Getty Identifies Lost Otto Greiner Drawing via Dresden Collaboration
On June 8, 2026, the Getty Research Institute announced the identification of Standing Male Nude from the Back, with a Smaller Sketch, a 1892 drawing by Otto Greiner, through collaboration with the Kupferstich-Kabinett at the Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden. The drawing had been missing since World War II and reappeared on the market in Berlin in 2001 before entering the collection of Los Angeles collector Richard A. Simms, who partially donated it to Getty. The exhibition Lost. Found. Returned. runs June 23 through October 18 at the Getty Research Institute and details the drawing’s provenance from its 1894 acquisition in Dresden through wartime displacement and rediscovery.
The Signal
The case demonstrates how minor physical details such as an ink spot and erased Cyrillic markings enabled positive identification across institutions. It underscores the growing emphasis on transparent, collaborative provenance research that institutions now pursue to resolve gaps in ownership histories. The project also positions the Dr. Richard A. Simms collection as a resource for tracing additional works displaced during the war.
- Artists: Otto Greiner
- People: Nancy Um, Richard A. Simms
- Museums: Getty Research Institute, Kupferstich-Kabinett, Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden
- Locations: Los Angeles, Dresden
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