A Girl Reading · Camille Corot · Stiftung Sammlung E.G. Bührle

Camille Corot

A Girl Reading

1845/50

La Liseuse

Oil on canvas

42.5 x 32.5 cm

Signed lower left: COROT

Robaut 393

Vergrössern

Drucken

Provenance

1Théophile Bascle Bordeaux & Paris • by 1878 until [d.] 1882 Exposition rétrospective de tableaux et dessins de maîtres modernes, Galerie Durand-Ruel, Paris 1878, no. 115; Catalogue des tableaux anciens et modernes […] succession de M. Th. Bascle, (sale cat.) Hôtel Drouot, Paris, (12–14 April 1883), no. 17; François Auffret, Johan Barthold Jongkind 1819–1891, Héritier, contemporain & précurseur, Paris 2004, p. 143, n. 107 (transcript of death notice of Théophile Bascle).

2Lucas Bordeaux • 1883 Son-in-law of the above, acquired at the above sale, Auffret, as above, n. (1); Archive Oskar Reinhart Collection «Am Römerholz», Winterthur, Letters from Paul Rosenberg, Bordeaux, to Oskar Reinhart, Winterthur, 12 and 16 December 1939, in which Rosenberg describes in detail the recent acquisition of the painting, after having established himself near Bordeaux. or

3Cécile or Marguerite Lucas Bordeaux • until 1939 Auffret, as above, n. (1), lists two daughters of Lucas; Letters as above, n. (2).

4Paul Rosenberg Bordeaux • 1939 Acquired from either one of the above ca. December 1939, Letters as above, n. (2).

5Confiscated by the «Einsatzstab Reichsleiter Rosenberg» (ERR no. PR 131), turned over to Hermann Göring and traded by Göring to Hans Wendland 14 September 1941 • April 1942 Nancy H. Yeide, Beyond the Dreams of Avarice, The Hermann Goering Collection, Dallas 2009, no. A1155.

6Traded to Galerie Fischer in exchange for works of art Lucerne • 10 April 1942 Yeide, as above, n. (4); Esther Tisa Francini etc., Fluchtgut, Raubgut, Der Transfer von Kulturgütern in und über die Schweiz 1933–1945 und die Frage der Restitution, Unabhängige Expertenkommission Schweiz–Zweiter Weltkrieg (ed.), Zurich 2001, pp. 106 (n. 267), 286 (n. *5), 347 (n. 87).

7Purchased by Emil Bührle Zurich • 20 August 1942 Purchased from Galerie Fischer for CHF 70.000, AStEGB, Letter from Emil Bührle to his lawyer, Dr. Walther Huber, Zurich, 22 August 1947. The figure corresponds to the amount which Bührle later claimed from Fischer in his lawsuit against the latter, and whilst Fischer refused to acknowledge obligation for reimbursement in principle, the figures as such where never questioned. Therefore, these figures defined the amounts which Fischer had to pay back to Bührle after the Federal Court came to the conclusion that Bührle had acquired the paintings in good faith, AStEGB, Swiss Federal Court, Kammer zur Beurteilung von Raubgutklagen / Chambre des actions en revendication de biens spoliés, Lausanne, Verdict of 5 July 1951 (typescript).

8Restituted to Paul Rosenberg New York • 3 June 1948 AStEGB, Swiss Federal Court, Kammer zur Beurteilung von Raubutklagen / Chambre des actions en revendication de biens spoliés, Lausanne, Request for restitution of artworks by Paul Rosenberg vs. various defendants (including Bührle), Verdict of 3 June 1948 (typescript), ordering the restitution of the claimed works, including Corot, Liseuse.

9Repurchased from Paul Rosenberg by Emil Bührle Zurich • 30 June 1948 with Bührle until [d.] 28 November 1956 Repurchased for CHF 80.000 ($ 20.000), AStEGB, Instrument of transaction between Paul Rosenberg, New York, and Emil Bührle, made out and signed by M^re Maurice E. Meyer on behalf of Paul Rosenberg, dated Lausanne, 30 June 1948, according to which Bührle retains property of Corot’s Liseuse, against payment of CHF 80.000; Letter from Emil Bührle to Paul Rosenberg, New York, 6 July 1948, expressing his delight to have been allowed to repurchase Corot, Liseuse, and confirming that the check of $ 20.000 covering the purchase has been sent.

10Given by the heirs of Emil Bührle to the Foundation E.G. Bührle Collection Zurich • 1960 Inv. 22

AStEGB = Archive of the Foundation E.G. Bührle Collection, Zurich

Exhibitions

1878Exposition rétrospective de tableaux et dessins de maîtres modernes Galerie Durand-Ruel • Paris • 1878 no. 115.

1950Europäische Kunst 13.–20. Jahrhundert aus Zürcher Sammlungen Kunsthaus Zurich • 1950 p. 23.

1952J. B. Camille Corot XXVI Biennale di Venezia (Palazzo Centrale) • Venice 1952 p. 175 (no. 20).

1955Europäische Meister 1790–1910 Kunstmuseum Winterthur • 1955 no. 47.

1958Sammlung Emil G. Bührle, Festschrift zu Ehren von Emil G. Bührle zur Eröffnung des Kunsthaus-Neubaus und Katalog der Sammlung Emil G. Bührle Kunsthaus Zurich • 1958 no. 119.

1958Hauptwerke der Sammlung Emil Georg Bührle–Zürich Haus der Kunst • Munich • 1958–59 no. 27.

1959De Géricault à Matisse, Chefs-d’œuvre français des collections suisses Petit Palais • Paris • 1959 no. 27.

1960Corot Kunstmuseum Berne • 1960 no. 43.

1961Masterpieces of French Painting from the Bührle Collection Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh • National Gallery, London • 196, no. 2.

1963Sammlung Emil G. Bührle, Französische Meister von Delacroix bis Matisse Kunstmuseum Lucerne • 1963 no. 4.

1990The Passionate Eye, Impressionist and Other Master Paintings from the Collection of Emil G. Bührle, Zurich, Catalogue of the Exhibition in Commemoration of the 100^th Birthday of the Collector Emil G. Bührle National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. • Musée des beaux-arts de Montréal • Yokohama Museum of Art • Royal Academy of Arts, London • 1990–91 no. 13.

2010Van Gogh, Cézanne, Monet, Die Sammlung Bührle zu Gast im Kunsthaus Zürich Kunsthaus Zurich • 2010 no. 22.

2010Corot en Suisse Musées d’art et d’histoire (Musée Rath) • Geneva • 2010–11 no. 57.

2011The Secret Armoire, Corot’s Figure Paintings and the World of Reading (L’armoire secrète, Eine Lesende im Kontext) Sammlung Oskar Reinhart «Am Römerholz» • Winterthur • 2011 no. 13.

201621, rue La Boétie Musée La Boverie • Liège 2016–17 no. 58.

2017Chefs-d’oeuvre de la collection Bührle, Manet, Cézanne, Monet, Van Gogh…, Fondation de l’Hermitage • Lausanne • 2017 no. 3.

2017Gefeiert & verspottet, Französische Malerei 1820–1880 Kunsthaus Zurich • 2017–18 no. 17.

2018Bührle Collection: Impressionist Masterpieces from the E.G. Bührle Collection, Zurich (Switzerland) National Art Center, Tokyo • Kyushu National Museum, Fukuoka • Nagoya City Art Museum 2018 no. 14.

2019La Collection Emil Bührle Musée Maillol • Paris • 2019 no. 7.

References

1905Alfred Robaut L’Œuvre de Corot Catalogue raisonné et illustré • Paris • 1905 • vol. 2, Catalogue des peintures, Première partie, no. 393 (ill.; ²1965).

1930Claude Bernheim de Villers Corot, Peintre de figures Paris • 1930 • no. 61 (ill.).

1952Virgilio Gilardoni Corot Milan • 1952 • fig. 3, 65.

1956François Daulte «Le chef-d’œuvre d’une vie: la collection Buhrle» in Connaissance des Arts (52) • 15 June 1956 • p. 23 (ill.).

1958François Fosca Corot, Sa vie et son œuvre Brussels • 1958 • p. 95 (ill.).

1959François Daulte De Géricault à Matisse, Chefs-d’œuvre d’art français des collections suisses Paris • 1959 • front cover (ill.).

1959René Elvin «Collector Extraordinary: The Bührle Collection and the New Zurich Kunsthaus» in The Studio (158) • 1959 • pp. 52, 54.

1973Leopold Reidemeister etc. Stiftung Sammlung Emil G. Bührle • Fondation Collection Emil G. Bührle • Foundation Emil G. Bührle Collection Zurich & Munich • 1973 • no. 8 (ill.; ²1986).

1986Antjie Zimmermann Studien zum Figurenbild bei Corot (Diss.) • Cologne • 1986 • pp. 150–152, fig./no. 143.

1988Jean Selz La vie et l’œuvre de Camille Corot Paris • 1988 • pp. 134–136.

1994Emil Maurer Stiftung Sammlung E.G. Bührle, Zürich Bern • 1994 • pp. 24 (ill.)–25 (English edition: Foundation E.G. Bührle Collection, Zurich, Bern 1995).

1996Vincent Pomarède Corot Milan & Paris • 1996 • pp. 193–194 (ill.).

1998Oskar Bätschmann «Les portraits anonymes, La transformation du tableau de genre» in Corot, Un artiste et son temps Paris & Rome • 1998 • p. 317, fig. 13.

1998Thomas Buomberger Raubkunst–Kunstraub Zurich • 1998 • p. 462.

1998Matthias Frehner «Deutsche Raubkunst in der Schweiz, Täter, Verführte, Aufarbeitung» in Das Geschäft mit der Raubkunst, Fakten, Thesen, Hintergründe Zurich • 1998 • p. 144 (no. 51).

2001Esther Tisa Francini etc. Fluchtgut, Raubgut, Der Transfer von Kulturgütern in und über die Schweiz 1933–1945 und die Frage der Restitution Unabhängige Expertenkommission Schweiz–Zweiter Weltkrieg (ed.) • Zurich • 2001 • pp. 106 (n. 267), 286 (n. *5), 347 (n. 87), 509.

2003Garrett Stewart «Painted Readers, Narrative Regress» in Narrative (11) • 2003 • p. 143, fig. 7.

2003Sammlung Oskar Reinhart «Am Römerholz» Winterthur, Gesamtkatalog Basel • 2003 • p. 330 (ill.).

2005Lukas Gloor, Marco Goldin (ed.) Foundation E.G. Bührle Collection, Zurich, Catalogue vol. 2 • Conegliano & Zurich • 2005 • no.36 (ill.; German edition: Stiftung Sammlung E.G. Bührle, Katalog • Italian edition: Fondazione Collezione E.G. Bührle, Catalogo).

2009Nancy H. Yeide Beyond the Dreams of Avarice, The Hermann Goering Collection Dallas • 2009 • no. A1155 (ill.).

2009Gabriel Katzenstein «Et in Arcadia lego, Über die Literalität der Mélancolie sur l’herbe von Camille Corot» in Die Lesende Frau Wolfenbüttel • 2009 • p. 322, n. 5.

2016Lukas Gloor «Emil Bührle and Paul Rosenberg: A business relationship at the dawn of the post-war era» in 21, rue La Boétie, based on the book by Anne Sinclair (exh. cat.) • Musée La Boverie, Liège • 2016–17 • p. 135 (French edition: «Emil Bührle et Paul Rosenberg: Une relation d’affaires au lendemain de la guerre», in 21, rue La Boétie, D’après le livre d’Anne Sinclair • 2^nd edition: [exh. cat.] Musée Maillol, Paris 2017, p. 137).

2018Sébastien Allard «Corot: From Model to Figure» in Corot, Women (exh.cat.) • National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C. • 2018 • p. 46.

2019Emmanuelle Polack Le marché de l’art sous l’Occupation 1940–1944 Paris • 2019 • p. 161.

2021Lukas Gloor «The Holdings of the Emil Bührle Collection: Illustrated List of All 633 Purchases» in The Emil Bührle Collection: History, Full Catalogue and 70 Masterpieces Swiss Institute for Art Research, Zurich (ed.) • Munich • 2021 • no. 159 (ill.).