Looted art in Germany and France - Hildebrand and Cornelius Gurlitt
Notable German art dealer Hildebrand Gurlitt (1895–1956) was the son of a famous art historian, Cornelius Gurlitt I (1850–1938), and grandson of Louis Gurlitt (1812–1897), an important C19th landscape artist. Early in his career in the 1920s, Hildebrand worked as a museum director in Zwickau, where he tried to convince people of the merits of modern art. But he faced a right wing backlash and was dropped. In 1933 he moved to Hamburg where young Hildebrand tried to rebuilt his career as a modern art dealer, just as the Nazis rose to power. Hildebrand started to actively link himself with the Nazi goals, writing to the Propaganda Ministry to volunteer his skills as a leading expert in modern i.e degenerate art. He was sent with other dealers to act for the Nazis, with the task of acquiring works for the Führermuseum project. Hitler’s Special Art Commission of Linz planned to create a super museum in his boyhood town, Linz, that would contain every important art work in the w...