“Until six months ago, almost no one, even in his native Germany, had heard of Cornelius Gurlitt. Shy and reclusive, he lived alone in an apartment in Munich, anonymous even to the local officials. … His only companions appeared to be more than 1,000 artworks that he kept in his darkened apartment. The remarkable collection, with an estimated value of more than $1 billion, came to light only last year, when it was seized by German authorities.”