Skip to content

In pictures: Cornelius Gurlitt Nazi-era art trove on display

AFP A woman is interviewed during the press preview of the first masterpieces of the estate of German collector Cornelius Gurlitt at the Museum of Fine Arts Bern (7 July 2017)AFP
A hoard of Nazi-era artwork collected by a recluse whose father was an art dealer in Hitler's Germany has gone on display at the Museum of Fine Arts in Bern, Switzerland.
AFP A journalist takes a picture with a mobile phone of the art pieces coming from the estate of German collector Cornelius Gurlitt during a press preview of the first masterpieces of the estate of Gurlitt at the Museum of Fine Arts Bern (07 July 2017)AFP
The museum previewed nearly 200 items, collected by Cornelius Gurlitt, that will be publicly displayed in November. Among them were pieces by key German painters Otto Dix, Franz Marc and Otto Mueller.
EPA A work titled "Melancholisches Maedchen" (Melancholy Girl) by German artist Ernst Ludwig Kirchner is unveiled during a media conference on the arrival of the first art pieces of the Gurlitt Collection at the Kunstmuseum (Art Museum) of Bern, (07 July 2017)EPA
Works by German artist Ernst Ludwig Kirchner were also featured. Some of the artworks Gurlitt possessed were believed to have been stolen from Jews. The collector hid hundreds of paintings, drawings and sketches in his Munich and Salzburg homes for decades before they were discovered.
AFP A journalist films the 'Liegende weiblicher Akt am Wasser' an aquarelle by German expressionist Otto Mueller and coming from the estate of German collector Cornelius Gurlitt during a press preview of the first masterpieces of the estate of Gurlitt at the Museum of Fine Arts Bern (07 July 2017)AFP
The items previewed on Friday will be on display to the public from 2 November in an exhibition entitled Degenerate Art, Confiscated and Sold.
AFP An official displays artwork during a press preview of the first masterpieces of the estate of Cornelius Gurlitt at the Museum of Fine Arts Bern (07 July 2017)AFP
Most of the artwork is on paper, including important works from the Symbolism, Expressionism, Constructivism and New Objectivity movements.
Getty Images An exterior view of the apartment buildings in Munich containing the residence of Cornelius Gurlitt (04 November 2013)Getty Images
Much of the artwork was discovered in 2012 at Gurlitt's flat in Munich.
AFP The Museum of Fine Arts Bern (15 June 2017)AFP
He died in May 2014 and left his collection to the Bern museum. But the museum only received it after a claim from a relative who contested his will was rejected by a court.