the.com/portrait of wally
a small stolen painting that started an international manhunt over who owns art history's crimes.
means a 1912 egon schiele portrait of his lover wally neuzil, seized by nazis and then the subject of a decades-long restitution fight.
from schiele painted his teenage muse wally neuzil in 1912; the work passed to jewish collector lea bondi jaray, was extorted by a nazi dealer in 1939, and resurfaced in the leopold museum's collection decades later without her heirs ever being repaid.
seizednazi dealer forced bondi jaray to sell in 1939
seized againus prosecutors impounded it at moma in 1998
settlementleopold museum paid 19 million dollars in 2010
stayed putpainting returned to vienna after the settlement
for instance
leopold museum vienna — held the painting from 1954 until the 2010 settlement
moma seizure 1998 — manhattan da held it as evidence for 12 years
lea bondi jaray heirs — fought for restitution across three generations