Viktor Mössinger

Viktor Mössinger (born October 8, 1857 ; † August 6, 1915 in Frankfurt am Main ) was a German businessman, as a member of the city council of Frankfurt am Main, he had a great influence on the public and cultural life of the city for many years.

Sisley: Banks of the Seine in autumn

van Gogh: Portrait of Dr. Gachet

Mössinger was a wealthy businessman who was interested in culture and owned the company Elnain & Co., which sold homeopathic remedies with great success. He was on the board of the Städelschen Museums-Verein , as a member of the Free German Hochstift , as well as in the Frankfurter Kunstverein . As an art collector, he acquired works by German painters such as Gustav Schönleber , Otto Scholderer , Hans Thoma and Wilhelm Trübner , as well as from important French impressionists . As early as 1891 Mössinger donated the painting by the German impressionist Fritz von Uhde Christ with the disciples in Emmaus to the Städelsche Kunstinstitut , whose modern Christ was then still decreed as the “Landstrasse Savior”.

In 1899 Mössinger gave Alfred Sisley's painting Seine-Ufer from 1879 to the museum , the first painting by a French impressionist in the collection of the Städelsche Kunstinstitut. In 1912 he took over the financing of the portrait of Dr. Gachet by Vincent van Gogh . In 1937 it was confiscated as part of the Nazi campaign “ Degenerate Art ”. In 1990 the Japanese merchant Saito bought the plant for $ 82.5 million. For a long time it was considered the most expensive painting in the world.

Mössinger's daughter Marie (1889–1967) was married to the director of the Städel, Georg Swarzenski . She was portrayed by Max Beckmann in the pastel portrait Marie Swarzenski in 1927 . The Städel received the work in 2005 as a gift from Beckmann's son Wolfgang.

Web links

• The story of the picture Portrait of Dr. Gachet (magazine art 5/1999)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Donations in the Städel ( Memento of the original dated December 17, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
2. ↑ "Portrait Marie Swarzenski" (hr-online)  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.