London - Some were believed to have been lost forever in the chaos and carnage of the Second World War. Others were not even known about before.
They are among the 1 400 paintings found in the flat of recluse Cornelius Gurlitt by the German authorities.
On Tuesday, as the art world was given a glimpse of some of the masterpieces, campaigners accused officials of “concealing stolen goods” by refusing to publish details of the looted art, valued at £1-billion.
The extraordinary cache, which includes unknown works by Marc Chagall, Otto Dix, Max Liebermann and Henri Matisse, was found when tax officials raided 80-year-old Gurlitt’s Munich apartment last year.
His father, Hildebrand, amassed most of the collection during the 1930s from art seized by Nazis from their owners or taken from museums because it was seen as un-German or “degenerate”.
But the authorities kept secret their discovery for 20 months, and are refusing to publish details of the works. Officials also admitted they have not questioned Gurlitt, have no idea where he is and have no plans to issue an arrest warrant.
Ruediger Mahlo, of the pressure group Conference on Jewish material claims against Germany, accused the authorities of “what amounts morally to the concealing of stolen goods”.
For some families missing art is the last personal effects of relatives murdered in the Holocaust.
Anne Webber of the Commission for Looted Art in Europe said the response of the German authorities was “troubling”. She said: “A list of these paintings must be published. There are hundreds of families around the world urgently wanting to know if any of the works belong to them.”
Reinhard Nemetz, head of the prosecutors’ office in Augsburg, said the works, which also included pieces by Canaletto, Courbet, Picasso and Toulouse-Lautrec, had been seized in March last year. Most were in good condition.
Asked why the discovery had been kept secret for so long, he said: “It is for us counterproductive to go public with such a case. The investigations are costly, complex and lengthy.”
Investigators chanced upon the art as Gurlitt was being investigated for tax evasion.
The values given have been estimated by Robin Simon, Daily Mail Art Critic.- Daily Mail