From Jewish artist to yank works from Swiss museum over Nazi-era collection
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GENEVA — A Jewish artist plans to pull her paintings from one of Switzerland’s largest art museums over its decision to permanently house a controversial Nazi-era collection, according to media reports.
Swiss artist Miriam Cahn writes a letter, published today by the Jewish weekly Tachles, saying she no longer wanted her work displayed at Zurich’s Kunsthaus museum.
“I don’t want to be represented by this Kunsthaus and want to withdraw all of my paintings from it,” she writes.
The controversy centers on one of Europe’s most prestigious private art collections, which was acquired by industrialist Emil Buhrle during World War II, and which has been on display at Kunsthaus since October.
The decision by one of the country’s biggest museums to permanently house the collection, previously displayed at a discreet private museum on the outskirts of Zurich, has rekindled debate over long-simmering suspicions around the provenance of some pieces.
Buhrle (1890-1956) amassed a fortune selling weapons to both the Nazis and the Allies during the war, using his wealth to buy around 600 artworks by the end of his life.
The Buhrle Foundation itself confirms that 13 paintings bought by the German-born industrialist, who later acquired Swiss citizenship, had been stolen by the Nazis from Jewish owners in France.
Following a series of court cases after the war, Buhrle in the 1940s returned all 13 pieces to their rightful owners then repurchased nine of them, the foundation said.
The Times of Israel Community.