An Unfinished Story

An Unfinished Story
Die Kunstsammlung von Lola und David Leder in Chemnitz

Lola and David Leder’s art collection no longer exists. The exhibition seeks to trace its legacy: on display are works donated by Lola and David Leder to the Städtische Kunstsammlung Chemnitz, which offer an insight into the couple’s understanding of art. The exhibition also raises questions about the provenance of an artwork that remain unanswered. Lola and David Leder began collecting art in the late 1910s. They maintained close ties with artists and cultural figures. They were friends with the painter and draughtsman Otto Theodor Wolfgang Stein and the Chemnitz collectors Senta and Erich Goeritz. They bought and sold works by Max Liebermann, Lovis Corinth, Karl Hofer and others. And in 1920, the Chemnitz painter and graphic artist Gustav Schaffer was commissioned to paint a portrait. The exhibition centres on the portrait of David Leder, painted by Gustav Schaffer in Chemnitz in 1920. It explores the history of the work, the artist’s oeuvre, and the re-cataloguing of the painting during the GDR era at the Chemnitz Art Collections. In collaboration with the descendants of the Leder family, the exhibition addresses the question of provenance: Who does the painting belong to?

Born in Iași, Romania, David Leder moved to Chemnitz with his family in 1889. He learnt the trade of a merchant in the business of his father, Leon Leder (1860–1923), which dealt in stockings and gloves. David and Lea Laura, known as Lola, Bernstein married in 1914. The couple had three children: Rudolf (1915–1997, known as Stephan Hermlin), Alfred (1917–1943) and Ruth (1918–1999). In 1916, David Leder was interned in Holzminden. In 1918, he returned to Chemnitz. From 1921 to 1925, the family lived in Berlin. There, he founded a company trading in wool and cotton. Back in Chemnitz, David Leder’s firm went bankrupt in 1928. In 1930, they moved to Berlin, where he worked as an agent for numerous textile companies. With the National Socialists’ rise to power in 1933, the persecution of the Jewish family began. David Leder was arrested during the Night of Broken Glass in 1938 and deported to the Konzentrationslager Sachsenhausen. His wife Lola bought his release – with a painting by Lovis Corinth. Lola and David Leder emigrated to London in July 1939. The two packed lorries containing valuable furniture, a large part of their library, clothing and art were not sent on to them. They remained in Berlin and were confiscated in 1942. The contents were auctioned off or sold in 1944.

From the 1910s onwards, Lola and David Leder amassed a remarkable art collection featuring works by Paul Cézanne, Lovis Corinth, Albrecht Dürer, Karl Hofer, Max Liebermann, Edvard Munch, Rembrandt, Max Slevogt, O. Th. W. Stein, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Lesser Ury, Maurice de Vlaminck, Jakob Steinhardt and others. From 1924 onwards, they sold part of the collection in three auctions. A number of paintings were purchased by Erich Goeritz. Another part of the collection was received by the Tel Aviv Museum in 1935 on loan. By the end of the Nazi era in 1945, Leders were completely destitute. David Leder died in London in 1947. Lola Leder was forced to sell almost all the works from the collection that she had recovered from Berlin and Tel Aviv. She died in West Berlin in 1977. Her family now lives in Israel, Germany and the United Kingdom.

The exhibition is part of a collaboration with the exhibition ‘Threads – Interconnections’ at the State Museum of Archaeology in Chemnitz, the Chemnitz Industrial Museum and the Museum of Saxon Vehicles in Chemnitz, and is taking place as part of TACHELES 2026 | Year of Jewish Culture in Saxony.