Nazi-Art Hoarder, Germany Cut a Deal

Germany and Cornelius Gurlitt, who made headlines last year when his trove of Nazi-era art was uncovered, have hammered out a deal that could send some of the works back to their rightful owners, the New York Times reports. Under the official agreement announced yesterday, government-selected investigators will, over the course of a year, assess the sources of at least 593 of the works the 81-year-old had quietly held, the Guardian reports.

Other pieces among the roughly 1,280 discovered in his Munich home have been deemed "unproblematic"; those "will be returned to [Gurlitt] without delay," his lawyer says. Adds a rep for the collector: "We are dealing with a top-class team of experts, and given Mr. Gurlitt’s advanced age and frail health, it can be expected that they should be able to complete their work within (the yearlong) time frame." The Times notes that in sidestepping its 30-year statute of limitations, Germany is indicating its desire to resolve such claims regarding Nazi-looted art. (More Germany stories.)