On the occasion of the donation from the estate of Thomas Heumann in memory of his father Carl Heumann, the Kunstsammlungen Chemnitz is showing some 70 graphic sheets from the Carl and Thomas Heumann Collection. Among them are works by Christian Friedrich Gille, August Gaul, Adolph von Menzel and Ernst Barlach.
The banker Carl Heumann (1886-1945) was one of the most important art collectors in Chemnitz. The co-owner of the Chemnitz banking house Bayer and Heinze and Portuguese vice-consul was an acknowledged expert on the art of the 18th to early 20th century. He had assembled an important collection of hand drawings and watercolours and was a sought-after lender for exhibitions throughout Germany. He exhibited a selection of his collection several times at the Kunstverein Kunsthütte Chemnitz.
Carl Heumann donated eight drawings and 82 prints to the Kunstsammlungen Chemnitz between 1921 and 1934. Nine works were lost during the National Socialist era. Today, six drawings and 75 prints are still in the collection. In addition to drawings by Julius Scholtz (1825-1893), Carl Gottlieb Peschel (1798-1879) and Peter Fendi (1796-1842), these include prints by Adolph von Menzel (1815-1905), August Gaul (1869-1921) and the portfolio Der arme Vetter (The Poor Cousin), published by Paul Cassirer in 1919, with 36 lithographs by Ernst Barlach (1870-1938) and a text edition of the drama.
Carl Heumann had to leave his banking house in 1938 and then withdrew completely into private life. His two sons were deported to a labor camp. Heumann died on 5 March 1945 in a bombing raid on Chemnitz while trying to rescue a suitcase with drawings from the cellar of his already destroyed house. However, the majority of his collection could be moved to a safe place beforehand and became the property of his daughter Ulrike and his two sons Rainer and Thomas.
Thomas Heumann (1928-2017) emigrated to the USA after difficult times in the labour camp in Munzig near Meissen after the Second World War. In his will he bequeathed three works to the Kunstsammlungen Chemnitz in honour of his father: the drawing Waldlandschaft (Eichenwald) by Christian Friedrich Gille (1805-1899), the drawing Junger Mann, trauernd von Eduard Bendemann (1811-1889) and the oil study Maler im Biedermeierzimmer by Friedrich Loos (1797-1890).
The exhibition is part of the 27th Days of Jewish Culture Chemnitz (February 24 to March 11, 2018).
