Scion of a Jewish banking family Friedrich Bernhard Eugen ‘Fritz’ Gutmann (1886–1944), and his wife, Louise Gutmann (née von Landau, 1892–1944), were leading art collectors during Amsterdam’s interwar period, acquiring works by Lucas Cranach the Elder, Frans Hals, Hieronymus Bosch, Edgar Degas and many others.
Fritz Gutmann's father Eugen was the founder and chairman of the Dresdner Bank and before World War I, Fritz had been director of the Dresdner Bank in London. As a German citizen, he was interned in the Isle of Man camp until 1917. After his release, the Gutmanns and their son, Bernhard (1914–1994), moved to Amsterdam, where Fritz established a new bank called Proehl & Gutmann. In 1919, Louise gave birth to a daughter, Lili Gutmann (1919–2020). Soon after, the family took Dutch citizenship [Figs. 1a and 1b].
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Fritz’s tastes in art were wide and varied, but 17th-century Dutch painting held a special place in his collection [Figs. 2 and 3] . Two of his early acquisitions include a hunting scene by Jan Hackaert and an atmospheric view of the Rhine by Hercules Seghers.
By 1921, the German Dresdner Bank had taken a majority share in his business. Flush with funds, Gutmann and his business partner, Ernst Proehl, began laying the grounds for a significant art collection. The benefits would be twofold: as a hedge against inflation and to satisfy the passion of two connoisseurs.
Included in the collection was a spectacular work by Francesco Guardi, two traditional Dutch farm scenes by Aelbert Cuyp, a giant English portrait by Sir Henry Raeburn, a typical tavern scene by Adriaen van Ostade, a rare early Renaissance work by Cornelis Engebrechtsz and two large portraits by Francisco Goya.
During the 1920s, banking opportunities abounded and the Gutmanns expanded their collection, purchasing a number of important works from Amsterdamsche Kunsthandel Paul Cassirer, which was located one canal over from Fritz Gutmann’s office, on the Keisersgracht at nr. 109. From Cassirer alone came one Cranach, two Impressionists, the rare Master of the St. Bartholomew Altarpiece and a Jan Josefsz. van Goyen.
Despite the 1929 crash, Fritz’s business thrived. He added works by Sandro Botticelli [Fig. 8], Jean-Étienne Liotard and Luca Signorelli to the collection and sent his daughter, Lili, to finishing school in Florence and his son, Bernhard, to Trinity College, Cambridge [Figs. 1c and 1d].
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But over the border, threatening changes were underway. When the Nazis rose to power in 1933, the bank was Aryanised, with Jewish employees fired. Fritz’s three brothers were stripped of their German citizenship. Under the Nuremberg Laws passed in 1935, Gutmann was supposed to surrender his bank’s ‘Jewish-owned assets’ for liquidation, despite living in Amsterdam.
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As war approached, Fritz sought safe haven for much of his personal collection. In December of 1938 he dispatched eight silver-gilt artworks to a trusted collector in Switzerland. In early 1939, he sent six rare works to New York, including paintings by Hals and Bosch.
With tensions rising in April of 1939, Fritz made his largest and most valuable shipment to Paris, including rare sculptures, valuable antiques and over 20 major paintings — among them: Samson and the Lion by Cranach, a Renoir landscape [Fig. 7] and two Degas pastels.
The following year, on 10 May, Gutmann’s fears became a reality. Germany invaded the Netherlands. Within weeks, two German agents appeared on Fritz Gutmann’s doorstep: Andreas Hofer and Alois Miedl. Sent on behalf of Hermann Göring, they implied that Gutmann and his family might be exempted from many of the new restrictions if their superior could be placated. To adorn Göring’s country estate, the two Nazi agents chose three of the most important German Renaissance silver-gilt artworks: the double Petzolt Cups, the Kienle ‘Horse and Rider’ [Fig. 10], and the Lencker Ewer [Fig. 11].
For his own purposes Miedl took possession of several other important objets d’art, including the 15th-century Augsburg Virgin and Child [Fig. 12].
Soon after the German invasion a report was drawn up listing important private Dutch and Jewish collections, on orders of State Secretary Kajetan Mühlmann. Mühlmann was to establish the most significant organisation tasked with expropriating art. In this report, one of the lines reads ominously, ‘important German masters can be found in the possession of Fritz Gutmann, portraits by Cranach [Fig. 13], Burgkmair and Baldung [Fig. 14].’
Then in November, 1940 Fritz received a visit from Hans Posse, special representative of Adolf Hitler, and director of the planned Führermuseum.
After Posse’s visit, there is no further information about Gutmann’s Cranach portrait of ‘John-Frederick the Magnanimous’, but documentation shows the Baldung and Burgkmair portraits secured by Nazi art agent Karl Haberstock, along with eight other significant artworks, including paintings by Memling and Holbein as well as a controversial composition by Franz von Stuck, entitled Sensuality [Fig. 16]. This last piece was destined for Hitler’s personal physician, Dr. Karl Brandt.
In early 1942, Fritz’s other business, Firma F.B. Gutmann was ordered closed by Reichkommissar Seyss-Inquart. Soon after, all Jews were ordered to wear the yellow star. The Gutmann family took refuge at their country estate, ‘Bosbeek’, a few miles west of Amsterdam. Influential relatives abroad sought assurances. A letter was issued by the German authorities, signed by Heinrich Himmler, declaring that Gutmann and his wife would be free from security police interference, as long as they remained in their residence.
In March 1942, Haberstock returned with Julius Boehler, one of Nazi Germany’s biggest art dealers. This time they wanted the entire Gutmann collection.
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As war approached, Fritz sought safe haven for much of his personal collection. In December of 1938 he dispatched eight silver-gilt artworks to a trusted collector in Switzerland. In early 1939, he sent six rare works to New York, including paintings by Hals and Bosch.
With tensions rising in April of 1939, Fritz made his largest and most valuable shipment to Paris, including rare sculptures, valuable antiques and over 20 major paintings — among them: Samson and the Lion by Cranach, a Renoir landscape [Fig. 7] and two Degas pastels.
The following year, on 10 May, Gutmann’s fears became a reality. Germany invaded the Netherlands. Within weeks, two German agents appeared on Fritz Gutmann’s doorstep: Andreas Hofer and Alois Miedl. Sent on behalf of Hermann Göring, they implied that Gutmann and his family might be exempted from many of the new restrictions if their superior could be placated. To adorn Göring’s country estate, the two Nazi agents chose three of the most important German Renaissance silver-gilt artworks: the double Petzolt Cups, the Kienle ‘Horse and Rider’ [Fig. 10], and the Lencker Ewer [Fig. 11].
For his own purposes Miedl took possession of several other important objets d’art, including the 15th-century Augsburg Virgin and Child [Fig. 12].
Soon after the German invasion a report was drawn up listing important private Dutch and Jewish collections, on orders of State Secretary Kajetan Mühlmann. Mühlmann was to establish the most significant organisation tasked with expropriating art. In this report, one of the lines reads ominously, ‘important German masters can be found in the possession of Fritz Gutmann, portraits by Cranach [Fig. 13], Burgkmair and Baldung [Fig. 14].’
Then in November, 1940 Fritz received a visit from Hans Posse, special representative of Adolf Hitler, and director of the planned Führermuseum.
After Posse’s visit, there is no further information about Gutmann’s Cranach portrait of ‘John-Frederick the Magnanimous’, but documentation shows the Baldung and Burgkmair portraits secured by Nazi art agent Karl Haberstock, along with eight other significant artworks, including paintings by Memling and Holbein as well as a controversial composition by Franz von Stuck, entitled Sensuality [Fig. 16]. This last piece was destined for Hitler’s personal physician, Dr. Karl Brandt.
In early 1942, Fritz’s other business, Firma F.B. Gutmann was ordered closed by Reichkommissar Seyss-Inquart. Soon after, all Jews were ordered to wear the yellow star. The Gutmann family took refuge at their country estate, ‘Bosbeek’, a few miles west of Amsterdam. Influential relatives abroad sought assurances. A letter was issued by the German authorities, signed by Heinrich Himmler, declaring that Gutmann and his wife would be free from security police interference, as long as they remained in their residence.
In March 1942, Haberstock returned with Julius Boehler, one of Nazi Germany’s biggest art dealers. This time they wanted the entire Gutmann collection.
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The first forced sale to Haberstock and Boehler, in February 1942, consisted of 700 pieces including items ranging from a 15th.-century panel by Uccello to a Meissen teapot [Figs. 17–21].
The second shipment to Munich, three months later, was another consignment and consisted of the 225 remaining artworks from the Gutmann ‘silver’ collection. These included bronzes, maiolica, the Jamnitzer Beeker and the Orpheus Clock [Figs. 22–24].
While the third and largest shipment was being packed on 26 May 1943, a Gestapo officer and an SS lieutenant arrived at ‘Bosbeek’. They informed Fritz and Louise Gutmann that they would be leaving the Netherlands on the night train. The next day they arrived in Berlin and were delivered to Theresienstadt the day after.
Ultimately, Louise was delivered to Auschwitz, where she perished the same day, but Fritz was murdered by the guards in Theresienstadt.
Over the past 30 years, Simon Goodman and other members of the family have dedicated themselves to reclaiming the Gutmanns’ artistic legacy. They have helped recover or been compensated for almost 470 stolen artworks.
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