In a week where the world has claimed back more than 1,400 lost works of art, many will be asking what else lies in hidden vaults, secret chambers, even attics and garages around the world?


Following the discovery of the works at the home of Cornelius Gurlitt son of a Munich Art dealer, experts have been examining the collection, which includes works by artists such as; Pablo Picasso, Gustave Courbet, Toulouse-Lautrec, Henri Matisse and Otto Dix to name but a few. The world has long known of the Nazis’ seizure of works of Art both before and during the Second World War and this is not the first instance of works previously thought lost coming to light. The sheer number of works thought ‘lost’ is perhaps what is different on this occasion, for so many works thought lost to the annals of history to be exhumed is quite remarkable.


There can be little doubt that the history of art and western culture will be enriched as a result of the discovery, but as I’ve said, what is perhaps most interesting is the question as to what else lies hidden from the world, locked behind closed doors. Journalists and Art historians have been speculating since the discovery about ‘what else might be out there’, we should perhaps speculate further. Works of Fine Art are among some of the innumerable culturally important objects missing to the sands of time. The sacking of ancient cities like Jerusalem, Constantinople, Paris or even modern day Bagdad have caused the loss of treasures beyond imagining. Treasure isn’t defined by a monetary value, true treasure is that which expands our understanding of a given place or particular period of our history. In a time when the electronic copy and the proliferation of creative works is a common facet of everyday life, it is hard in some ways to imagine loosing works of cultural expression, but this convenience is a modern construct.


We should all be heartened by this most recent ‘cultural recovery’ – but we shouldn’t lose sight of the fact that there is so much more to reclaim.