Lisa Oppenheim – Spolia

Missing or destroyed

This is the first institutional solo exhibition in the Netherlands of the American artist Lisa Oppenheim. At a time when considerable attention is being given to Nazi looted art, Oppenheim focuses both on art looted from Dutch collections and Dutch art in looted collections. She specifically examines artworks and objects that are most likely missing or destroyed. Oppenheim uses a stratified approach to reveal what presence the disappeared art still has in the world around us.

Looted art

In Spolia, Oppenheim concentrates on supposed missing looted artworks and objects such as paintings and tapestries that were once owned by dealers and collectors of Jewish descent in the Netherlands as well as collections of Dutch art looted from Jewish families elsewhere. Through extensive archival research, Oppenheim discovered photographic records of plundered works. One of the archives she consulted was that of the well-known Amsterdam art dealer Jacques Goudstikker (1897-1940). Goudstikker and his family fled to the United Kingdom in 1940 by boat, however he tragically died on the journey. He was also forced to leave behind his gallery’s inventory which was usurped and exploited by Nazi occupiers and their accomplices.

Various techniques

In another example of her research, Oppenheim discovered records and photographic documentation of artworks owned by the Amsterdam-based Hamburger family in the National Archives of Germany (Bundesarchiv). Oppenheim used this photographic documentation to produce new artworks, in her words, "reprocessing" the images in her darkroom using various techniques. In one such technique she uses fire to re-expose photographic prints and negatives. Typically thought of as a force of destruction, Oppenheim uses fire as a generative force, giving light to images of lost or destroyed artworks.