News Accompanied by Deafening Silence About Ongoing Restitution Policy Failures
The German government announced recently that it had returned an additional work of art found in the Salzburg home of Cornelius Gurlitt in connection with the 2013 revelation of Gurlitt’s trove of art originally in the possession of his late father Hildebrand. La Seine, vue du Pont-Neuf, au fond le Louvre by Camille Pissarro (1902) has been returned to the heirs of Max Heilbronn, from whom it was taken in 1942 in France. The accompanying announcement was of a piece with the ongoing fiasco of the Gurlitt affair: a press release touting the personal involvement of Germany’s Minister of Culture Monika Grütters, a self-serving but vague statement about commitments to restitution, and absolutely no explanation or update about what is happening to the hundreds of additional paintings and objects under investigation. The press release was also sure to mention an upcoming exhibition of Gurlitt collection works later this year. In sum, the announcement confirms precisely the opposite of its intended effect.
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Topics:
Cornelius Gurlitt,
Germany,
Nazi-looted art,
Washington Conference Principles,
Hildebrand Gurlit,
Gurlitt,
NS Raubkunst,
Kunstmuseum Bern,
Monika Grütters,
Taskforce Schwabinger Kunstfund,
Welfenschatz,
Minister of Culture,
Gurlitt Taskforce
Shortly after reports that two of the objects found in Cornelius Gurlitt’s possession in 2012 would “be restituted “soon” to the families from which they were looted under Nazi auspices pursuant to the three recommendations of the Gurlitt Task Force to date, the Task Force has now issued a fourth recommendation. The newest work to be identified for restitution is a Camille Pissarro painting, The Seine seen from the Pont-Neuf, the Louvre in the background.
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Topics:
Cornelius Gurlitt,
Uta Werner,
Gurlitt Task Force,
Gurlitt Collection,
Salzburg,
Restitution,
District Court of Munich,
World War II,
Camille Pissarro,
The Seine seen from the Pont-Neuf the Louvre in th,
Kunstmuseum Bern,
www.lostart.de,
Museums,
Monika Grütters,
Deutsches Zentrum für Kulturgutverluste,
German Cultural Property Center,
Minister of Culture
