Sculptures Found in Disputed Art Trove

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Experts say they have found what they believe to be a sculpture by Edgar Degas, a small marble figure by Auguste Rodin as well as a painting and other sculptures, in the Munich home of Cornelius Gurlitt, the reclusive German art collector who kept hundreds of European masterworks, many of them possibly looted by the Nazis, stashed in his apartment for decades. Mr. Gurlitt died in May.

The government-appointed group assigned to research the provenance of many works from Mr. Gurlitt’s collection announced the latest discovery on Thursday. It gave no indication of how the works could have been overlooked by police who had confiscated the bulk of the collection from the Munich apartment in February 2012.

The ownership history of the newly found pieces would be subject to “careful and transparent research” by the task force of experts, said the group’s leader, Ingeborg Berggreen-Merkel.

Images and details of the painting and the figures will be posted on the government’s online databank for looted art, lostart.de, Ms. Berggreen-Merkel said. Images of 458 works with uncertain history from the collection, which has become known as the Munich Art Trove, are accessible through the database.

Additionally, 238 works kept in Mr. Gurlitt’s second home in Salzburg, Austria, were recovered this year after experts returned there a second time and removed items that had blocked access to parts of the house.

Only one work has so far been determined to have been stolen from its Jewish owner, a portrait by Henri Matisse that belonged to Paul Rosenberg. Although Mr. Rosenberg’s heirs had searched for the work for years, it is now stuck in legal limbo following Mr. Gurlitt’s death.

Mr. Gurlitt left his entire collection to the Kunstmuseum Bern in Switzerland. But the museum has not yet decided whether to accept the gift, citing the complex legal situation and sensitivity of the bequest. An agreement signed by Mr. Gurlitt and German authorities before his death stipulates that those who inherit the collection allow any works with a questionable history to remain in the task force’s custody until the provenance research is completed.

German police confiscated 1,280 works from Mr. Gurlitt’s apartment in 2012 as part of an investigation on suspicion of tax evasion. But the existence of the private collection remained secret until November, when a German newsmagazine first reported the find, provoking international outrage over the government’s refusal to inform the public in an effort help restitute looted items.