UNDER THE SEAL OF SECRECY (2019)
Under the Seal of Secrecy is a project exploring Switzerland’s role in the trade of looted art during the Second World War. It focuses on thirteen artworks once owned by Jewish art dealer Paul Rosenberg—stolen by the Nazis, auctioned through the Fischer gallery, and ultimately acquired by Emil Bührle. Using the method of décollage, the project peels away layers of history to expose the complicity of Swiss art dealers and collectors in Nazi-era art trafficking. It also critiques the Swiss authorities’ failure to support meaningful restitution in the post-war years.
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In 1945, British art historian Douglas Cooper, a member of the Monuments, Fine Arts, and Archives (MFAA) program, traveled to Switzerland to investigate the trade of looted art and facilitate its restitution to rightful heirs. However, Swiss authorities refused to support his research, and the country's statute of limitations—designed to protect buyers acting in "good faith"—obstructed his efforts.
The Nazis looted a total of 400 paintings from the collection of Jewish art dealer Paul Rosenberg, with 77 of them ending up in Switzerland. Among those seeking their return, Cooper played a key role in uncovering the networks that enabled this illicit trade. Emil Bührle, a German-born art collector living in Switzerland, acquired 13 paintings from the Rosenberg collection, most of them through the Galerie Fischer. Theodor Fischer, the Swiss art dealer who owned Galerie Fischer, was Switzerland’s most prominent trafficker of looted art. He played a central role in Nazi-era art dealings, including hosting the infamous 1939 "Degenerate Art" auction on behalf of the Nazis. Fischer conducted much of his business through German dealer Hans Adolf Wendland, who facilitated transactions between Fischer and Walter Andreas Hofer, the director of Hermann Göring’s extensive art collection.
