Max Stern (1904-1987) was a German-Canadian arts benefactor, art historian, and owner of Montreal's landmark Dominion Gallery (in French, Galerie Dominion).
Max Stern was born in Mönchen-Gladbach, Germany, in April 1904. His father, Julius Stern, was a German-born Jew who worked in the textile industry, and later went into business as an art dealer. Before Max was born, his father was a prestigious art collector, and by World War I, had become one of the most prominent gallery owners in Düsseldorf. For this reason, Max led a privileged childhood, immersed in Germanic culture. He had his family’s full support in pursuing his doctoral studies in art history. He studied in Cologne, Berlin, Vienna and Paris, and earned his doctorate from the University of Bonn in 1928. He then decided to become the Stern Gallery manager. His father died in 1934 and Max became the new gallery owner.
Stern’s ambitions grew once he became gallery owner. He hoped to one day operate galleries in Düsseldorf, London and New York City. Eventually with the help of his sister and the Dutch art historian Cornelius van de Wetering, Stern managed to open a gallery in London. The official opening occurred in 1935.
Unfortunately, Stern’s future plans were disrupted with the rise of Nazism in Germany. He received notification from the Reich Chamber of Fine Arts that he had lost his professional accreditation, and was given four weeks to either sell or dissolve all holdings within the Galerie Stern. He appealed the mandate, while trying to find a suitable Aryan citizen to assume ownership. While the gallery was temporarily “Aryan”, Stern planned to open another outside Germany and wait out the Third Reich. To achieve these means, he chose Dutch art historian Nathan Katz.