A Claude Monet work consisting of a light blue landscape on paper has apparently been hiding in a suitcase at a German hospital for several months.
Not yet confirmed as a Monet, the work was left at the hospital by art collector Cornelius Gurlitt, who inherited around 1,000 pieces from his father, a dealer during the Nazi era, the Wall Street Journal reported. Gurlitt died at home four months ago, apparently leaving the work at the hospital during a short stay.
While the majority of the collection was seized during a tax investigation about two years ago, German authorities have found several other works in Gurlitt's apartment. A government-appointed task force has been investigating the work believed to be by Monet to see if it was stolen but hasn't taken measures to confirm its authenticity.
Due to its similarity to the "Vue de Sainte-Adresse" painting that Monet completed in 1864, the newly discovered work could have been from that same year, the AFP reported.
Gurlitt, who once called the art collection "the love of his life" in an interview, worked out a deal with the German government to find the rightful owners of the 1,280 paintings, drawings and sketches that were hidden in his apartment for decades.
In his will, Gurlitt bequeathed all works in the collection that authorities decide weren't stolen to the Kunstmuseum in Bern, Switzerland.
Gurlitt's father, Hildebrand, had the job of selling art taken from Jewish families as well as avant-garde pieces removed from German museums after Hitler's regime termed them "degenerate," according to the AFP.
While pricing for great artists' offerings greatly varies, a Monet work on paper sold for $746,500 at Sotheby's in New York in 2010, the most ever paid for a piece on paper from the French Impressionist.
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