Galerie Heinemann in Munich did not send the unsold artworks back to London after the October exhibition in 1907. The works had been taken on consignment at the end of September 1907 and were to remain in the gallery's custody until 13 June 1908. The paintings thus remained unavailable to other buyers in England or elsewhere for almost a full year; for the lithographs, this did not matter much, as Shannon could dispose of several copies, and so, for that matter, could the gallery. After, for example, 'At the Waters Edge' was sold (as ‘Auf Meeresgrund’), Shannon sent a second copy, which, however, remained unsold.
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Charles Shannon, 'Alphonse Legros'
lithograph (1896) |
After the exhibition ended, another buyer showed up, art historian Dr Otto Weigmann (1873-1940), who in April 1907 had become curator of the Graphic Collection of Munich. On 6 and 13 November 1907 he acquired five lithographs and two drawings (and later he would buy more works).
'Alphonse Legros' (Catalogue No. 40). This was 'Alphonse Legros' (1896).
'Die Badende' (Cat. No. 26). This probably was 'The Bathers' (1904).'Max Beerbohm' (Cat. No. 24). This was 'Max Beerbohm' (1896).
'Meerwasser' (Cat. No. 29). This probably was another copy of 'Salt Water' (1895).
'Saën und Ernten' (Cat. No. 43). This was 'The Sower and the Reaper' (1904).
'Skizze für ein Portrait-Aquarell' (Cat. No. 66). Sketch for a portrait watercolour.
'Studien in Rötel' (Cat. No. 76). A study in red.
Another copy of 'Badende' was sold to the editors of the magazine Jugend in Munich ('Jugend-Redaktion) on the same day, 6 November 1907, while they also acquired copies of three more lithographs: 'Am Wasser' (original title not established with certainty), 'Die Wanderer' (probably 'The Wayfarers', 1904) and 'Morgen' ('Morning', 1905).
Not clear is when these works were paid by Weigmann and Jugend. Perhaps, Weigmann acquired the works for the museum, and not for his private collection. Indeed there are works by Shannon in the collection of (now) Staatliche Graphische Sammlung München. However, these were all required after 1907.(*)
However, Shannon got paid for these acquisitions on 6 November when he received the amount of £ 40.2.6, including £10 for the exclusive right to sell some of his paintings (in return for the long time they were unavailable to him).
On the same date, 6 November 1907, another lithograph was sold: ‘Romantische Landschaft’ ('The Romantic Landscape', 1892), the buyer being lieutenant Jaenisch from Munich.
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Galerie Heinemann, 'Lagerbuch Kommission',
LB-06-32, page 30 |
Records show that a number of works were sent to Berlin to be sold - where is not clear - Heinemann had no branch there. This probably happened in November 1907. Later, they were largely returned. Apparently Heinemann really made an effort to sell Shannon and Ricketts's works twice, firstly during the Munich exhibition and about a year later, just before the works were to be sent back to London. What was done with them in the meantime cannot be determined.
Indeed, Galerie Heinemann managed to sell sixteen more works by Shannon in June 1908, albeit neither paintings nor drawings.
On 11 June 1908 four lithographs were sold to Kunsthandel Eduard Schulte which since 1901 had been run by Hermann Gottlob Schulte and Hermann Schulte junior:
'Die Taucherin' Catalogue No. 19). This was 'The Diver' (1895).'Biondina' (Cat. No. 23). This was 'Biondina' (1894);
'Die Raucher' (Cat. No. 35). This was 'Le fumeur', a portrait of Reginald Savage (1895).
'Venus & Amor' (Cat. No 48). This must have been 'The Little Venus' (1895).
The Schulte firm got a 15% discount and paid DM 182.75. Shannon received £ 7.2.6.
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Galerie Heinemann, 'Kassbuch', 11 June 1908
KB-04-23, page 30 |
Twelve more works were sold the same month: the series of colour woodcuts Shannon had made between 1898 and 1903. Sets of these are now very rare. Purchaser on 25 June 1908, again, was Otto Weigmann.
Each time a lithograph was sold, Shannon sent a replacement copy that often went unsold. In this way, Heinemann handled 109 works by Shannon, of which 32 were sold: one pastel, one watercolour, two drawings, twelve woodcuts and sixteen lithographs.
(*) Dr Andreas Strobl, Head Curator for Nineteenth-Century Art, Staatliche Graphische Sammlung München, informs me that there are seven prints by Shannon in the collection which were acquired after the Second World War. Due to the incompleteness of the museum's database no more information is available. Andreas Strobl checked the inventories for 1907 which do mention any drawings or prints by Shannon. He reports: 'However, the entire department of English and French prints was burnt down in 1944 along with the Neue Pinakothek, where the rooms of the collection were located at the rime, they would not have been preserved anyway.' (Email from Andreas Strobl to Paul van Capelleveen, 22 October 2024).
