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It was a “fantastic picture,” recalled Karl-Sax Feddersen of the Cologne auction house Lempertz, who noted how pleased the auction house team was with the auction price: 864,000 euros, or $1.17 million. 

When he learned on Monday that the Beckmann seller, Cornelius Gurlitt, now 80, had reportedly sat on hundreds of works, including art by Picasso and Matisse, that were confiscated under the Nazis or sold cheaply by owners desperate to flee Hitler, Mr. Feddersen was amazed. “Imagine!” he said, envisaging seeing and selling such a collection. 

The Bavarian authorities swooped in on Mr. Gurlitt’s home and seized about 1,500 works estimated to be worth $1.4 billion, according to the news magazine Focus. German officials said the raid occurred on Feb. 28, 2012.

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