Alfred Scharf

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Alfred Scharf (born November 25, 1900 in Königsberg , Bohemia , Austria-Hungary ; died December 20, 1965 in London ) was a German-British art historian .

life and work

Scharf was a son of Heinrich Scharf (1872–1933), the founder of the Goldring company (manufacture of audio playback devices), and his wife Cäcilie, geb. Presser (1876-1946)

After attending the Kaiser-Wilhelm-Realgymnasium in Berlin , which he left with the Abitur in 1920, Scharf studied art history, classical archeology , East Asian art history and theater history in Berlin , Munich and Freiburg from 1920 to 1925 . In 1925 he received his doctorate in Freiburg with a thesis supervised by Hans Jantzen on the history of stage design for Dr. phil.

From 1925 to 1928 Scharf was a research assistant at the Staatliche Museen Berlin , in the Kupferstichkabinett , at the Kaiser-Friedrich-Museum and at the art library . During his time in the Kupferstichkabinett he worked on the catalog of the Dutch masters.

From 1928 to 1932 Scharf worked as a freelancer, u. a. as editor of the magazine Der Cicerone und Weltkunst . His plans to do his habilitation with a habilitation thesis on Filippino Lippi at the University of Frankfurt failed because of his Jewish descent and the anti-Semitic currents at the University of Frankfurt.

He then emigrated to Great Britain in May 1933 , where he made a living with the help of Jewish aid organizations and the SPSL : in 1933/34 he lectured at the Courtauld Institute at the University of London. He then worked as a freelance art expert and consultant. Also worked on a project on the ancient sculptures known in the Renaissance at the Warburg Institute in London. Also worked for the National Art Collection Fund . In 1946 he was naturalized as a British citizen.

After his emigration, the National Socialist police authorities classified Scharf as an enemy of the state, like many other emigrants to Great Britain: In the spring of 1940 the Reich Main Security Office in Berlin put him on the special wanted list GB , a directory of people who would be killed in the event of a successful invasion and occupation of the British Isles by the Wehrmacht, special SS commandos following the occupation forces were to be identified and arrested with special priority.

Scharf's main research areas were Italian painting of the 15th century, Dutch and Flemish painting of the 17th century, and drawing and graphics from the 15th to 18th centuries.

family

Scharf was married to Felicie Radziejewski (* 1901 in Berlin), who received her doctorate as an art historian in Würzburg in 1925. She worked as an art dealer from 1966. Both had a daughter.

Fonts

  • Contributions to the history of stage design from the fifteenth to the end of the seventeenth century , Freiburg 1925 (dissertation)
  • Literary reports on Italian painting in the 15th century. In: Zeitschrift Kunstgeschichte 1, 1932.
  • Collaboration: Gustav Glück Collected Essays . Edited by Ludwig Burchard and Robert Eigenberger , Vienna 1933.
  • Collaboration with: Rembrandt. Hand drawings , vol. 2, ed. Wilhelm Reinhold Valentiner , 1933.
  • The early paintings of Raffaellino del Garbo. In: Yearbook of the Prussian Art Collections 54, 1933, pp. 151–166.
  • Little-known Drawings by Rubens. In: Connoisseur 92, 1933, pp. 249-255.
  • Bacchiacca news. In: Festschrift for Walter Friedlaender on his 60th birthday . 1933.
  • Tondi by Filippino Lippi. In: Pantheon , 1933, pp. 329-335.
  • On the art of Francesco Pesellino. In: Pantheon , 14, 1934, pp. 211-220.
  • Filippino Lippi , Vienna 1935.
  • Ruben's Portraits of Charles V and Isabella. In: Burlington Magazine 66, 1935, pp. 259-266.
  • Dutch and Flemish Painting at the Brussels, Amsterdam and Rotterdam Exhibitions. In: Connoisseur 1935 II, pp. 247-255.
  • Another unknown Voltaire bust by Houdon. In: Pantheon 15, 1935, p. 199.
  • Note on the Exhibition of Flemish Primitives at Rotterdam. In: Apollo 1936.
  • Bacchicacca. A New Contribution In: Burlington Magazine 70, 1837, pp. 60-66.
  • Two neglected Works by Fillippino Lipp. In: Burlington Magazine 71, 1937, pp. 4-7.
  • Giorgione in the Light of New Research. In: Apollo 29, 1939, pp. 287-289.
  • Luca Signorelli. Study of a Young Warrior. In: OM Drawings 14, 1939/1940, p. 50.
  • The Massacre of Innocents by GM Cresp. In: Burlington Magazine 77, 1940, p. 3f.
  • The Devonshire Collection. In: Burlington Magazine 90, 1948, pp. 354-357.
  • Notes on the High Altar from Sta. Maria Novella at Florence. In: Burlington Magazine 91, 1948, pp. 214-217.
  • with Rosy Schilling : Zurich, art treasures of Lombardy. Exhibition in the Kunsthaus. In: Phoebus 2, 1948/49, pp. 181-191.
  • De Verzameling Devonshire te Londen tentoongesteld. In: Maandblad voor beeldende kunsten 25, 1949, pp. 65–69.
  • Once more monsú. In: Architectural Review 105, 1949.
  • The Fantastic Visions of Monsú Desiderio , 1950.
  • Francesco Desiderio. In: Burlington Magazine 92, 1950, pp. 18-22
  • A Catalog of Pictures and Drawings from the Collection of Sir Thomas Merton , 1950.
  • The Rovinson Collection. In: Burlington Magazine 100, 1958, pp. 299-304.
  • Raphael and the Getty Madonna. In: Apollo 79, 1964, pp. 114-121.

literature

  • Dr Alfred Scharf. Obituary In: Burlington Magazine 108, 1966, pp. 201f.
  • Ulrike Wendland: Biographical handbook of German-speaking art historians in exile. Life and work of the scientists persecuted and expelled under National Socialism. Part 2: L – Z. Saur, Munich 1999, ISBN 3-598-11339-0 , pp. 601-604

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Entry on Scharf on the special wanted list GB (reproduced on the website of the Imperial War Museum in London).
  2. ↑ Scharf, Felicie , in: Ulrike Wendland: Biographical Handbook of German-Speaking Art Historians in Exile. Life and work of the scientists persecuted and expelled under National Socialism . Munich: Saur, 1999, ISBN 3-598-11339-0 , p. 604
personal data
SURNAME Sharp, Alfred
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German-British art historian
DATE OF BIRTH November 25, 1900
PLACE OF BIRTH Koenigsberg , Bohemia
DATE OF DEATH December 20, 1965
Place of death London