Cologne's Rautenstrauch Joest Museum wants to return an artifact looted from the Bangwa community in Cameroon. But Germany's intricate processes may make restitution difficult.
April 13 marks International Day of Provenance Research. Along with a new awareness of colonial crimes, the Gurlitt trove and Benin Bronzes cases have fostered change in Germany.
A decade ago, authorities discovered some 1,280 artworks in the apartment of Cornelius Gurlitt. Works by Max Liebermann and Henri Matisse have since proved to have been looted by Nazis.
Among the some 1,500 artworks found in Cornelius Gurlitt's hoard, 14 were proven to have been looted under the Nazis. The last of these has now been sold at auction.