Powerful Development: NY Prosecutor Recovers Art Assume Lost During Holocaust

In a stunning revelation, three valuable artworks, believed to have been stolen during the Holocaust, have been confiscated from museums in three different states by the New York law enforcement authorities. These artworks, created by Austrian Expressionist Egon Schiele, were once owned by the Jewish art collector and entertainer Fritz Grünbaum who tragically passed away at the Dachau concentration camp in 1941. The artworks were seized from the Art Institute of Chicago, the Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh, and the Allen Memorial Art Museum at Oberlin College in Ohio. Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office has issued warrants stating that there is reasonable cause to believe that these artworks are stolen property, as reported by the AP.

The three stolen artworks, along with several others from Grünbaum’s collection, have become the subject of ongoing civil litigation filed by his heirs. These heirs strongly believe that Grünbaum was forced to relinquish ownership of his artworks under duress. The Manhattan prosecutors are confident in their jurisdiction over these cases as the artworks were bought and sold by Manhattan art dealers at some point. Grünbaum, the son of a Jewish art dealer in Moravia, had initially studied law but eventually found his calling as a performer in cabarets in Vienna. By the time Adolf Hitler came to power, Grünbaum had become a well-known entertainer in both Vienna and Berlin. However, he was arrested in 1938 and sent to Dachau. Despite being gravely ill, Grünbaum gave his final performance for fellow inmates on New Year’s Eve in 1940, just a few weeks before his untimely death on January 14, 1941.

The three artworks seized by the Manhattan District Attorney’s office are: “Russian War Prisoner,” a watercolor and pencil on paper piece valued at $1.25 million, taken from the Art Institute; “Portrait of a Man,” a pencil on paper drawing valued at $1 million, confiscated from the Carnegie Museum of Art; and “Girl With Black Hair,” a watercolor and pencil on paper work valued at $1.5 million, removed from Oberlin. These artworks will remain at the respective museums until they can be transported to the district attorney’s office. While the Art Institute expressed confidence in the legality of their acquisition and possession of the artwork, the Carnegie Museum and Oberlin have stated that they are fully cooperating with the investigators. For more stories on stolen art, continue reading.