海角大神

A Swiss museum agreed on Monday to accept an art collection hoarded during the Nazi era and left to a German recluse, saying that its聽approach of broad transparency could set a new standard in the handling of Nazi-looted art.

Christoph Sch盲ublin, president of the Kunstmuseum Bern's foundation board, said the decision to accept the artwork was 鈥漚nything but easy,鈥� given its controversial origin, according to media reports. The collection was聽bequeathed by Cornelius Gurlitt, the son of one of Adolf Hitler鈥檚 main art dealers.聽

鈥淟ooted art and that suspected to be looted 鈥� won鈥檛 get on Swiss ground,鈥� Mr. Sch盲ublin told reporters Monday at a joint news conference with German officials in Berlin. He said the museum would undertake extensive research to determine the provenance of the works.

Under an agreement between the Kunstmuseum and the German government, a task force will trace the history of hundreds of works before the museum takes possession of them. As The Wall Street Journal explains:

In 2012, German authorities seized 1,280 pieces from Mr. Gurlitt鈥檚 Munich apartment while investigating him for tax evasion. Gurlitt's collection includes masterpieces by Claude Monet, Henri Matisse, Pablo Picasso, and Pierre Auguste-Renoir.

Before Gurlitt died in May, he designated the Kunstmuseum as the sole heir to his once-hidden collection. German authorities maintained custody over the artwork while the museum deliberated whether to accept it.

Historians and lawyers have already determined that the collection contains several works stolen from European Jews by the Nazis, The New York Times reports. Gurlitt鈥檚 father amassed much of it during World War II when Hitler commissioned him to purchase pieces for a F眉hrermuseum.

German Culture Minister Monika Gr眉tters said three looted paintings from the collection would be returned to their owners immediately. She said the decision was 鈥渁 milestone in our attempts to come to terms with our history," the Guardian reports.

Nazi-looted art has long been a contentious issue for museums across the world. In 1998, 44 countries signed the Washington Principles on Nazi-Confiscated Art, 鈥渆mbracing their special responsibility to repair the damage caused by the wholesale looting of art owned by Jews during the Third Reich鈥檚 reign,鈥� The Times reported last year.

With that in mind, the Kunstmuseum鈥檚 dedication to finding the rightful owners of Gurlitt鈥檚 collection comes as a promising sign within the art world.

But the museum鈥檚 decision to accept the collection could be complicated by a cousin of Gurlitt, who has questioned Gurlitt's mental capacity when he wrote the will naming the museum as the sole heir.