Swiss Museum Inherits Art Trove

As I have previously discussed, Cornelius Gurlitt inherited a cache of paintings by well-known artists from his father, who bought the “degenerate art” after it was confiscated by the Nazis.

The 81-year-old Gurlitt died Tuesday, leaving the art to the Swiss museum, Kunstmuseum Bern.  The museum said it’s “surprised and delighted” at being named the “unrestricted and unfettered sole heir.”  However, it says the bequest brings “a considerable burden of responsibility and a wealth of questions of the most difficult and sensitive kind, and questions in particular of a legal and ethical nature. 

See Swiss Museum Named ‘Sole Heir’ to German’s Art Trove, USA Today, May 7, 2014.

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