A future for the past.

A future for the past. – The exhibition focuses on different - and contradictory - perspectives on the historical context in which the arms manufacturer and patron Emil G. Bührle built up his collection: it highlights the biographies of former owners of individual works, whose sale took place under questionable circumstances today, and the question of how a differentiated approach to history can succeed in the immediate present.

The Emil Bührle Collection contains numerous unique works of great art-historical value. At the same time, it is extremely controversial due to the history of its creation. This dichotomy must be acknowledged. The Kunsthaus Zürich is of the opinion that this collection should be shown: The works have no part in the inconceivable injustice committed by the National Socialists. But they bear witness to it. They can thus be an occasion to commemorate the victims of Nazi terror, to evoke their fates and to reflect critically on Switzerland's role in the Second World War.

The exhibition is a first step in a longer process. It raises questions, but can only provide initial answers. It outlines the historical context in which the Emil Bührle Collection was created and presents the close links between the Zürcher Kunstgesellschaft and Emil Bührle. It shows the current state of provenance research into the history of some of the works that belonged to Jewish collectors who were victims of Nazi persecution. The Kunsthaus wants to talk about these issues.


Note: This text was translated by machine translation software and not by a human translator. It may contain translation errors.