arts&life

books

A Tale Of

DOUBLE-CUP, 1596, HANS PETZOLT, SILVER, EMBOSSED, CAST,
ENGRAVED AND GILT. DETROIT INSTITUTE OF ARTS

Two Cups

Stories of stolen art, the Holocaust —
and a Detroit
twist — will be told at a JCC Book Fair event.
De

ELIZABETH APPLEBAUM SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS

I

n 1596, Hans Petzolt, a Nuremberg
goldsmith, created two silver-gilt cups
adorned with intricate swirls, scrolls
and portraits.
These are the hands that have since
held the cups:
• Kalman “Carl” Mayer von Rothschild
(1743-1812) of Frankfurt am Maim, one of
10 children and the man who established
the Rothschild banking branch in Naples.
Carl is the first-known owner of the cups
after Petzolt.
• Eugen Gutmann (1840-1925), who
purchased the cups from the Rothschild
estate. Gutmann was an art collector
and businessman who developed the
Dresdner Bank into one of Germany’s
leading financial institutions.
• Fritz Gutmann (1886-1944) of
Holland was Eugen’s son. Fritz managed
Dresdner’s London office and inherited
the cups from his father.
• Karl Haberstock (1878-1956), a Berlin
art dealer and member of the Degenerate
Art Disposal Commission. During WWII,
the commission looted private collec-
tions, with choice works kept for Hitler’s
top henchmen and “unworthy” items
destroyed or resold to support Nazi
Germany. In 1942, Haberstock “pur-
chased” artwork, including the Petzolt
cups, from Fritz, who was later murdered

Simon Goodman

Gail Fisher

in Theresienstadt.
• Hermann Goering
(1893-1946), head of
the Luftwaffe, the German air force, who
received the cups from Haberstock.
• Members of the U.S. Army, who con-
fiscated Goering’s extensive art collection
when they raided his Bavarian hideaway
in 1945.
The question was, to whom did all
the art — including the cups — actually
belong?
Gail Fisher has never held the Petzolt
cups, but last year she picked up a book
called The Orpheus Clock (Scribner) that
tells the history of the Gutmann family
art collection, seized by the Nazis. The
book included a revelation: The cups are

now legally owned by
the Detroit Institute of
Arts. How that came to
be is yet another surprising aspect of this
story.
As part of the Jewish Community
Center of Metropolitan Detroit’s 66th
Annual Jewish Book Fair (which offi-
cially runs Nov. 2-12), and co-sponsored
by the Holocaust Memorial Center
Zekelman Family Campus, the DIA will
host a talk by Simon Goodman, Eugen
Guttman’s great-grandson and author
of The Orpheus Clock: The Search for My
Family’s Art Treasures Stolen by the Nazis
on Sunday, Oct. 15. Goodman will be fol-
lowed by Salvador Salort-Pons, DIA direc-
tor, who will speak on museums and the

provenance of looted art.
Fisher of West Bloomfield is past chair
of the JCC Book Fair and a docent at
the DIA and the Holocaust Memorial
Center. An avid reader of books about
the Holocaust, Fisher began The Orpheus
Clock (the title refers to another object
once part of the Gutmann collection) late
at night, and she did not put it down until
she was done.
“This book reads like a thriller that
illuminates one family’s loss during the
Holocaust and the perseverance of Simon
to restore his family’s legacy,” she says.
“Totally spellbinding.”
Fisher immediately wrote the DIA.
She contacted staff at the Holocaust
Memorial Center. She spoke with fellow
Book Fair committee members.
Between the Detroit connection and
the compelling question of what to
do with looted art, everyone agreed to
sign on as a co-sponsor for a program.
But Fisher also describes The Orpheus
Clock’s cast of characters — from the gra-
cious Simon Goodman, still in search of
much of his family’s stolen collection, to
Rose Valland, a member of the French
Resistance who played an invaluable role
saving Jewish-owned art — as irresistible,
resulting in a true story of dedication,
detection and surprise. •

TOP: This pair of cups crafted by Nuremburg goldsmith Hans Petzolt in 1596 was the impetus for author Simon Goodman’s talk at the DIA.
With these cups, Petzolt translated a late Gothic-era design into new Renaissance splendor overflowing with rich details.

details

Simon Goodman, author of The Orpheus Clock, will speak at 1:30 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 15, at the DIA, followed by DIA director Salvador Salort-Pons. There is no charge for the event, which
will include a dessert reception, author book signing and gallery tours, but advance registration is required. (313) 833-4005; dia.org/orpheus.

jn

October 5 • 2017

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