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Max Liebermann was one of the most important artists of Modernism and one of the most important representatives of German Impressionism. He was also one of the most sought-after portrait painters of his time. Many members of the upper middle classes commissioned him to paint their portraits.

In 1921, presumably to mark his 50th birthday, Felix Benjamin commissioned a portrait of himself from Max Liebermann. The painting hung in the entrance hall of the Benjamin family home. The half-length portrait shows Benjamin in a natural and relaxed pose, seated in a simple armchair. His dark suit stands out against the neutral background with few details, and his hands are also captured in simple brushstrokes. The focus of the painting is on the sitter's finely modelled face and friendly expression.

Felix Benjamin (1871-1943) was a successful businessman who lived with his family in a prestigious villa in Berlin. He was co-owner of the coal and steel company Rawack & Grünfeld, which had been founded by the family of his wife, Ida Benjamin, née Grünfeld (1873-1943).

The Benjamin and Grünfeld families were of Jewish descent and were racially persecuted by the Nazis. In 1935, the family was forced to part with their villa. Much of the furniture was auctioned off in January and February 1935. Further forced removals within Berlin followed, and the Benjamins were forced to downsize their household.

In 1937, Felix Benjamin's company was aryanised and he was stripped of his partnership and management. During this time he also lost his art collection, which included the portrait of Max Liebermann.

Felix Benjamin was deported to the Theresienstadt concentration camp on 17 March 1943. He was murdered there in April 1943. His wife, Ida Benjamin, who had been living in a sanatorium near Breslau since 1940, was deported to Theresienstadt shortly after her husband, where she died on 11 July 1943. The four daughters of the Benjamin family managed to escape Nazi persecution by emigrating to the USA and Canada between 1937 and 1939.

The descendants of Felix and Ida Benjamin approached the Von der Heydt Museum in 2020 with a request to verify the provenance of the portrait of Felix Benjamin acquired in 2002. The city of Wuppertal recognised their claim and returned the painting in 2023.

Thanks to the Benjamin family's concession, it was possible to reacquire the work with funds from the Von der Heydt Foundation. In the museum, it will keep alive the importance of remembering the Holocaust and honouring the victims.