Munich. In a police operation that remained secret until November 2013, 1,500 paintings, previously thought to have disappeared after being requisitioned by the Nazis during World War II, were seized. They included works by Picasso, Matisse, Chagall, Kokoschka, Marc, Beckmann, Nolde, Klee, and many others. The estimated value of the masterpieces is around one billion. The owner of the apartment, Rolf Nikolaus Cornelius Gurlitt, son of gallery owner Hildebrand Gurlitt, lived until 2011 on the proceeds from the sale of some of the paintings, which had remained hidden for decades in the Bavarian capital.
