Five paintings are being removed from Kunsthaus Zürich in Switzerland following new guidelines for art stolen by the Nazis during the Second World War.
The paintings in question are by Claude Monet, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Vincent van Gogh, Paul Gauguin, and Gustave Courbet.
The American State Department has issued new, stricter guidelines for how art stolen by the Nazis should be handled. The guidelines are standard practice in the art world, and therefore the foundation behind the art collection built up by collector Emil Bührle, which is on display at the museum, has decided to remove the paintings.
Emil Bührle was an arms dealer and made a fortune during the Second World War. There have long been suspicions that paintings in his collection have Nazi connections.
The foundation announces that it is seeking solutions with descendants or other legal successors to the former owners.
A sixth painting, by Edouard Manet, has been investigated, but the foundation believes it does not breach the guidelines.
