Category: nazi art looting

Why the Right to Return Nazi-Looted Property is at Risk – An Open Letter to the Chancellor of Germany

The debate over the restitution of Nazi-looted art is taking a concerning turn. A group of lawyers, historians, and descendants of Nazi victims has addressed an open letter to Chancellor Olaf Scholz, drawing attention to looming setbacks in restitution law. The letter warns against the planned abolition of the Advisory Commission for Nazi-Looted Art – an institution that has been advocating for justice in handling Nazi-looted art for over 20 years.

In its place, a new arbitration court is set to be introduced, which, according to the signatories, would significantly restrict the rights of victims. Art dealers and those who were forced to sell cultural assets under persecution would be particularly affected. The signatories criticize that these changes have been decided without public debate or parliamentary hearings.

The open letter calls for halting the initiative until a comprehensive hearing is held in the Bundestag. The goal is to preserve restitution rights and amplify the voices of victims.

Find the english translation of the letter below the original text.
202501006OffenerBriefResitution

202501006OpenLetterRestitutionGermany

Germany grants Rieger heirs restitution while Austria still refuses

The Limbach Commission recommends that the City of Cologne restitute the watercolor “Crouching Female Nude” by Egon Schiele to the heirs of the Viennese dentist Heinrich Rieger.

Heinrich Rieger had lost his collection almost entirely through distress sales or Aryanization due to persecution. Before March 1938, there is only evidence of a few individual cases of Schiele works being sold. The city of Cologne was unable to present any evidence to the contrary that the disputed watercolor was not one of the works lost to persecution. Since it considers Heinrich Rieger’s ownership of the work of art to be proven and the presumption of a loss due to Nazi persecution to be not refuted, the Advisory Commission unanimously spoke out in favor of restitution.

Die Limbach-Kommission empfiehlt der Stadt Köln die Restitution des Aquarells „Kauernder weiblicher Akt“ von Egon Schiele an die Erben des Wiener Zahnarztes Heinrich Rieger.
Heinrich Rieger hatte seine Sammlung verfolgungsbedingt fast zur Gänze durch Notverkäufe oder Arisierungen verloren. Abgaben von Schiele-Werken sind vor März 1938 nur in wenigen Einzelfällen nachweisbar. Einen Gegenbeweis, dass das umstrittene Aquarell nicht zu den verfolgungsbedingt verlorenen Werken gehörte, konnte die Stadt Köln nicht vorlegen. Da sie Heinrich Riegers Eigentum an dem Kunstwerk als erwiesen und die Vermutung eines NS-verfolgungsbedingten Verlustes nicht widerlegt sieht, sprach sich die Beratende Kommission einstimmig für die Restitution aus.

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Paintings will remain subject to the court’s jurisdiction

The attorneys of Richard Nagy and the attorneys of the heirs of Fritz Grünbaum agreed in a joint petition to the SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, that two artworks by Egon Schiele WOMAN IN A BLACK PINAFORE and WOMAN HIDING HER FACE from Fritz Grünbaum´s Collection continue to remain in New York pending further order of the Court.

The prescribed deadline for submitting comments on the plaintiff’s claim be extended from December 1,2015 to and including January 15,2016

 

Die Anwälte von Richard Nagy und die Anwälte der Erben von Fritz Grünbaum vereinbarten in einer gemeinsamen Eingabe an den SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK , dass beiden Kunstwerke von Egon Schiele WOMAN IN A BLACK PINAFORE und WOMAN HIDING HER FACE aus der Sammlung Fritz Grünbaum weiterhin in New York verbleiben bis zu einer diesbezüglichen  Verfügung des Gerichts.

Die vorgeschriebene Frist zur Stellungnahme auf das Klagebegehren wurde vom 1. Dezember 2015 einvernehmlich auf den 15. Jänner 2016 verlegt.

 

Austria’s Holocaust Denial: Judge Korman and DA Morgenthau Were Right: Dead City III and 80 Other Artworks By Egon Schiele Were Stolen From Fritz Grunbaum

Egon Schiele’s Dead City III – Stolen from Fritz Grunbaum

In 1998, District Attorney Robert Morgenthau seized Egon Schiele’s Dead City III from the Museum of Modern Art in New York City.   Here’s what Judge Edward Korman said about Fritz Grunbaum and the evidence that the Nazis looted his art collection in a concurring opinion he wrote while sitting by designation on the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in Bakalar v. Vavra, 619 F.3d 136 (September 2, 2010)(the bolding is mine):
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Gruenbaum-Schieles saved and blocked in New York

The heirs of Fritz Grunbaum persuaded a Manhattan judge Tuesday to block the sale and transport of two works by Egon Schiele that belong to Mr. Grunbaum’s collection.  The works were featured by Richard Nagy of Richard Nagy, Ltd. at the Salon + Design fair held at the Park Avenue Armory, New York.

Tuesday, Justice Ramos of the New York Supreme Court entered a temporary restraining order (“TRO”) providing that Woman in a Black Pinafore and Woman Hiding Her Face, shall not be transferred or otherwise removed from  New York by any person or entity.

A hearing is scheduled for December, 1st in Manhattan.

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201511 16 Summons

20151117 Order to show cause with temporary restraining order

 

Mythen der Sammlung Leopold, ein Leserbrief

Die Bestände des Leopold Museums wurden vom Kunstsammler Rudolf Leopold und seiner Ehefrau Elisabeth Leopold gesammelt und sind seit 1994 Eigentum der Leopold Museum-Privatstiftung.

Als Reaktion auf den Artikel 20150610-Kurier, Fritz Grünbaum, der König des Kabaretts vom 10.Juni 2015 erschien am 15. Juni 2015 ein Leserbrief von Elisabeth Leopold

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