Bern is in agreement with the Cézannes – Culture News: Art

Suddenly, the picture was gone. In 1939, the descendants of Paul Cézanne (1839-1906) lend his work "La Montagne Sainte-Victoire" to the Lyon Museum. An image that was important to Cezanne and that he bequeathed to his daughter Marie. He had painted it in the garden of his cottage at Les Lauves near Aix-en-Provence in 1897.

In 1940 he disappeared without a trace. Nobody knows what happened then. It is only in 2014 that the painting of 73 cm by 91.5 cm reappears. By Cornelius Gurlitt, guardian of the art collection of his father Hildebrand Gurlitt (1895-1956). And that's what it's all about, and it's there that it should stay – especially …

On Tuesday, the Kunstmuseum Bern announced that it's only going to happen. was arranged with the descendants of Paul Cezanne after a one year legal battle. The descendants had demanded the return of the plant, it had been stolen from them. Now, they recognize "The Sainte-Victoire Mountain" as the property of the art museum, but have negotiated that the museum lends the work every three months to the Granet Museum in Aix-Provence.

You know it yes no

According to the board of directors and lawyer Marcel Brülhart, who negotiated for the Kunstmuseum Bern, no money was paid into the trade . "I am very happy with the solution," said Philippe Cézanne, who represented his family at the press conference.

The case shows that things are usually tricky when it comes to robbery. In the summer of 2017, German restitution researchers, who discuss the origin of Gurlitt's images, stated that the work was harmless and that it could become the property of the Kunstmuseum. Bern – like all these 1500 works of the legacy of Cornelius Gurlitt, for which there are signs of art looted.

The Cézanne family appealed. Of course, after all, the image was stolen. Perhaps. It is not known: after intensive research, the gap in the history of the picture can not be closed – a problem that affects much of the alleged pirate art cases of the 39th Nazi era. The situation is quite clear in the rarest cases.

So who owns the picture? Purely legal, the case is clear. Even if the photo has been stolen, the case is prohibited. It remains a moral obligation of the museum to properly and generously deal with the looted art of the time of National Socialist injustice – and to return images, if a suspicion is confirmed.

In the case of Montagne Sainte-Victoire, 2017 was not justified. For this, the fronts have hardened. On the family side, Walter Feilchenfeldt, the great connoisseur of art and author of Catalog raisonné Cézanne. Several lawyers were involved.

The board of directors and the lawyer Marcel Brülhart negotiated on the website of the Kunstmuseum Bern. He talks about long discussions. Due to the legal dispute, the Kunstmuseum Bern was not allowed to show the picture in its second exhibition of "Gurlitt's inventory". On Tuesday, where a replica of the copy shop used to hang, the original will hang.

Money was not an option

In similar cases, often the complaining party is financially compensated. For the Kunstmuseum Bern, it was out of the question, in principle no. "We do not have the money for that," Brülhart said. Another option would have been to sell the image and divide the product. "With a clarified provenance, we probably could have resolved a three-figure amount," says Brülhart. With the current state of research, however, much less.

But what was decisive against an auction: "The Montagne Sainte-Victoire" would have been auctioned in Asia or the United States. The Cezanne family, however, wanted to see the picture in a museum. The agreement now found is valid for thirty years. Meanwhile, if the research reveals new discoveries, a new solution, including restitution, is feasible, says Brülhart.

The director of the museum, Nina Zimmer, was also "very satisfied" with the solution. She has good reason to be happy. After all, it is the most valuable image of the Gurlitt collection

The one that could not be hung on the wall of the art museum without an intensive refresher: Cornelius Gurlitt had kept the work of Cezanne in his Salzburg house between two plates, Inappropriate storage has led to mold growth. It had to be cleaned, examined, preserved and spread. Now he hangs and makes a very good impression.

(Berner Zeitung)

created: 03.07.2018, 16:39