Exhibition traces origin of artworks

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Ernst Ludwig Kirchner (1880-1938): Alpsonntag. Szene am Brunnen (Scene at the Fountain), 1923-1925 Oil on canvas. Kunstmuseum Bern Kunstmuseum Bern

Johannes Itten (1888-1967): Sumpfpflanzen nach einem Gewitter (Marsh Plants after a Storm), 1916 Kunstmuseum Bern, gift from Nell Walden Kunstmuseum Bern

Franz Marc (1880-1916): Blaues Pferd (Blue Horse) II, 1911 Oil on canvas. Kunstmuseum Bern (c) 2008 Kunstmuseum Bern, Schweiz, alle Rechte vorbehalten / (c) 2008 Museum of Fine Arts Bern, Switzerland, all rights reserve

Ernst Ludwig Kirchner (1880-1936): Dünen und Meer (Dunes and Sea), 1913 Oil on canvas. Kunstmuseum Bern (c) Kunstmuseum Bern, Schweiz, alle Rechte vorbehalten / (c) Museum of Fine Arts Bern, Switzerland, all rights reserved

Pablo Picasso (1881-1973): Buveuse assoupie (Sleeping Drinker), 1902 Oil on canvas. Kunstmuseum Bern (c) 2008 Kunstmuseum Bern, Schweiz, alle Rechte vorbehalten / (c) 2008 Museum of Fine Arts Bern, Switzerland, all rights reserve

Lovis Corinth (1858-1925): Self-portrait, 1923 Oil on cardboard. Kunstmuseum Bern (c) Kunstmuseum Bern, Schweiz, alle Rechte vorbehalten / (c) Museum of Fine Arts Bern, Switzerland, all rights reserved

Franz Marc (1880-1916): Waldinneres mit Vogel (Inside a Forest with a Bird), 1912 Oil on canvas. Kunstmuseum Bern (c) 2008 Kunstmuseum Bern, Schweiz, alle Rechte vorbehalten / (c) 2008 Museum of Fine Arts Bern, Switzerland, all rights reserve

Johannes Itten (1888-1967): Tellenwacht, 1938-1947 Oil on hardboard. Kunstmuseum Bern, private loan. Kunstmuseum Bern

Otto Dix (1891-1969): Berninalandschaft (Bernina Landscapes), 1938 Oil on Pavatex Kunstmuseum Bern, Othmar Huber Foundation, Bern; gift from Helga and Rolf Marti (c) 2008 Kunstmuseum Bern, Schweiz, alle Rechte vorbehalten / (c) 2008 Museum of Fine Arts Bern, Switzerland, all rights reserve

Paul Camenisch (1893-1970): Frühlingserwachen (Spring Awakening), 1926 Oil on canvas. Kunstmuseum Bern, gift from Charles Woerler (c) Kunstmuseum Bern, Schweiz, alle Rechte vorbehalten / (c) Museum of Fine Arts Bern, Switzerland, all rights reserved

Paul Klee (1879-1940): Tor im Garten (Gate in the Garden), 1926 Oil paint on cardboard nailed on a stretcher. Kunstmuseum Bern, collection of Professor Dr. Max Huggler (c) Kunstmuseum Bern, Schweiz, alle Rechte vorbehalten / (c) Museum of Fine Arts Bern, Switzerland, all rights reserved

August Macke (1887-1914): Gartenrestaurant (Garden Restaurant) Oil on canvas. Kunstmuseum Bern, Hermann and Margrit Rupf-Stiftung (c) 2008 Kunstmuseum Bern, Schweiz, alle Rechte vorbehalten / (c) 2008 Museum of Fine Arts Bern, Switzerland, all rights reserve

Kurt Schwitters (1887-1948): Ausgerenkte Kräfte (Dislocated Forces) Assemblage (wood, metal spring, cloth, paper, collage), oil on board on a wooden box constructed by the artist. Kunstmuseum Bern, collection of Professor Dr. Max Huggler (c) 2008 Kunstmuseum Bern, Schweiz, alle Rechte vorbehalten / (c) 2008 Museum of Fine Arts Bern, Switzerland, all rights reserve

Ernst Barlach: Begegnung (Wiedersehen)/Meeting (Reunion), 1924/1926 Bronze Kunstmuseum Bern, Othmar Huber Foundation (c) Kunstmuseum Bern, Schweiz, alle Rechte vorbehalten / (c) Museum of Fine Arts Bern, Switzerland, all rights reserved

Oskar Schlemmer (1888-1943): Reihung (Ranking) Crayon and pencil on thick paper. Kunstmuseum Bern, Association of Friends Kunstmuseum Bern

William Wauer (1866-1962): Der Blitzreiter (The Lightning Rider) Metal Kunstmuseum Bern, gift from Nell Walden Prolith AG

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The Kunstmuseum Bern is aiming to lead the way for Swiss museums in provenance research, a decision prompted by its inheritance of Cornelius Gurlitt’s controversial collection. With its exhibition “New Masters”, it is coming clean on its own stash of art.

“New Masters” will trace the routes paintings by artists such as Franz Marc, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Paul Klee and Otto Dix took to enter the Kunstmuseum’s collection. Of 525 artworks acquired by the museum after 1933 and produced before 1945, there are gaps in the ownership history of 337, the Berner Zeitung reported. The museum plans to begin a provenance research project this year, Kunstmuseum director Matthias Frehner told the newspaper. This is “an enormous task,” he said.

Some artworks may eventually need to be returned to heirs of the original pre-war owners. One Kirchner painting, for example – “Dunes and Sea”, acquired by the Kunstmuseum in the year 2000 – was seized from a German museum as part of the Nazi campaign against “degenerate art”. While artworks that belonged to German museums are not subject to restitution claims, researchers are investigating whether this particular painting was a loan from a private owner who should therefore get it back.

The museum is still waiting to hear whether it will inherit Cornelius Gurlitt’s controversial art collection. When Cornelius Gurlitt died in 2014, he bequeathed about 1,500 artworks that he had stashed in his two homes to the Kunstmuseum. An elderly cousin challenged his will and a Munich court has yet to rule on whether Gurlitt, who inherited the hoard from his father, was mentally fit enough to draw up a testament.

The Kunstmuseum has said it wants nothing to do with any works in the collection that are suspected of being looted by the Nazis. So far, five artworks in the Gurlitt cache have been identified as Nazi plunder and recommended for restitution to the original Jewish owners.

The Bern museum is teaming up with the Bundeskunsthalle in Bonn to organise a dual exhibition of the Gurlitt collection to open this winter and run into 2017.

(Text: Catherine Hickley. Follow the author on Twitter: CathyHickleyExternal link. Hickley is the author of The Munich Art Hoard, which tells the extraordinary story of the Gurlitt Collection.)