"I will not speak with them, and I won't freely give anything back, no, no," Cornelius Gurlitt, 80, said to German weekly Der Spiegel of reports that government officials are working to negotiate settlements for many of the works. "When I'm dead they can do with them what they want."WSJ
Mr. Gurlitt's comments—the first he has made on the wartime art stash discovered in his apartment and his intentions—came after Bavaria's justice minister, whose office is overseeing the investigation, said Friday he hoped to reach a settlement with Mr. Gurlitt to avoid a lengthy legal fight and expedite restitution.
Monday, November 18, 2013
"Man Behind Nazi Art Trove Refuses to Give Up Works"
''The Munich man from whom German authorities confiscated an art trove they believe includes Nazi-looted works broke his silence, saying he isn't willing to return any of the art to previous owners, including pieces taken from Jews.
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16 comments:
He's 80. If he says they can just have it all when he dies, it would be cheaper, and probably faster, to just wait until he dies.
Or just kill him now. We are talking about Germans, right?
It isn't his stuff. It should have been returned to the owners (or their successors) decades ago.
Dad brought home a couple of souvenirs, so he figures they're his.
Lotsa luck.
Being rich and weak has always been a prescription for loss.
If it's clearly established that they don't belong to him, then walk in and take them. That's how he got them.
Just don't shoot the dog.
There's also the interest involved of encouraging others to give stuff back if they find a stash in their attics, no matter who in the family is the culprit or how they ended up with the stuff.
I forget the title but there was an Albert Brooks movie where he's supposed to be a film editor and George Kennedy, playing himself, is acting all chummy and he asks, "So where's my best stuff, on the cutting room floor?"
Brooks says, "No, it's back home at my place."
I found the exchange more perplexing than amusing, at the time.
I suspect that I'm a fan of Mad Men largely because it seems to finally provide answers to so many of the unanswered questions I had growing up.
The same phenomenon is at work, is my surmise.
Modern Romance (1981).
That might be the one where he says to his girlfriend, "I love you" and she says, "I know."
This is all just pre-negotiation talk, staking out a position.
The owners will figure out how much it will cost them in legal fees to get their paintings back and offer him 50% of that as payoff.
And he'll accept.
He was a Dumb Kopf to keep all the paintings all these years. This was bound to happen.
I'll trade ya an Eisenhower jacket and a luger for you're Viennese kitsch, deal?
Your not you're, too much spetzle.
Just rich people fighting over some very pricing paintings.
Who cares?
You know how many people in Nigeria are dying of malnutrition? Germany should take those paintings, sell them, and give the proceeds to the poor of Africa.
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