Wally: the museum loan that became a legal battle
A Schiele portrait travelled to New York. The unresolved claim travelled with it.
Portrait of Wally Neuzil belonged to Jewish art dealer Lea Bondi Jaray. Friedrich Welz took the painting before her escape from Austria in 1939. Its postwar transfer history failed to restore it to her.
A 1997 loan to the Museum of Modern Art brought the portrait to New York. Federal forfeiture proceedings followed. In 2009, the court found that the painting had been stolen from Bondi and remained stolen property when imported.
The parties settled on 20 July 2010. The Leopold Museum agreed to pay Bondi’s estate $19 million and retained the painting. This was a compensated settlement of the claim, not a physical return of the portrait to the heirs.
Artwork Details & DocumentationIdentification, ownership history and supporting records
Portrait of Wally Neuzil
- Artwork title
- Portrait of Wally NeuzilLeopold Museum · Collection and provenance record ↗ · checked
- Object type
- PaintingLeopold Museum · Collection and provenance record ↗ · checked
- Maker / attribution
- Egon SchieleLeopold Museum · Collection and provenance record ↗ · checked
- Creation date / period
- 1912Leopold Museum · Collection and provenance record ↗ · checked
- Materials & technique
- Oil on woodLeopold Museum · Collection and provenance record ↗ · checked
- Measurements
- 32 × 39.8 cm (height × width)Leopold Museum · Collection and provenance record ↗ · checked
- Inscriptions & markings
- Lower left: EGON SCHIELE 1912Leopold Museum · Collection and provenance record ↗ · checked
- Accession / inventory number
- Leopold Museum, Vienna · Inv. 453Leopold Museum · Collection and provenance record ↗ · checked
- Catalogue raisonné reference
- J. Kallir 1990/1998: P234Leopold Museum · Collection and provenance record ↗ · checked
Not documented in this record: distinguishing features · subject.
Documented ownership history
- Before 1925–1939
- 1939–1944
Friedrich Welz obtained it through Nazi persecution.
Leopold Museum · Collection and provenance record ↗ · checked - 1950–1954
Held by the Österreichische Galerie Belvedere.
Leopold Museum · Collection and provenance record ↗ · checked - 1954–1994
Rudolf Leopold acquired it by exchange.
Leopold Museum · Collection and provenance record ↗ · checked - 1994–present
Leopold Museum foundation; a 2010 settlement compensated the heirs and released their claim.
Leopold Museum · Collection and provenance record ↗ · checked
Only stages supported by the cited sources are shown. This list is not a complete chain of ownership.
Record sources
Identification details follow the Object ID categories where documented. Ownership history is recorded separately; this documentation is not an authentication or a certificate of ownership.
Documentary sources
- US Department of Justice: settlement, 20 July 2010 ↗
- Leopold Museum: collection and settlement history ↗
An original ArtTraceX synthesis. Sources checked .