Hermann Josef Abs
Hermann Josef Abs (October 15, 1901 – February 5, 1994)[1] was a German banker. He was a member of the board of directors of Deutsche Bank from 1938 to 1945. After World War II (1957–1967) he was chairman of Deutsche Bank, and contributed to the reconstruction of the German economy.
Conceptual artist Hans Haacke created a work in 1974 called Manet-PROJEKT '74, which was supposed to be displayed in the Wallraf-Richartz-Museum.[2] Manet-PROJEKT '74 was a "ten-panel work about the turbulent and surprising fate of a painting by Édouard Manet, Bunch of Asparagus (1880), as it passed through the hands of its various owners before being bought for the Wallraf-Richartz-Museum by an acquisition committee of the museum's friends. Every temporary owner of the painting was presented, along with their biographical data, including that of the Chairman of the committee, the German banker Hermann J Abs, who had played a key role in the economic design and stabilization of Nazism. Such biographical details had tended to be suppressed in the post-war period, but Haacke had only to go the Bonn University library to dig them up".[3]
In a six-by-eight meter room, Bunch of Asparagus (1880) was to have been positioned on a studio easel juxtaposed with panels hung on the wall presenting "the social and economic position of the persons who have owned the painting over the years and the prices paid for it".[4]
Horst Keller, the director of the Wallraf-Richartz-Museum, "objected to listing Hermann J. Abs' nineteen positions on the board of directors".[5] "Given that most of the previous owners of the Manet ... had been Jewish ... the revelation of Abs' past provided a cultural-historical twist with considerable impact. Under pressure from the Director of the museum (presumably in the interest of Abs, who, as the post-war chairman of Deutsche Bank for many years, was still extraordinarily influential), the curators were forced not to admit Haacke's work to the exhibition".[6]
Abs was a powerful financier, who helped the museum purchase the work; he was on the Board of Directors; he was a Friend of the Museum; at the time he was honorary president and member of Deutsche Bank's advisory board.[7][8]
References
- ↑ "Abs, Hermann J.". Who Was Who in America, 1993-1996, vol. 11. New Providence, N.J.: Marquis Who's Who. 1996. p. 1. ISBN 0837902258.
- ↑ Walter Grasskamp, Hans Haacke, Phaidon Press, 54
- ↑ Walter Grasskamp, Hans Haacke, Phaidon Press, 54
- ↑ Hans Haacke, Unfinished Business, 118
- ↑ Benjamin Buchloh, Obra Social, 79
- ↑ Walter Grasskamp, Hans Haacke, Phaidon Press, 54
- ↑ Hans Haacke, Unfinished Business, 130
- ↑ Walter Grasskamp, Hans Haacke, Phaidon Press, 54
Other sources
- Hermann J. Abs, in Encyclopædia Britannica online
- Obituary: Hermann Abs
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