Swiss museum reaches agreement over two paintings that may have been confiscated by Nazis

The Langmatt Museum, located in Baden, Switzerland, is an art museum housed in a turn-of-the-century factory owner's villa, surrounded by a large park. It is considered one of the most important private collections of French Impressionism in Europe.

Museum officials announced that they have reached amicable agreements for two paintings by French Impressionists, one by Paul Cézanne and the other by Eugène Boudin. 

These are agreements with the descendants of the former owners of these two paintings that may have been confiscated during the Nazi regime. After three years of research into the provenance of 13 paintings in the collection, supported by the Swiss Ministry of Culture, it was established that most of these works were acquired between 1933 and 1940 by Sidney and Jenny Brown, a wealthy Swiss couple who assembled one of the most important private collections of French Impressionism in Europe.

11 were declared free of links to Nazi looting, and two were classified as “clearly problematic.” Cézanne’s “Fruits et pot de gingembre” and Boudin’s “Fisherwomen on the Beach at Berck” were classified as “clearly problematic.”

Following this, the museum proactively contacted the descendants of the former owners of the paintings, reaching agreements that included financial compensation at market value.