Germany Gives Details of Nazi Art Trove

Nov. 28, 2013 9:51 a.m. ETBERLIN—Germany published the details of more than 100 artworks, including pieces by Picasso and Cézanne, discovered in the Munich trove of suspected Nazi loot.

A Glimpse at Masterpieces Discovered in Nazi-Era Art Stash

The latest batch posted on a government-sponsored website, www.lostart.de, includes sketches by Pablo Picasso and Edgar Degas, as well as Paul Cézanne —an artist whose works weren’t known to have been in the collection until now. The works were found in the apartment of Cornelius Gurlitt, 80 years old, the son of a prominent art dealer for the Nazis.
With Thursday’s disclosure, more than a third of the works in the cache, some of which authorities believe may have been stolen from their original owners by the Nazis, have been made public. The task force assigned by prosecutors to determine the provenance of the artwork said it would post further pieces from the trove “at frequent intervals.”
The task force estimates 590 works may have been looted during the Third Reich. Thursday’s disclosure brings the total number of works made public to 219.

The release comes a day after Germany’s largest political parties pledged more funding in the next legislature for provenance research into Nazi-looted art.
“In order to rectify claims over the restitution of National Socialist-plundered cultural assets, particularly those from Jewish ownership, the coalition wants to boost the means for provenance research,” the parties said in their coalition agreement. The parties didn’t specify sums but said the next government would push ministries and public authorities to investigate the country’s Nazi past more intensively.
The pledge follows international criticism of the Bavarian authorities’ handling of the more than 1,400 artworks held by Mr. Gurlitt. While Mr. Gurlitt’s father, who died in 1956, was tasked with selling work confiscated from museums that Adolf Hitler considered “degenerate” to raise money for the Nazi regime, artworks seized from Jewish owners also turned up in his heir’s collection, which customs officials seized in early 2012.
Authorities kept the case secret until it was disclosed by a German magazine in early November.
Critics said authorities should have immediately disclosed the discovery of any works registered as stolen. Local officials involved in the investigation, initially over suspected tax evasion, argued privacy laws prevented that, and they kept the find secret for nearly two years.
Mr. Gurlitt is under investigation and hasn’t been charged with any crime, a spokesman for the Augsburg public prosecutor said Thursday.
Mr. Gurlitt couldn’t be reached for comment. Earlier this month he told a German magazine he isn’t willing to return any of the art to previous owners, including pieces taken from Jews.
“I will not speak with them, and I won’t freely give anything back, no, no,” Mr. Gurlitt said to Der Spiegel of reports that government officials are working to negotiate settlements for many of the works. “When I’m dead they can do with them what they want.”
Write to Harriet Torry at harriet.torry@wsj.com

Original post: Germany Gives Details of Nazi Art Trove