Value of Austrian art find may equal Munich trove

March 11, 2022

BERLIN (AP) — A haul of Monets, Picassos and Renoirs
found last month in a house in Austria belonging to Cornelius Gurlitt
could be as valuable as the trove German authorities seized from his
home in Munich two years ago, a spokesman for the reclusive collector
said Thursday.
German magazine Focus, which first reported the
case, said the Munich find could be worth 1 billion euros ($1.38
billion). The 1,400 works included paintings by Pablo Picasso, Henri
Matisse and Marc Chagall, some of which authorities believe may have
been looted from Jewish owners by the Nazis.
"We can’t say at this
stage which part of the collection is more valuable," Gurlitt’s
spokesman Stephan Holzinger told The Associated Press, but added that
the Focus estimate was "completely exaggerated."
A search of the
dilapidated property in Salzburg, Austria, last month initially turned
up 60 items. But a second search revealed a further 178 paintings,
drawings and objects that have since been taken to a safe location for
experts to restore and catalog, said Holzinger.
Once that has happened the collector plans to publish a list so potential claimants can come forward, he
said.
Unlike most of the works found in Munich, the items discovered in Austria haven’t been impounded by
authorities.
Still,
Gurlitt has instructed his lawyer to return all works that are
"justifiably suspected of being Nazi-looted art." The 81-year-old, who
has a court-appointed attorney, is in ill health and has come under
pressure from the German government to give up any works stolen from
Jews by the Nazis.
A first such handover could take place soon, according to his representatives.
The
painting "Femme assise," or "Seated Woman," by Henri Matisse will be
returned to the heirs of deceased Paris-based art collector Paul
Rosenberg, said Holzinger. One of those heirs is French journalist Anne
Sinclair, the ex-wife of former International Monetary Fund chief
Dominique Strauss-Kahn.
Gurlitt’s lawyer Christoph Edel is
currently in talks with six claimants over the return of other works,
said Holzinger. Only about 3-4 percent of the collection — built up by
his father Hildebrand Gurlitt, an art dealer who traded with the Nazis —
is expected to be classified as looted art, Holzinger said.
___
Gurlitt’s website: http://www.gurlitt.info/en/index.html

No posts to display