I won’t be in the neighborhood, but the Oskar Reinhart Museum in Winterthur (Switzerland) is putting on a conference for the second year in a row on August 31. 2015 wrestling with the issue of “flight goods” in particular. “Flight goods” refers to property that was not stolen outright, nor sold under duress, but left behind because of a flight in haste from persecution. Awareness has increased in recent years about this as a category of looted property to be addressed. As with other categories, issues of law, morality, and the rights of subsequent good faith owners/possessors make for interesting discussions. Notable presenters include Matthias Frehner, whose Kunstmuseum Bern is grappling with the Gurlitt bequest, and Anja Heuss, whose Staatsgalerie Stuttgart recently restituted a work to the heirs of I. Rosenbaum. All the speakers and topics look excellent.
Topics: Berlin, Dr. Peter Raue, Walter Feilchenfeldt, Esther Tisa Francini, Museum Rietberg, Olaf Ossmann, Cornelius Gurlitt, Marc Fehlmann, Art Dealers Association of Switzerland, Between Fairness and Justice for Successors and Po, Oskar Reinhart Museum, Anja Heuss, Kulturstiftung der Länder, Deutsches Zentrum Kulturgutverluste, Claudius Ochsner, Matthias Frehner, Alexander Jolles, Winterthur, Dr. Stephanie Tasch, Kunsthandelsverband der Schweiz, Karin Salm, Universität Salzburg, Thomas Buomberger, Restitution, Events, Johannes Nathan, Looted Art, World War II, Staatsgalerie Stuttgart, Switzerland, Kunstmuseum Bern, Andrea Baresel-Brand, flight goods, Zürich, Prof. Dr. Georg Graf, Radio SRF 2, I. Rosenbaum, Sibylle Ehringhaus
Discussion continues to swirl about how the passing of Cornelius Gurlitt this week will affect the review and possible return of the paintings found in his Munich apartment, and those in Austria. Not surprisingly, the majority of reflections on the news that Gurlitt appointed the Kunstmuseum in Bern, Swizterland as his sole heir are in German, Austrian, and Swiss publications. Here are is my roundup of the latest reports:
Topics: Neue Zürchner Zeitung, Schwabinger Kunstfund, Ingeborg Bergreen-Merkel, Stephan Holzinger, Bad Aussee, Cornelius Gurlitt, Monopol, Gurlitt Task Force, Germany, will, Nazi-looted art, Gurlitt Collection, Matthias Frehner, Entartete Kunst, Salzburg, Restitution, ORF, World War II, Switzerland, Süddeutsche Zeitung, heir, Austria, Kunstmuseum Bern, Washington Principles, Nazi Raubkunst, validity
