German artist Nana Dix, grand-daughter of the painter Otto Dix, in her studio in Munich. AFP PHOTO/CHRISTOF STACHE.
Dozens if not hundreds of articles appeared about the art hoard (latest from TNYT), amassed during the Nazi period and found in Munich 70-some years hence, in possession of an 80-years old hermit, Cornelious Gurlitt, the son of an art dealer Hildebrand Gurlitt. Some interested parties conservatively quote German laws and expect that Gurlitt will be allowed to keep the artworks, other advocates passionately appeal to the public’s moral integrity demanding accounting and recovery of works taken art museums and individual victims of the Nazi persecution.
Celine Le Prioux, writing for Agence France Press, interviewed Nana Dix about the discovery of Otto Dix’s paintings, including an unknown self-portrait, among the hundreds of works kept secret by Cornelius Gurlitt. Nana Dix, an artist in her own right, lives less than a mile from Gurlitt’s apartment. She was quoted as saying “It’s eerie to think that I often passed by with my children,” and furthermore she described Germany’s handling of the hoard as “scandalous”.
Otto Dix, Kriegskrüppel (War cripples), drypoint print based on a painting labeled degenerate and destroyed in 1937.
Otto Dix (1891-1969) served during World War I and his paintings were deeply affected by the horrors he observed as a solider. Some of works were labeled and exhibited as degenerate; at least two were burnt in the 1930s, while Dix was banned from painting and dismissed from his post at the Dresden Arts Academy. Dix was conscripted to fight in World War II and was imprisoned by the French.
