The foundation overseeing the Emil G. Bührle collection has reached a settlement with the heirs of Jewish collector Max Silberberg over Édouard Manet's painting *La Sultane* (c.1871), allowing the work to remain on view at the Kunsthaus Zurich. Bührle, a German Swiss industrialist who profited from arms sales to Nazi Germany and used slave labor, amassed a collection now known to include many Nazi-looted artworks. The settlement follows a 2021 report by Raphael Gross finding that over a quarter of the 205 loaned works likely belonged to Jewish owners, sparking public protests and artist Miriam Cahn's withdrawal of her works from the museum.
This settlement matters because it highlights ongoing efforts to address Nazi-era restitution claims against major Swiss collections, particularly the Bührle collection, which has faced intense scrutiny for its tainted provenance. The agreement, though confidential, allows the painting to stay in Zurich while acknowledging the historical injustice suffered by Silberberg, who was murdered at Auschwitz. The case underscores the broader challenges museums face in balancing public access to art with ethical obligations to return looted works, and it keeps pressure on institutions to comply with the Washington Principles on Nazi-confiscated art.