Ufer 65 (1935–1947), Schöneberger Ufer.
Potsdamer Strasse 134c (Mid-Oct 1918-Sept 1924); Schöneberger Ufer 38 (July 1927-1931); Großadmiral-von-Koester-Ufer 39 respectively (since 1936) Großadmiral-von-Koester-Ufer 73 (1935-1939);Kluckstrasse 12 (May 1939 –Dec 1949)
Employee and partner at the Galerie / Kunstsalon Paul Cassirer
Related addresses: Street partially still exists as Hitzigallee.
Related addresses: Koenigin-Augusta-Strasse 46, in 1933 becomes Tirpitzufer 84, in 1947 becomes Reichpietschufer. Her last address in Berlin before deportation to Theresienstadt Bleibtreustrasse 17.
ALL BUILDINGS ARE DESTROYED
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Henry van de Velde (1894-1943), designer of the interior of the reading room at the gallery Paul Cassirer, Victoria Strasse 35.
(Street and building are destroyed)
Related addresses: Reichskammer der Bildenden Künste, Government agency 1933-1945; Blumes Hof 4-6 (since June 1934; street and building are destroyed; today's postcode 10785), Derfflingerstrasse 7 (from October 1935 until March 1937), Ahornstrasse 2 (1938). Today's postcode 10785
