{"id":19731,"date":"2020-03-12T12:13:58","date_gmt":"2020-03-12T12:16:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.museunacional.cat\/?p=19731"},"modified":"2020-05-25T09:51:44","modified_gmt":"2020-05-25T09:51:44","slug":"august-l-mayer-and-the-baroque-painting-in-the-museu-nacional-dart-de-catalunya","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.museunacional.cat\/en\/august-l-mayer-and-the-baroque-painting-in-the-museu-nacional-dart-de-catalunya\/","title":{"rendered":"August L. Mayer and the Baroque painting in the Museu Nacional d\u2019Art de Catalunya"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Joan Yeguas<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Museography<\/a>
Museography of the Museu d’Art Modern at the Palau Nacional, 1934. Partial view of the Gil Collection. AFB. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

August Liebmann Mayer<\/strong> <\/a>(Griesheim, 1885 \u2013 Auschwitz, 1944) was one of the great experts on Spanish painting of his day; his opinion was heeded in academic circles, the world of museums and the field of art dealing<\/strong>. He graduated in Berlin in 1907 under the wing of Heinrich W\u00f6lfflin<\/a> and with the support of Hispanic studies scholar Carl Justi<\/a>, with a thesis on Jusepe de Ribera<\/a>, \u00ablo Spagnoletto\u00bb . He eventually became a conservator at the Alte Pinakothek<\/a> in Munich and also a professor at the University of Munich, but his professional career in Germany was affected by the rise of National Socialism. Mayer was Jewish and he was accused of profiting from his expert opinions about works of art of dubious authenticity, so much so that he had to resign his posts at the museum and the university. Between March and July 1933 he was placed under arrest and tortured, and he was only freed after he had been given a huge fine (his house was seized and he had to auction off some personal belongings). After that he went into exile in different countries, but he finally settled in Nice, in France. With the invasion of France in 1940, the Nazis were once more a threat and he was captured in February 1944. He was taken to the internment camp at Drancy (near Paris), from where he was deported to the extermination camp at Auschwitz, where he died on 12 March 1944 in the gas chamber.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Portrait<\/a>
Portrait of August L. Mayer (1885-1944) <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

As an expert on Hispanic art, Mayer often visited museums and private art collections in Spain. He was also very familiar with some works conserved in Catalonia. In his thesis on Ribera (Jusepe de Ribera Lo Spagnoletto<\/em>, Leipzig, 1908, revised in 1923) he studied the Martyrdom of Saint Bartholomew<\/a><\/em>, a work that he considered to be \u00abby a school\/ an imitation\u00bb . This led later scholars to overlook this painting, and there was a significant silence until it was reappraised in the 1970s. Mayer was also very familiar with the Baroque painting in the Museu Nacional<\/strong>, something reflected in his publications: in Geschichten der Spanischen Malerei<\/em> (1913) and, later, in the Spanish version Historia de la pintura espa\u00f1ola <\/a><\/em>(1928), where he mentions Epiphany<\/em> <\/a>by Francisco Herrera the Elder, which he attributes to Antonio del Castillo; Immaculate Conception<\/a><\/em> by Francisco de Zurbar\u00e1n; Imposition of the Chasuble on Saint Ildephonsus<\/a><\/em> by Juan de Vald\u00e9s Leal; or Still Life with Apples, Grapes, Melons, Bread, Jug and Bottle<\/a><\/em> by Luis Egidio Mel\u00e9ndez.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Josep<\/a><\/figure><\/div>
\"\"<\/a><\/figure><\/div>
\"Francisco<\/a><\/figure><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n