The man who hoarded some 1,400 artworks in his Munich apartment and in an Austrian home for decades has agreed to return pieces looted by the Nazis to the owners or owners' heirs, say his lawyers.

Octogenarian Cornelius Gurlitt originally said he would not restitute any of the artwork. In poor health from heart surgery, he now says he will return a Matisse to the family of the art dealer Paul Rosenberg, according to the lawyers. "Seated Woman/woman Sitting in an Armchair" was noticed in online images by descendants of Rosenberg when the Munich art trove was first made public last November.

Passed down from Gurlitt's father, who worked for the Nazis to collect "degenerate art" and confiscate art from Jews and others, there were 1,280 artworks found in the Munich apartment. A couple hundred more artworks were later discovered in Gurlitt's Salzburg residence. Many works were found to be in poor condition from improper storage, and 39 are paintings by the likes of Renoir, Monet and Manet.