Painting by Bernhard Heisig Returns to Dresden

A painting by Bernhard Heisig (1925–2011) that was believed to be lost is returning to its rightful home—the Bundeswehr Military History Museum (MHMBw) in Dresden. Its predecessor—the Army Museum of the GDR—had later transferred the painting “Encounter with Images,” dating from the early 1980s, as a loan from the National Gallery in Berlin. It was most recently considered “no longer in existence.” Provenance research has now brought it back to light. On Thursday, following its restoration in Dresden, it was presented to the public.

Provenance Research into a Missing Painting

In preparation for a new exhibition, the MHMBw had been researching its art collection from the GDR era. The Heisig painting in question was listed in the inventory of the Army Museum, which was renamed the Military History Museum of the Bundeswehr in 1994. However, the painting was no longer in the collection. A note in the online collection database of the Neue Nationalgalerie Berlin regarding a painting by Heisig with the same title led to an inquiry in Berlin, the museum reported.

Researchers from the Neue Nationalgalerie and the Central Archive of the State Museums in Berlin, part of the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation (SPK), investigated the provenance of the painting listed there and confirmed its origin. “It is not always possible to reconstruct the provenance of cultural property without gaps. It is essential to tell these stories transparently—including their gaps,” explained Marion Ackermann, President of the SPK. Based on joint research, the Military History Museum can now be returned a significant work.

The Military History Museum owns several works by Heisig

“The Bundeswehr Military History Museum owns several important paintings by Bernhard Heisig. Nevertheless, it is something very special that this work is returning to Dresden,” explained Colonel Rudolf J. Schlaffer. “Heisig’s approach—viewing the encounter with images of past wars as an opportunity to reflect and develop one’s own perspective—also shapes the work of the Bundeswehr Military History Museum.”

Similarities Between NVA and Wehrmacht Uniforms

Since the late 1970s, Heisig had created several individual works as well as a triptych under the title “Encounter with Images,” each of which existed in multiple versions. All of this made it difficult to unequivocally determine the identity of the painting inventoried in Dresden—a portrait of Heisig’s son Walter. He had been drafted into the National People’s Army (NVA) in 1975 and had visited his father in the studio. It was said that during this visit, the painter noticed the resemblance between the NVA uniform and the Wehrmacht uniform. 

Heisig wanted to highlight the continuity of German militarism

“Through his son’s encounter with paintings of his grandfather from World War I and his father from World War II, Heisig sought to make his son aware of the continuity of German militarism,” the museum explained. In the background, Heisig references Otto Dix’s triptych “The War.” A soldier from World War I gazes over the head of the person portrayed. The painting is now part of the exhibition “Art on Command? Works on the National People’s Army of the GDR,” which runs from October 9 through the end of August 2027.