Provenance
1Louis-Joseph Leboeuf Paris • 1863 Most probably a gift of the artist in exchange of a sculpture representing Courbet, made by Leboeuf and exhibited in the Salon of 1861 (now at the Musée Courbet, Ornans, inv. AGC S.AA 003.52).
2Félix Giroud père Paris • before 1905 Catalogue de tableaux modernes [Vente Félix Giroud père], Hôtel Drouot, Paris (28–29 March 1905), no. 18 (sold for FF 805), Fernier no. 355.
3Bernheim-Jeune Paris AStEGB, Inventory Card Courbet, Louis-Joseph Lebœuf.
4Dr. Julius Elias Berlin • by 1908–[d.] 1927 Richard Muther, Courbet, Berlin 1908, p. 58 (ill.); Kunsthaus Zurich, Archive Zürcher Kunstgesellschaft / Kunsthaus Zürich, Korrespondenz Ausstellungen, Besitzer/Händler, Schachtel 1935, Letter from Dr. Grete Ring, Galerie Paul Cassirer, Berlin, to Wilhelm Wartmann, [director of the] Kunsthaus Zurich, 19 October 1935, has contacted Mrs. Julie Elias, the widow of Dr. Julius Elias, who establishes a direct contact to the painting's new owner, Dr. Franz Ullstein, Berlin.
5Dr. Franz Ullstein Berlin • ca. 1927/30–1936 Kunsthaus Zurich, Archive as above, n. (4), Letter from the office of Dr. Franz Ullstein (Frau Udelsmann), Berlin, to Kunsthaus Zurich, 16 November 1935, confirming the loan of the painting to the planned exhibition in Zurich and stating, that Dr. Ullstein has bought the painting from Dr. Elias about 5 years ago. This information is corroborated by a letter (in the same file) from Grete Ring, Paul Cassirer Gallery, Berlin, to Wilhelm Wartmann, Director of the Kunsthaus Zurich, 19 October 1935, stating that according to Mrs. Elias the painting formerly in her husband's collection was now with Dr. Ullstein.
6Dr. Kurt Ullstein London • 1936–1939 Son of the above, Kunthaus Zurich, Archive Zürcher Kunstgesellschaft / Kunsthaus Zürich, Korrespondenz Ausstellungen, Besitzer/Händler, Schachtel 1936, Letter from Dr. Franz Ullstein, Berlin, to Dr. Wilhelm Wartmann, Kunsthaus Zurich, 29 January 1936, informing Wartmann that his son, Dr. Kurt Ullstein, London, will dispose of the painting after the end of the Zurich exhibition. The painting remains on deposit in the Kunsthaus Zurich, Kunsthaus Zurich, Archive as above, miscellaneous correspondence regarding the painting with various members of the Ullstein family in Estoril, Geneva, London, and São Paolo, February 1936–August 1941.
7Lisbeth Malek-Ullstein Estoril, Portugal • 1939 until at least 1941 Sister of the above, Kunsthaus Zurich, Archive Zürcher Kunstgesellschaft / Kunsthaus Zürich, Allg. Korrespondenz, vol. 92, Letter from Wilhelm Wartmann, Kunshaus Zurich, to Dr. F. Ullstein, Pension Perrotti, Bvd. des Tranchées, Geneva, 3 February 1941, confirming the receipt of a letter dated 1 November 1939 from Dr. Kurt Ullstein, London, stating that ownership of the painting has passed to his sister, Mrs. Lisbeth Malek, née Ullstein.
8W. S. Kundig Geneva • 1941 Antiquarian, established in Geneva, 45 rue du Rhône, Kunsthaus Zurich, Archive Zürcher Kunstgesellschaft / Kunsthaus Zürich, Allg. Korrespondenz, vol. 93, Letter from Dr. Wilhelm Wartmann, Kunsthaus Zurich, to W. S. Kundig, Geneva, 29 May 1941, announcing shipment of the painting following instruction from Mrs. Lisbeth Malek, and Notification of transport of the painting with Neuchâtel Insurance Company with a declared value of CHF 10.000, 31 May 1941.
9Art Trade Switzerland • 1941 Archive Kunstmuseum Bern, Minutes of the Board (Direktionsprotokoll) no. 47, 16 October 1941, Courbet's portrait of Louis-Joseph Lebœuf had been submitted by Rosengart Gallery, Lucerne, in the previous Board meeting (10 September 1941) for an asking price of CHF 24.000. No acquisition is considered.
10Dr. Fritz Nathan St. Gall • by 1941/42 AStEGB, Inventory Card as above, n. (3); Fritz Nathan, Zehn Jahre Tätigkeit in St. Gallen 1936–1946, St. Gall 1946, p. 30 (ill.).
11Emil Bührle Zurich • 1942 until [d.] 28 November 1956 Acquired from the above in 1942 for CHF 26.000, Inventory Card as above, n. (3). An indication that the acquisition may have taken place early in 1942 might be found in the custom register kept at the Kunsthaus Zurich, listing the painting as imported into Switzerland with a temporary licence on 23 November 1935, and adding the date of its permanent importation into Switzerland on 20 December 1941, Kunsthaus Zurich, Archive Zürcher Kunstgesellschaft / Kunsthaus Zürich, 10.30.40.80, Zollamt Freipässe, 1933–1954.
11Given by the heirs of Emil Bührle to the Foundation E.G. Bührle Collection Zurich • 1960 Inv. 25.
AStEGB = Archive of the Foundation E.G. Bührle Collection, Zurich
Robert Fernier, La vie et l’œuvre de Gustave Courbet, Catalogue raisonné, 2 vol., Lausanne & Paris, 1977-1978.
Exhibitions
1906Gustave Courbet (†) Galerie Paul Cassirer • Berlin • 1906 no. 7.
1935Gustave Courbet Kunsthaus Zurich • 1935–36 no. 72.
1943Ausländische Kunst in Zürich Kunsthaus Zurich • 1943 no. 57.
1950Europäische Kunst 13.–20. Jahrhundert aus Zürcher Sammlungen Kunsthaus Zurich • 1950 p 24.
1958Sammlung Emil G. Bührle, Festschrift zu Ehren von Emil G. Bührle zur Eröffnung des Kunsthaus-Neubaus und Katalog der Sammlung Emil G. Bührle Kunsthaus Zurich • 1958 no. 131.
1958Hauptwerke der Sammlung Emil Georg Bührle–Zürich Haus der Kunst • Munich • 1958–59 no. 30.
1961Masterpieces of French Painting from the Bührle Collection Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh • National Gallery, London • 1961 no. 8.
2010Van Gogh, Cézanne, Monet, Die Sammlung Bührle zu Gast im Kunsthaus Zürich Kunsthaus Zurich • 2010 no. 25.
2017Chefs-d'oeuvre de la collection Bührle, Manet, Cézanne, Monet, Van Gogh… Fondation de l'Hermitage • Lausanne • 2017 no. 9.
2018Bührle Collection: Impressionist Masterpieces from the E.G. Bührle Collection, Zurich (Switzerland) National Art Center, Tokyo • Kyushu National Museum, Fukuoka • Nagoya City Art Museum • 2018 no. 5.
2019Wilhelm Leibl, Gut sehen ist alles!Kunsthaus Zurich • Albertina, Wien • 2019–20 no. 16 (exhibited in Zurich only).
References
1908Richard Muther Courbet Berlin • 1908 • p. 58 (ill.).
1936Haavard Rostrup «Om nogle mindre kendte arbejder af Gustave Courbet» inTilskueren 1936 • pp. 183 (ill.)–184.
1946Fritz Nathan Zehn Jahre Tätigkeit in St. Gallen 1936–1946 St. Gall • 1946 • p. 30 (ill.).
1948Courbet raconté par lui-même et par ses amis vol. 1 • Geneva • 1948.
1967Haavard Rostrup Meddelelser fra Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek Copenhagen • 1967 • p. 38 (ill.).
1973Leopold Reidemeister etc. Stiftung Sammlung Emil G. Bührle • Fondation Collection Emil G. Bührle • Foundation Emil G. Bührle Collection Zurich & Munich • 1973 • no. 26 (ill.; 21986).
1977Robert Fernier La vie et l'œuvre de Gustave Courbet, Catalogue raisonné vol. 1 • Peintures 1819–1865 Lausanne & Paris • 1977 • no. 355 (ill.).
1981Linda Nochlin «Gustave Courbet, Portrait of Armand Gautier» [entry for cat. no. 150] in Gabriel P. Weisberg (ed.) The Realist Tradition, French Painting and Drawing 1830–1900 (exh. cat.) • Cleveland Museum of Art etc. • 1981–82 • p. 177.
1987Pierre Courthion L'opera completa di Courbet Milan • 1985 • no. 339 (ill.; French edition: Tout l'œuvre peint de Courbet, Paris 1987; 21996).
1995Emil Maurer Stiftung Sammlung E.G. Bührle, Zürich Bern • 1994 • p. 37 (English edition: Foundation E.G. Bührle Collection, Zurich, Bern 1995).
2001Esther Tisa Francini etc. Fluchtgut, Raubgut, Der Transfer von Kulturgütern in und über die Schweiz 1933–1945 und die Frage der Restitution Unabhängige Expertenkommission Schweiz–Zweiter Weltkrieg (ed.) • Zurich • 2001 • pp. 79 (n. 116), 101 (n. 243)–102.
2005Lukas Gloor • Marco Goldin (ed.) Foundation E.G. Bührle Collection, Zurich, Catalogue vol. 2 • Conegliano & Zurich • 2005 • no. 41 (ill.; German edition: Stiftung Sammlung E.G. Bührle, Katalog • Italian edition: Fondazione Collezione E.G. Bührle, Catalogo).
2013Bernhard Echte • Walter Feilchenfeldt (ed.)Kunstsalon Paul Cassirer vol. 3 • Die Ausstellungen 1905–1908 • Wädenswil • 2013 • pp. 150 (ill.), 158.
2021Lukas Gloor «The Holdings of the Emil Bührle Collection: Illustrated List of All 633 Purchases» in The Emil Bührle Collection: History, Full Catalogue and 70 Masterpieces Swiss Institute for Art Research, Zurich (ed.) • Munich • 2021 • no. 99 (ill.).