“I Always Considered Myself an Educator” - Eva-Maria Worthington on the Necessity of Scholarship in the Gallery

By Kim Cabrera and Ellen Dean • November, 2020

Eva-Maria Worthington.

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With a deep interest in and commitment to art history, German-born Eva-Maria Worthington opened Worthington Gallery in 1970 in the suburbs of Chicago before later moving to the heart of the city’s arts district. One of the premier art dealers and historians specializing in German Expressionism, Worthington has worked with collectors and institutions, developing exhibitions around the country and internationally for artists such as Max Beckmann, Wassily Kandinsky, Käthe Kollwitz, Otto Dix, and other major Expressionists. In the 1990s, Worthington risked her reputation by playing an integral role in exposing art forgers who were exhibiting works in community colleges around the country, hoping to promote the work enough to later make millions off their reproductions.

This fearless nature has been apparent throughout Worthington’s career as she followed her passions and interests first, always believing in collecting what she loved and what she hoped to educate the public to love as well.

We had the pleasure of speaking with the Chicago-based gallerist to discuss how she came to open a gallery in 1970, the ways in which the Chicago art scene has changed over the years, and the important connection between art history and collecting.

Wilhelm Lehmbruck, Geneigter Frauenkopf (Nodding Women’s Head), 1912-14, terracotta.

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When did you first become interested in the visual arts?

My father wanted to be a painter. But his father died in the flu epidemic in 1919 and there was no money, so he became a businessman. He was successful, but then the war came and we lost everything. We lived in Kassel, Germany. Kassel is known to have the most Rembrandts outside Holland. There is a beautiful Old Masters gallery and a wallpaper museum. Kassel is also the town of documenta. There was a time after the Second World War where Germans could see the new art that had blossomed since 1939. I was exposed to art early on and of course we had art history and music in school. So that’s where it all comes from.

What was your first official job in the art world?

I had started to collect all kinds of media. I was at home in Chicago, and I had an art background. I’d studied art history in Frankfurt and Paris.

Anyway, I got bored and so I decided I should open a gallery. I opened it in Winnetka, a suburb of Chicago, close to my home. When I founded the gallery in 1970, my husband, an attorney, immediately incorporated me because he was afraid I would lose the house. The gallery business is considered very risky.

How did you come to live in Chicago from Europe?

I was studying in Paris and I met my husband at the Sorbonne. When he went back to America, I went as well. We were married in Paris.

When you got to Chicago you studied literature at the University of Chicago?

Russian literature. Because I liked the professor with whom I had studied comparative literature. I loved to read, and he was a specialist in Dostoevsky and Tolstoy. I didn’t take these things very seriously, I didn’t want a degree.

1970 is when you became incorporated as a gallery. Did you move downtown at the same time, or a little bit later?

I spent a year in the suburbs, and all my friends came to the gallery, to chat only! It wasn’t the place for me, so I decided I would go downtown. I rented the space next to the Museum of Contemporary Art on Ontario Street. Later I moved the gallery to Michigan Avenue when a big space opened up next to Richard Gray Gallery. It was in the same building where several galleries were, just on the corner of Michigan and Ontario. It had huge windows where I could display photos of my artists.

In those early days, did you have a formal exhibition program? Were there any particular favorites?

Yes, we had formal exhibitions. I exhibited all the German Expressionists and also the people who are not considered completely Expressionist: Paul Klee, Kandinsky, Kollwitz (whom I’m very fond of), Max Beckmann, Otto Dix, and so on and so forth. Every six weeks, a different exhibit. I published many catalogues. We had a very vibrant art scene at that time in Chicago.

Max Beckmann, Der Nach Hause Weg- Selbstbildnis (The Way Home), Plate 2 From the Series: Die Hölle, lithograph, 1919.

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You are synonymous with expertise in German Expressionism, one of the go-to experts in that field. Was it because of your heritage that you became so emotionally attached to that genre of work, or is there another reason?

At first I was very interested in the Primitives, pre-Renaissance work. That led, somehow, to the Expressionists. I liked the colors and, of course, I speak German. To deal in German Expressionism, particularly in the works on paper, you have to know German. And I always liked it and I started collecting it, too.

You mentioned that the art scene in Chicago was very vibrant at the time. What made it special?

There were so many galleries right on Ontario Street, along with the Museum of Contemporary Art. Much of this has faded away now. The Arts Club was close to my gallery; I could just go out the back door to the Arts Club (of which I was a member). There were good galleries and people who knew what they were doing.

Do you feel there was a sense of camaraderie or community amongst the dealers at that time?

Well, you can’t call it camaraderie, because they are all competitors. But, I don’t mind that.

What do you think the biggest changes have been to the Chicago art scene and the art scene throughout the U.S.?

Fewer people are coming into the galleries and there is no art education in schools anymore. Students that have come up through the school system don’t have any knowledge about art. It used to be that everyone went to the openings. Now people don’t attend openings as much; it’s not the same thing anymore. It is similar in Europe—culture has taken a back seat to technology.

When you were first working with the German Expressionist material, did you find that it was hard for U.S. collectors to understand it?

You can’t say that people got on board very quickly. However, for instance, remember that commercial “Where’s the Beef?” The man that made that commercial became one of my big collectors. Because he was interested in faces and the German Expressionists had faces. Not just landscapes or seascapes. It’s faces! That’s where the term “expressionist” comes from, I think. And, of course, collectors came to the gallery and talked to me. They also educated themselves. It’s not the person who walks in off the street that will buy a German Expressionist artwork. You have to have a certain knowledge already, and a curiosity, an interest, that is not just always in everybody. They are usually people who know something about history, which of course is paramount in German Expressionism.

Collectors typically have an interest in history. Expressionism came to America through the immigrants. The majority of course were Jewish and they were the ones that brought that culture over here. And of course Dr. Valentiner was the big man in art history for German Expressionists. He came over before the first World War, later on he went back, but when the Nazis came, he returned to the U.S. and brought the German Expressionists with him. I always admired him because not many people liked German Expressionism in 1941 or ‘42. And of course in Chicago we had Dr. Joachim, the world famous curator at the Art Institute.

Eva-Maria Worthington at a gallery opening, c. 1995.

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Would you consider yourself a dealer first or an art historian first?

Well, it’s together. Because I also built up a collection and you never, ever should have your own collection in the field you deal in. That is wrong, supposedly. But I did it anyway because I didn’t know any better.

I always considered myself an educator. Because that’s what good dealers did. Because they sat there, in their galleries, and people could come and talk and never leave the whole afternoon, didn’t buy anything but they were talking to each other. Even some of the big collectors did that. But they don’t do that anymore. Now the internet is involved. I always say, “how would anybody buy anything from the internet?” In Expressionism you have to know the paper, etc., also different states, and media. It’s complicated.

Would you tell us about your involvement in exposing the art forgery ring?

It is an interesting story—they always wanted to make a movie about it. It was 1993. A group of international forgers were situated in Ireland and England and they had a traveling German Expressionism art show.

I got a phone call from a community college museum one day. They told me they were offered, free of charge, an exhibit of German paintings, watercolors, and prints. I said, “Who’s in it?,” and they rattled off all the famous names: Paul Klee, Kandinsky… “Free of charge?” I said, “No. Somebody is pulling your leg.”

The next thing I know, I get an envelope with a catalogue in it—it was the exhibit they were talking about, and it was right here in a suburb of Chicago. Everything was fake, everything in it. I read the story which was just too funny to be true. It had already been to 22 different community colleges. I said, “What am I going to do? These are all fakes, and they’re up there and the students are looking at the fakes!” Terrible, terrible. So I tried and called our association lawyer and he said to me: “Don’t touch it. You’ll get sued.” Well, I am not a coward.

I finally remembered I had a client, Allan Henry. He was a journalist. I called him and I said, “Henry, we have to shut them down.” He went with me to that college in Lake County and everything was a forgery, it was so bad. It was shut down.

In 1998, I got a call from the Sunday Times in London. They said, “Mrs. Worthington, you are the one who tracked down those forgers—we’re writing a big exposé and know the forger.”

They convinced me to tell them my story. Anyway, in the Sunday Times the whole story was published and the fakers exposed. But, unfortunately, some people lost a lot of money to the fakers.

Would you say that Chicago has a distinct arts and culture community separate from what you might experience in New York or LA? Are there parts of the art world that you think are uniquely successful in Chicago?

We had something called the “Hairy Who,” amongst others. Their work has been very collectible for some time. Some of those artists liked German Expressionism; Jim Nutt and Gladys Nilsson, etc. They came to my gallery and looked at my exhibits and talked to me and so on.

Artists came to the gallery. They were very, very much interested in what other artists did, which had nothing to do with themselves but they were interested in it, they were curious.

Do you have any advice for aspiring art dealers?

It will be difficult but it’s always good, when you start out if you have the Rolodex from people from your temple, your club, or whatever. You cannot start out cold, like I did, today. Of course, I must say, I had some private money, not much, but it was essential. I was always independent. And I bought my art. I put my money where my mouth was. I had a very loyal group of collectors. As a young dealer, you have to have that and you have to work hard, and you also have to write about art.

I would say you need to be a scholar to sell art. Some people don’t agree, they think the main thing is sell, sell, sell. No. I don’t think a really good gallery can do that without being art historically inclined. I love to read, you should see my library! I love the background of all the art, and I love the artists. For instance, Beckmann—I know Beckmann. To me, it’s like I know him personally. That’s why I put together these exhibitions, making catalogues and so on, because I am really very close to him. And Käthe Kollwitz, same thing there. I have published quite a few catalogues.

Eva-Maria Worthington and her daughter Claudia Hess.

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Do you have any advice for people who are just starting to collect?

Buy what you like. If you spend some money, serious money, find out the background. Buy from reputable galleries. If you think, “this is a really good deal,” it usually is too good to be true. That’s what people do, they get carried away when money is so important. I never bought anything just to sell. I bought what I liked! I bought crazy things and thought I never could sell it, but I did. I always found people who liked what I liked. Of course, I still have a lot of art. My daughter’s going crazy; she’s going to inherit everything and says, “What am I going to do! It will take me years to go through it!”

Is there anything you want to talk about that we haven’t covered yet?

I’m 51 years in business. And that is something. One person, no partnership, 51 years in the art business. And having done important exhibitions and traveling art shows in museums internationally, that is very unique. I like to make a little fun at times, too, because I think that life can be difficult for most people. Life is great and good. But, have a little levity. That’s what I believe.

All images courtesy Worthington Gallery, Chicago.