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Case Summary

Reif v. The Art Institute of Chicago (Grunbaum Schieles)

Reif et al. v. The Art Institute of Chicago et al., No. 1:23-cv-02443 (S.D.N.Y. Nov. 24, 2023).

Précis

This case is part of a series of disputes involving artworks by Egon Schiele, which were once part of the collection of Franz Friedrich Grünbaum, an Austrian Jewish cabaret performer and notable art collector. Grünbaum’s heirs have long contended that the Nazis coerced Grünbaum into granting a power of attorney to his wife, Elizabeth, while he was imprisoned in Dachau Concentration Camp. This power of attorney was allegedly used under duress to liquidate his assets, including a valuable portfolio of 81 Schiele pieces. Both Grünbaum and Elizabeth ultimately perished in the Holocaust, and the collection was later sold through Elizabeth’s sister to Swiss art dealer Eberhard Kornfeld at the Gutenkunst & Klipstein gallery.

The current litigation focuses on Russian War Prisoner (1916), a Schiele watercolor held by the Art Institute of Chicago (“AIC”) ...






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