passage: ( CNN ) -- 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 .
  One day after Gurlitt 's death at the age of 81 , the Museum of Fine Arts Bern announced that Gurlitt had named it " his unrestricted and unfettered sole heir . "
  The news came as a surprise , the museum said Wednesday , because Gurlitt had never had any connection to it .
  The museum 's directors are delighted at the news , they said in a statement , but also recognize that there are outstanding legal and ethical questions surrounding the collection .
  Gurlitt had undergone major heart surgery and was hospitalized for many weeks , his representative said in a statement .
  Gurlitt grabbed the attention of the art world when German prosecutors seized more than 1,200 paintings from his Munich apartment in 2012 , including works by Picasso and Matisse .
  The collection was confiscated as part of an investigation into tax fraud , but then it was thought that some of the paintings may have been works that were looted by the Nazis .
  Just last month , part of the collection was returned to Gurlitt as part of a deal with Germany 's cultural authorities and the Bavarian Justice Ministry .
  Under the agreement , works owned by Gurlitt that were not under suspicion were returned to him .
  Those suspected of being stolen were to be held securely while a task force investigates their provenance -- and will be returned to their original Jewish owners or their descendants if a claim is proven .
  Gurlitt 's representative said that with the art collector 's death , the investigation into the collection ceases .
  The court that was handling the investigation proceedings will now function as an estate court in the case .
query_and_answer: Why were pieces of the Gurlitt art collection confiscated by authorities ? || Because they were suspected of being stolen
evidences: ( CNN ) -- 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 . The collection was confiscated as part of an investigation into tax fraud , but then it was thought that some of the paintings may have been works that were looted by the Nazis .