Initial results of new Gurlitt research
Today, July 18, 2016, the Gurlitt Provenance Research project will present the initial results of the work it commenced in January this year. The short reports with interim results, so-called Object Record Excerpts, on artworks from Cornelius Gurlitt’s Salzburg estate are now publicly available.
The Object Record Excerpts on the origin of 189 artworks from Gurlitt’s Salzburg estate are now publicly available on the project’s website https://www.kulturgutverluste.de/Webs/EN/ProjectGurlitt/Gurlitt-Provenance-Research/Index.html and on www.lostart.de.
During the scientific investigations, suspicions were confirmed that 91 of the 502 works so far examined as a matter of priority were works looted by the Nazis. A total of 680 artworks could not be conclusively examined by the Schwabing Art Trove Taskforce, prompting more in-depth research on these. Earlier, in March 2016, details of 184 artworks recovered from the Salzburg home of Cornelius Gurlitt had been published in the Lost Art Database by the project team. The suspicion that these were confiscated from their owners as a result of Nazi persecution cannot be ruled out.
An expert was able to establish that 33 works from the collection of “degenerate art” suspect cases were not suspicious. They had been acquired by the heritage museums before 1933.
“We have made significant progress towards our goal of investigating the Gurlitt case promptly and transparently,” said Uwe M. Schneede of the German Lost Art Foundation’s Executive Board.
Cornelius Gurlitt’s extensive collection of written documents has also been digitized with the help of the Federal Archives. Since April, it has been possible to view around 2,400 photographs of artworks in the Federal Archives. The remaining documents, of which there are approx. 22,000, are currently being examined for information on the artworks’ provenance history. The business records included among the documents are also due to be made accessible in the Federal Archives. The preparations for this have been completed by the Gurlitt Provenance Research project team, and the consent of Kunstmuseum Bern, the testamentary heir of Cornelius Gurlitt, has been obtained. Unfortunately, it has not yet been possible to obtain the consent of the legal heirs for publication of the materials.
The reports on the origins of the artworks are compiled by an international team of 20 provenance researchers. Renowned experts from Israel, France, the United States, Germany and Austria work on a voluntary basis to check the findings with respect to plausibility and fairness of scientific methods.
The Gurlitt Provenance Research project, financed by the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and Media, is continuing provenance research activities into the Gurlitt art trove. The German Lost Art Foundation in Magdeburg is the body responsible for the project.