Heinrich Thannhauser


Heinrich Thannhauser was a German gallery owner and art collector. As an art dealer, he was one of the most important promoters of early Expressionist art in Germany.

Early life and education

Thannhauser was born 16 February 1859 in Hürben, the third of six children, to Jonas Thannhauser, a sawn goods merchant, and Michle "Mina" Thannhauser.
His paternal Catholic family carried the surname Thannhauser and passed it down to him. His father Jonas Thannhauser married his mother Michle "Mina" Loew who was from a Jewish family. Following this marriage, Mina and members of her family are recorded in later sources under the surname Thannhauser. This union gave rise to a German-Jewish Thannhauser branch of the family.
Initially, Thannhauser completed an apprenticeship as tailor and had a women's clothing store between 1885 and 1897.

Art career

He founded his Munich Modern Gallery in 1904. At first he exhibited the artworks of French Impressionists such as Édouard Manet, Edgar Degas and Paul Gauguin. Later works by Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque were added.
In 1909, Thannhauser separated from his partner Franz Josef Brakl and continued to run the gallery under the name Galerie Thannhauser. The first exhibition of the Neue Künstlervereinigung München took place in the Arco-Palais in the same year. In 1911 he began collaborating with Der Blaue Reiter. In 1918 he had himself painted in Berlin simultaneously by Lovis Corinth and by Max Liebermann; the one he sat for a portrait in the morning, the other in the afternoon.
In 1920 his nephew Siegfried Rosengart opened a branch of the gallery in Lucerne.
In 1934 in attempting to flee from the Nazis to Switzerland, Thannhauser died of a stroke at the border.

Personal life

On 26 May 1891, Thannhauser married Charlotte Nachtigall, originally of Nuremberg, at Heidingsfeld. They had one son;
  • Justin Karl Thannhauser, who became one of the most important European art dealers, married firstly to Käthe "Kate" Levi with whom he had two sons, secondly to Hilde Breitwisch. All the European holdings were lost by confiscation of the Nazis. In 1941, he was able to flee to the United States, where he settled in New York City and continued in the art business. His daughter, Gertrude "Trude" Beyer, was also an art collector.
Thannhauser died on 24 November 1935 in Lucerne, Switzerland aged 76.

Literature

  • Mario-Andreas von Lüttichau: Die Moderne Galerie Heinrich Thannhauser in München. In: Henrike Junge : Avantgarde und Publikum: Zur Rezeption avantgardistischer Kunst in Deutschland 1905–1933. Böhlau, Köln, Weimar, Wien 1992.Thannhauser. Händler, Sammler, Stifter. Hrsg. v. Zentralarchiv des internationalen Kunsthandels e. V. ZADIK und SK Stiftung Kultur der Sparkasse KölnBonn. Sediment – Mitteilungen zur Geschichte des Kunsthandels, 11. Verlag für Moderne Kunst, Nürnberg 2006
  • Emily D. Bilski: Die „Moderne Galerie“ von Heinrich Thannhauser / The „Moderne Galerie“ of Heinrich Thannhauser. Sammelbilder / Collecting Images, 6. Minerva, München 2008.