Cornelius Gurlitt’s lawyer says the recluse owner whose art collection is worth more than $1.3 billion will consider claims of restitution for several pieces of Nazi-looted art.
Authorities are currently investigating the collection, detailing which works are legitimately owned by Gurlitt and which are deemed degenerate art, reports the Associated Press. German officials are investigating close to 1,000 paintings with 380 works of art being classified as degenerate art while another 590 are being investigated as Nazi-looted art.
In an interview with the AP, Gurlitt’s lawyer, Hannes Hartung, said his client would investigate restitution claims and are investigating six claims although the investigation is still in its early stages. Gurlitt previously claimed he would not return any paintings but Hartung claims that will not be the case. Speaking to Der Spiegel in November, Gurlitt said, “I won't speak with them, and I won't voluntarily give back anything, no, no. The public prosecutor has enough that exonerates me.”
Gurlitt inherited the art collection from his father and the recovery of 1,500 paintings from Gurlitt’s Munich apartment includes lost works from Pablo Picasso, Marc Chagall, Henri Matisse and Paul Klee. Hildebrand Gurlitt, Cornelius’ father, was commissioned by the Nazis to sell what was deemed “degenerate” art. Instead of selling the art, Hildebrand kept it hidden and Cornelius inherited the paintings following his father’s death.
The German magazine Focus reported on raid on Gurlitt’s apartment following a tax evasion investigation. The seizure of the art collection occurred in 2011 but German officials did not report on the raid until after the Focus article in 2013, sparking outrage and calls for the release of the full list of paintings.
Although Hartung did not discuss specific details about the art collection or the investigation, the lawyer did state they were discussing the return of a Henri Matisse painting. Previous reports on Gurlitt’s collection includes a Matisse painting, a portrait of a woman, that belonged to Paul Rosenberg, who represented Matisse and Picasso. The Matisse painting may belong to Rosenberg’s granddaughter, Anne Sinclair, the ex-wife of former IMF director Dominique Strauss-Kahn.
Nazi-Looted Art Update: Cornelius Gurlitt Will Consider Restitution Claims For $1 Billion Art Collection
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