Lost and Found
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
LOST
The following are images of documented or otherwise known Mącznik
paintings or drawings, the whereabouts of which remain unknown.
If you are aware of the location of any of the following paintings or
drawings, please notify the webmaster as soon as possible.
Thank you!
Mącznik's wife (presumably), working at sewing machine.
"'A Paris Street' by the artist Jacob Mącznik"
Lodz
Paris
Paris
(same scene, different painting)
The is the cover of a book/folio. It appears like a book, with a hard cover, and contains several
pages of printed text, followed by a pocket, in which there are eight, original watercolors of
synagogues. Macznik's intention was to create thirty. The whereabouts of two of these
books/folios are known. One is in the handsof the Jewish Museum in New York, which has not
had it on exhibition at all since the 1960s. The other is in private hands in the U.S. The
remaining twenty-eight, if ever in fact created by Macznik (which is unknown), remain missing.
Oil painting portrait of the poet Leib Malach (pseudonym of Leib Salzman).
Three more Mącznik paintings.
A watercolor/gouache of the Old New Synagogue in Prague (Praga) 1937.
Possibly a gravestone.
Drawing of synagogue in Gabin, Poland.
Drawing of synagogue in Rzeszow, Poland.
Self Portrait Before an Open Window
Notes:
There is/was also a portrait of the wife of the École de Paris artist Alfred Aberdam.
There is/was also Synagogue in Poland, 50 cm x 62.5 cm, oil on canvas, signed lower left
(which may be one of those appearing above).
There is/was also Wooden Synagogue in Poland, 45 cm x 52.5 cm, oil on wood, signed lower right
(which may be one of those appearing above).
If you are aware of the location of any of the above paintings or
drawings, please notify the webmaster as soon as possible.
Thank you!
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
FOUND
The following are images of documented or otherwise known Mącznik
paintings or drawings, the whereabouts of which had been unknown
for many years but most thankfully have been located.
Above is an image (partially obscured) of page 202 of the French version of the book of the
renowned exhibitions "Artistes d'Europe: Montparnasse Déporté," published by Le Musée du
Montparnasse. These four oil paintings were part of the exhibitions which were in
Turin, Italy, and Paris, France, approximately 2005. It was then reported
to be the first exposition of the painters and sculptors of the "Montparnasse Deported."
(However, it was not. There were one at Galerie Zak in 1955, one in Israel in 1968, and others.]
Within a few years after the exhibition was completed, the whereabouts of all four paintings
became more widely unknown. Worse, the Musée du Montparnasse closed its doors 2015.
Below are other images of two of the paintings above:
The two paintings immediately above, and the self-portrait farther above with the artist wearing
a hat, have both surfaced in good condition as of October 2022, as has this one:
All five above are privately held in the U.S.
The painting above has surfaced. As of March 2023, it remains in the hands of a German
person living in Germany who says she inherited it from her father. She acknowledges that,
so far as she knows, no documentation of how he may have acquired it exists. It is
listed at lostart.de and should therefore not be sold at auction anywhere;
instead, the webmaster should be notified. She refuses private sale
at fair market value (perhaps overmarket value), and also refuses
to donate it to the Museum of History and Art of Judaism
(in Paris). Rather, she says she intends to offer it for sale at auction.
When, how, and where she might do so, if ever, remain unknown.
Perhaps just as important is the role of the auction house,
Van Ham Kunstauktionen GmbH & Co., of Cologne, Germany.
When the painting was brought by its current possesor to Van Ham to be
auctioned, the webmaster was contacted by Van Ham's Johann Herkenhoener,
because he had found the LostArt.de listing of the painting, preventing Van Ham
from listing it for auction. That was well over one year ago as of this writing.
It is the opinion of the webmaster that Van Ham has done little if anything to facilitate
return of the art to the artist's family, nor to facilitate donation of the painting to the
Museum of History and Art of Judaism (in Paris), nor to facilitate sale of the painting
to the artist's nephew for 6000 Euro (about twice market value), nor to facilitate auction
of the painting with a reserve price of 4000 Euro (at or slightly above market value).
Despite extensive correspondence between the webmaster and Mr. Herkenhoener,
the webmaster's opinion is that little or no effort has been made by Van Ham to
persuade the painting's current possessor to follow any of those good paths.
In the opinion of the webmaster, such behavior is unconscionable. The webmaster
therefore encourages everyone to consider not doing business with
Van Ham Kunstauktionen GmbH & Co.
Das obige Gemälde ist aufgetaucht. Ab März 2023 verbleibt es
in den Händen einer in Deutschland lebenden Deutschen,
die es nach eigenen Angaben von ihrem Vater geerbt hat.
Sie räumt ein, dass es ihres Wissens keine Dokumentation darüber gibt,
wie er es erworben haben könnte. Es ist
bei lostart.de gelistet und sollte
daher nirgendwo versteigert werden; Stattdessen sollte der Webmaster
benachrichtigt werden. Sie lehnt den Privatverkauf zum fairen Marktwert
(möglicherweise über dem Marktwert) ab und weigert sich auch,
es dem Museum für Geschichte und Kunst des Judentums (in Paris)
zu spenden. Vielmehr sagt sie, dass sie beabsichtigt, es auf einer Auktion
zum Verkauf anzubieten. Wann, wie und wo sie dies
tun könnte, wenn überhaupt, bleibt unbekannt.
Vielleicht ebenso wichtig ist die Rolle des Auktionshauses
Van Ham Kunstauktionen GmbH & Co. aus Köln, Deutschland.
Als das Gemälde von der Person, die es derzeit hat, zur Versteigerung
zu Van Ham gebracht wurde, wurde der Webmaster von Van Ham
kontaktiert, weil er die Auflistung des Gemäldes auf LostArt.de fand,
was Van Ham daran hinderte, es zur Versteigerung anzubieten.
Das war vor etwa einem Jahr. Der Webmaster ist der Meinung,
dass Van Ham wenig oder gar nichts getan hat, um die Rückgabe
der zu erleichtern Kunstwerk an die Familie des Künstlers,
noch um die Schenkung des Gemäldes an das Museum für Geschichte
und Kunst des Judentums (in Paris) zu erleichtern, noch um den
Verkauf des Gemäldes an den Neffen des Künstlers (den Webmaster)
für 6000 Euro (ungefähr das Doppelte des Marktwert), noch um die
Versteigerung des vom Webmaster angebotenen Gemäldes mit einem
Mindestpreis von 4000 Euro (zum oder knapp über dem Marktwert)
zu ermöglichen. Trotz umfangreicher Korrespondenz zwischen dem Webmaster
und Herrn Herkenhoener ist der Webmaster der Meinung, dass Van Ham
wenig oder gar keine Anstrengungen unternommen hat, um den derzeitigen
Besitzer des Gemäldes zu überzeugen oder zu ermutigen, einen dieser guten
Wege zu gehen. Nach Ansicht des Webmasters ist ein solches Verhalten skrupellos.
Der Webmaster ermutigt daher alle, keine Geschäfte mit der Van Ham Kunstauktionen GmbH & Co.