Reproductions of some of
the nearly 1,500 paintings unveiled at a news
conference in Augsburg,
Germany on Tuesday. They include (clockwise
from upper left) a
painting by the German Otto Dix, German Franz Marc,
one that may be that of
French painter Henri Matisse, and a painting by
Belarusian-born French
artist Marc Chagall. Preliminary estimates put the
value of the find at $1.35 billion.
Claimants to Massive Nazi Looted Art Find are in for a Long Wait
(Die Tageszeitung, Germany)
"It isn't clear where the pictures will go once the tax
case has been resolved. The principles of the Washington Conference apply to
public museums, collections, archives, and libraries, but not to private
collections and private trade. In fact, private owners are explicitly excluded.
... Nor are museums that encounter modernist works that were expropriated from
them in Gurlitt’s collection able to claim restitution. As owner of the
paintings, the German Reich could decide freely whether or not to part with its
art, for any reason whatsoever."
Hildebrand Gurlitt: A German art dealer and historian who traded in what Hitler considered 'degenerate art' during the Nazi era, successfully hid an incredible trove of stolen and confiscated paintings, which were only discovered in 2011. The value of the find: $1.35 billion. The big question now is, who owns them? It may well be that the Third Reich - a now defunct political entity, has the stongest claim.
Art Find - Resolving
claims by museums and heirs to pictures that recently resurfaced will be a long
and complicated process
Paintings
from the spectacular
art find in Munich won’t be seen anytime soon - not even online. So said
Augsburg chief prosecutor ReinhardNemetz during the first press conference of his office in a
case it first took over as a potential tax offence issue in 2011. Showing the paintings
could harm the interests of claimants.
On
the other hand, Markus Stötzel, lawyer for the heirs
of Jewish art dealer Alfred
Flechtheim, already feel that the secrecy
maintained thus far constitutes a breach of the so-called Washington
Declaration. In the declaration, 44 countries agreed on how to deal with looted
Nazi art, to the degree that pre-war owners or their heirs are to be sought out
and a “fair and just solution” be found to the question of returning the works.
New York lawyer David Rowland, who now represents 30 to 40 descendant families
and the heirs of Jewish art dealer Curt
Glaser, demands absolute transparency when it comes to the contents of the
collection.
Berlin
art historian Mieke Hoffman, of the research center
for "degenerate art" at the Free University
of Berlin [Forschungsstelle “EntarteteKunst”], also provided information about what she has
learned so far. She believes that the collection includes works beyond those of
Nazi loot, and that the investigation will take quite a bit more time. In
addition to works of classical modernism, significantly older paintings were
also found, including, for example, a 16th century work and a number of paintings
from the 19th century.
Hoffman
is examining the 1,285 unframed and 121 framed paintings found in the apartment of Cornelius
Gurlitt, and is trying to determine their origins. Gurlitt
took over the art collection that belonged to his father, art dealer Hildebrand Gurlitt, who died in a fatal car crash in 1956. During
the Nazi period, he dealt with Nazi-confiscated “degenerate art,” acquiring
foreign currency assets on behalf of the Nazis. For this purpose, he procured
many old master works for Adolf Hitler’s “Führermuseum” in Linz [Austria] from territories occupied by
the Wehrmacht
[Nazi military].
The
works that have just been found, says Meike Hoffmann,
are of “truly exceptional quality.” According to Hoffman, while some of the art
works are somewhat dirty, they are in otherwise good condition and were
properly stored. A number of paintings by artists such as Picasso, Chagall,
Marc, Nolde, Spitzweg,
Renoir, Macke, Courbet, Beckmann, Matisse, Liebermann, and Dix, were previously
unknown.
Posted
By Worldmeets.US
Siegfried
Klöble, head of investigations at the Munich Customs Office,
explained that the apartment wasn't searched in 2011, and that the search
didn't take place until last year. And contrary to reports, the paintings
weren't stored in a facility in Garching, but in a
different location that was kept secret.
It
isn't clear where the pictures will go once the tax case has been resolved. The
principles of the Washington Conference apply to public museums, collections,
archives, and libraries, but not to private collections and private trade. In
fact, private owners are explicitly excluded. The statute of limitations is
considered to have run out for crimes against property. In other words, as a
result of adverse possession, Cornelius Gurlitt might
have owned his collection long ago.
Nor
are museums that encounter modernist works that were expropriated from them in Gurlitt’s
collection able to claim restitution. As owner of the paintings, the German
Reich could decide freely whether or not to part with its art, for any reason
whatsoever. This state of affairs was upheld after 1945 in order to provide
security to the art trade.
So
does the secrecy surrounding the find up to now constitute a breach of the
so-called Washington Declaration?
