Prof. Dr. Langfeld was appointed as a specialist in international modernism at the University of Amsterdam in 2011.

One of his main areas of interest is modern German art, in particular the interaction between art, politics, and society during specific periods, not least the years of National Socialism. His interest also extends to the history of art collecting and in the evolution of distinct canons within modern European art. His aim is to understand why the works of certain artists, art and art movements are included in the canon, and regarded as authoritative, whilst others are largely ignored.

Gregor Langfeld was born in Germany and has lived in Amsterdam since 1989. He was the managing editor at Castrum Peregrini, the publishing house originally founded by artists, writers, and intellectuals who fled Nazi Germany, and also acted as editor of the review Castrum Peregrini, which was devoted to art, literature, and cultural history. In addition, he studied art history and literary theory at the Free University Amsterdam; his MA thesis investigated the 'philosophico-aesthetic' principle of romantic irony in the literary and expressive work of the Dadaist artist Kurt Schwitters.

Gregor Langfeld began extensive research into the reception of modern German art in the Netherlands, focusing predominantly on the manner in which it was initially collected. All the major Dutch modern art museums participated in the research, resulting in the publication of the book and corresponding exhibition Duitse Kunst in Nederland: Verzamelen, tentoonstellen, kritieken, 1919-1964 (Gemeentemuseum The Hague/Groningen Museum). His Ph.D. at Leiden University was primarily concerned with the procedures relating to canonisation in modern art. The subsequent dissertation was entitled Die Kanonisierung moderner deutscher Kunst in New York, 1904-1957, and it was later published in 2011 by Reimer Verlag (Deutsche Kunst in New York. Vermittler – Kunstsammler – Ausstellungsmacher, 1904–1957) and in 2015 in English by Amsterdam University Press (German Art in New York: The Canonization of Modern Art, 1904–1957). In 2015, Gregor edited the catalogue for the exhibition The Stedelijk Museum and the Second World War, resulting from his earlier research on the provenance of the museum's collection.

Research interests focus on canon formation; the histories of collecting and exhibition; migration; and provenance research and restitution, with particular attention to how cultural narratives are constructed, contested, and reshaped.

Current book projects include Taboo in Cultural Heritage: Reverberations of Colonialism and National Socialism; Infrastructures of Selling Modern and Contemporary Art in Socialism and Postsocialism; and a scholarly edition of the correspondence between artists George Grosz and Herbert Fiedler. In addition, together with Klaas Stutje, he serves as section editor for “War, Looting and Restitution” in The Palgrave Encyclopedia of Cultural Heritage and Conflict.

Gregor Langfeld: Deutsche Kunst in New York. Vermittler - Kunstsammler - Ausstellungsmacher, 1904-1957.

Berlin: Reimer Verlag, 2011. 240 pp.

Gregor Langfeld: German Art in New York: The Canonization of Modern Art between 1904 and 1957.

Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press, 2015. 232 pp.

Gregor Langfeld et al. ( Ed.): The Stedelijk Museum and the Second World War.

Amsterdam: Bas Lubberhuizen/Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, 2015.

Gregor Langfeld et al. (Ed.): Het Stedelijk in de oorlog.

Amsterdam: Bas Lubberhuizen/Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, 2015.

Gregor Langfeld: Duitse kunst in Nederland. Verzamelen, tentoonstellen, kritieken, 1919-1964.

The Hague: Gemeentemuseum, and Zwolle: WaandersUitgevers, 2004. 408 pp.

This book presents the turbulent history of the collections of modern German art in Dutch museums during three distinct periods: 1919-33, 1934-45, and 1946-64. In addition to the focus of the museums' collections and exhibition policies regarding German art, the book discusses the role of artists, gallery owners, private art collectors, patrons, and other promoters of modern art.

Selected Articles

• "'Hitler hield niet van groene luchten': Kentering in de waardering van de Duitse avant-garde in Nederland na 1945." Jong Holland, vol. 18, no. 2 (2002).

• "Die Rezeption des Expressionismus in den Niederlanden." Nolde im Dialog: 1905-1913 . Exhibition catalogue. Karlsruhe: Städtische Galerie, in collaboration with the Stiftung Seebüll Ada und Emil Nolde, and Munich: Hirmer Verlag (2002).

• "Vier kunsthandelaren van moderne Duitse kunst in Nederland." Nederland en Duitsland in het interbellum: Wisselwerking en contacten: van politiek tot literatuur . Frits Boterman and Marianne Vogel, eds. Hilversum: Uitgeverij Verloren (2003).

• "Paula Modersohn-Becker in den Niederlanden." Paula Modersohn-Becker (1876-1907) . Exhibition catalogue. Rotterdam: Chabot Museum (2006).

• "Bij de Max Beckmann tentoonstelling in Amsterdam." De Witte Raaf , vol. 22, no. 129 (2007). Also available online: http://www.dewitteraaf.be/artikel/detail/nl/3228 .

• "German Art in the Netherlands Before and After World War II." Avant-Garde and Criticism . ( Avant-Garde Critical Studies , vol. 21.) Amsterdam and New York: Rodopi (2007).

• "Max Beckmann und seine Zeit: Aus Anlaß der Amsterdamer/Münchner Ausstellung." Kunstchronik , vol. 61, no. 3 (2008).    
• "Rudolf Bauer tussen Berlijn en New York." Simulacrum, vol. 21, no. 1 (2012).
• ''Expressionist Visions of Utopia." Utopia 1900-1940: Visions of a New World. Rotterdam: nai010 (2013).
• "Bedeutungsveränderung und Kanonisierung des deutschen Expressionismus in den USA." The Aesthetics of Matter: Modernism, the Avant-Garde and Material Exchange (European Avant-Garde and Modernism Studies). Berlin/Boston: De Gruyter (2013).
• "How the Museum of Modern Art in New York canonised German Expressionism." Journal of Art Historiography, 11, 1-13 (2014).
• "What Art Works 'Did in the War': Nine Provenances Illuminated." In G. Langfeld et al. (Ed.), The Stedelijk Museum and the Second World War (pp. 141-166, 182-183). Amsterdam: Bas Lubberhuizen/Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam (2015).
• Dutch translation: "Het 'oorlogsverleden' van kunstwerken: negen herkomstgeschiedenissen uitgelicht." In G. Langfeld et al. (Ed.), Het Stedelijk in de oorlog (pp. 141-166, 182-183). Amsterdam: Bas Lubberhuizen/Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam (2015).
• "Art by Exiled Germans in the Stedelijk Museum." In G. Langfeld et al. (Ed.), The Stedelijk Museum and the Second World War (pp. 77-100, 177-179). Amsterdam: Uitgeverij Bas Lubberhuizen/Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam (2015).
• Dutch translation: "Kunst van Duitse vluchtelingen in het Stedelijk Museum." In G. Langfeld et al. (Ed.), Het Stedelijk in de oorlog (pp. 77-100, 177-179). Amsterdam: Bas Lubberhuizen/Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam (2015).

Selected Lectures

Association of Art Historians (London), Columbia University (New York), Duitsland Instituut Amsterdam, Emerson College, Freie Universität Berlin, Van Gogh Museum, Gemeentemuseum Den Haag, Galerie Beck & Eggeling (Düsseldorf), Genootschap Nederland Duitsland, Getty Research Institute (Los Angeles), Goethe-Institut, Groninger Museum, Harvard Art Museum (Cambridge, MA), Koninklijke Schouwburg Den Haag, Leiden University, Nederlandse Publieke Omroep (television), Open University, Richard-Schöne-Gesellschaft für Museumsgeschichte (Berlin), Netherlands Institute for Art History (The Hague), University of Groningen, Spui25, Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, Universität Hamburg (Warburg-Haus), Utrecht University en Volksuniversiteit.

Gregor Langfeld teaches across the full range of BA and MA courses in Art History and is closely involved in the MA specialization Looted Objects and Restitution. He also coordinates these two master’s programmes.

In addition to supervising BA and MA theses, he supervises PhD research projects in the fields of art history, provenance research, and restitution.

Research interests focus on canon formation; the histories of collecting and exhibition; migration; and provenance research and restitution, with particular attention to how cultural narratives are constructed, contested, and reshaped.

Current book projects include Taboo in Cultural Heritage: Reverberations of Colonialism and National Socialism; Infrastructures of Selling Modern and Contemporary Art in Socialism and Postsocialism; and a scholarly edition of the correspondence between artists George Grosz and Herbert Fiedler. In addition, together with Klaas Stutje, he serves as section editor for “War, Looting and Restitution” in The Palgrave Encyclopedia of Cultural Heritage and Conflict.

He coordinates the research groups Looted Art: Provenance Research and Restitution in the Netherlands (https://ahm.uva.nl/content/research-groups/looted-art-provenance-research-and-restitution-in-the-netherlands/looted-art-provenance-research-and-restitution-in-the-netherlands.html) and (Un)mapping Infrastructures: Transnational Perspectives on Modern Art, 1900-1970 (https://ahm.uva.nl/content/research-groups/unmapping-infrastructures/unmapping-infrastructures.html).