Nazi looted art 'found in Munich' - German media

On November 3, 2013, the BBC reported that a trove of more than 1500 pieces of art was found in a private stash in Munich, Germany. The medium in this instance is credible as government organizations and the evidence is revenue office and police reports. The sources are listed and therefore transparent. A variety of periodicals reported on the same topic, among them are the New York Times and the Associated Press.  The audience is general rather than focused and would be any individual interested in history, human rights or culture. According to this particular publication, the works had been missing since the 1930s or 1940s when they were confiscated by the Nazis around the time of the onset of the Second World War. Godfrey Barker, an art historian interviewed for the piece; claimed that the pieces had been labeled as ‘degenerate,’ by the Nazi forces because they were primarily modern art.  The body of works includes creations by masters such as Chagall, Matisse, and Picasso and the entire collection is thought to be worth in the neighborhood of 1.5 billion dollars based upon the appraisals of experts. The magazine the Force, which broke another version of the story, argues that if the facts are confirmed the long-hidden paintings represent the largest such finding from a single source that has ever been located. Interestingly, the works were unintentionally stumbled upon by tax collectors who had uncovered them hidden in darkened storage rooms at the home of Cornelius Gurlitt. Gurlitt had inherited them from his art-dealer father; now deceased. A warrant issued for tax evasion in 2011 had allowed authorities legal access to his residence.  The article states that the younger Gurlitt had sold some of the historic finds privately over the years, as he had needed the cash. The masterpieces are believed to have been originally under the care of Paul Rosenberg, a Jewish art dealer who had fled France in the forties. More than 200 of these works of art are currently under police warrant for return to their rightful heirs.  The academic warrant for this argument is the common understanding that these works of art are invaluable to humanity over and above their original owners’ investment and should be respected and protected as cultural artifacts. There is no obvious attempt to persuade, the context is historical and this argument is fact/evidentiary-based. There is no apparent rebuttal because it is a news report rather than an argument. No counter-claim is offered.  

  

 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-24794970

 http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/06/arts/design/in-a-rediscovered-trove-of-art-a-triumph-over-the-nazis-will.html?_r=0