Authorities in Munich revealed that a large cache of artworks, many by artists the Nazis considered “degenerate,” was found in a moldy storeroom in the German city.
Included among the 1,500 works —reportedly worth billions of dollars — are prints, etchings, engravings and paintings by such artists as Pablo Picasso, Max Beckmann, Marc Chagall, Emil Nolde, Paul Klee and Henri Matisse.
The works were hoarded by an elderly man who sold some of them to cover everyday expenses, and most likely were confiscated by the Nazis as “degenerate,” or stolen from Jewish owners, according to the Munich-based Focus magazine, which broke the story.
“Now we need to quickly find out whether there are legitimate owners or heirs,” Dieter Graumann, head of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, told the Bild Zeitung newspaper. “Belated justice is better than none.”
Focus also reported that official searches had been underway for at least 200 of the works. An art historian is tracing provenance and estimating values.
An art dealer identified as “Hildebrand G.” reportedly snapped up the works in the 1930s and ’40s. For 50 years his son, whose identity has been publicized as Cornelius Gurlitt, apparently hoarded the works on homemade shelves in a dark storeroom in his home.
The discovery was made by customs officials investigating Gurlitt for tax evasion. According to Focus, the investigators found the stash — alongside rotting food and trash — in the spring of 2011. The authorities kept silent while searching for more information. — jta