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Tuesday, February 28, 2023

Kunsthaus Zurich: Collections and Provenance

 The Zurich Kunsthaus has a new modern addition called the Chipperfield Building.  It houses two collections on loan, the Merzbacher collection and pieces from the Bührle Foundation.  While Werner and Gabriele Merzbacher were able to survive the war in Switzerland, their families were not so lucky and many died in German camps.  The Merzbachers created a collection mainly of "French Fauvism and German Expressionism that celebrates the vibrancy and expressive power of color."  There seems to be no questions about provenance and the Merzbachers state that they are grateful and want to give back to Switzerland.

https://www.kunsthaus.ch/en/sammlung/private-sammlungen/merzbacher/



Andre Derain, Boats in the Port of Collioure, 1905.

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, In the Greenery (Woman Seated in a Garden), 1890-91.



On the other hand, Emil Bührle was a German who obtained Swiss citizenship and ran a munitions company near Zurich.  The arms company supplied Germany and other Axis powers during the war, employed thousands of people, made up almost a fifth of Swiss total exports, and made Bührle the wealthiest man in the country.  He amassed art and became one of the biggest benefactors of the Zurich Kunsthaus.   There are issues of provenance.  Also, questions about the documented use of forced labor in his factories.  One senses that the whole story is not told by the museum, and that they cannot afford to tell the whole story.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emil_Georg_B%C3%BChrle









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