Prof. Dr. Martina Sitt:Vom Salpetergeschäft zum Sammlerglück: Die Gemäldesammlung Eduard F. Weber – glanzvoll und doch verschmäht.
Farsighted entrepreneur, successful networker and owner of the largest German private collection of Old Masters in the Empire before 1890.
The Hamburg consul Weber acted internationally and united works of art from all over the world in his collection. With his collection concept for the Old Masters, he was way ahead of his time. In addition to Rembrandt's earliest painting and works by Holbein the Elder or Mantegna, he also acquired primarily art-historically significant works. Weber made his private museum, built to the latest standards by Martin Haller, the architect of Hamburg City Hall, open to the public. In the Hamburg Kunsthalle director Alfred Lichtwark, however, he met a stubborn opponent, for after Weber's death the latter initially decided: no collection for Hamburg. But the following spectacular sale of the collection exceeded all expectations of the international art business and is described here by Martina Sitt so impressively that one would have liked to have been there.
Eduard Weber (1830-1907) devoted himself from 1856 to the trade in saltpetre and developed his company into one of the most influential import firms from Chile. As a well-heeled financier, he was influential behind the scenes in his widely ramified merchant family. Growing up in a very art-interested family, Weber acquired his first own painting in 1864. A versatile and well-read collector, he possessed a keen eye and knowledgeable judgment.
Prof. Dr. Martina Sitt lives and works in Kassel and Hamburg. After twenty years in responsible positions in the museum business, among others at the Hamburger Kunsthalle (2000-2010), she accepted an appointment at the University of Kassel. Numerous publications, including on 17th-century Dutch painting and 19th-century art and art history; inventory catalog of the Old Masters at the Hamburger Kunsthalle.
Date & Place
30.04.2023, 6 p.m.
Foyer stage at Café Oelsner.
Tickets: 18 Euro
Link:
Book Presentation - Altonaer Theater (altonaer-theater.de)