Wilhelm KIMBEL

For Wilhelm Kimbel’s interior design company, bankruptcy proceedings were initiated in 1932. As a consequence, Wilhelm Kimbel, who by then worked as a painter, tried to sell his Asian art collection. An auction at Lepke’s in Berlin in 1933 did not take place. It was not before 1942, when the collection was auctioned off in three auctions by the Dorotheum in Vienna. At that point it was not clear who the Asian art belonged to. In the three auctions, the MAK purchased 228 objects. There is no indication that from 1933 on Wilhelm Kimbel was persecuted by the Nazi regime or that the collection was seized due to his persecution.

On 17 April 2015, the Advisory Board spoke against the restitution of the objects.

Wilhelm KIMBEL

PROVENANCE RESEARCH AND RESTITUTION AT THE MAK