Kurzfassung

Curt Valentin and Otto Kallir-Nirenstein, two of the most important dealers of modernist art in the twentieth century, helped transform the American museum landscape. Yet they also engaged in a series of dubious activities that involved the National Socialist regime: despite being Jewish, both dealers established a modus Vivendi with the Nazi authorities that enabled them to export artworks from the Reich. This included works purged from German state collections, and those known as "flight goods," where persecuted Jews sold their possessions under duress. Valentin and Kallir enriched themselves in the process. Despite ethically dubious activities, they have been celebrated in the art world and hitherto avoided a critical scholarly examination.