A collection of 1,500 artworks confiscated by the Nazis in the 1930s and 1940s has been found
A collection of 1,500 artworks confiscated by the Nazis in the 1930s and 1940s has been found in the German city of Munich, media reports say.
The trove is believed to include works by Matisse, Picasso and Chagall, the news magazine Focus reports.
Some of the works were declared as degenerate by the Nazis, while others were stolen from or forcibly sold for a pittance by Jewish art collectors.
If confirmed, it would be one of the largest recoveries of looted art.
Investigators put the value of the works at about one billion euros (£846m; $1.35bn), Focus said.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-24794970
= new reply since forum marked as read
Really, priceless. Including a Matisse:
?6
1500 painting, with almost all of the owners at the time the Nazis confiscated these paintings now dead. Who gets this artwork? Were they "abandoned" by their owners? The ones that were sold to the Nazis, a valid legal sale? The Nazis were the legal government of Germany in the 1930s, and if they confiscated them that would still be a legal confiscation (i.e. the German Government own these artworks).
Whoever is in charge of these pieces of art, will have to determine the last legal owner (which could be the Nazi Government), and who is the rightful heirs to these pieces of art? What if there are NO heirs? It will be a mess and people will be suing everyone.
Now, the Article says SOME of these pieces of art had been owned by Jewish Art Collectors WHO SOLD THEM. Others were confiscated from Jews (and by the general terms used also non-Jews. ie. "Degenerative art"
but also other people.
The best solution may be for Germany to declare them all the property of Germany, subject to claims made to a commission made up of one German and One Israeli (the Israeli is due to the high number of these Art Works tied in with the Jewish Population of Germany, many of who left for Israel is their survived WWII. The Commission would have the final say as to ownership. If no owner is found (and that includes heirs of the original owners) of any of the art work, that remaining art work should be split between Germany and Israel.
Just a comment that this is and will be a legal mess that someone will have to resolve as to each piece of art. Maybe the best way is for Germany to declare them property of Germany and then donate all of them to Israel, thus Israel gets the headaches of deciding who gets what. What a mess this will be.
Such a commission could resolve the issue of what goes to which heir AND what goes to each country if no owner (which includes heirs to the owner who owned the piece of art at the time the Nazi took the Art Work). I suspect such a commission would resolve the resulting legal issues quicker and more fairly then a traditional court hearing, for this is 2013, WWII ended in 1945, 68 years ago. Thus we may be talking about the Great Grandchildren of the owners of these pieces of art in 1935, and we may be talking to no one for no one is alive.
I'm glad that once again they shall have the chance to see the light of day. Cool..............
