Editing Degenerate art (section)

== Listing ==

The {{lang|de|[[Ministry of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda|Reichsministerium für Volksaufklärung und Propaganda]]}} (Reich Ministry of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda) compiled a 479-page, two-volume typewritten listing of the works confiscated as "degenerate" from Germany's public institutions in 1937–38. In 1996 the [[Victoria and Albert Museum]] in London acquired the only known surviving copy of the complete listing. The document was donated to the V&A's [[National Art Library]] by Elfriede Fischer, the widow of the art dealer Heinrich Robert ("Harry") Fischer. Copies were made available to other libraries and research organisations at the time, and much of the information was subsequently incorporated into a database maintained by the Freie Universität Berlin.<ref name="V&A Entartete Kunst webpage">{{cite web |url=http://www.vam.ac.uk/entartetekunst |title=V&A Entartete Kunst webpage |publisher=Vam.ac.uk |date=30 June 1939 |access-date=14 August 2014}}</ref><ref name="Free University of Berlin">{{cite web|url=http://www.geschkult.fu-berlin.de/en/e/db_entart_kunst/index.html |title=Freie Universität Berlin Database "Entartete Kunst" |publisher=Geschkult.fu-berlin.de |date=28 August 2013 |access-date=14 August 2014}}</ref>

A digital reproduction of the entire inventory was published on the Victoria and Albert Museum's website in January 2014. The V&A's publication consists of two [[PDF]]s, one for each of the original volumes. Both PDFs also include an introduction in English and German.<ref>[http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/e/entartete-kunst/ Entartete Kunst], Victoria and Albert Museum. 2014.</ref> An online version of the inventory was made available on the V&A's website in November 2019, with additional features. The new edition uses [[IIIF]] page-turning software and incorporates an interactive index arranged by city and museum. The earlier PDF edition remains available too.<ref>[https://www.vam.ac.uk/articles/explore-entartete-kunst-the-nazis-inventory-of-degenerate-art Explore 'Entartete Kunst': The Nazis' inventory of 'degenerate art'], Victoria and Albert Museum. 2019.</ref>

The V&A's copy of the full inventory is thought to have been compiled in 1941 or 1942, after the sales and disposals were completed.<ref>Victoria and Albert Museum 2014. Introduction by Douglas Dodds & Heike Zech, p. i.</ref> Two copies of an earlier version of Volume 1 (A–G) also survive in the German Federal Archives in Berlin, and one of these is annotated to show the fate of individual artworks. Until the V&A obtained the complete inventory in 1996, all versions of Volume 2 (G–Z) were thought to have been destroyed.<ref name="ReferenceA">Victoria and Albert Museum 2014. Introduction by Douglas Dodds & Heike Zech, p. ii.</ref> The listings are arranged alphabetically by city, museum and artist. Details include artist surname, inventory number, title and medium, followed by a code indicating the fate of the artwork, then the surname of the buyer or art dealer (if any) and any price paid.<ref name="ReferenceA"/> The entries also include abbreviations to indicate whether the work was included in any of the various {{lang|de|Entartete Kunst}} exhibitions (see [[Degenerate Art Exhibition]]) or {{lang|de|Der ewige Jude}} (see [[The Eternal Jew (art exhibition)]]).<ref>Victoria and Albert Museum 2014, vol. 1, p. 7.</ref>

The main dealers mentioned are Bernhard A. Böhmer (or Boehmer), [[Karl Buchholz (Art dealer)|Karl Buchholz]], [[Hildebrand Gurlitt]], and [[Ferdinand Möller]]. The manuscript also contains entries for many artworks acquired by the artist Emanuel Fohn, in exchange for other works.<ref>Victoria and Albert Museum 2014, vol. 1 and 2.</ref>