Wanted
Several works and documents most likely still exist or once existed – but I do not know where they are. Perhaps you have seen one of them in a museum, at an auction or in a family collection? If so, please write to me. I would be most grateful.
exists – location unknown
1. An album leaf with a poem and watercolour (1925)
A friendship album (Album Amicorum) kept by someone else in Dresden, Wiesbaden and other places from 1924 to 1940 contains an entry by Adolf Noether: dated Dresden-Loschwitz, 12 May 1925, with a two-page calligraphed poem and a watercolour view of Dresden (approx. 14 × 10.5 cm). The album has 64 leaves, 25 of them written on.
It was offered by the auction house Reiss & Sohn (catalogue 74, lot 1472), did not find a buyer and was returned to the consignor – probably around 1999 to 2001. So far I have not been able to get in touch with the consignor.
Do you know where the album is today? Even a photograph of Noether's entry would mean a great deal to me.
whereabouts uncertain
2. Paintings from the Dresden studio
Shortly before the heavy air raids on Dresden in 1945, several crates of paintings from Noether's studio were to be moved to safety. They were taken in wooden crates to Zinnwald in the Ore Mountains – and there the trail goes cold. It is unclear whether the pictures stayed in Zinnwald, were moved on, or were destroyed. The studio itself survived the raids undamaged.
whereabouts uncertain
3. A portfolio of about 70 watercolours from the Obersalzberg
According to two obituaries from 1943, Hitler acquired a portfolio of about 70 watercolours after the exhibitions for Noether's 80th birthday, “to decorate the guest house on the Obersalzberg”.
After the air raids on the Obersalzberg and the arrival of American troops in 1945, art objects and furnishings were partly secured and partly taken away. What became of the watercolours is unknown. Individual sheets may have ended up in private hands as souvenirs – for example in the United States – and may still be passed down or sold today.
Do you own a watercolour by Adolf Noether that came into private hands from Bavaria after 1945? Or do you know of archival records on this group of works? Any information is welcome – in confidence, if you prefer.
Please note: these sheets are by Adolf Noether, not by Adolf Hitler. “Adolf Noether” is not a pseudonym of Hitler, even though this is sometimes assumed.
open question
4. Illustrations for Raphael Tuck & Sons
Are the illustrations “by A. Noether” in small poetry booklets published by Raphael Tuck & Sons around 1900 by Adolf Noether? Publisher's records or signed designs would settle the question.
