Swiss museum to sell Monet bought from Jew who fled Nazis

A top Swiss art museum said Wednesday it would sell a Monet painting it bought from a Jewish collector who fled the Nazis, by agreement with his heirs.

Like other museums around the world, Zurich's Kunsthaus has launched a campaign to determine whether it acquired works in its collections as a direct or indirect result of the Nazi persecution of Jewish collectors before and during World War II.

It had acquired Claude Monet's "L'Homme a l'ombrelle" ("Man with a Parasol") from Carl Sachs, a Jewish textile entrepreneur who lived in Breslau, modern-day Poland.

Sachs fled to Switzerland with his wife Margarete to escape the Nazis in 1939.

The painting by the French Impressionist master was the first of several works that Sachs was obliged to sell to survive.

"A swift sale was needed to provide the couple with money to live on, and he was therefore acting under duress," the Kunsthaus said in a statement.

Having previously lent several works of art to the Kunsthaus, Sachs overall sold 13 artworks before his death in December 1943, the Kunsthaus said.

A lawyer for Sachs's heirs, Imke Gielen, said the family welcomed the latest move as "a just and fair solution for the work".

"Naturally, we regret that this wonderful painting will probably leave the Kunsthaus after its sale," said Philipp Hildebrand, chair of Zurcher Kunstgesellschaft, the body that oversees the museum.

"At the same time, this step underlines the seriousness of our provenance strategy," he added.

He said the body would "act transparently... for any work in our collection where there are substantiated indications of duress resulting from Nazi persecution."

In accordance with the Code of Ethics of the International Council of Museums (ICOM), the Zurcher Kunstgesellschaft's share of the proceeds will be paid into the Kunsthaus collection fund, the statement added.