Exterminating Cubism: Bochisme, L'Art Juif and the Vilification of Daniel-Henry Kahnweiler

Daniel-Henry Kahnweiler opens an illuminating window onto the differenthatreds and anxieties projected onto the Jewish dealer in the early twentieth century, hatreds and anxieties that were inseparable from the equation of Jews with unwanted elements of the avant-garde. A committed socialist who supported Jean Jaurès, participated in socialist demonstrations, vigorously endorsed egalitarianism, embraced the philosophy of Immanuel Kant and who identified himself as an agnostic, international radical, Kahnweiler refused to align himself with the tried-and-tested trade in Old Masters associated with more conservative art dealers. Despite acknowledging their participation in the commerce de tableaux throughout the nineteenth century, Kahnweiler also refused to conceive of Jews like him having any special proficiency for art dealing, since the two art dealers that he most admired were not Jewish: Paul Durand-Ruel and Ambroise Vollard. ‘These are my only true masters,’ confessed Kahnweiler.