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Frank Perls
Frank Perls
Frank Perls
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Frank Richard Perls (October 23, 1910 – February 9, 1975) was a German-born American art dealer who was best known for uncovering a series of fraudulent art works. As an interpreter with the United States Third Army, Perls worked together with Army intelligence officer Martin Dannenberg in April 1945 in the discovery of a copy of the 1935 Nuremberg Laws signed by Adolf Hitler.

Early life

[edit]

Perls was born on October 23, 1910, in Berlin, where his father, Hugo Perls, ran an art gallery. He attended the University of Freiburg, majoring in art history, and joined his mother in 1932 at the Kaethe Perls Gallery in Paris. He emigrated to the United States in 1937 and together with his brother Klaus established the Perls Galleries in Manhattan. He opened his own gallery in Hollywood in 1939 and later relocated his place of business to Wilshire Boulevard in Beverly Hills, California.[1]

Army interpreter

[edit]

During World War II, Perls served in the infantry of the United States Army, participating in the Normandy landings, where he served as an interpreter.[1] He and Army intelligence officer Martin Dannenberg were directed by an informant to a bank vault in Eichstätt, Bavaria, where they discovered an original copy of the 1935 Nuremberg Laws signed by Adolf Hitler.[2] Dannenberg recounted that Perls had tears in his eyes when he realized the enormity of their find and the fact that it was two Jews who had made the discovery.[3] They turned the document in to Third Army headquarters and it made its way up the chain of command to General George S. Patton. Patton kept the document for himself and donated it to The Huntington Library in San Marino, California, where it was kept in a bank vault for 54 years. First put on public display at the Skirball Cultural Center in 1999, the document was donated to the United States National Archives in 2010.[2]

Discovery of art forgeries

[edit]

Perls was a personal friend of Pablo Picasso and the family of Henri Matisse.[1] In 1967, Perls was responsible for uncovering a series of unauthorized casts made of six bronze sculptures by Alberto Giacometti.[4] That same year, he concluded that there were 44 forged pieces included in a group of 58 purchased for $1 million by oilman and art collector Algur H. Meadows, including works that had been attributed to Marc Chagall, Edgar Degas and Picasso.[5]

In an auction held in 1968 at Parke-Bernet, Perls acquired "Still Life with a Poem" by Juan Gris for $120,000 and Georges Rouault's "Le Chinois" for $92,000, setting records for works by both artists purchased at auction.[6] He served as director of the Art Dealers Association of America and was made a life fellow of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.[1]

Perls died at age 64 on February 9, 1975, in Beverly Hills after having undergone open heart surgery three months earlier.[1]

Sale of Nazi-looted art

[edit]

Perls' sale of a stolen Pissarro painting, Rue Saint-Honoré in the Afternoon, Effect of Rain, first to Sidney Brody, and then, later, to Knoedler, resulted in a famous lawsuit, in which the heirs of a Jewish family plundered by the Nazis sued the Thyssen Museum, which had eventually acquired the painting.[7] The Cassirer v. Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection Foundation case has been litigated for nearly two decades, most recently in the United States Supreme Court.[8][9]

References

[edit]
Revisions and contributorsEdit on WikipediaRead on Wikipedia

Frank Perls

View on Grokipedia
from Grokipedia
Frank Perls (October 23, 1910 – February 8, 1975) was a German-born American art dealer known for founding an influential gallery in Beverly Hills and for his expertise in exposing art forgeries. Born in Berlin in 1910 to Hugo and Käthe Perls, who operated one of the city's leading art galleries, Perls grew up in an environment steeped in the art trade and later apprenticed in his mother's gallery after his parents' divorce and her relocation to Paris. He emigrated to the United States in 1937, initially partnering with his brother Klaus in New York before moving to California, where he opened his gallery in Los Angeles in 1939. By the 1950s, operating as the Frank Perls Gallery in Beverly Hills, he specialized in 19th- and 20th-century European masters, introducing works by modern artists to southern California collectors and contributing to the region's emerging art market through discreet, high-end transactions. Perls earned a reputation as an astute dealer and "sleuth" for uncovering fraudulent artworks, helping to safeguard the integrity of the art world. He also actively supported the local Los Angeles art community by lecturing, lending works, judging competitions, and fostering connections among artists, collectors, and institutions, while maintaining extensive international networks documented in his correspondence and gallery records. He died in Beverly Hills in 1975.

Early Life and Background

Birth and Family Origins

Frank Perls was born on October 23, 1910, in Berlin, Germany. He was the eldest son of Hugo Perls and Käthe Perls, prominent figures in the pre-war German art trade. His parents owned one of the leading art galleries in Berlin, Kunsthandlung Hugo Perls, which operated from 1923 to 1931 at Bellevuestrasse 10. The Perls family maintained a famed collection of modern art in Berlin that began before World War I, playing a major role in the dissemination of European modernism. Their pioneering holdings, initiated when artists like Pablo Picasso were still little known, remained legendary, and the gallery contributed significantly to the promotion of modern European works during the pre-war era. This family background in the art trade established the foundation for Frank Perls' lifelong involvement in the field.

Education and Entry into Art World

Frank Perls studied art history at the University of Freiburg. Following his parents' divorce in 1931, his mother Käthe Perls relocated from Germany and established the Galerie Kaethe Perls in Paris. In 1932, Frank joined her at the gallery, beginning his professional involvement in the art trade. This early experience in his parents' Berlin gallery and later at his mother's Paris gallery provided Frank Perls with exposure to modern European masters through direct gallery operations and client interactions.

Emigration to the United States

Partnership in New York Galleries

Frank Perls immigrated to the United States in 1937. Coming from a family of prominent art dealers—his parents Hugo and Kaethe Perls had operated a leading gallery in Berlin—he partnered with his younger brother Klaus Perls to establish Perls Galleries in Manhattan. The brothers opened Perls Galleries at 32 East 58th Street, introducing their expertise in European modern art to the American market. This collaboration marked a key transition for Frank Perls from the European art scene, disrupted by political events in Germany, to building a presence in New York’s emerging contemporary art landscape. Perls Galleries focused on modern masters, reflecting the brothers' shared background in handling advanced European works. The partnership allowed them to navigate the American art world during a period of increasing interest in international modernism. Frank Perls established his own gallery in Hollywood, California, in 1939 after concluding his partnership with his brother Klaus in New York. He opened the space at 8634 Sunset Boulevard under his sole ownership as founder of what became known as the Frank Perls Gallery. This marked the creation of one of the most important galleries in southern California, dedicated to introducing the work of many masters of European modernism to the region and advising emerging collectors on building significant holdings. The gallery specialized in modern European masters, including Henri Matisse and Pablo Picasso, reflecting Perls' expertise in contemporary French and European art. He later relocated the business to Wilshire Boulevard in Beverly Hills, where it operated as the Frank Perls Gallery and continued as his independent venture.

World War II Military Service

Army Enlistment and Combat Role

In 1942, Frank Perls closed his Frank Perls Gallery in Beverly Hills and enlisted in the United States Army, serving in the infantry. Due to his native fluency in German and proficiency in French gained from his upbringing in Berlin and Paris, he was utilized as an interpreter throughout his service. Perls participated in the Normandy landings in June 1944 as part of the 30th Infantry Division. He later served as an interpreter attached to the United States Third Army, leveraging his linguistic skills in military intelligence operations in Europe. For his meritorious conduct during his service, Perls received the Bronze Star in 1944. He was honorably discharged in 1945.

Recovery of the Nuremberg Laws

In late April 1945, Frank Perls, serving as a translator and interpreter for the U.S. Army Counter Intelligence Corps, joined Sergeant Martin Dannenberg in recovering an original copy of the Nuremberg Laws signed by Adolf Hitler. On April 27, while in Regensburg, Bavaria, a German civilian approached Dannenberg and his team after curfew and offered information about the documents in exchange for safe passage home near Eichstätt. The following day, April 28, the informant led Perls, Dannenberg, and agent J. Maxwell Pickens to a farm outside Eichstätt, where Hans Rauch, a former Finance Ministry official and the informant's uncle, had hidden the laws in a nearby country bank vault after receiving them through SS channels. Rauch's wife assisted in revealing his hiding place, and the group proceeded to the bank, where Rauch opened the vault and presented a brown manila envelope sealed with red wax bearing swastika imprints. Inside were the original typescript copies of the Nuremberg Laws, bearing Adolf Hitler's signature. Perls, a Jewish refugee from Nazi Germany, reportedly welled up with tears upon seeing the signature, moved by the irony that two Jews had recovered these foundational antisemitic documents. Dannenberg and Perls recognized the historical significance immediately and ensured the envelope's secure handling. The documents were transported back to their billet in Regensburg and promptly turned over through Army channels to Third Army headquarters. They entered the personal possession of General George S. Patton Jr., commander of the Third Army. In June 1945, Patton deposited the Nuremberg Laws at the Huntington Library in San Marino, California, near his family home. The documents remained at the Huntington Library until 2010, when they were donated to the National Archives.

Post-War Art Dealing Career

Frank Perls operated the Frank Perls Gallery in Beverly Hills beginning in 1950, following his return from military service in World War II. After managing the Associated American Artists Gallery in Beverly Hills, he opened his own eponymous gallery on North Camden Drive in 1950 before relocating it to Wilshire Boulevard in 1965, where it continued until after his death. The gallery focused on promoting modern European masters, introducing Southern California to key figures such as Henri Matisse, Pablo Picasso, Georges Braque, Alexander Calder, Marc Chagall, Paul Klee, and Jean Dubuffet through regular exhibitions. It also presented the first West Coast shows of artists including Joan Miró, Marino Marini, and Alberto Giacometti between 1950 and 1954. The gallery maintained close professional associations with the Pierre Matisse Gallery and the Curt Valentin Gallery in New York, which served as major sources for exhibition materials in its early years. Perls was a personal friend of Pablo Picasso, continuing their relationship until Picasso's death in 1973, and had longstanding ties to the Matisse family through his family's gallery connections. After the 1965 relocation, the gallery shifted emphasis to major exhibitions of works by Matisse and Picasso. Perls served for several years on the Board of Directors of the Art Dealers Association of America and as its director. In recognition of his work organizing significant exhibitions of Picasso and Matisse works in California, including major retrospectives at UCLA in 1961 and 1966, he was made a life fellow of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.

Notable Sales and Auction Records

Frank Perls achieved notable recognition through high-profile acquisitions at auction that established new benchmarks for specific artists. On April 3, 1968, during a major sale at Parke-Bernet Galleries in New York that totaled $3,044,500 across 95 works and set nine artist records overall, Perls purchased Juan Gris's Still Life with a Poem for $120,000, surpassing the previous auction high for the artist of $45,000. At the same event, he acquired Georges Rouault's Le Chinois for $92,000, exceeding the prior record for Rouault of $62,000. These purchases underscored Perls's active role in the international market for modern French art and were later highlighted as key achievements in his career. Through his Frank Perls Gallery in Beverly Hills, Perls dealt extensively in works by modern masters such as Henri Matisse and Pablo Picasso, with whom he maintained close personal and professional ties.

Exposing Major Art Forgeries

In 1967, Frank Perls gained widespread recognition for his role in exposing two significant cases of art forgery. One involved a collection assembled by Texas oil millionaire Algur H. Meadows, who purchased 58 paintings for $1 million, attributed to masters including Marc Chagall, Edgar Degas, Pablo Picasso, and others. Perls, as part of a team of Art Dealers Association of America experts, helped identify 44 of these 58 works as forgeries. That same year, Perls uncovered unauthorized bronze casts of six Alberto Giacometti sculptures, which were regarded as forgeries in the art world. He purchased one cast in January 1967 and became suspicious, then visited Giacometti's widow in Paris in October 1967; together they identified six unauthorized casts originating from a common source. These exposures highlighted Perls' reputation for rigorous authentication and contributed to public awareness of fraudulent practices in the art market.

Film and Television Appearances

Role as Père Tanguy in Lust for Life

Frank Perls appeared in a small supporting role as Père Tanguy in the 1956 biographical film Lust for Life, directed by Vincente Minnelli. The film, produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, dramatizes the life and struggles of Vincent van Gogh, with Kirk Douglas in the starring role. Perls portrayed Père Tanguy, the historical figure of Julien François Tanguy, a Parisian art supplier and dealer who provided materials to van Gogh and displayed his works when few others would. This casting suited Perls' real-life expertise as a respected art dealer specializing in French art, marking a rare foray into acting for him. The role was minor and uncredited in some listings, consistent with Perls' primary profession in the art world rather than film performance.

Guest Role in The Adventures of Jim Bowie

Frank Perls made a single guest appearance in the ABC television series The Adventures of Jim Bowie (1956–1958), portraying an art dealer in the episode "The Beggar of New Orleans." The episode originally aired on January 11, 1957. The casting as an art dealer directly reflected Perls' real-life profession as a prominent Beverly Hills art gallery owner and expert known for exposing forgeries. This television credit was minor compared to his earlier film role as Père Tanguy in Lust for Life (1956), and it marked his only known appearance in episodic television.

Later Life, Legacy, and Death

Associations and Institutional Roles

Frank Perls maintained a close personal friendship with Pablo Picasso, visiting the artist regularly in France and earning his trust as a dealer of his works. He also had strong ties with the Matisse family, which supported his expertise in French modern art. In his later years, Perls served as a Director of the Art Dealers Association of America, helping to establish ethical standards in the profession. He was elected a Life Fellow of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, recognizing his long-standing contributions to the institution and the Los Angeles art scene.

Final Years and Passing

Frank Perls underwent open heart surgery on December 19, 1974. He died on February 8, 1975, in Beverly Hills, California, at the age of 64. Perls had long resided in Beverly Hills, where he maintained his Frank Perls Gallery.

Posthumous Developments

After Frank Perls' death, the 1951 transaction involving Camille Pissarro’s Rue Saint-Honoré, après-midi, effet de pluie through his gallery in Beverly Hills became a focal point in the restitution lawsuit Cassirer v. Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection Foundation. Court records show that in 1951, the Frank Perls Gallery arranged to move the painting from Germany to California and sold it to collector Sydney Brody for $14,850. In 1952, acting on Brody's instructions, Frank Perls placed the painting for sale at the Knoedler Gallery in New York, where it was acquired by collector Sydney Schoenberg for $16,500. The work remained in private hands until 1976, when Baron Hans Heinrich Thyssen-Bornemisza purchased it through the Stephen Hahn Gallery for $275,000, and the Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection Foundation acquired it in 1993 as part of a larger collection purchase. The painting had been coerced from Lilly Cassirer Neubauer in 1939 under Nazi pressure, and her heirs initiated U.S. legal proceedings in 2005 to recover it from the foundation, alleging it remained Nazi-looted art. The case involved extended litigation over choice-of-law issues and prescriptive title under Spanish law, with the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals affirming judgment for the foundation in 2024 after the U.S. Supreme Court addressed procedural matters in 2022. This dispute has underscored broader challenges in Nazi-looted art restitution cases.

References

  1. https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/term/BIOG225102
  2. https://www.nytimes.com/1975/02/10/archives/frank-perls-dies-coast-art-dealer-began-with-brother-here-sleuth-of.html
  3. https://eastofborneo.org/articles/a-tale-of-two-art-dealers/
  4. https://research.frick.org/directory/detail/471
  5. https://www.aaa.si.edu/collections/frank-perls-papers-and-frank-perls-gallery-records-9601/historical-note
  6. https://oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/c8w383hm/
  7. https://www.metmuseum.org/research-centers/leonard-a-lauder-research-center/research-resources/modern-art-index-project/perls-klaus
  8. https://www.metmuseum.org/research-centers/leonard-a-lauder-research-center/research-resources/modern-art-index-project/perls-kate
  9. https://research.frick.org/directory/detail/4651
  10. https://www.si.edu/object/frank-perls-papers-and-frank-perls-gallery-records-circa-1920-1983-bulk-1949-1975%3AAAADCD_coll_211805
  11. https://www.metmuseum.org/research-centers/leonard-a-lauder-research-center/research-resources/modern-art-index-project/perls-frank
  12. https://sova.si.edu/record/AAA.perlfran
  13. https://www.baltimoresun.com/1999/11/15/rules-of-evil-a-baltimore-jew-recalls-recovering-the-original-copies-of-hitlers-nuremberg-laws-about-to-go-on-public-display-in-los-angeles/
  14. https://www.latimes.com/la-oe-platt4apr04-story.html
  15. https://www.archives.gov/publications/prologue/2010/winter/nuremberg.html
  16. https://sirismm.si.edu/EADpdfs/AAA.perlfran.pdf
  17. https://www.nytimes.com/1968/04/04/archives/9-marks-are-set-at-auction-of-art-95-pieces-bring-3million-a-record.html
  18. https://www.nytimes.com/1967/05/10/archives/1million-art-swindle-reported-44-of-58-works-acquired-by-texan.html
  19. https://www.nytimes.com/1967/12/28/archives/widow-calls-giacomettis-fake-unauthorized-casts-made-in-bronze-of-6.html
  20. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0049456/fullcredits/
  21. https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0674273/
  22. https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/51908
  23. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0505929/
  24. https://cdn.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/opinions/2024/01/09/19-55616.pdf
  25. https://www.museothyssen.org/sites/default/files/document/2018-12/Nota_informativa_Pissarro_11.12.18_ING.pdf
  26. https://english.elpais.com/culture/2022-05-21/the-thyssens-disputed-pissarro-a-masterpiece-that-symbolizes-the-ongoing-struggle-to-return-nazi-looted-art.html
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