Rapacious
looters, the National Socialists and their collaborating allies scooped up “spoils”
almost indiscriminately. For years, the
work of Egon Schiele was considered hardly worth the trouble of
plundering. Times change. Last year a Schiele cityscape was auctioned
for a sum just north of forty million dollars.
Yet, it was a Viennese gallery owner’s emotional attachment to a
portrait of the artist’s mistress that fueled her family’s drive to reclaim
it. Their precedent setting legal battle
is documented in Andrew Shea’s Portrait
of Wally (trailer
here), which
opens this Friday in New York.
In
the case of Schiele, the term “degenerate artist” was not so utterly unfounded. In fact, he and his mistress Walburga “Wally”
Neuzil carried on rather scandalously until he precipitously dropped her. A portrait of Schiele’s now celebrated model
and muse held a special place in the private holdings of his gallerist, Lea
Bondi. Unfortunately, when a well-connected
Nazi civilian confiscated her business, he also laid claim to her personal collection,
literally pulling paintings off the walls of her home.
The
Bondis successfully immigrated while they still had the chance, but reclaiming
their unjustly appropriated property after the war proved to be a Kafkaesque
exercise in futility. Then one day, the
late Bondi’s heirs noticed her beloved painting had been loaned to the MoMA as
part of a historic Schiele retrospective.
It would become even more historic when the Manhattan DA sided with the
Bondis, effectively halting the return of Neuzil’s portrait. Thus began an epic twelve year legal battle.
There
are many fascinating in’s and out’s to this specific case, but it is really
part of a far greater story. To get a fuller
sense of the scope and significance of the National Socialist looting campaign,
the definitive documentary Rape of Europa
should be required viewing. In
contrast, Portrait is less concerned
with historical context, instead passing judgment on those it identifies as the
villains in this complicated morality tale, most definitely including the venerable
MoMA.
Yes,
anyone of good conscience will sympathize with the Bondis and the fact that
nobody seriously challenged the facts constituting their claim to ownership is
significant. On the other hand though,
it is understandable why the MoMA was a bit reluctant to tell their colleagues
at the Leopold Museum they would not be returning the jewel of their collection
after all.
Claims
by the MoMA and every other museum in the City, including the Jewish Museum,
that this would have a chilling effect on art lending to American institutions
were scoffed at in the film and during a special post-screening during this
year’s Tribeca Film Festival. However,
it was rather off-handedly admitted that Russian museums no longer loan art to
their American counterparts after having lost a similar case. Granted, Russia is not exactly a beacon of
enlightened public policy. In no way
does this mean the Museums were right and the Bondis’ advocates were
wrong. The overall picture is just more
complex than Shea and co-writer David D’Arcy choose to paint it.
