Source: MET

Klara STEINER-MERTENS

On 4 March 1940, a Bodhisattva statue was auctioned at the 458th art auction at the Dorotheum. This statue was part of Klara Steiner’s seized art collection and was purchased by Anton Exner, an art collector and art dealer specialized on East Asian art. In 1940, Exner handed over 2 300 objects from his collection as loans to the MAK including the statue. In 1944, Anton Exner declared that 2 195 of the loans including the statue were to be donated to the MAK in case of his death. In November 1946, the MAK reported Klara Steiner’s, who by then was called Mertens by marriage, Bodhisattva statue according to the Ordinance on the Notification of Seized Property. On 28 May 1947, the MAK restituted the statue.

Source: MET

Klara STEINER-MERTENS

PROVENANCE RESEARCH AND RESTITUTION AT THE MAK