The Bavarian prosecutor held a press conference today to discuss the revelation this weekend in Focus that nearly 1,400 paintings had been found in the Munich apartment of Cornelius Gurlitt two years ago, after he aroused suspicion by bringing a large amount of cash back into Germany from Switzerland in 2010. This continues to shape up as the biggest restitution story in decades, perhaps ever. Among the key updates provided today by Sigfried Köble and Reinhard Nemetz, the customs official and prosecutor in charge, respectively:
- The current whereabouts of Gurlitt himself are, remarkably enough, unknown.
- The paintings are generally in excellent condition. Some are framed, some are rolled up.
- Previously unknown works by Marc Chagall and Otto Dix (self portrait) were found.
- Slides of some of the works were shown today, but the authorities have not released a full list.
- The Lempertz sale of a Max Beckmann (Löwenbändiger/ The Lion Tamer) apparently involved somehow the heirs of Alfred Flechtheim, the famed and persecuted Berlin dealer.
- Berlin art historian Meike Hoffmann has been put in charge of the investigation into identifying the paintings and their possible owners. It was reported that she began this task “several weeks ago,” begging the question of what was being done in the two years prior.
- The works found also include Old Masters as old as the 16th century, complicating the questions of Nazi provenance (the Nazis certainly looted innumerable such works for themselves and their planned museums, but it remains unclear if these painting had been expropriated, why they were with Hildebrand Gurlitt at the end of the war).
Catherine Hickley and her colleagues at Bloomberg are on top of the story, as usual, reporting on the frustration by victims’ groups and heirs’ representatives that the authorities will not release a comprehensive list of what was found. She quotes Anne Weber, co-chair of the Commission for Looted Art in Europe (who runs probably the best website on the topic) as saying “As important a story as this is—why have the Bavarian authorities been sitting on them for two years?”
The Art Market Monitor notes that restitution of these works could go smoothly, since no one stands to lose anything in their collection (Gurlitt having disappeared), removing any difficult questions about what to do often faced by custodians of these works. Nemetz notes though that even in the best of circumstances, competing claims to the same object may complicate things. That in turn has sparked fierce criticism from heirs as well. Given Gurlitt’s flight, however, the question has also been raised whether there are other such caches of art somewhere.
The major German newspapers have the most up to date coverage, particularly the Süddeutsche Zeitung, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, and Der Spiegel, in addition to the team that broke the story at Focus. The coverage is in German, check back here for any highlights in translation.
