Christoph Bernoulli Explained

Carl Christoph Friedrich Bernoulli (born 2 October 1897 in Basel; died 9 August 1981 in Rheinfelden) was a Swiss art dealer and interior designer from the Bernoulli family of scholars.

Early life

Christoph Bernoulli was born in 1897, into the well-known Bernoulli family. Son of the librarian Carl Christoph Bernoulli and Anna Bertha, née Burger,[1] he spent his childhood in Basel with two older sisters. In 1917 he began to study law in Basel and Zurich but soon switched to philosophy, music history and German literary history, completing his doctorate in 1921 on The Music of Romanticism.

In 1921 he and his father founded the music publishing house "Edition Bernoulli" in Berlin, in 1922 he was a trainee at Frankfurter Zeitung. On 4 March 1926 he married Alice.[2] The couple had two sons: Carl Christoph (1929–2011) and Peter Daniel (1936–2007). Bernoulli worked mainly as an art dealer and interior designer.

Among his acquaintances among the cultural workers in Berlin in the 1920s were the actress Eleonora von Mendelssohn and her brother, the musician Francesco von Mendelssohn. The Bernoulli couple remained friends with the von Mendelssohn siblings until their death and they visited each other frequently.[3]

Art

In 1938/1939 Bernoulli was commissioned to furnish the wine bar in the model hotel at the Swiss National Exhibition in Zurich. He collected Appenzell peasant painters and in 1941, together with Lucas Lichtenhan, organized the Swiss Folk Art exhibition at the Kunsthalle Basel.

Bernoulli helped organize exhibitions of tapestries from the High Middle Ages and of old silver at the Kunstmuseum Basel.[4]

Investigations into Nazi-era activities (1933-1945)

Switzerland was a major center for trading in Nazi-looted art[5] and numerous investigations named Christoph Bernoulli as one of the art dealers involved in this trade.[6] [7] [8]

In 1946 the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) Art Looting Intelligence Unit compiled a list of people who were allegedly involved in "looted art" trafficking in which Bernoulli appears in connection with Nazi looter Hans Wendland ("Reported also by French Police to have transacted business in Paris on Wendland's behalf.)" and the E.R.R. looting organization.[9] [10] ("Six ERR-confiscated pictures passed through his hands.")

The Swiss Bergier report commissioned by the Swiss government in 1996 to investigate Switzerland's activities during World War II, emphasized Bernoulli's role in bringing degenerate art from Germany [to] come to American museums, notably the Museum of Modern Art in New York." [11] [12]

Bernoulli had a close, long-term relationship with both Curt Valentin and Alex Vömel, the Nazi art dealer who in 1933 Aryanized the gallery of his former employer Alfred Flechtheim.[13] Vömel sold part of Flechtheim's collection through Bernoulli.[14]

The Basel Historical Museum describes Bernoulli as an "educated and sociable art connoisseur "and says that "During the time of National Socialism he supported numerous emigrants".[15]

Postwar career

Bernoulli continued his art dealing,[16] curatorial and cultural activities after the war. In 1946 Bernoulli set up the Swiss embassy in Paris, which was used as a warehouse during the war, for his friend, the historian, diplomat and writer Carl Jacob Burckhardt. In 1947 he worked on the decor of the newly created Ciba Foundation in London.[17]

In 1950/1951, Bernoulli was appointed honorary delegate for exhibition questions at the Kunsthalle Basel, where he co-organized the following exhibitions: Blauer Reiter, 1950; L'Apocalypse - Tapestries from Angers Cathedral, 1951; Old silver from a private collection in Basel, 1951; Treasures of Ancient Egyptian Art, 1953; Masterpieces of Greek Art, 1960; 125 years of landscape painting in Basel, 1964.[4] After the complete renovation, in 1955 he took over the furnishing of the Wildt'schen House on Petersplatz in Basel. During 1963/1964 he undertook to create a museum for the Baur Collection in Geneva. In 1966 he and a team organized a new Jewish museum in Basel's old town and helped set up the Antikenmuseum Basel. In 1976/77 he set up a museum in the converted Murten town mill.

In 1962, he published Schweizerische Volkskünstler[18] and in 1964 he published "Ansprache anlässlich der Eröffnung der zweiten Jubiläumsausstellung "125 Jahre Basler Landschaft" am 5. Sept. 1964 in der Kunsthalle".[19]

Bernoulli died on 9 August 1981 in Rheinfelden (AG).

Restitution claims

Several claims for restitution by the families of Jewish collectors persecuted by the Nazis involve artworks that passed through Bernoulli. One of the most famous is Léone Meyer's claim against the Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art at the University of Oklahoma for the Pissarro Shepherdess Bringing in the Sheep.[20] [21] The painting was looted by the Nazis in Paris in 1941 and has been the object of ferocious legal battles for decades.[22] [23] [24] Bernoulli acquired the looted painting, before selling it in New York.[25] After the war, Raoul Meyer tried to recover his looted paintings, and in 1953, he sued Bernoulli for its return as Nazi loot but a Swiss judge dismissed the suit, saying a five-year window for such lawsuits had passed.[26] Decades later, his granddaughter located the painting in the Fred Jones jr. Museum of Art and sued for restitution.[27]

In 2021, an heir of Lotte von Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, who was also known as Countess Charlotte von Wesdehlen, made a restitution claim against the Kunstmuseum Basel for a painting by Henri Rousseau that the museum had purchased through Bernoulli. The museum acknowledged that the Jewish art collector has been persecuted by the Nazis but refused to restitute The Muse that Inspires the Poet.[28]

Work

Monographs

Texts (selection)

Literature

External links

See also

References

  1. Web site: Dr. phil. I. Carl Christoph Rudolf BERNOULLI, 1861 - 1923. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20210503060137/https://www.myheritage.fr/names/carl_bernoulli . 2021-05-03 . 2021-05-03. www.myheritage.fr.
  2. Web site: Dodis. Diplomatische Dokumente der Schweiz Documents diplomatiques suisses Documenti diplomatici svizzeri Diplomatic Documents of Switzerland . Bernoulli, Alice. 2021-05-03. dodis.ch. en.
  3. Book: Blubacher, Thomas. Gibt es etwas Schöneres als Sehnsucht? : die Geschwister Eleonora und Francesco von Mendelssohn. 2012. Insel-Verl. 978-3-458-35813-8. 875045642.
  4. Web site: April 17, 2014. History • Kunsthalle Basel. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20210502085242/https://www.kunsthallebasel.ch/en/institution/history/. 2021-05-02. 2021-05-02. Kunsthalle Basel. en-US. Robert T. Stoll (1919–2006) studied German, art history, and archaeology in Basel and was a junior lecturer at Cambridge before taking over as director at the age of thirty. Dr. Christoph Bernoulli was assigned by the Kunstverein committee to support him as a kind of mentor. Bernoulli was behind the exhibitions of tapestries from the High Middle Ages and of old silver held during Stoll's term in office..
  5. Book: Polack, Emmanuelle. Le marché de l'art sous l'Occupation : 1940-1944. 2019. 979-10-210-2089-4. 1089004607. Annex 7: La Suisse, plaque tournante des oeuvres d'art. Les chiffres officiels de l'importation des oeuvres d'art en Suisse entre 1941 et 1944 témoignent d'une augmentation importante des objects en provenance du Reich. Ces données alimentent la thèse selon laquelle la Suisse aurait abrité une filière d'écoulement d'oeuves aux origines incertaines..
  6. Petropoulos. Jonathan. 2016-07-27. Art Dealer Networks in the Third Reich and in the Postwar Period. Journal of Contemporary History. 52. 3. 546–565. 10.1177/0022009416637417. 159830753. 0022-0094. Other key dealers who traded in looted objects include Christoph Bernoulli..
  7. Book: Buomberger, Thomas. Raubkunst, Kunstraub : die Schweiz und der Handel mit gestohlenen Kulturgütern zur Zeit des Zweiten Weltkriegs. 1998. Orell Füssli. Switzerland. Bundesamt für Kultur, Nationale Informationsstelle für Kulturgüter-Erhaltung. 3-280-02807-8. Zürich. 67,81,84,96,123,161,256,314. 40985424.
  8. Book: O'Donnell, Nicholas M.. A tragic fate : law and ethics in the battle over Nazi-looted art. 2017. 978-1-63425-733-6. Chicago, Illinois. 961009560. Bernoulli was listed on a 1946 "Index of enemy and collaborationist personnel involved in art looted recommended for exclusion from the United States".
  9. Web site: Art Looting Intelligence Unit (ALIU) Reports 1945-1946 and ALIU Red Flag Names List and Index. live. 2021-03-22. www.lootedart.com. Bernoulli, Christophe. Basle. Well known younger art dealer, of good family with strong connections. Six ERR-confiscated pictures passed through his hands. See Allied List. Close friend of Burchardt, the Swiss Ambassador to France for whom he made several trips to Paris in 1945, to arrange for redecoration of the Swiss Embassy. Reported also by French Police to have transacted business in Paris on Wendland's behalf.. https://web.archive.org/web/20090715013958/http://www.lootedart.com:80/aliu-long . 2009-07-15 .
  10. Web site: Lost Art Internet Database - Beteiligte Privatpersonen und Körperschaften am NS-Kulturgutraub - Bernoulli, Dr. Christoph. 2021-03-22. www.lostart.de.
  11. Web site: Cohan. William D.. 2011-11-17. MoMA's Problematic Provenances. live. 2021-03-22. ARTnews.com. en-US. "The highest concentration of works of degenerate art from Germany [to] come to an American museum through Valentin's influence and connections with Buchholz in Germany and Bernoulli"—art dealer Christophe Bernoulli, a longtime Valentin friend—"in Switzerland, can be found today at the Museum of Modern Art in New York," Stein concluded.. https://web.archive.org/web/20191208045636/https://www.artnews.com/art-news/news/momas-problematic-provenances-477/ . 2019-12-08 .
  12. Book: Fluchtgut--Raubgut : der Transfer von Kulturgütern in und über die Schweiz 1933-1945 und die Frage der Restitution. 2001. Chronos. Esther Tisa Francini, Anja Heuss, Georg Kreis. 3-0340-0601-2. Zürich. 50387692.
  13. Book: Tisa Francini, Esther. Fluchtgut - Raubgut : der Transfer von Kulturgütern in und über die Schweiz 1933-1945 und die Frage der Restitution. 2001. 978-3-0340-0601-9. 965432798.
  14. Web site: United States District Court Southern District of New York Michael R. Hulton and Penny R. Hulton, Plaintiffs, - against - Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen, a/k/a The Bavarian State Paintings Collections, and Freistaat Bayern, a/k/a the Free State of Bavaria, a political subdivision of a foreign state. live. 88. By that time Vömel had already begun selling Flechtheim's collection, at least in part, through Christoph Bernoulli—a Swiss art dealer, now notorious as a profiteer from art and property left behind in desperation by Jews in Germany and eventually other occupied countries—converting for his own profit what clearly belonged to the owner of the gallery, not his traitorous assistant.. https://web.archive.org/web/20210502090255/https://www.sullivanlaw.com/assets/htmldocuments/Hulton%20v.%20Bayerische%20Complaint19160002.PDF . 2021-05-02 .
  15. Web site: Details - HMB Porträt des Christoph Bernoulli gemalt von Irène Zurkinden. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20200101193336/https://www.hmb.ch/en/museums/objects-in-the-collection/details/s/portraet-des-christoph-bernoulli-gemalt-von-irene-zurkinden/. 2020-01-01. 2021-05-03. www.hmb.ch. Der universal gebildete und gesellige Kunstkenner Dr. Christoph Bernoulli (1897-1981) hatte bedeutenden Einfluss auf das Basler Kulturleben. So hat er unter anderem das Wildtsche Haus und das Jüdische Museum in Basel eingerichtet und leitete 1950-51 interimistisch die Kunsthalle. In der Zeit des Nationalsozialismus unterstützte er zahlreiche Emigranten..
  16. Web site: François Gauzi · Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec · Stiftung Sammlung E.G. Bührle. 2021-05-03. www.buehrle.ch.
  17. Web site: A PAIR OF BRASS AND PATINATED METAL CORINTHIAN COLUMN TABLE LAMPS. live. 2021-05-03. www.christies.com. en. This building was chosen by the Ciba (later Novartis) Foundation in 1947 as the location for a new charitable foundation devoted to promoting international cooperation in medical and chemical research. At its inception, the foundation commissioned Dr Christoph Bernoulli from Switzerland to furnish the building with Adam and Regency pieces in keeping with the age of the house, creating a rich collection and a stimulating environment for the many scientists - including 83 Nobel Laureates who visited the building over the following 60 years.. https://web.archive.org/web/20210503070400/https://www.christies.com/en/lot/lot-5231694 . 2021-05-03 .
  18. Book: Bernoulli, Christoph. Schweizerische Volkskünstler. 1962. [Verlag nicht ermittelbar]. [Zürich]. 2021-05-03. 2021-05-03. https://web.archive.org/web/20210503064810/https://www.swissbib.ch/Record/09048262X. dead.
  19. Book: Bernoulli, Christoph. Ansprache anlässlich der Eröffnung der zweiten Jubiläumsausstellung "125 Jahre Basler Landschaft" am 5. Sept. 1964 in der Kunsthalle. 1964. [Verlag nicht ermittelbar]. [Erscheinungsort nicht ermittelbar].
  20. Web site: French Woman Sues University of Oklahoma to Recover Nazi-Looted Art. live. 2021-03-22. www.lootedart.com. https://web.archive.org/web/20160817143807/http://lootedart.com/news.php?r=QGIN8X217021 . 2016-08-17 .
  21. Web site: World Jewish Congress. 2021-03-22. World Jewish Congress. EN. In another case, the Meyer family of France lost its art collection in 1941 in a similar theft. In 1952, their painting "shepherdess bringing in sheep" by Camille Pissarro, was found in the possession of a prominent Basel art dealer, Christoph Bernoulli. When the Meyer family attempted to negotiate its restitution, Mr. Bernoulli, offered to sell it back to them, but at full market price. Does that sound right to you? When the Meyer family brought legal action against the dealer, the Basel court held that the Meyer family could not get it back. Why? The court said the Meyers could not prove Mr. Bernoulli purchased the painting in bad faith. Case closed. The painting resurfaced again 60 years later, in 2012, in, of all places, the Fred Jones Museum at the University of Oklahoma, where it was donated as a gift..
  22. Web site: Frydman. Arthur. 2020-12-15. " La Bergère rentrant des moutons " de Pissarro restera-t-il en France ?. 2021-05-26. Le Point. fr.
  23. Web site: Perrier. Fabien. 2020-12-15. Cette bataille judiciaire derrière La Bergère rentrant des moutons de Pissarro. 2021-05-26. www.marianne.net. fr.
  24. Web site: 2021-02-08. French woman faces court threat in 'quest' to win back Nazi-looted Pissarro. 2021-05-26. the Guardian. en.
  25. Web site: 2016-02-29. Dérobé par les nazis, un Pissarro est restitué à sa propriétaire française. 2021-05-26. Connaissance des Arts. fr.
  26. Web site: French Woman Sues University of Oklahoma to Recover Nazi-Looted Art. live. 2021-05-26. www.lootedart.com. https://web.archive.org/web/20160817143807/http://lootedart.com/news.php?r=QGIN8X217021 . 2016-08-17 .
  27. Web site: French woman sues OU in hopes of recovering painting stolen by Nazis. live. 2021-05-26. www.lootedart.com. https://web.archive.org/web/20160817143510/http://lootedart.com/news.php?r=QGCPYM788001 . 2016-08-17 .
  28. Web site: Art Lawyers Association . A loss of assets due to persecution: Definitely Yes! But Restitution: No! . 2024-02-05 . www.lootedart.com.

[[Category:1981 deaths]] [[Category:1897 births]] [[Category:Swiss people]] [[Category:Interior designers]] [[Category:Art dealers]]

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