On the Provenance

According to a publication from 1981 on the painter Siegfried Shalom Sebba by Karlheinz Gabler, written together with the artist’s widow Henriette Sebba, the self-portrait was once part of the Wisztyniecki collection in Königsberg. At the time of publication, however, the painting was considered lost. The owner was Lea Helene Wisztyniecki (1888–1969), née Sebba, the artist’s sister. In 1914, she married Julius Geuda Wisztyniecki (1877–1924). Their daughter, Ruth Erika (1915–1975, later Shepard), was born in 1915.

In 1937, Lea Helene Wisztyniecki emigrated with her daughter from Berlin to Switzerland (Geneva), where they attempted to sell parts of their possessions in order to finance their escape. It is not known whether they succeeded or which objects, if any, were sold. In 1941, mother and daughter continued their emigration to the United States.

To this day, it remains unclear when and under what circumstances the work left the possession of the Wisztyniecki family. Its reappearance after 1945 in a Swiss private collection suggests, that it remained in Switzerland and was sold as a result of persecution.