Events

In the second part of the exhibition Gurlitt: Status Report, the Kunstmuseum Bern is again mounting a selection of works from the Gurlitt “art trove.” This selection comprises pieces that were seized by the Nazis in their persecution campaigns as well as artworks whose provenance and circumstances of acquisition still can not be conclusively ascertained today. Nazi Art Theft and its Consequences traces the Nazi looting of European Jews and elucidates the role of art dealers and museums in the expropriation campaigns of the regime. Hildebrand Gurlitt was involved in forced sales and dealt with artworks that were either stolen or confiscated from museums as “degenerate art.” The works bequeathed provide a direct link to the biographies of his contemporaries who were persecuted by the Nazis. Most of the former owners were Jewish artists, collectors, and art dealers. The exhibition devotes a separate section to the “restitution” of looted art from the Gurlitt “art trove.” An exhibition of the Bundeskunsthalle in Bonn augmented by the Kunstmuseum Bern. Curator: Nikola Doll

News that the Bavarian Public Prosecutor’s office had seized the art collection of Cornelius Gurlitt (1932–2014), caused an international sensation when it was made public in November 2013. The origin of the more than 1500 works that the reclusive son of the art dealer Hildebrand Gurlitt (1895–1956) had inherited from his father raised suspicions: had they been looted by the Nazis before and during the Second World War? To investigate these suspicions, the German government provided the funding necessary to conduct further research, while Cornelius Gurlitt agreed to return any work identified as looted to their rightful owners. The exhibition "Gurlitt: Status Report" presents a selection of 250 works from a broad spectrum of the history of art that have been hidden from public view for decades. By addressing the provenance of each of the works on show, the exhibition also sheds light on the complex history of the individual objects.