Cornelius Gurlitt died suddenly at the age of 81 . He came to the attention of the art world for his nearly priceless collection . They were investigating whether some paintings had been looted by the Nazis . German art collector Cornelius Gurlitt , whose nearly priceless collection was confiscated because it was suspected to contain pieces looted by the Nazis , died Tuesday and left the masterpieces to a Swiss museum . Gurlitt never had any connection to the Fine Arts of Bern , the museum says .
Cornelius Gurlitt died suddenly at the age of 81 . He came to the attention of the art world for his nearly priceless collection . They were investigating whether some paintings had been looted by the Nazis . Gurlitt never had any connection to the Fine Arts of Bern , the museum says .