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After entering the collection of the Gemäldegalerie in Dresden, this painting was confiscated in 1937 by the German National Socialist (Nazi) government. The Nazi government disapproved of the use of abstract and distorted forms and this painting was confiscated as part of an effort to remove such so-called "degenerate" art from German national museums. Between August and October 1937, over sixteen thousand works of modern art were removed from German museums. Many of these works were subsequently destroyed.
On Nov. 17, 1938, Ferdinand Möller was one of four German art dealers appointed by Hitler to the Verwertungskommission (disposal commission) to sell the confiscated "degenerate" art on the international art market. The works or the funds from their sale were often exchanged for art by the European Old Masters. Between 1938 and 1941, these dealers sold or traded thousands of works of modern art that might have otherwise been destroyed by the Nazis.
After World War II ended Ferdinand Möller kept the painting in his private collection, leaving it to his widow upon his death. Mrs. Maria Möller-Garny sold the painting to the Seattle Art Museum in 1968.
Because this painting was removed from a state-funded museum by the government in power, it was a legal seizure at the time. On January 24, 1938, Hitler issued a retroactive decree that museums would not be compensated for the losses of "degenerate" art. The Gemäldegalerie in Dresden museum is aware that the Kirchner is in the SAM collection (SAM correspondence, 1989-2006).
Labels on the back of the painting are as follows:
1] "Kunstverein für die Rheinlande und Westfalen; Düsseldorf Alleestrasse; Ausstellung Kirchner; Katalog Nr. 78."
2] "Nr. 2000; E.L. Kirchner; "Frau und Mädchen"; Galerie Ferdinand Möller, Köln."
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