Christoph Bernoulli (art dealer)

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Carl Christoph Friedrich Bernoulli (born October 2, 1897 in Basel , † August 9, 1981 in Rheinfelden ) was a Swiss art dealer and interior designer .

Life

Christoph Bernoulli was born in 1897 as the son of the librarian Carl Christoph Bernoulli and Anna Bertha, b. Burger, born. He spent his childhood in his parents' house on Holbeinstrasse in Basel with two older sisters. After primary school, he attended the humanistic grammar school and in 1913 moved with Lucas Lichtenhan and two other Basel students to the Evangelische Lehranstalt , Schiers (Graubünden), where he a. a. Zaccaria and Alberto Giacometti . During his time in Graubünden he got caught in an avalanche on an excursion and was rescued from it. In 1917 he passed the Matura and began in Basel and Zurich - following the example of his godfather Andreas Heusler- To study law. In 1918 he met the cultural philosopher Ludwig Klages in Zurich , whom he had met through Maria Gundrum and with whom he remained in contact throughout his life. After dropping out of law studies, he enrolled in philosophy, music history and German literary history in Basel in 1919 and completed this degree in 1921 with a dissertation and doctoral examination. In 1922 he held the public doctoral speech The music of romanticism as an expression of the romantic worldview .

Gerhart Hauptmann , whose acquaintance he had made in March 1919 while on vacation in Ticino, invited him to Berlin and Hiddensee to finish his studies. In his vicinity he met important and many artistic contemporaries as well as his future wife, Alice Meisel. In 1921 he and his father founded the music publishing house "Edition Bernoulli" in Berlin, in 1922 he worked as a trainee in the publishing house of the Frankfurter Zeitung and was co-editor of philosophical works. He married in Berlin on March 4, 1926 and returned to his parents' house in Basel. The couple had two sons: Carl Christoph (1929–2011) and Peter Daniel (1936–2007). From then on, his main activities were the art trade and interior design of private and public spaces, supported by his wife Alice.

Through his extensive contacts in the art world, Christoph Bernoulli had a decisive influence on Basel's cultural life. The house on Holbeinstrasse became the meeting point for an international group of celebrities from theater and film, writers, musicians, visual artists and, during the time of National Socialism and the Second World War, a contact point for displaced and persecuted people. Lifelong friendships existed with many of these guests with a lively correspondence, sent in self-illustrated envelopes.

In 1938/1939 Bernoulli was commissioned to furnish the wine bar in the model hotel at the Swiss National Exhibition in Zurich. This awoke his interest in folk art ; He collected Appenzell peasant painters and in 1941, together with Lucas Lichtenhan, organized the exhibition of Swiss folk art in the Kunsthalle Basel.

He conveyed well-known pictures to the Kunstmuseum Basel, such as the portrait of the family of Hans Rudolf Faesch by Hans Hug Kluber , La muse inspirant le poète and Forêt vierge au soleil couchant by Henri Rousseau and Vue de Paris, prize de Montmartre by Vincent van Gogh . In 1946 he 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 the Ciba Foundation was established in London.

In 1950/1951, in connection with a change of curator, he 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. After the complete renovation, in 1955 he took over the furnishing of the Wildt'schen House on Petersplatz in Basel. During 1963/1964 he committed himself to creating 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.

He died on August 9, 1981 during a spa stay in Rheinfelden (AG).

Art trade

During his time in Berlin, Christoph Bernoulli also got to know the art dealer Curt Valentin . In 1921 he sold two Picassos to Valentin within a day. This is how he discovered his talent for the art trade. Bernoulli had a close, long-term relationship with both Valentin and the art dealer Alex Vömel .

Due to the contacts he had established, he acted as a custodian and dealer of refugee goods for many of his (emigrated) acquaintances from the cultural scene after his return to Basel. These weren't just paintings. Among other things, Bernoulli stored for Thomas Mann , whom he did not know personally, his "Josefs-Bibliothek".

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. In addition, Bernoulli was Eleonora von Mendelssohn's art dealer from 1930.

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. This was published in 1998 by the World Jewish Congress (WJC). In addition to 72 other entries from Switzerland, Bernoulli also appears on this list. But the list is partly based on speculation and should therefore be viewed with caution. According to the authors of Fluchtgut - Looted property, this is exactly what it is . Transfer of cultural goods in and via Switzerland 1933–1945 , a publication of the Independent Expert Commission Switzerland - Second World War (ICE) as part of the Bergier report , particularly well recognizable in Bernoulli. They make it clear that, according to their research, Bernoulli played an important role in the transfer of refugee goods - especially because of his relationship with Curt Valentin, who had emigrated from Germany to New York - but did not deal in looted art.

One of the most contentious cases concerned the trade in the painting "Woman on the way to work" by Pissarro. Bernoulli had to answer for this in court, as the picture was on the looted property list. However, "no bad intent" could be proven and the lawsuit regarding the restitution of the oil painting was dismissed.

Works

Monographs

  • The psychology of Carl Gustav Carus and its significance in the history of ideas. Diss., Diederich, Jena 1925.
  • On the sense of handicraft. Offizin Hartung, Hamburg 1961.
  • Alberto Giacometti, 1901–1966 , Memoirs and Notes. Huber, Bern 1974.
  • Christoph Bernoulli: Selected lectures and writings . With letters and contributions from friends. Edited by Peter Nathan. Reporting House, Zurich 1967.

Texts (selection)

  • Rudolf Hanhart; Foreword by Christoph Bernoulli: Appenzeller peasant painting . Niggli, Teufen 1959/1970.
  • René Wehrli; Articles by Christoph Bernoulli and Ernst Morgenthaler: Hans Fischer called Fis. Artemis Verlag, Zurich 1959.
  • Christoph Bernoulli: Short speech on the occasion of the 80th anniversary of the Museum of Art and Cultural History Dortmund. Cappenberg Castle, April 10, 1963. Cultural Office, Dortmund 1963.
  • Manuel Gasser, Willy Rotzler: Art treasures in Switzerland. Introduction by Christoph Bernoulli. Manesse Verlag, Zurich 1964.
  • Christoph Bernoulli: Commemorative speech in Georg Schmidt 1896-1965 . Basel 1965.
  • René Creux; with the collaboration of Christoph Bernoulli: Folk Art in Switzerland. Editions de Fontainemore, Paudex 1970.
  • Charles Apothéloz; Foreword by Christoph Bernoulli: Masterpieces of the silhouette. JJ Hauswirth, L. Saugy. Huber, Frauenfeld 1978.

literature

  • René Bernoulli-Sutter; with the assistance of Lion Bernoulli: The Bernoulli family , Helbing & Lichtenhahn, Basel 1972.
  • Christoph Bernoulli - fun with stamps , enveloppements, Christoph Bernoulli's stamp games. Basler Zeitung, Basel 1979.
  • Thomas Blubacher: Is there anything better than longing? - The siblings Eleonora and Francesco von Mendelssohn. Henschel, Leipzig 2008 and Insel, Berlin 2012, ISBN 978-3-458-35813-8 .
  • Thomas Blubacher: Holbeinstrasse, this is the Europe that I love. Schwabe, Basel 2010, ISBN 978-3-7965-2703-6 .
  • Anja Heuss , Esther Tisa Francini and Georg Kreis : Fluchtgut - Raubgut; The transfer of cultural goods in and via Switzerland 1933-1945 and the question of restitution. Chronos Verlag, Zurich 2001, ISBN 3-0340-0601-2 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A. Heuss, ET Francini and G. Kreis: Fluchtgut - Raubgut . Zurich 2001, p. 320.
  2. ^ Basel University Library, manuscripts. SIGN .: NL 322.BV 185, 195v -196v, 262 & 263.
  3. ↑ Ibid.
  4. ↑ Thomas Blubacher: Is there anything more beautiful than longing? - The siblings Eleonora and Francesco von Mendelssohn . Leipzig 2008, p. 114.
  5. ↑ A. Heuss, ET Francini and G. Kreis: Fluchtgut - Raubgut, Zurich 2001 . P. 320.
  6. ^ Art Looting Intelligence Unit (ALIU) Reports 1945-1946 and ALIU Red Flag Names List and Index. Retrieved May 10, 2017 .
  7. ^ A. Heuss, ET Francini and G. Kreis: Fluchtgut - Raubgut . Zurich 2001, p. 18.
  8. ↑ Ibid., P. 418 ff.
personal data
SURNAME Bernoulli, Christoph
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Bernoulli, Carl Christoph Friedrich
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Swiss, art dealer, interior designer
DATE OF BIRTH October 2, 1897
PLACE OF BIRTH Basel
DATE OF DEATH August 9, 1981
Place of death Rheinfelden AG