There have been occasional references during the Gurlitt affair to the possiblity that some of the paintings seized from Hildebrand Gurlitt's apartment had been exhibited in the United States. Details have been sparse. With a copy of the out-of-print catalogue from that exhibition now in hand, however, we can start to identify the scope of this U.S. contact—and thus the basis for possible claims against Gurlitt and/or the Federal Republic of Germany by those paintings' original owners or heirs. Until the disclosures by the Gurlitt Task Force are complete, it remains to be seen which.
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Topics:
Schwabinger Kunstfund,
Max Beckmann. www.lostart.de,
Lempertz,
Cornelius Gurlitt,
Nolde,
Gurlitt Task Force,
Art Association for the Rhineland and Westphalia,
Gurlitt Collection,
Lion Tamer,
Hildebrandt Gurlitt,
Entartete Kunst,
Restitution,
Kirchner,
Kandinsky,
World War II,
German Watercolors Drawings and Prints,
Löwenbändiger,
Kunstverein Düsseldorf,
A Loan Exhibition Sponsored by the Federal Republi,
Franz Marc,
Large Horse,
Federal Republic of Germany,
Raubkunst,
Zandvoordt
Ingeborg Berggreen-Merkel, leader of the newly formed federal “Schwabing Art Find” taskforce, announced plans to release information about 590 additional works found in the apartment of Cornelius Gurlitt, after the posting earlier this week of 25 works at www.lostart.de. Meanwhile, the heirs of Max Ernst have publicly disclosed (through their attorney Jürgen Wilhelm in Cologne) their claim to certain of the works in the Gurlitt find. The federal authorities appear to be gaining the upper hand for disclosure against the tax investigators in Bavaria who initially seized the collection, which was not a foregone conclusion.
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Topics:
Cologne,
veschollene Kunst,
the Lion Tamer,
Lempertz,
Cornelius Gurlitt,
Schwabinger Kunstfund. Kunstfund München,
Max Liebermann,
Köln,
Gurlitt Collection,
Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act,
Hildebrand Gurlit,
Entartete Kunst,
Nazis,
Ingeborg Berggreen-Merkel,
Hermann Goring,
Michael Hulton,
FSIA,
Gurlitt,
Restitution,
conversion,
Looted Art,
World War II,
degenerate art,
Altmann v. Republic of Austria,
Löwenbändiger,
Raubkunst,
Alfred Flechteim,
Jürgen Wilhelm,
Max Ernst
For those of us trying to follow art law developments in Germany, particularly to get access to original source and court documents in German, Peter Bert’s Dispute Resolution in Germany Blog is a terrific source. Between the Hans Sachs collection case and the contuing fallout from the Wolfgang Beltracchi forgery scandal and the fictional “Jägers Collection,” Germany has had a busy year of art law prominence, particularly with regard to forgery issues. Two recent posts bear reading, both of which attach the original court opinions in German, for their interesting analysis.
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Topics:
Forgery,
Lempertz,
Peter Bert,
Germany,
Hans Sachs,
Wolfgang Beltracchi,
Dispute Resolution in Germany,
Copyright
On the heels of yesterday's interruption and pressure from the presiding judge to accept a six-year sentence, the accused leader of a forgery ring in Germany apparently confessed today to 14 forgeries. It's been reported that he said that he enjoyed fooling collectors and experts. It is anticipated that the other defendants will receive similar sentences, though it is not yet certain.
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Topics:
Forgery,
Lempertz,
Germany,
Wolfgang Beltracchi,
Restitution,
connoisseurship,
Max Ernst
We have been following with interest the trial in Cologne, Germany of four accused forgers. The trial began at the beginning of the month. Wolfgang Beltracchi, 60, is accused of organizing a scam that defrauded art collectors out of millions of dollars. Comedian, actor, and writer Steve Martin is among the most high-profile victims. The 47 forgeries mimicked 20th century paintings by Kees Van Dongen, Max Ernst, Max Pechstein and Heinrich Campendonk.
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Topics:
Cologne,
Forgery,
Lempertz,
Germany,
Wolfgang Beltracchi,
Restitution,
connoisseurship,
Max Ernst
