(Vienna 1885–1945 New York) ‘Die schwarze Katze’, circa 1931, signed Mopp, oil on canvas, 39 x 55 cm, framed, (K)

Stamp on the stretcher: Leopold Hess ... (Mal- u. Zeichenutensilien, Berlin W35, Genthiner Str. 29, stamp on the frame: W. Gohlke, Berlin W.57, Potsdamer Str. 84a.
This picture was included in the catalogue raisonné by Marie-Agnes von Puttkamer.

Comparative works: Marie-Agnes von Puttkamer, Max Oppenheimer 1885–1954, Leben und malerisches Werk, mit einem Werkverzeichnis der Gemälde, Böhlau Verlag, 1999, p. 267, no. 181.

Provenance: Dorotheum Vienna, auction of art, 4 Oct 1949, cat. no. 102;
Private Ownership, Vienna

In 1923 Oppenheimer exhibited at the Wahlgebäude in Geneva. He had had his valuable violin repaired in Zurich and proudly informed his brother about the inscription: ‘Antonius et Hieronymus fr. Amati Andreae fil. fex. Cremonem ANNO 1606.’ Oppenheimer was accorded a place of honour for his large-format Orchesterbild at the Salon d’Automne held at the Grand Palais in Paris (...)
By this time, he was thinking querulously about leaving Switzerland, “this boring country”. Should he move to Vienna, he would want to bring his pupils with him, “two of them show great promise.” He wrote to Arthur Roessler, “I have been moving around Europe for 12 years, live in a place for around 2 to 3 years, only to spend time elsewhere for a period of time. - All of that costs a crazy amount of money and one falls into oblivion forgotten by everyone.”
After a great deal of prevarication, he moved to Vienna in early 1924, where he moved into a studio in the garden of the Palais Schwarzenberg. The Hagenbund held a comprehensive solo exhibition of Oppenheimer’s work between September and October in the Zedlitzhalle, which subsequently travelled to the Galerie Rudolphinum in Prague. Of the 111 works shown in total there were 35 oil paintings. The Österreichische Staatsgalerie acquired the original version of the Klinglerquartett of 1916. The Bruno Cassirer Verlag published, Das graphische Werk von Max Oppenheimer, written by Alfred Stix and Max Osborn. Despite the generally unfavourable conditions at the time, the artist was still enjoying success in 1925. Oppenheimer exhibited his ‘Orchesterbild’ at the III Biennale in Rome. Writing to a correspondent in Vienna, he reported, “Despite major and minor, my orchestra is a sensation in Rome and the Italian painters like it very much, above all, the Futurists (Marinetti, Prampolini). They have invited me to exhibit collectively with them in (19)27.” Oppenheimer was appointed vice president of the recently formed Bundes Österreichischer Künstler (generally known as the new Kunstschau). He exhibited with this group at the Künstlerhaus in Vienna. After a stay of almost two years in Vinna, he moved to Berlin in December, spending Christmas Eve with Heinrich Mann and his family. Against the backdrop of the comprehensive Oppenheim exhibition at the Galerie Casper in Munich in 1926, an article by Thomas Mann appeared in the Berliner Tageblatt on 12 January with a flattering description of the large Orchesterbild. During the course of this year, works by Oppenheim could be seen in Berlin at Paul Cassirer’s and in the Galerie Arnold in Dresden. The Berlin Nationalgalerie acquired the portrait of the musician, Ferruccio Busoni (...) Oppenheimer’s relationship with his home city continued to be ambiguous. When an article by his brother was all but ignored, Oppenheimer attempted to console him with the words that he “would certainly have come across differently in Berlin, than in our rather gaga, but very pleasant home town.” Simultaneously, Oppenheimer was yearning for the “old-fashioned, still somewhat slow Vienna”, lamenting about “struggling and struggling again”. However, it seems to have paid off. In 1927 he was working on several oil paintings at the same time, “including a larger one, a six-day race known as the Kurve, and some small still-life-like paintings.” It was a feature of his time in Berlin that the repertoire of his motifs expanded.(...)
The Hamburger Kunsthalle showed his work. In 1930 the art publishing house, Ludwig Müller in Lübeck reproduced the Klinglerquartett belonging to the Österreichische Galerie. Oppenheimer was made a corresponding member of the Viennese Hagenbund. In 1931 the Kunsthaus Zürich showed a comprehensive group of Oppenheimer’s work between November and December. Oppenheimer considered moving to Germany. However, he was right to fear that the opportunities for earning his living in Vienna were rarer than in Berlin. In October, he reasoned, “I have begun a new violin quartet and I had four Stradivari instruments, costing around a million, which find buyers as rarely as my picture probably will, even if it turns out to be as good as the master instruments themselves.” In November, he wrote to his brother in Vienna, “(I) will try to find a small place somewhere where I can work peacefully. - The economic hardship in Germany does not allow anyone to earn anything, at least not in my area for the foreseeable future.” On the other hand, he admitted, “I would prefer to live in Germany. However, only the conflict between those on the right and those on the left, which must come, however short and unbloody it might be, will provide clarity about that.’ With clear-sightedness politically, the artist left Berlin at the end of the year. In spring 1932 Oppenheimer arrived in Vienna. The Viennese Künstlerhaus exhibited numerous works by Oppenheim in its autumn show from November 1932 to January 1933, including more than thirty oil paintings. An entry about Oppenheimer by Otto Brattskoven appeared in the artists’ dictionary, Thieme-Becker. In October 1933 Oppenheimer rented a studio in Vienna 3, Neulinggasse 39, which he retained until he emigrated ...
G. Tobias Natter, Chronik, Maximilian Oppenheimer Mopp, Jüdisches Museum der Stadt Wien, 1994