Bern Art Museum Walks Back Reports of Decision on Gurlitt Hoard

Art Lawyer Nicholas O’Donnell does a fine job sorting out the confusion over yesterday’s apparently premature declaration that the Bern Museum had made a decision upon the gift of the the Gurlitt hoard:

yesterday the Sonntagszeitung reported that the museum had indeed reached a decision to accept the collection and the role (which would, presumably, extend beyond the 1,280 works taken from his Schwabing apartment in Munich, and also to the several hundred objects in Austria, which are beyond the reach of the Bavarians). Reuters took up the story in English, with the headline that “Swiss art museum to accept German hoarder’s paintings: paper.”

Today, the museum walked the story back in multiple Swiss publications (all in German, from what I have found so far). The Tages Anzeiger in Zürich has an article today entitled “Bern Kunstmuseum Denies Gurlitt Decision.” The article describes the Sonntagszeitung article as “premature and partially incorrect.” The museum stated that the foundation’s board (responsible for the museum) declined to comment, citing ongoing confidential conversations with both Germany and Bavaria about the handling of the case. Foundation President Christoph Schäublin was cited as fearful of being “overrun,” and therefor declined to make a public announcement, according to museum spokeswoman Ruth Gilgen Hamisultane in her communication to the TA. The Berner Zeitung followed suit in confirming the lack of an actual decision.

So as of today, the deadline remains November 26, 2014.

Reports About Possible Acceptance of Gurlitt Bequest by Kunstmuseum (The Art Law Report)