Some of the recovered artworks.
A total of 590 artworks from the cache of 1,406 seized from the Munich apartment of Cornelius Gurlitt are to be put on line by the German authorities from this week. The lost art database www.lostart.de focuses on work thought to have been stolen or extorted by the Nazis. It is operated by the Liason Office of Magdeburg, a federal institution for cultural documentation and losses. The publication online of the database is an attempt to discover the original owners of works including pieces by Max Beckmann, Pablo Picasso, Oskar Kokoschka, Max Liebermann, Henri Matisse, Auguste Rodin and Eugene Delacroix.
In an interview with Der Spiegel the German recluse said he would not give anything back voluntarily. He said his father, a Nazi era art dealer, had acquired the works legally and that as heir he is the rightful owner.
UPDATE APRIL 2014: The German government announced an agreement with Mr. Gurlitt under which a team of international experts have one year to investigate the provenance of the seized artworks. The deal will take effect when the artworks are released by the Bavarian government. Mr. Gurlitt can prove ownership of some of the works. The deal covers those with questionable provenance.
UPDATE: MAY 6, 2014: Cornelius Gurlitt died today at his apartment in Munich.