Fritz Grünbaum, a Viennese art collector, acquired dozens of works by the enigmatic expressionist Egon Schiele in the early 20th century. Grünbaum was murdered under Nazi Germany’s occupation of Austria, and his art collection was seized and dispersed. Now, a Schiele watercolor he once owned is heading to auction with a seven-figure estimate after a lengthy restitution process between its cosigner and the Grünbaum estate.
Nazi-Looted Watercolor by Egon Schiele Heads to Auction
On March 5, Christie’s London will sell Boy in a Sailor Suit as part of its 20th and 21st centuries auctions. The Egon Schiele watercolor carries a high estimate of $1.9 million. “We are grateful that Fritz Grünbaum’s ownership of [Boy in a Sailor Suit] has been restored to history and that proceeds from this auction will help the Grünbaum Fischer Foundation support underrepresented performing artists,” said Timothy Reif, a trustee of the Grünbaum estate, in a statement. Marc Porter, Chairman of Christie’s Americas, added, “It’s been a privilege for Christie’s Restitution team to help tell the powerful story of Fritz Grünbaum and his collection.”
At the turn of the 20th century, Egon Schiele emerged as an early proponent of Austrian expressionism. He died at age 28 during the 1918 influenza pandemic. Despite Shiele’s short life and career, his paintings and drawings—many of them portraits and self-portraits—still surprise and shock audiences today with their corporeal extremity, emotional intensity, and sometimes strange sensuality.
Who Was Fritz Grünbaum?
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Sign up to our Free Weekly NewsletterBoy in a Sailor Suit is just one of about 80 artworks by Egon Schiele that once belonged to Fritz Grünbaum’s art collection. Grünbaum, a Jewish cabaret artist, amassed a well-known art collection of over 400 works. He was particularly interested in Austrian modernist art, but he also collected works by Rembrandt van Rijn, Albrecht Dürer, and Auguste Rodin. After publicly criticizing the Nazi party, Grünbaum was arrested by the Gestapo in 1938. According to Grünbaum’s heirs, his entire art collection was seized by the Nazis when they annexed Austria in the same year. In 1941, Grünbaum was murdered at Dachau, Nazi Germany’s first and longest-running concentration camp. His wife, Elisabeth “Lilly” Herzl, was killed at the Maly Trostenets concentration camp a year later.
The whereabouts of much of Fritz Grünbaum’s art collection are still unknown. In the early 1950s, about a quarter of the works appeared on the art market via Eberhard Kornfeld, a Swiss art dealer. Grünbaum’s estate has since fought to gain possession of works they say belonged to the Nazi-looted collection. Its trustees have filed suits against several museums to settle the provenance of Grünbaum’s holdings. They have reclaimed or reached settlements for 12 works by Schiele thus far.
