BERLIN — A Matisse painting that was looted by the Nazis and became part of a German collector’s long-hidden trove was handed over Friday to the heirs of a Jewish art dealer.
Henri Matisse’s Woman Sitting in an Armchair was one of the first two works from the vast trove of art hoarded by Cornelius Gurlitt to be returned to its rightful owners.
Lawyer Chris Marinello, who represents the heirs of Paris-based dealer Paul Rosenberg and traveled to Munich to pick up the painting, said he was delighted with its return and hopes the German government “will act with expediency and transparency in reviewing and resolving other claims to the Gurlitt pictures.”
Gurlitt died in May 2014, a few months after it emerged that authorities had seized some 1,400 items at his Munich apartment while investigating a tax case in 2012.