Eberhard W. Kornfeld net worth at time of death

Eberhard W. Kornfeld, a Swiss auctioneer, author, art dealer, and collector based in Bern had an estimated net worth of $1.5 million at time of death.

Much of his wealth was accumulated from decades of practice as an art dealer, collector, auctioneer and author.

Born on 23 September 1923 in Basel, Kornfeld’s big break in the auctioneering industry came in 1945 when he started to work with renowned arts collector August Klipstein.

Kornfeld’s collaboration with Klipstein came shortly after he (Kornfeld) ended his apprenticeship with a local architect.

Kornfeld and Klipstein worked for six years, until the latter’s death in 1951.

Following the sudden death of Klipstein, Kornfeld took control of the auction house Gutekunst und Klipstein (which was previously headed by August Klipstein).

Under Kornfeld’s leadership, the name of the auction house was changed from Klipstein und Kornfeld, to Kornfeld und Klipstein and finally to Galerie Kornfeld.

Despite having a largely distinguished career, Kornfeld was at the center of some controversies:

• In 1993, a lawsuit opposed him and David P. Tunick, a Manhattan dealer concerning the authenticity of a signature.
• In 2017, it was discovered that the son of Hitler’s art dealer Hildebrand Gurlitt had been selling artworks from his secret stash in Munich through Kornfeld in Switzerland. However, Kornfeld denied selling Nazi looted art.
• In 2019 a judge ordered that two Schiele’s that Kornfeld had sold be restituted to the heirs of a Holocaust victim Fritz Grünbaum because they had been looted by Nazis.

A philanthropist, Kornfeld was quite generous with his art works and some of his donations include: donation of artworks to several museums, including the National Gallery of Art, the Norton Simon Museum, the Calder Foundation, the MoMa and the Kunstmuseum Basel.