Almost 1,500 priceless paintings including works by Picasso
and Matisse that were stolen by the Nazis were discovered in a flat in Munich,
Germany on Sunday. The paper said police came upon the paintings during a 2011
search in an apartment belonging to the octogenarian son of art collector
Hildebrand Gurlitt. The works were said to be worth around one billion euros
($1.3 billion dollars) on today's market. The artworks were hidden among junk
in darkened rooms in Gurlitt's apartment for more than half a century. Hitler's
propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels put Gurlitt’s father in charge of exporting
the art, which the Nazi party considered "degenerate". The collection
included many of the great German masters of the 20th century, as well as one
painting by Henri Matisse. The paintings are now stored safely in a customs
warehouse outside of Munich.
The subject of paintings stolen by Nazis during WWII has
been surrounded with an air of mystery.
I am thrilled that these paintings were found. Now, I am curious as to
what the German government plans to do with the works.
http://news.yahoo.com/germany-finds-1-500-masterpieces-looted-nazis-232003659.html
I'm a little bit confused-if the paintings were found in 2011, why is the press just talking about them now? Either way, it's nice to hear that they have been safely stored away. I'm curious as to why the man left all of this artwork in the apartment as opposed to exporting it like he was ordered to do.
ReplyDeleteI'm also confused as to the timing of this article but that's actually fantastic that they found those master pieces. Especially looking at how famous the artists works are, the fact that they were recovered after all these years is truly amazing.
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