BERN, Switzerland(WJC)–The Kunstmuseum Bern, which earlier this week accepted the Gurlitt bequest, has published a list of all art works found in the possession of the late Cornelius Gurlitt.
The museum was named as sole heir to the collection and on Monday reluctantly accepted the bequest, pledging total transparency to head off any criticism over its decision to take in the artwork.
“We have promised transparency and are now acting accordingly,” Matthias Frehner, director of the KunstmuseumBern, said in a statement.
Gurlitt’s collection of over 1,500 artworks had been hidden away for decades until German tax inspectors stumbled upon it during a raid on his Munich apartment in 2012. A German government task force has so far identified three pieces that were indisputably looted by the Nazis and which will be returned to the heirs.
The Bern museum said it would not accept any piece which experts believed might have been stolen and by publishing the full list it hopes it might still discover the rightful owners. Earlier this week, World Jewish Congress President Ronald S. Lauder praised the museum’s announcement to use the proceeds from the ‘non-toxic’ part of the Gurlitt bequest to accelerate provenance research. “By accepting this bequest, the Kunstmuseum has taken over a huge responsibility. During the Nazi era, Switzerland was an important trading place for looted art, and until now, many Swiss museums have been reluctant to address that dark part of their history. Bern can now prove that its actions are beyond reproach.”
The 196-page list published on the museum website catalogs all the works that were found in Gurlitt’s flat in Munich and at his house in Salzburg. Among the notable pieces are Henri Matisse’s Seated Woman from circa 1924, oriental drawings from Eugene Delacroix and a landscape from Gustave Courbet.
The treasure trove of Modernist and Renaissance masters was assembled by Gurlitt’s father Hildebrand, a dealer also tasked with selling what Adolf Hitler dismissed as “degenerate art.” The museum said the list remained a “work in progress” and that it would continue to add further details in the course of its investigations.
Download list of Munich art trove
Download list of Salzburg art trove
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Preceding provided by World Jewish Congress