The Institute for Jewish Studies in Heidelberg (the Hochschule für Judische Studien Heidelberg) will host a one-day conference on January 26, 2014 entitled “Appropriated Art—The Gurlitt Case” (Ersessene Kunst—Der Fall Gurlitt). Leading academics, journalists, and researchers will put the Gurlitt find into a historical and legal perspective. As listed below, the depth of topics that… Continue Reading
Tag Archives: degenerate art
Secret Witness Contradicted Hildebrand Gurlitt’s Claim to Monuments Men that His Art was Burned in Dresden
Posted in Gurlitt CollectionFrom Dresden to Aschbach to Düsseldorf—New Scholarship in U.S. Archives Traces Hildebrand Gurlitt at War’s End, Could Affect Cornelius Gurlitt’s Claim to Good Faith Ownership The Main Post has an article today (in German) by Christine Jeske tracing the late-war and post-war trajectory of Hildebrand Gurlitt and his now-infamous collection. The article is fascinating, and… Continue Reading
Bavaria Proposes Cultural Property Restitution Act, Heads to Berlin for Federal Approval
Posted in Gurlitt Collection, UncategorizedAs reported yesterday, the government of Bavaria has moved ahead with a proposal to amend the statute of limitations over art claims like those arising out of the Gurlitt find in Schwabing/Munich. The “Draft law for the exclusion of limitations on claims for misappropriated cultural property, particularly from the Nazi era (Cultural Property Restitution Law)”… Continue Reading
Bavaria to Review Draft Revision to Statute of Limitations on Claims to Art Found in Gurlitt Apartment
Posted in Gurlitt CollectionDie Welt reports today that a scheduled cabinet meeting of the government of Bavaria includes discussion of a draft revision to the state’s statute of limitations. Justice Minister Winfried Bausback (CSU) has apparently stated his desire to ensure that claimants like those heirs to owners of works found in Cornelius Gurlitt’s apartment will not be… Continue Reading
Cassirer Heirs’ Claims to Pissarro Work Revived by Appeals Court, the Year 2013 Shows that the Tide for Restitution May be Shifting Again
Posted in Foreign Sovereign Immunities, Gurlitt Collection, Restitution, World War IIThe U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit restored last week claims by heirs of Lilly Cassirer against the Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection for the return of the Camille Pissarro painting Rue St. Honoré, après-midi, êffet de pluie. The Cassirers claim that the painting was expropriated from Lilly when she fled Nazi Germany in 1939 in exchange… Continue Reading
327 Gurlitt Collection Works Now Known; Time for Claims in the United States?
Posted in Foreign Sovereign Immunities, Gurlitt CollectionThe coordination office in Magdeburg continues to post details about works of art seized from Cornelius Gurlitt in Schwabing, with a total of 327 works now available for viewing. There has been almost no discussion yet, however, of what process the government will employ to allow claimants to make their case. Those in the United… Continue Reading
Gurlitt Vows to Fight for Art Collection, Possible Limitations Under German Law Still Unclear. Does Austria Have Say?
Posted in Gurlitt Collection, Restitution, World War IIDer Spiegel conducted a face to face interview with Cornelius Gurlitt that was published over the weekend, addressing his intentions about the 1,400 artworks connected to Nazi looting. Most striking was Gurlitt’s declaration with regard to the artworks seized by Bavarian tax authorities “I will give nothing back willingly.” The highlights of the interview, available… Continue Reading
Gurlitt Taskforce Announces Plan to Post 590 More Works. Choice of Law, Procedure, and Venue for Claims Up in the Air
Posted in Gurlitt Collection, Restitution, World War IIIngeborg Berggreen-Merkel, leader of the newly formed federal “Schwabing Art Find” taskforce, announced plans to release information about 590 additional works found in the apartment of Cornelius Gurlitt, after the posting earlier this week of 25 works at www.lostart.de. Meanwhile, the heirs of Max Ernst have publicly disclosed (through their attorney Jürgen Wilhelm in Cologne)… Continue Reading
First List of Art Found in Gurlitt Collection is Released, Website Overwhelmed as Claimants Consider Legal Options
Posted in Gurlitt Collection, Restitution, World War IIThe German government has released an initial list of twenty five works among the collection seized from the Munich (Schwabing) apartment of Cornelius Gurlitt, the most significant discovery of possibly looted art since the end of World War II. The list is posted at www.lostart.de, a hitherto little-known website of the Coordination Point for Cultural… Continue Reading
German Museums Join in Demands for More Information About Gurlitt; Links to the Amber Room Theorized; Dix Painting Was Not Unknown
Posted in Gurlitt Collection, Museums, Restitution, World War IIDer Spiegel reports today (link in German) about how German museums are joining the chorus of frustration about the lack of information about the Hildebrand and Cornelius Gurlitt collection find. From this perspective, this development is not a surprise. I was speaking to an international law class last night at Sarah Lawrence College, and one… Continue Reading
Focus Turns to Hildebrand Gurlitt’s Postwar Interrogation; Cornelius Gurlitt’s Whereabouts. Belvedere Official Questions Whether Collection Was Really a Secret
Posted in Gurlitt Collection, Restitution, World War IIThe focus has turned today on the whereabouts of the mysterious Cornelius Gurlitt, who is unaccounted for as the biggest restitution story since the end of World War II unfolds. Asked if it was even known if Gurlitt was still alive Bavarian prosecutor Reinhard Nemetz would not even comment. There is an explosive claim… Continue Reading
Merkel Hints at Putting Gurlitt Lists Online, Calls for Special Tribunal Are Made
Posted in Gurlitt Collection, Restitution, World War IICatherine Hickley reports from Berlin that the government of Chancellor Angela Merkel is looking into ways to put lists and/or photographs online concerning the Cornelius Gurlitt seizure of roughly 1,400 paintings with connections to Nazi looting. This followed heavy complaints in the first days of the revelation, that the government had failed to identify what… Continue Reading
Paintings Targeted by the Nazis Found in Munich, Could be Biggest Discovery Since the War. What Now?
Posted in Gurlitt Collection, Restitution, World War IIThe German magazine Focus broke a story over the weekend that could be the biggest restitution news since Portrait of Wally or Altmann v. Republic of Austria: roughly 1,400 paintings were found in a Munich apartment that may have been seized, looted, or sold bought under duress by the Nazis in the 1930s as part… Continue Reading
Neue Nationalgalerie in Berlin Returns Schmidt-Rotluff Paintings to Graetz Heirs
Posted in Restitution, World War IIThe regional government of Berlin has decided to return two paintings by German Expressionist Karl Schmidt-Rotluff to the heirs of the paintings’ one-time owner (article in German). As reported by Catherine Hickley of Bloomberg in Berlin, the paintings, a 1920 self-portrait and a 1910 landscape entitled “Farm in Dangast” once belonged to Robert Graetz, a… Continue Reading
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