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German Officials Provide Details on Looted Art Trove German Officials Provide Details on Looted Art Trove
(about 3 hours later)
AUGSBURG, Germany — Priceless and wholly unknown works by Henri Matisse, Otto Dix and a host of other major 20th century artists formed part of a collection of some 1,400 works of art confiscated or sold under the Nazis and discovered last year when customs officials investigated an elderly man for tax evasion, officials and an art historian said Tuesday.AUGSBURG, Germany — Priceless and wholly unknown works by Henri Matisse, Otto Dix and a host of other major 20th century artists formed part of a collection of some 1,400 works of art confiscated or sold under the Nazis and discovered last year when customs officials investigated an elderly man for tax evasion, officials and an art historian said Tuesday.
Addressing a packed news conference here, Meike Hoffmann, an art historian at an institute of Berlin’s Free University who has been assigned to examine the spectacular find, said the hundreds of art works found in the Munich apartment of the man, identified as Cornelius Gurlitt, spanned from the 16th century into the 20th. The art is in “very good condition,” she said. Addressing a packed news conference here, Meike Hoffmann, an art historian at an institute of the Berlin Free University who has been assigned to examine the spectacular find, said the hundreds of art works at the Munich apartment of the man, identified as Cornelius Gurlitt, spanned from the 16th century into the 20th.
The trove includes works by Picasso, Marc Chagall, Auguste Renoir, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec and the German artists Max Beckmann, Max Liebermann, Otto Dix, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner and Carl Spitzweg, said Siegfried Klöble, the head of the Munich customs office, which oversaw the operation to recover the art. “All these paintings and prints are in a very good condition,” Ms. Hoffmann said, explaining that the works were somewhat dirty, but otherwise in museum condition. Research is ongoing, she said, and it is impossible to set a value on the works. “Of course it is of a very high value for art historians,” she said.
Ms. Hoffmann showed slides of some of the works, including what she said was a haunting and previously unknown self-portrait of Dix, dating probably from 1919, a period right after World War I in which the artist painted little. The trove includes works by Picasso, Marc Chagall, Auguste Renoir, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec and the German artists Max Beckmann, Max Liebermann, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner and Carl Spitzweg, said Siegfried Klöble, the head of the Munich customs office, which oversaw the operation to recover the art.
A Matisse portrait of a woman was also previously unknown, she said, dating it from the mid-1920s. Ms. Hoffmann showed slides of some of the works, including what she said was a haunting and previously unknown self-portrait of Dix, dating probably from 1919, a period right after World War I in which the German artist painted little.
A drawing by Canaletto and a stunning allegorical work by Chagall – also previously unknown – were among the treasures shown on slides and commented on briefly by Ms. Hoffmann. She stressed that it is extremely difficult to nail down the origin of some of the works and that further research could take years. A Matisse portrait of a woman was also previously unknown, she said, dating it from the mid-1920s. A drawing by Canaletto and a stunning allegorical work by Chagall – also previously unknown – were among the treasures shown on slides and commented on briefly by Ms. Hoffmann.
There is, however, little doubt that at least some of the art discovered was part of an exhibit of what the Nazis termed “degenerate” art and which they put on show from 1937 to 1941 throughout Germany. Other works were probably among those that collectors – often Jews looking to flee the Third Reich – were forced to sell for rock-bottom prices in order to leave, Ms. Hoffmann said. She stressed that it is extremely difficult to nail down the origin and the ownership history of some of the works and that she has only begun initial research on some 500 of the works. Further research, she said, could take years.
The chief of the state prosecutor’s office, Reinhard Nemetz, said the man later identified as Mr. Gurlitt first attracted the attention of customs officials during a routine check on a train from Zurich to Munich on Sept. 22, 2010. He did not initially specify what attracted attention. The news magazine Focus has reported that Mr. Gurlitt was carrying empty white envelopes and 9,000 euros, or about $12,140, in €500 notes, but it is not clear how this led customs authorities to raid the Munich apartment some 17 months later. There is, however, little doubt that at least some of the art discovered was part of an exhibit of what the Nazis termed “degenerate” art and which they put on show from 1937 to 1941 throughout Germany. Other works were probably among those that collectors – often Jews looking to flee the Third Reich – were forced to sell for rock-bottom prices, Ms. Hoffmann said.
Mr. Klöble and the head of the state prosecutor’s office in Augsburg, near Munich, said the joint action by customs officers and police that resulted in the stunning discovery of the art occurred on Feb. 28, 2012, and not – as reported by the magazine Focus, which first disclosed the find on Sunday – in 2011. It took authorities three days to remove the pictures from the apartment, Mr. Klöble said, working with specialists to ensure that they were not damaged in transit to a customs storage facility. The chief of the state prosecutor’s office, Reinhard Nemetz, said Mr. Gurlitt first attracted the attention of customs officials during a routine check on a train from Zurich to Munich on Sept. 22, 2010.
That information put a different light on the reported sale of a Beckmann gouache, “Lion Tamer,” by an auction house in Cologne in December 2011, since it obviously occurred before the Munich raid. Employees of the auction house Lempertz, which carried out the sale, had told reporters that there had been no sign of any other art when Emma Bahlmann of their Munich office went to collect the work from Mr. Gurlitt, now 80. The newsmagazine Focus has reported that Mr. Gurlitt was carrying empty white envelopes and 9,000 euros, or about $12,140.
On Monday, as word of the discovered art spread, there was ire among collectors and heirs seeking to recover confiscated art that the German authorities had apparently kept the information quiet for two and a half years. Mr. Klöble would not specify what attracted the authorities’ attention, but said they had reason enough to begin an investigation on suspicion of tax evasion that led authorities to raid the Munich apartment, some 17 months later.
Mr. Klöble said he thought it was unlikely that there were other properties – in Germany, or elsewhere – in which Mr. Gurlitt had concealed art. Mr. Klöble and the head of the state prosecutor’s office in Augsburg, near Munich, said the joint action by customs officers and the police that resulted in the stunning discovery of the art occurred on Feb. 28, 2012, and not – as reported by Focus, which first disclosed the find on Sunday – in 2011.
Mr. Gurlitt is the son of Hildebrand Gurlitt, an art expert who lost two museum posts under the Nazis and had trouble with them because of a Jewish grandmother. However, he was part of a family renowned for achievement in the arts, and collecting, and eventually received permission from Joseph Goebbels, Hitler’s propaganda chief, to sell “degenerate” and other confiscated art to foreigners for hard currency for the Nazi coffers. It took the authorities three days to remove the artwork from the apartment, Mr. Klöble said. Specialists ensured that it was not damaged in transit to a storage facility where it has been held since.
Art historians have said that those privileged dealers also engaged in domestic sales, and pocketed the profits. They refused to give any indication of its location, citing security reasons. Of the oil paintings, drawings, watercolors, lithographs and other prints, 120 were in frames and stored on a shelf. Another 1,285 works were unframed and stacked in a drawer, the authorities said.
Ms. Hoffmann showed one slide of a gouache by the German artist Franz Marc, “Landscape with Horses,” which she said had long been classified as missing but was last known to have been seen in 1949 – indicating that the elder Mr. Gurlitt was active on the art scene after World War II. Of the whereabouts of Mr. Gurlitt himself, nothing is known, the officials said. Mr. Nemetz said that he had been questioned after the paintings were found, and that investigation under the tax law was continuing. But there was no reason to detain the elderly man, and authorities do not know where he is, Mr. Nemetz said.
American investigators questioned Mr. Gurlitt and his wife, Helene, right after the war ended in May 1945, but were apparently satisfied that they were victims rather than perpetrators under the Nazi regime. Hildebrand Gurlitt is said to have reported after the war that his collection was destroyed in the Allied bombing of Dresden in February 1945.