U.S. considers pushing Germany for details on Nazi-seized art

When word first broke Monday about the more than 1,500 pieces off Nazi-deemed "degenerate art" found in a Munich apartment, the world took notice. Including such artist as Pablo Picasso, Max Beckmann and Marc Chagall and valued at $1.35 billion, the United States is now weighing a formal push to make Germany cooperate in returning the pieces to their rightful owners.

The Wall Street Journal reports the U.S. State Department believes prosecutors in Germany violated the Washington Principles of 1998, international norms that govern the handling of claims to art seized or looted by the Nazis. The specific provision violated calls for a speedy publication of information regarding the discovery of stolen works.

Earlier this week, Germany confirmed it had found the art in early 2012, keeping the discovery a secret "because the country's privacy laws prevented them from making any of the investigation's details public," the Journal reports.

The Germans have yet to release a full catalog of discovered works and have declined to do so. The U.S. plans to call for full disclosure of all information. The Journal also reports the U.S. plans to push Germany to change its 30-year statute of limitations for filing claims in cases where the artwork is found to have been held by a private individual.

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