Justus Lange
Coming Home? The Return of Paulus Potterâs Watermill to Kassel. Napoleonic Looting as a Side-Field of Provenance Research
Paulus Potter was one of the favorite artists of landgrave Wilhelm VIII of Hessen-Kassel. Ten of his works are listed in the first printed catalogue from 1783. Most of them disappeared during the Napoleonic occupation of Kassel 1806-1813 and only three works remained in Kassel. In 2023, a great opportunity arose. Namely, after more than 200 years, the reacquisition of Potterâs Watermill was made possible thanks to the support of different foundations. During its absence from Kassel, the artwork was part of various collections in France, Great Britain and Germany. Has the painting thus come home? Potterâs artwork is a telling example of personal stories related to provenance in a museum. This case study presents the case of Potterâs return and similar cases such as Pan and Syrinx by Rubens and Brueghel.
Justus Lange
Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister and Hessen Kassel Heritage, Kassel
Justus Lange studied History of Art, Classical Archeology and Spanish Philology at the Universities of Wßrzburg and Salamanca. In 2001, he completed his PhD on the early work of Jusepe de Ribera. From 2001-2004, he was assistant curator at the Gemäldegalerie, Staatliche Museen Kassel. Afterwards, from 2004 until 2009, he was appointed curator of the Collection of Paintings, Prints and Drawings and Sculpture at the Städtisches Museums Braunschweig. Since 2009, he has been Head of the Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister in Kassel, as well as Head of Collections at Hessen Kassel Heritage since 2013. He curated many exhibitions and published about Old Master Paintings and the history of Collection/Display.