The U.S. Attorney in Manhattan commenced the case in the fall of 1999 by seizing the painting, Portrait of Wally by Egon Schiele ( Wally ), while it was on The story of a Nazi-looted painting, Egon Schiele's 'Portrait of Wally,' that was discovered on the walls of the Museum of Modern Art in 1997, triggering a historic court case that pitted the Manhattan District Attorney, the United States Government and the heirs of a Viennese gallery owner against a major Austrian Museum and MoMA. " Sam Adams, Onion's AV Club, "An engrossing, exhaustively detailed account of how Portrait of Wally changed hands over the decades Makes a fairly devastating case, via archival evidence, interviews with many of the key players, and an expansive scope that includes restitution laws, whitewashed national histories, and the questionable ethics of art institutions. "Portrait of Wally, Egon Schieles tender picture of his mistress, Walburga (Wally) Neuzil, is the pride of the Leopold Museum in Vienna. [5] The sterreichische Galerie Belvedere (Austrian National Gallery) purchased the Schiele works from Rieger's heirs, which erroneously included the Portrait of Wally because of a clerical error by the U.S. forces, listing the painting as Rieger's. Although the main story deals with art looted by the Nazis, the modern developments provide an astonishing thriller of a taleYour mouth will hang open at the twists and turns in the history of this dear little painting. All rights reserved. The Portrait of Wally was mixed in with the other Schiele paintings from Rieger's collection, which were all turned over to the Austrian government. Leopold's 1972 catalogue raisonn of Schiele's works omits Lea Bondi from the list of provenance, despite an earlier catalogue by Otto Kallir citing her as the last owner in the 1930s. "Portrait of Wally", Egon Schiele's tender picture of his mistress, Walburga ("Wally") Neuzil, is the pride of the Leopold Museum in Vienna. The story of a Nazi-looted painting, Egon Schieles Portrait of Wally, that was discovered on the walls of the Museum of Modern Art in 1997, triggering a historic court case that pitted the Manhattan District Attorney, the United States Government and the heirs of a Viennese gallery owner against a major Austrian museum and MoMA. After the publication, the heirs of Lea Bondi Jaray, to whom the work had belonged before World War II, contacted the New York County District Attorney who issued a subpoena forbidding its return to Austria. Wally. Bondi recounted that she had met Rudolph Leopold in London in 1953 and asked for his assistance in retrieving the painting from the museum, offering to help him acquire other works by Schiele. The museum was informed of the mistake, that the painting had not belonged to Rieger. " Eric Hynes, Time Out New York, "A surprisingly engaging account of a landmark case that shook up the art world. The painting was obtained by Rudolf Leopold in 1954 and became part of the collection of the Leopold Museum when it was established by the Austrian government, purchasing 5,000 pieces that Leopold had owned. in 1912. Schiele and Wally wanted to escape what they perceived as the claustrophobic Viennese milieu, and went to the small town of esk Krumlov (Krumau) in southern Bohemia. [3], As outlined in a 1997 article by Judith H. Dobrzynski in The New York Times, the painting had been owned by Lea Bondi Jaray, a Jewish art dealer who was fleeing the German annexation of Austria and the Aryanization program, and had under duress given up the painting to art dealer Friedrich Welz in 1939. Several years, depicted in a number of Schiele 's most striking paintings family maintained that had! May 11 and will be followed by a national release ordering trial ) Macdonald. 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