German collector Cornelius Gurlitt allows investigators to retain artworks

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/apr/07/german-art-collector-cornelius-gurlitt-investigators

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Reclusive art collector Cornelius Gurlitt has made an agreement with German authorities to allow investigators to hold onto artworks formerly stashed in his flat that could have been looted by the Nazis, his lawyers said.

At least 593 pieces among the 1,280 modern masterpieces found in 2012 in his Munich home will be held by a task force researching whether the works were stolen from Jewish owners. Many are among the 458 works currently on display at the Lost Art online database.

The task force has a year to look into the ownership of the works, which will continue to be displayed online in the hope that further claimants come forward. Gurlitt will receive back an unknown number of works considered "unproblematic".

"All the works which are not subject to provenance research will be returned to [Mr Gurlitt] without delay," said his lawyer Christoph Edel in a joint statement with the Bavarian authorities and the German government. "Works that according to expert opinion were not confiscated by the Nazis will be returned to Mr Gurlitt and deleted from the database at www.lostart.de."

Gurlitt's legal team say reaction from potential claimants has so far been muted and that they are in discussions with six individuals who have so far come forward to claim rightful ownership. Among these are descendants of Parisian art-collector Paul Rosenberg who have laid claim to the Henri Matisse painting "Seated Woman".

Concrete numbers of suspicious works will only be clarified once the provenance researchers have completed their work at the end of the alloted year. After this, all art works not subject to claims will be returned to Gurlitt.

"The task force will continue to investigate the origin of the artworks," said the Bavarian justice minister, Winfried Bausback. "This research creates the conditions allowing victims of Nazi terror to assert their claims."

As the agreement only covers suspected "looted art", it remains unclear whether a further 384 works thought have been confiscated by the Nazis from museums as "degenerate art" and later acquired by Gurlitt's father Hildebrand would be returned to Gurlitt or kept by the provenance researchers for further investigation.