Dražby mobiliářů z konfiskovaných moravskoslezských zámků : výstavní a aukční síň Karel Ditrich Brno v letech 1948–1950

The movement and the state-organised sale of artistic assets confiscated from private properties after 1945 on the authority of decrees issued by the President of Czechoslovakia is an area of research that is topical but as yet remains largely unexplored. This paper is based on research that was conducted on the extensive archive fonds of the Karel Ditrich Exhibition and Auction House that are kept in the Moravian Provincial Archives in Brno. The comprehensiveness with which this collection has been preserved makes it an extremely valuable source for historical research and research on the provenance of items. It is uniquely able to offer a three-dimensional picture of the dramatic period between 1947 and 1950 when this business underwent two transformations in its proprietary status: from a private business to a business controlled by national administrators and then to a branch in the monopoly network that operated under Obchodní domy Antikva (Antikva Department Stores), a state enterprise. From the archive materials it is possible to reconstruct the circumstances of the auctioning of seized artistic assets that accumulated there over the course of three years from almost all over Moravia and Silesia (four dozen localities). Inventories and accounts from individual castles and the residences and large estates of nobles expelled from Czechoslovakia offer a comprehensive picture of the amount, nature, and value of dislocated art pieces and of objects that through the intervention of state organs were designed to be placed in museum institutions. The paper also offers a portrait of the contradictory figure Karel Ditrich (1913–?), the original owner of the auction house, and also a coin collector, dealer, and expert, presented against the backdrop of his impressive domestic and international contacts and the political show trial of Rudolf Slánský under way at that time.