Gurlitt Status Report Part 2 Nazi Art Theft and Its Consequences
In the second part of the exhibition Gurlitt: Status Report, the Kunstmuseum Bern is again mounting a selection of works from the Gurlitt “art trove.” This selection comprises pieces that were seized by the Nazis in their persecution campaigns as well as artworks whose provenance and circumstances of acquisition still can not be conclusively ascertained today.
Nazi Art Theft and its Consequences traces the Nazi looting of European Jews and elucidates the role of art dealers and museums in the expropriation campaigns of the regime. Hildebrand Gurlitt was involved in forced sales and dealt with artworks that were either stolen or confiscated from museums as “degenerate art.” The works bequeathed provide a direct link to the biographies of his contemporaries who were persecuted by the Nazis. Most of the former owners were Jewish artists, collectors, and art dealers. The exhibition devotes a separate section to the “restitution” of looted art from the Gurlitt “art trove.”
An exhibition of the Bundeskunsthalle in Bonn augmented by the Kunstmuseum Bern.
Curator: Nikola Doll
