Hildebrand Gurlitt was one of the art dealers who were commissioned to sell so-called degenerate artworks confiscated from German museums in 1937. Around 400 artworks from this context remained in his possession. They are housed in the Kunstmuseum Bern as the Cornelius Gurlitt Legacy. The volume is based on extensive research on the origins of the Hildebrand Gurlitts art collection. It addresses the position of the museum director and curator Gurlitt with respect to German Modernism and his role as an art dealer during the National Socialist era and in the postwar period. Further essays analyze et al. his activities in the context of the National Socialist politics of art and persecution and critically examine strategies in the art business after 1945. The catalogue contains all of the artworks in the Cornelius Gurlitt Legacy connected with the action to confiscate degenerate art.

Nikola Doll, Kunstmuseum Bern; Uwe Fleckner, University of Hamburg; Gesa Jeuthe Vietzen, Advisory Commission, Berlin.