The saga took a surprising turn in June 2024, when the Bührle Foundation withdrew five paintings from the collection. Efforts are ongoing to reach a “fair and just solution” for these works with the legal heirs of the former owners, it said. Two options include returning the paintings or paying monetary compensation. The masterpieces are currently in storage. Explanatory notes explain to visitors why there are gaps on the museum wall. A sixth painting – “Young Woman in Oriental Garb” by Edouard Manet – remains in the exhibition, but the heirs of the painting’s previous Jewish owner are to receive a “symbolic settlement”. This has done little to dampen the controversy. An independent report by historian Raphael Gross has found the Bührle Foundation’s provenance research to be inadequate, saying that the foundation’s published findings relating to a total of 205 works fall short of current stand- “The Sculptor Louis-Joseph Lebœuf” (1863) by Gustave Courbet was formerly owned by the Ullsteins, a German publishing family. In 1941, Elisabeth Malek-Ullstein parted with the painting – her last remaining financial asset – to start a new life in exile. She may have used the proceeds of the sale to fund the voyage to New York. “Monet’s Garden at Giverny” (1895) by Claude Monet also used to belong to the Ullsteins. Had the family not been affected by the Nazi boycott of Jewish businesses, they probably would not have had the painting moved to Switzerland or offered for sale. “Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec” (1891) by Georges-Henri Manuel and “The Old Tower” (1884) by Vincent van Gogh were formerly owned by the Jewish art dealer Walter Feilchenfeldt. Fleeing via Amsterdam, Feilchenfeldt eventually found himself in Switzerland, where he was able to settle but not permitted to work. He sold both works to keep his family financially above water. “The Road” (1884) by Paul Gauguin belonged to German businessman Richard Semmel, who fled from the Nazis to New York via Switzerland. Emil Bührle bought the painting in 1937 at an auction in Geneva, where Semmel had submitted the work for sale. Pictures: Kunsthaus Zürich, Emil Bührle Collection ards. Gross and his team discovered that significantly more works were in Jewish ownership than previously thought: 62 instead of the 41 noted by the foundation. Further inquiries still have to ascertain how many of these paintings belonged to Jews who were pressured to sell amid Nazi persecution. THEODORA PETER revue.link/emilbuehrle Swiss Review / October 2024 / No.5 25
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