NEW YORK (AP) 鈥 New York prosecutors on Friday returned two pieces of art they say were stolen by Nazis from a Jewish performer and collector murdered in the Holocaust.
The artworks were surrendered by museums in Pittsburgh and Ohio, but prosecutors are still fighting in court to recover third artwork by the same artist, Austrian expressionist Egon Schiele, from a Chicago museum at the same time.
On Friday in Manhattan, the estate of Holocaust victim Fritz Gr眉nbaum accepted "Portrait of a Man,鈥 which was surrendered by the Carnegie Museum of Art and "Girl with Black Hair,鈥 surrendered by the Allen Memorial Art Museum at Oberlin College. Prosecutors have collectively valued the two pieces at around $2.5 million.
Ten of Schiele's works have now been returned to the family, but 鈥淩ussian War Prisoner鈥 remains at the Art Institute of Chicago, which maintains that it was legally acquired.
Gr眉nbaum was the son of a Jewish art dealer and law school student who began performing in cabarets in Vienna in 1906. As the Nazis rose to power, he mocked them, once saying , 鈥淚 can鈥檛 see a thing, not a single thing; I must have stumbled into 春色直播 Socialist culture.鈥
In 1938, he was captured by Nazi officials, who created a trail of paperwork. Manhattan prosecutors say they forced him to give power of attorney to his wife, and then forced her to sign away the art 鈥 including around 80 Schiele works 鈥 to Nazi officials. Some of the art was sold to fund the Nazi war effort, they say. Elizabeth and Fritz Gr眉nbaum died in concentration camps.
Prosecutors say the works reappeared in 1956 in Switzerland, part of a shady art deal with members of the Nazi regime, that led to them being sold in New York galleries.
On Friday, one of Gr眉nbaum's heirs thanked leaders at Oberlin College and the Carnegie Institute, saying they 鈥渄id the right thing.鈥
鈥淭his is a victory for justice, and the memory of a brave artist, art collector, and opponent of Fascism,鈥 said Timothy Reif, Gr眉nbaum鈥檚 great-grandnephew and a federal judge in New York City, in a statement released by the office of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg. 鈥淎s the heirs of Fritz Gr眉nbaum, we are gratified that this man who fought for what was right in his own time continues to make the world fairer.鈥
A New York judge ruled that other two works by Schiele had to be turned over to Gr眉nbaum鈥檚 heirs under the Holocaust Expropriated Recovery Act, passed by Congress.
In that case, art dealer Richard Nagy said he was the rightful owner of the works because Gr眉nbaum鈥檚 sister-in-law had sold them after his death. But the judge in the case ruled that there was no evidence that Gr眉nbaum had given them to her voluntarily, 鈥渁 signature at gunpoint.鈥
The Art Institute of Chicago, however, disputes that. And it argues that 鈥淩ussian War Prisoner," a pencil and watercolor piece, was legally acquired.
鈥淲e have done extensive research on the provenance history of this work and are confident in our lawful ownership of the piece,鈥 said Art Institute of Chicago spokesperson Megan Michienzi.
Michienzi pointed to a prior 2010 ruling from another federal judge that she said 鈥渆xplicitly ruled that the Gr眉nbaum鈥檚 Schiele art collection was 鈥榥ot looted鈥 and 鈥榬emained in the Gr眉nbaum family鈥檚 possession鈥 and was sold by Fritz Gr眉nbaum鈥檚 sister-in-law.鈥
Reif and his relatives had been fighting in a separate federal civil court case for the return of the work. The Art Institute of Chicago had the case thrown out in November on technical grounds, successfully arguing that, unlike the Nagy case, the family had missed a lawsuit deadline under the Holocaust Expropriated Recovery Act.
After that case was dismissed, Bragg鈥檚 office earlier this month asked a Manhattan court to authorize the return of the artwork.
