The German government has released an initial list of twenty five works among the collection seized from the Munich (Schwabing) apartment of Cornelius Gurlitt, the most significant discovery of possibly looted art since the end of World War II. The list is posted at www.lostart.de, a hitherto little-known website of the Coordination Point for Cultural Losses (Die Koordinierungsstelle für Kulturgutverluste ) in Magdeburg, which administers claims for cultural losses against the German state. The website has been overwhelmed with traffic (I have yet to load the page successfully), sparking fresh criticism of the government’s handling of the issue, but giving credit where due, the Merkel government has moved swiftly to begin these disclosures. As we predicted, the national government simply could not allow this question to fester and be stonewalled; earlier this week foreign minister Guido Westerwelle noted the risk that delay posed to “trust that we have built over many decades” after World War II. The question now will be whether it continues in a comprehensive way until the full list is released.
- Antonio Canaletto: “S.A Giustina in Prà della Vale” in Padua, graphic print, 1751/1800
- Marc Chagall: “Allegory/Allegorical Scene,” undated painting
- Hans Christoph: “Couple,” watercolor, 1924
- Honoré Daumier: “Don Quixote and Sancho Panza,” painting, c. 1865
- Eugène Delacroix: “Moorish Conversation on a Terrace,” undated pencil drawing
- Otto Dix: “Woman in the Theater Box,” watercolor, 1922 and “Dompteuse,” watercolor, 1922
- Conrad Felixmüller: “Couple in a Landscape,” watercolor, 1924
- Erich Fraass: “Mother and Child,” watercolor, 1922
- Bonaventura Genelli: “Male Nude”, undated drawing
- Ludwig Godenschweg: “Male Portrait,” undated graphic print and “Female nude,” undated graphic print
- Otto Griebel: “Child at Table,” undated watercolor and “Veiled Woman,” watercolor, 1926
- Bernhard Kretschmar: “Tram,” undated watercolor
- Wilhelm Lachnit: “Girl at Table,” watercolor, 1923 and “Man and Woman in the Window,” watercolor, 1923
- Max Liebermann: “Riders on the Beach,” painting, 1901
- Fritz Maskos: “Thinking Woman,” graphic print, 1922
- Henri Matisse: “Seated Woman/Woman Sitting in Armchair,” painting, c. 1924
- Auguste Rodin: “Study of a Woman Nude, Standing, Arms Raised, Hands Crossed Above Head,” undated drawing
- Théodore Rousseau: “View of the Seine Valley,” undated drawing
- Carl Spitzweg: “Playing Piano,” drawing, c. 1840
- Christoph Voll: “Monk,” watercolor, 1921 and “The Master Exploder Hantsch,” drawing, 1922
The twenty five works are described by Der Spiegel as those that are under “urgent suspicion” of having been looted. I note the following overlap between today’s list, and that of the art at least briefly in the possession of the Allies at the end of the war: the Riders on the Beach by Liebermann, the Chagall, and the Felixmüller.
Patricia Cohen of the NY Times began tweeting images of the initial list last night, a must-see and a visual reminder of how stunning this find really is.
The Holocaust Art Restitution Project estimates the known contents of the Gurlitt find as follows:
1) 590 works possibly plundered from Jewish owners;
2) 380 works of so-called "degenerate art” (and quite possibly expropriated or forcibly sold as a result);
3) 315 works formerly in German state collections; and
4) 194 works sold under duress.
That puts the number of works almost certainly subject to competing claims of ownership at over 1,000, and likely more if there are disputes about how category (3) ended up in German state museums in the first instance.
This list, particularly given the characterization of suspicion about looting, allows the process of sorting title out to begin. Given Gurlitt’s resurfacing over the weekend, it seems reasonably likely that he will contest any claims to the painting after all. A critical question (and a messy one of fact) will be how much he knew when he inherited the collection from his father in the 1950s. Cornelius Gurlitt was only a boy when the war ended, but not by the time he came into the works. If he claims to have taken the works in good faith, German law may favor the possessor over the true owner, the opposite approach of that taken in the United States (particularly New York).
Anyone believe that they have a connection to the works found should examine this and subsequent lists, and consult legal and historical experts to consider possible claims strategy. There are numerous tactical and logistical questions to consider.
