Research on the Museum Collection

Provenance research is concerned with the circumstances of ownership-transfer for individual artworks and the history of the collection. This includes all items in the museum’s collection, which were created before 1945, and which have joined the holdings of the Kunstmuseum Bern since 1933. The Cornelius Gurlitt Estate is a particular focus in the collection.

Through its exhibits, public events and educational programs, the Kunstmuseum Bern offers frequent insight into provenance research. The Provenance-Research Department continues to be financially supported by private foundations.

Provenance research on the Collection of the Kunstmuseum Bern

Currents projects

Project period Phase 1: 1 September 2025 – 28 August 2026
As part of the project, six works from the collection of the Kunstmuseum Bern will be examined in depth with regard to their ownership history. The starting point is information from earlier research that revealed gaps in provenance in the years between 1933 and 1945, as well as conspicuous circumstances surrounding the respective changes of ownership. The aim is to reconstruct the object biographies of these works and to critically classify the historical contexts of the transfers.
In the first phase, relevant archival materials will be systematically catalogued and evaluated in order to document the changes in ownership and possession and then assess the results in a differentiated manner.
Project Management: Katharina Otterbach, M.A.
Scientific Associates: Dr Gitta Ho, Ev-Isabel Raue, M.A.
Project period: 1 January 2025 – 30 September 2026
As part of the ongoing project, 229 paintings that entered the collection of the Kunstmuseum Bern between 1933 and 1965 under the two museum directors Conrad von Mandach and Max Huggler through purchase, donation, exchange or bequest, are being scientifically examined with regard to their previous ownership and changes of ownership between 1933 and 1945. The information on previous owners and changes of ownership between 1933 and 1945 is consistently incomplete and sometimes contradictory. As part of the ongoing project, this information is being examined and scientifically processed.
The aim is to identify suspected cases of looted art by increasingly cataloguing the collection according to standardised criteria of provenance research. The growing knowledge about the actors and locations also provides insight into the networks of the art trade in Switzerland and Europe.
The findings will be digitally documented and made available to the public once the project is complete.
The project is supported by the Federal Office of Culture.

Completed Projects

Project management: Dr. Nikola Doll
Scientific Associates: Renato Moser, M.A., Carla Gehler, M.A.
Project Assistance: Leïla Bolis
- Abschlussbericht zu Ausgewählten Erwerbungen seit 1933. Projekt zur Erforschung und Publikation von Provenienzen (Gemälde III), 2023-2024 (PDF)
Project management: Dr. Nikola Doll
Scientific Associate: Renato Moser, M. A.
- Provenienzberichte zu 297 Werken aus dem Sammlungsbestand (PDF)
- Abschlussbericht zu den Provenienzrecherchen an 297 Werken aus dem Sammlungsbestand (PDF)
A conference organized by the Kunstmuseum Bern and the Zentrum Paul Klee
Bern, 9 and 10 September 2021
Venue: Live-Stream und Zentrum Paul Klee, Auditorium
Project Management:
Dr. Nikola Doll, Kunstmuseum Bern
Dr. Fabienne Eggelhöfer, Zentrum Paul Klee

Scientific Associates:
Renato Moser, M. A., Kunstmuseum Bern
Marie Kakinuma, M. A., Zentrum Paul Klee
Georges Frédéric Keller (Paris 1899 – 1981 Davos) left his art possessions to the Kunstmuseum Bern in 1981. Some of the most important works in the collection were transferred as permanent loans to the museum as early as 1951. These include paintings by Pablo Picasso, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Amedeo Modigliani, Henri Matisse and Maurice Utrillo. According to Keller’s last will, the legacy would be supplemented through estate funding to include works from French Modernists. Frederike Mulot and Renato Moser led the research into the circumstances of purchase for the legacy’s paintings, sculptures and graphic prints. Nine indigenous works made up a special group within Keller’s private collection.
The results of this research are documented for each individual work; the final report offers a summary.
Project Management: Dr. Nikola Doll
Scientific Associate: Frederike Mulot, M. A.
Project Assistance: Renato Moser, M. A.
From fall 2016 until the end of August 2018, support from the Federal Office of Culture made possible the provenance clarification of 26 artworks in the collections of the Kunstmuseum Bern.
The results of this research are documented for each individual work; the final report offers a summary.

Project Management: Dr. Nikola Doll
Scientific Associate: Dr. Valentina Locatelli.
- Provenienzberichte (PDF)
- Schlussbericht (PDF)
The Kunstmuseum Bern’s archive has been organized in collaboration with the Fokus AG für Wissen und Organisation (Zurich). The holdings are documented in a finding aid and can be viewed upon written request.
Finding aid and user regulations are available online. The final report offers a project description.
Project Management: Dr. Nikola Doll
Scientific Associate: Dr. Rainer Lawicki

With the support of

Research on the Museum Collection

Provenance research on the Collection of the Kunstmuseum Bern

Currents projects

Provenance research on works from the collection. Yellow-red categorisation.

Acquisitions under Conrad von Mandach and Max Huggler. A project to research provenance.

Completed Projects

Selected acquisitions since 1933. Project to research and publish provenances (Paintings III), 2023-2024

Provenances of the acquisitions since 1933 (Paintings II). Research – Documentation – Publication, 2021 – 2022 (project)

Deposits. Relocation of Cultural Property due to Persecution an the Consequences for Swiss Museums

Provenance research on the legacy of Georges Frédéric Keller, 2019 – 2020

Provenance research on selected acquisitions since 1933 (Painting I), 2016 – 2018

Cataloguing of the museum Archive, 2016–2018