César Mange de Hauke

César Mange de Hauke (8 March 1900 – 15 June 1965) was a French art dealer. His name has also been spelled de Haucke and de Hawke. "Exhibition of paintings, pastels, drawings... by Odilon Redon, november 1928, organized by De Hauke & Co. Inc.", New York, De Hauke & Co. Inc., 1928

Early life Son of a Franco-Swiss engineer, Francis Mange (1856–1931), director of works for the Panama Canal in the 1890s, and of a mother of Polish origin born in Florence, Countess Marie von Hauke (1864–1942), César Mange de Hauke was sent very young to an English school, St. Ronan's School, in Hawkhurst, Kent, from 1911 to 1913.

Later, to train himself in art, he attended the Drawing Room of the British Museum, an institution to which he bequeathed, after his death, sixteen pieces from his collection of graphic arts.

Back in France, he got closer to artistic circles, in particular decorators. He was close to Paul Poiret's sister, Nicole Groult. He is interested in the work of Jean Dunand, Pierre-Émile Legrain, André Mare, Maurice Marinot, Jacques-Émile Ruhlmann.

Art dealing partnerships In 1926 he arrived in the USA worked for Jacques Seligmann & Co., Inc., as a sales representative. Seligmann financed a subsidiary company for him, initially called International Contemporary Art Company, Inc and later changed to Hauke & Co., Inc. Hauke was the director. The company sold mainly in the United States artworks that were acquired in Paris and London. In 1930 De Hauke & Co., Inc., became Modern Paintings, Inc, and in 1931 De Hauke resigned and returned to Paris.

The gallery De Hauke & Co. became known to the American public, through its exhibitions, Pierre Bonnard (1928), Jacques Mauny (1930), Modigliani (1929), Odilon Redon (1928), Ker-Xavier Roussel, Edouard Vuillard, the movement cubist (1930). The works were sometimes acquired in association with other dealers, such as Roland Balaÿ, Étienne Bignou, Paul Brame, Valentine Dudensing, Knoedler, Pierre Matisse, Alex Reid & Lefèvre, etc.

In 1941 de Hauke established a partnership with Paul Brame.

Nazi-looted art De Hauke's name appears among the dealers reported by the OSS Art Looting Investigation Unit in 1946 for suspected involvement in Nazi-looted art.

De Hauke's name appears in several artworks with provenance gaps between 1933–1945, including in the UK Collections Trust Spoliation Reports. The name of his partner, Paul Brame appears in the French MNR as well as other provenance research projects.

According to Harvard Magazine, Hubertus Czernin, writing in the Viennese newspaper Der Standard of February 28, described him as a "collaborator of art plunderers".

Investigated after the war, de Hauke was placed on a list of persons to be barred from entry to the United States. However a misspelling of his name enabled him to obtain the necessary papers.

Postwar activity According to art historian Jonathan Petropoulos, de Hauke was friends with the Monuments Man officer Tom Howe and maintained a warm correspondence with him after World War II.

De Hauke was the author of the complete catalogue of Georges Seurat, published in 1961. He gave his collection of French drawings to the British Museum.

Family Mange de Hauke had a younger brother, Roland (born in 1902), father of Marie-Claude Irène Mange Erskine and Ariane Mange Peeters, heirs to their uncle.

Works from the donation to the National Gallery (1968)

Paul-André Lemoisne, Degas et son œuvre, Paris : Arts et Métiers graphiques, "Les artistes et leurs œuvres", 1949, 4 vol. César M. de Hauke, Seurat et son œuvre, Paris : Gründ, "Les artistes et leurs œuvres", 1961, 2 vol. Madeleine Grillaert Dortu, Toulouse-Lautrec et son œuvre, New York : Collectors éd., "Les artistes et leurs œuvres", 1971, 6 vol.