BONN: Some 250 art works that a reclusive collector hid from the world for decades, including pieces likely looted from Jewish owners under Nazi rule, are going on show at a German museum.

The paintings being shown starting on Thursday at Bonn’s Bundeskunsthalle including works by Albrecht Duerer, Claude Monet and Camille Pissarro are from the huge art collection hoarded by late collector Cornelius Gurlitt. Authorities first stumbled on the art, stored in Gurlitt’s Munich home, while investigating a tax case in 2012.

The exhibition focuses on works of art believed to have been taken from their mostly Jewish owners as part of Nazi persecution and on works whose provenance hasn’t yet been established.

The Bonn show is part of a double exhibition titled “Gurlitt: Status Report.”

A parallel show in the Swiss capital Bern features some 200 works from the collector’s trove, mostly from artists who were defamed by the Nazis as “degenerate.” The art on display in Bern includes Expressionist works by artists such as Otto Dix and Franz Marc.

It is the first chance for the public to view any of the paintings and other works from the 1,500-piece collection that belonged to the estate of Gurlitt’s father, the Nazi-era art dealer Hildebrand Gurlitt.

The Bonn show, subtitled “Nazi Art Theft and Its Consequences,” aims to put the works into their historical context. It tries to shed light on Hildebrand Gurlitt’s life and also focuses on the fate of Jewish artists, collectors and art dealers who fell victim to the Nazi regime.

Published in Dawn, November 3rd, 2017