Description

The Swiss' Bern Art Museum has been named the sole heir in the estate of Mr. Gurlitt, the son of Hitler's art dealer, who had hidden hundreds of works of art for years. Despite the dubious legality of these artworks, the Bern has decided to accept Gurlitt's bequest although, "no work suspected of being looted" would enter the museum," and that all looted art would be returned to the rightful owners.

After the Bavarian authorities seized over a thousand works of art in a tax evasion scam in 2012, legal disputes were triggered surrounding art looted by the Nazis. Therefore the Bern is extremely vulnerable to scandal which is why the museum is working with Germany to return looted paintings to the rightful owners, or at least their descendents. The Gurlitt family has agreed that the moral thing to do is to find which paintings need restitution and return them.

The group of paintings is estimated to be worth over a billion dollars and includes works by Monet and Picasso.