Analyzes the history and the response to the controversial Bührle Collection at Kunsthaus Zürich.

Since 2021, the Bührle Collection has been on display at Kunsthaus Zürich, in the galleries of the museum’s new extension building designed by David Chipperfield. The high-profile collection is widely perceived as problematic due to the personality of the collector, Emil Georg Bührle (1890–1956), who made his fortune as a weapons manufacturer and did extensive business with Nazi Germany. The provenance of some of the artworks in the collection is also controversial. The initial presentation at Kunsthaus Zürich sparked a heated debate. The second display, opened in 2023, provided more historical context and a broader insight into provenance research. It also included a range of public voices and gave a face to some of the Jewish former owners of artworks, many of whom were forced to sell.

A Future for the Past documents the Bührle Collection’s history in words and images. At the core are the two recent exhibitions at Kunsthaus Zürich, arguably one of the most significant and most contested art shows in Switzerland in decades.