Friedrich Welz

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Friedrich Maximilian Welz (born November 2, 1903 in Salzburg ; † February 5, 1980 there ) was an Austrian art dealer and publisher .

biography

Construction of the Welz gallery

Friedrich Welz learned several trades , but felt drawn to art throughout his life . After gaining considerable knowledge of art and his first experiences in the art trade as an autodidact , he took over his father's picture frame business in Sigmund-Haffner-Gasse in 1934 as managing director and in 1937 as owner . There he opened his “art shop”, from which the “Galerie Welz” soon developed, whose first exhibitions were dedicated to the works of Klimt , Schiele , Kubin and Kokoschka . Later exhibitions focused on the Vienna Secession , the Nötscher Circle , Italian and French art of the 19th and 20th centuries, and German Expressionism . In 1937 he moved the gallery to the vacant showrooms in the “Wittek Villa” on Schwarzstrasse. There he organized the “ Waldmüller Exhibition”, which was highly regarded in the Austro-Fascist corporate state . Prominent visitors included the then Salzburg Governor Franz Rehrl and the Austrian Chancellor Kurt Schuschnigg .

Rise during National Socialism

During the National Socialist era, in April 1938, Welz took over ("aryanized") the Wiener Galerie Würthle from the former owner Lea Bondi-Jaray , from whom he also acquired Schiele's Wally von Krumau, which was significantly below value, shortly before she fled , and ran it up to for restitution in 1949 as "Galerie Welz". At the groundbreaking ceremony for the construction of the Reichsautobahn on Walserberg , he opened the touring exhibition “The Roads of the Führer” in his gallery in Salzburg in April 1938, thereby establishing himself in the cultural scene of the new regime. The resolution of the Sudeten crisis in October of the same year gave him the opportunity to present a show on Sudeten German art in his Vienna branch. In 1939 and 1940 Welz also bought a total of 26 works - also well below their actual value - including Schiele's “Embrace” and “Cardinal and Nun” and Josef Dobrowsky's “Arms in the Spirit” from the extensive art collection of the Jewish dentist Heinrich Rieger . In 1940 he then showed the exhibition on Hans Makart , which was particularly valued by the new National Socialist rulers , with the help of which he was now able to fully integrate into the art scene that had been newly formed since the annexation. The patronage of this exhibition, whose artistic director Welz himself, was taken over by Hermann Göring . As editor of the accompanying and with a foreword by the Gauhauptmanns Albert Reitter provided catalog, the personal photographer showed Adolf Hitler , Heinrich Hoffmann responsible.

In partly occupied France , Friedrich Welz acquired valuable works of art at the lowest prices during the Second World War , which he sold at great profit in the German Empire or which was partly in the possession of the "Salzburger Landesgalerie" which was being founded. Many of the pictures and works of art acquired in this way from the Landesgalerie had to be returned after 1945 due to the London Declaration . In addition, on behalf of Baldur von Schirach and other prominent Nazi figures, he went on regular shopping trips to occupied Paris , which, in addition to his own profit, also brought him friendship with political decision-makers. Supported by the Gau and Reichsleitung, he developed from the head of a private gallery to the head of the Salzburg State Gallery and one of the leading art dealers of the Nazi regime. All these activities brought him serious accusations in Austria, which was later rebuilt, but could not endanger his further career. Proceedings under the War Criminals Act were discontinued in 1950 and his connections to National Socialist personalities and his amalgamations with Aryanization of Jewish assets were not questioned for a long time.

On the other hand, he took a special position with his daring advocacy of contemporary and so-called degenerate art . B. 1941 vehemently campaigned for the exhibition of artists from the Nötscher district as part of the “Carinthian Art Show”. One reason for this, however, may have been that he hoarded such works on a larger scale as speculative objects and the presentation of these, with the approval of the rulers, did not destroy the financial value of these pictures, but rather increased it.

Work after 1945

After the US troops marched in, Welz was temporarily detained by them in the Glasenbach internment camp, but was able to downplay his role with American officials during the National Socialist era to such an extent that he was released after a few weeks.

According to another source, Welz is said to have been imprisoned by (possibly French ) occupation troops from May 8, 1945 to April 14, 1947 for “buying” art objects that he had carried out on behalf of the Salzburg Gauleitung . He is then said to have been released from city arrest ordered by the American military government of Salzburg.

The Americans use the provisional administrator Fritz Hoefner for Welz's Salzburg art dealership, who Welz on June 26, 1947 because of the "Aryanization" of a villa in St. Gilgen, the Würthle gallery and the Heinrich Rieger collection within the meaning of § 6 KVG because of " improper enrichment ”reported to the public prosecutor's office at the People's Court in Linz . The proceedings ended in 1949 and 1950 with partial recognition and an out-of-court settlement.

After his release, Friedrich Welz concentrated again on his exhibition activities and contributed to the revitalization of the art scene in Salzburg and throughout Austria with his presentations on Toulouse-Lautrec to Steinhart , Kolig and Thöny to Chagall and Manzù , who was artistically particularly connected to Salzburg at. In 1948, Welz organized the first personal exhibition of the expressionist Leopold Birstinger . In the same year he founded his own publishing house ("Galerie Welz"), whose most important achievements are the catalogs of works by Kokoschka (since 1956) and Klimt (since 1967).

The “School of Seeing” was founded in 1953 on the basis of his idea, which had already been ventilated in 1943. It was realized as the “ International Summer Academy for Fine Arts ” under the artistic direction of Oskar Kokoschka and was managed by Welz himself until 1963. The summer academy differed in many respects from other training centers due to its limited duration of four weeks and the fact that there was no entrance examination, no restrictions based on nationality, gender, age or previous education. Welz also founded the International Summer Academy for Building, which Konrad Wachsmann directed for years . Young avant-garde architects from Austria, Germany, Switzerland and Scandinavia took part ( Hollein , Achleitner , Uhl and many others).

In 1976 Welz bequeathed a large part of his private collection, including the complete graphic work of Oskar Kokoschka, with whom he had a lifelong friendship, to the State of Salzburg . The donation prompted them to acquire the " Rupertinum ", a medieval building complex that had not been in use since 1974 and which was once built under Prince Archbishop Paris Lodron as a training center for the next generation of priests and officials, and to adapt it as a museum . Welz acted as its first rector from the opening of the "Modern Gallery and Graphic Collection Rupertinum" in 1977 until his death in 1980.

For his achievements he received numerous honors from the Republic of Austria, the State of Salzburg and the State Capital Salzburg. Among other things, he was awarded the title of professor and honorary senator of the University of Salzburg . Friedrich Welz died on February 5, 1980 in his hometown and was buried in the family grave at the Salzburg municipal cemetery.

family

Friedrich Welz was the brother of the famous painter and architect Hans Welz (* 1900 in Salzburg, † 1975 in Cape Town ) who later called himself "Jean" and is now one of the most important painters in South Africa .

Literature and Sources

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Michael Wladika: Dossier Dr. Heinrich Rieger. Provenance research on behalf of the Leopold Museum . December 2009. Pages 15f. ( online )
personal data
SURNAME Welz, Friedrich
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Welz, Friedrich Maximilian
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austrian art collector and publisher
DATE OF BIRTH November 2, 1903
PLACE OF BIRTH Salzburg , State of Salzburg , Austria-Hungary
DATE OF DEATH 5th February 1980
Place of death Salzburg , State of Salzburg , Austria