This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-30176190
The article has changed 7 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
Version 2 | Version 3 |
---|---|
Swiss museum to accept Gurlitt 'Nazi art' | Swiss museum to accept Gurlitt 'Nazi art' |
(35 minutes later) | |
Switzerland's Bern Art Museum has agreed to accept hundreds of artworks bequeathed by German Nazi-era art hoarder Cornelius Gurlitt. | Switzerland's Bern Art Museum has agreed to accept hundreds of artworks bequeathed by German Nazi-era art hoarder Cornelius Gurlitt. |
Many of the works are expected to remain in Germany until their rightful owners can be identified. | Many of the works are expected to remain in Germany until their rightful owners can be identified. |
Mr Gurlitt, the son of Adolf Hitler's art dealer, amassed a priceless collection of works, including pieces by Picasso and Monet. | |
He died in May aged 81 with the Bern museum named his "sole heir". | |
The Bavarian authorities seized some 1,280 artworks from his Munich flat as part of a tax evasion probe in February 2012. | |
The find, which was not made public until November last year, has triggered legal disputes surrounding works taken illegally by the Nazis. | |
'Historic burden' | |
The Bern museum's president, Christoph Schaeublin, told a news conference in Berlin on Monday that the museum would accept the bequest. | The Bern museum's president, Christoph Schaeublin, told a news conference in Berlin on Monday that the museum would accept the bequest. |
But "no work suspected of being looted" would enter the museum, he said. | But "no work suspected of being looted" would enter the museum, he said. |
The museum pledged to work with German authorities to ensure that "all looted art in the collection is returned" to its rightful owners. | The museum pledged to work with German authorities to ensure that "all looted art in the collection is returned" to its rightful owners. |
Descendants' claims | |
"The foundation council's decision was anything but easy and there certainly weren't emotions of triumph," said Mr Schaeublin. | "The foundation council's decision was anything but easy and there certainly weren't emotions of triumph," said Mr Schaeublin. |
"These would be entirely inappropriate considering the historic burden weighing heavily on this art collection." | "These would be entirely inappropriate considering the historic burden weighing heavily on this art collection." |
Mr Gurlitt's father, Hildebrand Gurlitt, was ordered to deal in works that had been seized from Jews, or which the Nazis had considered "degenerate" and removed from German museums. | |
Among the collection were works by Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Pablo Picasso, Marc Chagall, Emil Nolde and Max Liebermann. | |
A German task force is investigating the art amid claims from descendants of the original owners, including the family of art dealer Paul Rosenberg. | |
Cornelius Gurlitt initially refused to give up the paintings but then changed his position, agreeing to co-operate with the German authorities on establishing the paintings' provenance, and then return them if they were shown to be stolen. | |
But one of his cousins, 86-year-old Uta Werner, said on Friday she was contesting his fitness of mind when he wrote the will naming the Bern museum as his sole heir. |