JoeB131
Diamond Member
Not sure if this belongs here or in history... but here goes.
Discovery of Nazi-plundered art offers glimpse 'into a dark story' - World News
MUNICH Hundreds of works of art by Picasso, Matisse and other masters of the 20th century seized by the Nazis, lost for decades and now worth more than $1 billion were reportedly found among piles of rotting groceries in a German apartment.
German authorities have not released photos of the cache, which also includes works by Marc Chagall and Paul Klee. Investigators found it two years ago, after a man taking the train from Zurich to Munich was found carrying a large but legal amount of cash.
The man was the son of Hildebrand Gurlitt, who was a modern art specialist in the early 20th century. Joseph Goebbels, the Nazi propaganda minister, recruited Gurlitt to raise cash for the Third Reich by selling art that had been deemed degenerate by Adolf Hitler.
When Hildebrand Gurlitt died, in a traffic accident in 1956, his son inherited the art, apparently unaware of its origin.
Focus reported that the son, Cornelius Gurlitt, 80, kept the works hidden in darkened rooms in his disheveled, food-littered apartment in Munich. He sold a painting now and then when he needed cash, the magazine said.
Discovery of Nazi-plundered art offers glimpse 'into a dark story' - World News
MUNICH Hundreds of works of art by Picasso, Matisse and other masters of the 20th century seized by the Nazis, lost for decades and now worth more than $1 billion were reportedly found among piles of rotting groceries in a German apartment.
German authorities have not released photos of the cache, which also includes works by Marc Chagall and Paul Klee. Investigators found it two years ago, after a man taking the train from Zurich to Munich was found carrying a large but legal amount of cash.
The man was the son of Hildebrand Gurlitt, who was a modern art specialist in the early 20th century. Joseph Goebbels, the Nazi propaganda minister, recruited Gurlitt to raise cash for the Third Reich by selling art that had been deemed degenerate by Adolf Hitler.
When Hildebrand Gurlitt died, in a traffic accident in 1956, his son inherited the art, apparently unaware of its origin.
Focus reported that the son, Cornelius Gurlitt, 80, kept the works hidden in darkened rooms in his disheveled, food-littered apartment in Munich. He sold a painting now and then when he needed cash, the magazine said.
