Philipp Hildebrand at the Kunsthaus Zürich: Can he turn things around?

The ex-banker Philipp Hildebrand and the Kunsthaus Zurich, which is under criticism, start a charm offensive. The performance of the new director Ann Demeester at her first public appearance negates old Zurich men’s groups: Really?

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Successful people need little sleep. The legend received confirmation on Monday morning: ex-National Bank boss Philipp Hildebrand presented himself to the media for the first time in his new office as President of the Zurich Art Association. Also present is the new director of the Kunsthaus, Ann Demeester, who will be in charge from October 1st. You should be there at 7.30 sharp, the early bird catches the worm.

And one was on the spot, a media parade special number – origin not only Switzerland. The need to get clarity about the progress made in processing the Bührle Collection is enormous. In addition, the city and canton of Zurich, the museum’s subsidy providers, have meanwhile announced that two studies will be commissioned.

Arms dealer Bührle, did he benefit from forced labor?

It is about the role of EG Bührle as a beneficiary of forced labour. In one case, the women of the Ravensbrück concentration camp were said to have been affected, and in the other, employees of the spinning mill in Dietfurt in Toggenburg. Both events were not brought to light by the Kunsthaus, but by independent media.

Reason enough for the Kunsthaus to convince the media of the new credibility that is expected of the future Demeester/Hildebrand dream team. They started a charm offensive, called it “media breakfast” and also promised “relaxed getting to know each other”. The new day should be a successful one.

After all, success has long been a rare commodity at Heimplatz: the house has extensively and extensively damaged its reputation through the controversial processing of the Bührle Collection. There is an accusation that the museum has lingered too long in front of the Bührle Foundation and has therefore not carried out provenance research on the Bührle Collection independently enough.

All power for provenance research

The hosts’ catwalk was the most intimate corner that the new Chipperfield building has to offer, the bar. It’s long, it’s exclusive, it smells of elite. The staging that took place over the next 90 minutes was symptomatic: at one end of the personality scale was the economist Philipp Hildebrand, strategist from head to toe, unassailable, maneuvering between due diligence (when he was talking about business) and concepts like humanisms (when he talked about art and its unifying, social function). He read his message off the paper and contained the expected content: provenance research should be the way of the future in Zurich. Spoke it, and his eyes searched the distance.

At the other end of the typology of leading figures was the Belgian Ann Demeester. Appearance of a woman who dares: She wore fuchsia, bright pink, from top to bottom. At the bottom then, black high heels with white dots. Her message was so loud without a word that everyone had to hear her: I’m not a civil servant, even less a functionary.

With Demeester, which initiated her performance, the old, zürcher circle of the art society, operator of the museum and owner of the collection, is blown up by an independent new director. The association, with Hildebrand at the helm from July 1, may have referred to the tradition of secrecy and liberal brotherhood in its almost 250-year history. After all, there is only a limited legal obligation to the public for transparency. But contemporary Demeester will ensure that this past is also critically examined in the future.

Restitution? This is decided by an external, independent commission

What was also new and surprising about the occasion? There was little or nothing to report that wasn’t already known. Ann Demeester will only be responsible for the artistic program from 2024, although Christoph Becker will say goodbye at the end of September with the exhibition Niki de Saint Phalle. The outgoing director pays tribute to a 20th-century artist, a nice move. In any case, during his 22-year tenure, he hardly considered anything similar to be necessary.

“Is restitution conceivable if new and finally independent investigations show that pictures from the Bührle Collection are wrong to hang in the Kunsthaus?” It was this question from the journalists that decided whether the museum would learn from its mistakes.

The hosts’ answer was skillful: “If an external commission makes a clear judgment, we will react to it.” So far, so unclear. – The coffee machines start to make a noise, the croissants crunch, and the open questions are postponed until summer. Then the city of Zurich takes a stand.