Bay of Monterosso (Triptych)

by 1918 - still in 1921
Kunsthandlung Fritz Gurlitt, Berlin [1]

by 1922 - still in 1950
Alfred Hess (1879-1931), Erfurt, Germany; Tekla Hess, Erfurt, Germany; Lichtenfels, Bavaria; London, England, by inheritance [2]

- 1956
E. and A. Silberman Galleries, Inc., New York, NY, USA

1956 - 1983
Morton D. May (1914-1983), St. Louis, MO, purchased from E. and A. Silberman Galleries, Inc. [3]

1983 -
Saint Louis Art Museum, bequest of Morton D. May [4]


Notes:
[1] The painting is reproducted in a 1918 publication with the caption "courtesy of Hofkunsthandlung Fritz Gurlitt. [Wilhelm Hausenstein, "Max Pechstein," in Deutsche Kunst und Dekoration 42, no. 11 (1918): 204-234. The painting is reproduced in a 1921 publication with the caption "courtesy of Kunsthandlung Fritz Gurlitt, Berlin". [Karl Scheffler, "Talente" (Berlin: Verlag Bruno Cassirer, 1921): 171.]

[2] This painting was in the collection of Alfred Hess in 1922, according to a publication of that year [Osborn, Max. "Max Pechstein." Berlin: Propyläen-Verlag, 1922, p. 172-173, 244].

After Alfred Hess's death in 1931, the Hess art collection ultimately passed to his widow, Tekla. Tekla Hess lived in Lichtenfels, Bavaria from 1932 to 1939 and moved to London in April 1939. Before she emigrated, she was able to send a shipment of furniture and artwork, including this triptych, to her son Hans, who had moved to England in 1937. A list of the works she was able to send to London was given to the Leicester Museum [Christiane Feilchenfeldt and Peter Romilly. "Die Sammlung Alfred Hess, die wohl beste Sammlung deutscher Expressionisten, die es je gegeben hat," in Weltkunst, October 1, 2000, vol. 70, no. 11, p. 1855-1857]. According to Julia Collieu, Curator at New Walk Museum and Art Gallery, Leicester, England, the triptych is indeed included in the list of paintings, as "Bay of Monterosso (Triptichon)," which were brought to England by Tekla Hess and deposited at the Leicester Museum and Art Gallery [email dated June 24, 2004 from Julia Collieu; copy of page from the Leicester Museum's Hess collection list, SLAM document files]. The triptych was later lent by Tekla Hess to an exhibition at the Leicester Museum and Art Gallery in 1944 ["Mid-European Art." Leicester Museum and Art Gallery, Leicester, England, cat. 54].

According to information provided by Peter Romilly, this painting was still in the possession of Tekla Hess in the 1950s. She offered the triptych for sale at St. George's Gallery in London on February 10, 1950, but it did not sell. Additionally, a number of Hess's pictures were on consignment to New York galleries during the 1950s, although there is no documentation as to whether Tekla Hess approached E. and A. Silberman Galleries about selling the triptych [email dated August 8, 2004 from Peter Romilly; email dated June 29, 2004 from Julia Collieu, Curator at New Walk Museum and Art Gallery, Leicester, England, SLAM document files]. The triptych was included in a 1950 exhibition at St. George's Gallery in London, as "Monterosa harbour" ["Expressionist Exhibition." London: St. George's Gallery Ltd., February 1950, cat. nos. 60-62].

[3] Morton D. May purchased the triptych from E. and A. Silberman Galleries on March 6, 1956 [invoice, May Archives, Saint Louis Art Museum].

[4] Last Will and Testament of M. D. May dated June 11, 1982 [copy, May Archives, Saint Louis Art Museum]. Minutes of the Acquisitions and Loans Committee of the Board of Trustees, Saint Louis Art Museum, September 20, 1983.