The case

What happens to a life’s work after a collector has passed away? The options are as diverse as the collections.

Source: Benno Schubiger 1 September 2023 Schweizer Monat; NZZ, 24.04.2025, p. 12 (excerpt)

The commentary

The significance of the collection: Collections are more than mere collections of objects, they are an expression of passion, knowledge and personality. Be it art, coins, stamps or antiques – every collection tells the story of its collector. In Switzerland, private collections form an integral part of the cultural heritage. Since the 1990s over 50 private museums have been founded, offering the public an opportunity to admire these treasures.

The path of the collection after death: What happens to a collection after the collector’s death? Options range from auctions and donations to permanent loans to museums. One example this is the collection of Eberhard W. Kornfeld, which was auctioned a year after his death – entirely in keeping with the wishes of the collector, who wanted his works to complement other collections.

Before her death in 2021, gallery owner Doris Ammann stated in her will that the art collection belonging to her and her late brother Thomas (he had died decades earlier) was to be sold with the considerable proceeds going to children in need. Andy Warhol’s “Shot Sage Blue Marilyn” alone fetched USD 195 million at an auction in New York in 2022, making it the most expensive work of art of the 20th century to date. – NZZ, 24 April 2025, p. 12 (excerpt)

It has to be pointed out that transferring collections to museums is not always easy. Many institutions have limited resources and capacity to acquire entire collections. Donations or long-term loans are often the preferred models.

The Responsibility of Estate Planning: Careful estate planning is crucial to ensure the continued existence of the collection. Experts recommend making clear agreements during your lifetime – be it by means of a will, a foundation, a trust or an agreement with a museum, and legal aspects as well as tax aspects must also be taken into account.

When UBS took over Credit Suisse in 2023, it also took over a substantial art collection comprising over 13,500 works of art, including pieces by renowned Swiss artists, such as Ferdinand Hodler and Félix Vallotton, as well as hundreds of model ships and decorative posters. This adddition expanded the collection of UBS to more than 40,000 pieces believed to amount to hundreds of millions of USD. Not surprisingly, integrating this extensive collection has proved to be a bit of a challenge. UBS has been conducting thorough provenance checks in order to ensure that not a single one of the artworks in the Credit Suisse collection has been subject to restitution claims, particularly concerning artpieces looted by the Nazis. According to UBS, so far none of the artworks have been identified as looted art. (NZZ, Gerhard Mack, 6 May 2025). 

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