Sixty rare and potentially stolen pieces of art have been discovered at a home in Austria.
If this sounds like a story you heard last November, that's because it's part two. (Via The Telegraph)
The 60 pieces — including works by Picasso, Renoir and Monet — secured Monday were found at Cornelius Gurlitt's Salzburg home. (Via Euronews)
The more than 1,000 pieces we told you about last year came from the elderly art collector's Munich home. (Via Newsy)
According to The New York Times, the Salzburg house was reportedly searched a few years ago on another matter and nothing was found.
"[Gurlitt's spokesperson] said the artworks had been moved to protect them from theft, but added the pieces would also be inspected to determine whether any of them were stolen during the Nazi era."
At this point, Gurlitt's spokesperson says there is no reason to believe these paintings were stolen or forcibly sold.
But The Wire points to last year's discovery, saying, "Of the 1,406 works seized, nearly 600 are being investigated as possibly having been Nazi loot."
Now, it isn't likely Gurlitt stole anything himself. The BBC reports, "Gurlitt's late father Hildebrand was an art dealer who sold paintings that had been confiscated or bought by the Nazis but kept many of the works himself."
Gurlitt is reportedly willing to negotiate with families of victims of the Nazis whose art was taken and possibly return the works.
However, as The Wall Street Journal notes, Gurlitt might not have to return the artwork because the statute of limitations on the German law requiring restitution has expired.
As for the artwork found in Salzburg, we'll wait to see what the examination brings. But side note: How odd is this timing?
George Clooney's latest film, "The Monuments Men," which is about a group of soldiers trying to protect art from the Nazis during World War II, opened just last weekend. (Via Columbia Pictures / "The Monuments Men")
