Heir says Cezanne watercolour in Basel show was lost due to Nazi persecution

A provenance researcher working for the heir of Jewish businessman Gustav Schweitzer says a Paul Cezanne watercolour shown at the Fondation Beyeler in Basel may have been lost due to Nazi persecution. Willi Korte found Basel public-archive documents showing Schweitzer loaned the 1888 Montagne Sainte-Victoire watercolour to the Kunsthalle Basel for a 1936 exhibition, with correspondence continuing until 1939 confirming its return to Paris, though how Schweitzer later lost ownership is unknown. The Fondation Beyeler exhibition “Cezanne,” which included 79 works, ended on 25 May; the catalogue listed the lender only as an unnamed private collector, and the museum said it will return the work to the lender while informing them of the raised suspicion. Korte urged the museum to help pursue a fair solution, while the foundation said Swiss museums cannot retain works without a legal basis and noted the piece was not listed on Germany’s lostart.de database.

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