Heirs Looking to Recover Art from Reclusive Hoarder

As I have previously discussed, Bavarian customs police recently found a cache of paintings by well-known artists in the home of Cornelius Gurlitt.

Cornelius inherited the paintings from his father, art dealer Hildebrand Gurlitt, who bought the “degenerate art” after it was confiscated by the Nazis.  The families of Jewish collectors whose artworks were confiscated are now very interested in what kind of man Cornelius really is.

The reclusive Gurlitt could have legal claim to many of the artworks under Germany’s 30-year statute of limitations and the rule of “Ersitzung,” whereby the possessor of property gains title after ten years unless the possessor is deemed to have acted in bad faith.  If the 80-year-old Gurlitt refuses to negotiate, these heirs will be forced to fight for the art in court, where they will have little chance of success. 

Gurlitt has poven amenable to negotiating with the artwork’s original owners.  In 2011, Gurlitt sold Max Beckmann’s “Lion Tamer” for 864,000 Euros.  When the heirs of a Jewish art dealer claimed the painting, Gurlitt shared the proceeds with them.

See Alex Webb & Catherine Hickley, Nazi Loot Heirs Look to Reclusive Hoarder to Recover Art, Bloomberg, Nov. 13, 2013. 

Special thanks to Jim Hillhouse (Professional Legal Marketing (PLM, Inc.)) for bringing this article to my attention.