Murder, Mystery and Egon Schiele\'s Dead City: Nazi Art Loooting and Swiss Laundering of Stolen Art. Presentation during Intellectual Property Crimes seminar at the Northern District of Ohio Chapter of the Federal Bar Association in the Carl B. Stokes U.S. Courthouse

1. “This is such a gigantic issue,” Cleveland
Museum of Art Director Robert P. Bergman
said. ``We're talking about hundreds of
thousands of objects. I believe that for the
rest of my professional career, this
issue will face the museums of the
world.''
(AP/Akron Beacon Journal 3/1/1998).
Bergman died at age 54 in 1999 after a
two-week illness of a rare blood disorder
(NY Times 5/7/99).

2. Murder & the Mystery of Egon
Schiele’s Dead City
Nazi Art Looting and Swiss
Laundering of Stolen Artworks
Federal Bar Association, Northern
District of Ohio Chapter
February 5, 2009
Carl B. Stokes U.S. Courthouse
Cleveland, Ohio
Raymond J. Dowd
Dunnington Bartholow & Miller
LLP

3. Recent Holocaust Art Cases
• Altmann v. Austria (Austria not immune sovereign under FSIA)
• Vineberg v. Bissonette (1st Cir. 2008) (summary judgment on duress sale)
• Von Saher v. Norton Simon Museum (California extension of statutes of
limitations unconstitutional) (appeal pending)
• U.S. v. Portrait of Wally (1999 seizure pending)
• Museum of Modern Art v. Schoeps (German and New York law apply to
duress sale in Germany) (Feb 2009 trial)
• Museum of Fine Arts Boston v. Seger-Thomschitz (suit for demand of
artwork)
• Bakalar v. Vavra (Estate of Fritz Grunbaum)(applying Swiss law) (on
appeal)
• Westfield v. Fed. Rep. of Germany, (Nashville TN Chancery)(damages
against Germany)(filed 10/2008)

4. Fernand Leger’s 1911 “Smoke Over Rooftops”
Restituted to Heirs of Alphonse Kann by Minneapolis
Institute of Arts – October 30, 2008

5. Egon Schiele’s Portrait of Wally – 1998 Morgenthau Seizure from
MOMA as stolen --- with Fritz Grunbaum’s Dead City

6. 1999 Seizure Quashed, U.S. Attorney
Seizes Portrait of Wally
• New York Court of Appeals quashes D.A. Morgenthau’s
subpoena of Portrait of Wally and Dead City
• Orders MOMA to return artworks to Austria
• Next day, U.S. Attorney seizes Wally
• Missing heirs for Grunbaum’s Dead City – returned to
Austria, now at Leopold Museum in Vienna
• Portrait of Wally case still pending 11 years later before
Judge Preska in the SDNY

7. 1999 Morgenthau Seizure
• Tremendous international scandal
• Led to Austria opening archives
• Austria reformed laws to permit claims to stolen
art in museums only
• Led to Washington conference on stolen art
• Museums agreed to “Washington Principles” –
research their collections, favorable evidentiary
burdens, encouraging heirs to come forward
• www.lootedartcommission.com/Washington-
principles

8. Scope of current Nazi-art problem
• “the amount of research to be undertaken on the
tens of thousands of works of art that, by
definition, may have Nazi-era provenance
problems is significant, requiring large
allocations of staff time and money, allocations
U.S. art museums have made and will make
until the job is done.”
- Testimony of AAMD President James Cuno
to Congress July 27, 2006

9. Reading a Provenance
• Catalogue raisonné – comprehensive
listing of an artist’s oeuvre (body of works)
• Image (Dimensions)
• Description
• Name (may vary from owner)
• Provenience (an object’s source)
• Provenance (former owners)
• Where exhibited or published

11. Cleveland Museum of Art
• 615 European paintings and 268
sculptures produced before 1945
• 260 paintings and 182 sculptures excluded
because in U.S. or acquired pre-1933
• Source:http://www.clemusart.com/provena
nce/prov_search.asp (last checked
1/24/2009)
• 425 artworks with missing provenances

12. “We have no reason to believe
any of these works have serious
provenance problems.”

13. Why Are The Equities Against
Mona Lisa Possessors Who Conceal or
Have Missing Provenance
Information?
-Unique chattel, famous and recognizable cannot
be sold if stolen
-Unique chattel, famous owner, but not famous
object, may be “hiding in plain sight”
-By concealing a famous former owner, blocks
heirs from identifying the chattel
-Custom and practice of art dealers to exercise
extreme care in preserving documentation of
provenance
-Artwork with missing paperwork drops drastically
in value, automatically suspicious
-Acquirer in position to check provenance at
purchase, unclean hands if doesn’t
Apples & Oranges

14. Burden of claimants
• In New York, when a property owner
reclaims property, the burden of proof
shifts to the holder of the property to prove
that the property was acquired lawfully.
Guggenheim v. Lubell , 153 A.D.2d 143,
153, 550 N.Y.S.2d 618, 624 (First Dept.
1990) aff’d 77 N.Y.2d 311, 321 (1991).

15. NY Law Permits Owners To Trap Thieves
“According to the [Guggenheim] museum, […] publicizing
a theft exposes gaps in security and can lead to more
thefts; the museum also argues that publicity often
pushes a missing painting further underground. In
light of the fact that members of the art community have
apparently not reached a consensus on the best way to
retrieve stolen art [ …], it would be particularly
inappropriate for this Court to spell out arbitrary rules of
conduct that all true owners of stolen art work would have
to follow to the letter if they wanted to preserve their right
to pursue a cause of action in replevin.”
Guggenheim v. Lubell, 77 N.Y.2d 311, 320 (N.Y. 1991)

16. Nazis

17. Entartete Kunst
“Degenerate Art”
In 1937, the Nazis declared a large number of artworks
as “degenerate” if “un-German” or Jewish.
To mock “degenerate” artists, the Nazis presented
“Entartete Kunst” a traveling art exhibit, in 1937.
Degenerate art was stripped from museum, artists
boycotted or exiled.
Hitler visits the Entartete Kunst exhibit in 1937

18. Hitler Invades Austria
March 12, 1938
The Nazis reach Vienna
Hitler salutes his troops marching into Austria

19. Fritz Grunbaum
Born April 7, 1880 Brno, Moravia
Turned back at Czech border, arrested by the Gestapo on March 20 1938
Deported to Dachau Concentration Camp, where he died on January 14, 1941

20. www.imdb.com
-Famous film star Berlin
-Famous cabaret performer
-Famous writer
Part of Austria’s “Abbott & Costello” – style
comedy team

21. Fritz at Dachau
While at Dachau, Fritz and
other prisoners participated in
Cabaret performances to keep
spirits up. Performances were
supported by the Nazis and
scheduled on the same day
as trains taking prisoners to
death camps.

22. At least nine percent of the Nazi total
government budget in 1938-39 was stolen
from Jews (approximately 1.5 billion
Reichsmarks).
Aly, Goetz, Hitler’s Beneficiaries
(Metropolitan Books 2006) at 48.

23. Nazi Finance Ministry Report on Jewish Property,
November 18, 1938
(Mobilization of Jewish Assets for the Reich)

24. Nazi Finance Ministry Report
“Other Property” Refers to Category IV
in Jewish Property Declarations
1. Shows Nazis considered Jewish art
collections “available to the Reich”
and liquid assets
2. Shows Nazis liquidating Jewish art
collections to finance war machine as
of November 18, 1938

25. Dachau
Fritz was arrested in March of 1938, sent to
Dachau, then to Buchenwald concentration
camp, and back to Dachau where he died
on January 14, 1941.

26. Minsk
Lily Grunbaum was deported to
Minsk where she died on October 5,
1942. Minsk was a death camp.
“Warning: anyone climbing the
fence will be shot”

27. Powers of Attorney
“There is a curious respect for legal
formalities. The signature of the person
despoiled is always obtained, even if the
person in question has to be sent to
Dachau in order to break down his
resistance.”
- U.S. Consul General in Vienna

28. Grunbaum’s Dachau Power of Attorney
• July 1938 - Fritz Grunbaum executes a power of
attorney permitting his wife to liquidate his
property, including life insurance policies
• 1946 Austrian Nullification Act – Austria nullifies
all transactions flowing from powers of attorney
executed by concentration camp inmates

29. Jewish Property Declarations
• April 26, 1938 Law - penalty
of
imprisonment/confiscation
• Required for Jews with over
5,000 RM
• Filed every three months
until property gone or left
Reich
• November 12, 1938
Property became available
to the Reich
• Systematically liquidated
through Aryan trustees
• Art Collection Category IV
“Other Property”

30. Kieslinger Inventory
July 20, 1938
• Nazi art historian Franz Kieslinger inventories
Fritz Grunbaum’s art collection on July 20, 1983,
while Fritz is in Dachau.
• Identifies 5 Schiele oils by name, including Dead
City
• 55 Schiele Color drawings (no titles listed)
• 20 Schiele Sketches (no titles)
• 1 Lithograph
• Kieslinger valued Art Collection at 5,791 RM

31. Dead City III - JK 213

32. Vienna’s Dorotheum
Sales Outlet for Stolen Jewish Property
• Sotheby’s: “a
clearinghouse for the
Gestapo”
• Kieslinger was a
Dorotheum expert
• Kieslinger became a
notorious Nazi art looter
• Shows opportunity,
motive and probability

33. Schenker Export Application
September 8, 1938
• Elizabeth Grunbaum submits while Fritz in Dachau
• Stamped with Swastikas by Nazi functionary Otto
Demus on or around September 8, 1938.
• Roughly same number of artworks as Kieslinger
Inventory (three envelopes of graphics).
• Export license expired December 8, 1938.
• No customs stamps indicating collection left Vienna
during WWII.
• No BDA export licenses during Nazi era, indicating
collection did not leave Austria during WW II.

34. Letter dated January 31, 1939
Establishes Lily and Fritz lost
legal control of assets practical
ability to transfer any assets as of
January 31, 1939

35. Evidence Fritz’s Art Collection Stolen
• Art collection Category
IV (“Other Property”)
• “Gesperrt” stamp in
Category IV
• “Erledigt” stamp in
Category IV
• Shows Nazis
considered Grunbaum
“case closed”

36. Grunbaum Assets 1938-1942
(Per Jewish Property Declarations)

37. Significance of 81 Schieles
• Rare, exotic and “racy” collection
• Each artwork unique
• Catalogue raisonnée shows only
76 Schiele collectors and dealers
who knew the artist
• Catalogue raisonnée shows only
26 major collectors, dealers after
Schiele’s death (including
Grunbaum)
• Small competitive group of
collectors who knew each other
• Provenance paperwork critical to
establish value of these artworks
• Rare stolen works could not be
sold while witnesses alive
Egon Schiele’s “Dead City” 1911

38. Swiss Financing
of Nazi Art Sales

40. Bern,
Switzerland
April 24, 1956

41. Eberhard Kornfeld
Gutekunst & Klipstein Kornfeld & Klipstein
Klipstein & Assocs. Galerie Kornfeld

42. Galerie Kornfeld to Sotheby’s Legant
February 14, 2005
• Kornfeld claims no written documentation
of acquisition
P. Ex. 120 at
DBM 2400

43. 5/22/56 Bound
Inventory Volume
There is no seller listed in ink

44. Receipt dated April 24, 1956
Excluded notation
Pencil signature No invoice

45. Purported Acquisition of Dead City
April 24, 1956
• 4/24/1956 – Kornfeld paid cash for Dead City and 45
other Schieles
• Receipt signed in pencil
• Receipt was payment for “4/24/1956 Invoice”
(missing)
• Payment was for 2/7/1956 delivery of 20 Schieles
and 25 additional Schieles including Dead City
entered in EK inventory on 5/22/1956 with 23 other
Schieles
• Seller’s name not recorded
• “Lukacs” added later in pencil

46. Kornfeld 1956
Schiele Catalog
#1 Dead City with
provenance from Otto
Kallir’s 1930 catalogue
raisonnée
53 other Schieles with no
provenance listed
Kornfeld testifies that all
Schieles in ’56 catalog came
from Grunbaum

47. Kornfeld’s Acquisitions for Personal
Collection - Red Blouse - JK 1394
• K 28

48. Portrait of the Art Critic Arthur Roessler JK 1631
Female Nude with Raised dress -JK 1308
• K 31

49. Chief Inspector Benesch - JK 2098
• K 43 H20 DBM(06366)

50. Otto Kallir
1923 - Neue Galerie, Vienna
1939 – Galerie St. Etienne, New York

51. Otto Kallir’s 1930 Catalogue Raisonée
Shows Grunbaum’s Ownership
• Grunbaum’s Vienna Dealer
founder Neue Galerie
• Borrowed Dead City and 25
Schieles including Girl with
Black Hair from FG’s
collection in 1928 for
Hagenbund Show
• Kallir Moved To New York in
1939
• 1955 Kallir co-published
Kollwitz catalogue raisonnée
with Kornfeld
Egon Schiele’s “Dead City” 1911

52. Dead City’s Provenance Published in ’56 Kornfeld Catalog
Shows: 1925 Wurthle Exhibition, 1928 Hagenbund
Exhibition and Fritz Grunbaum’s Ownership
• K 01 H DBM(06366) OK30 94 H DBM(06366)

53. Pre-War Publications Showing Kallir Knew Dead
City and Girl With Black Hair Were Grunbaum’s
• 1928 Hagenbund/Neue Galerie
correspondence between Fritz Grunbaum
and Otto Kallir
• 1925 Wurthle Gallery Catalog
• 1930 Otto Kallir Catalog Raisonnee

54. Other ’56 Kornfeld Catalog Works
appearing in 1925 Wurthle Catalog
1. Portrait of a Boy/ Two Female Nude with Drapery K7 W 52
2. Town on the Blue River K9 W 51
3. Seated Girl K 11 W 63
4. Girl with Black Hair K 14 W 60
5. Two Proletarian Children K 18 W 47
6. Standing Woman (Prostitute) K 23 W 73
K 26 W 78
7. Standing Man Draped in Red Shawl
K 29 W 84
8. Boy in Sailor Suit
K 33 W 86
9. Reclining Female Nude on Red Carpet
K 37 W 112
10.Aunt and Nephew K 39 W 117
11.Russian Prisoner of War / Standing Nude Couple K 41 W 98
12.Sunflower K 42 W 118
13.Portrait of a Man K 46 W 119
14.Mountain Landscape

55. New York, New York
April 24, 1956 – 147 Days
Later

56. Sale of Dead City from Kornfeld to Otto
Kallir September 18, 1956
K 51 The Bakalar
Drawing
K 1 Fritz Grunbaum’s Dead City

57. Ohio, 1958
Otto Kallir to Oberlin College

58. Litt, Steven: Paintings In Oberlin Linked to War
Looting
The Plain Dealer, March 1, 1998
• “The Schiele drawing, which depicts a young
woman nude from the waist up, may have been
looted by the Nazis from the collection of Fritz
Grunbaum, who died in Dachau in 1940”
• “Rudolph Leopold, benefactor of the Leopold
Museum, has said that in addition to Dead City,
16 other Schieles in American museums,
including the drawing in Oberlin, share the same
ownership history.”
(emphasis supplied)

59. Kornfeld 1956
Schiele Catalog
#14 – Girl With Black Hair

60. Sale of Girl with Black Hair on the same
September 18, 1956 Invoice with Dead City
K 14 Girl with Black Hair

61. Girl with Black Hair - JK 861
• K 14 H6 DBM (1802) (Neue Galerie/Hagenbund 1928 Receipt_
• W 60 (1925 documentation of Sitzendes Madchen)

62. 1925 Wurthle and 1928 Hagenbund
Provenances of Girl with Black Hair
1928 Neue Galerie Receipt List of 1925 Wurthle Catalog Provenance
Works from Fritz Grunbaum

64. “To the extent that the Drawing may have
been lost or stolen at some point prior to
Kornfeld’s purchase, any absolute claims
to the property expired five years later, in
1961.”
Bakalar v. Vavra 2008 WL 4067335
(S.D.N.Y. September 2, 2008)(applying
Swiss five-year statute of limitations)