Born in Vienna, Austria in 1956 to Conrad and Hilda von Kunst. Both parents were academics. Conrad was a respected art historian and was enlisted against his will to form part of Hermann Göring’s secret team of so-called curators after the Anschluss. This team called the ERR headed up by Reichsleiter Alfred Rosenberg, stole and documented all the looted Nazi artwork, much of it was stashed in the Musée Jen de Paume and in Munich, later as the Allies advanced the plunder was taken to secret salt mines. Conrad gave expert evidence at the Nuremberg Trials to the extent of Nazi looting of artwork in particular from Jewish collectors.
Klaus succeed where Adolf Hitler failed and was admitted to the Vienna Academy of Fine Arts in 1975 and studied Western History of Art, from the Renaissance to German Expressionism. He obtained his Doctorate for his thesis on ‘Degenerate Art – Munich 1937’. His paper was published in many academic journals at the time. Klaus went on to be a visiting professor at the newly formed Berlin University of the Arts. He has written for numerous publications including Der Spiegel and was a keen supporter of the many of young contemporary German artists, including Joseph Beuys, Martin Kippenberger, Gerhard Richter and Sigmar Polke.
Klaus’ expertise on Nazi looted art has been an invaluable source of information for the International Foundation for Art Research and this has directly led to the restitution of key masterpieces.
Klaus currently is on a sabbatical from the Vienna Academy of Fine Arts, he now lives and works in Hampstead, London, where he is researching a paper on ‘Sigmund Freud – The impact of psychoanalysis on Surrealism.’
Klaus is a familiar figure in the London art scene and reviews openings and art fairs, as well as writing catalogue essays for leading commercial galleries.