Artwork believed to be stolen during the Holocaust from a Jewish art collector and entertainer have been rightly returned to the Nazi victim’s heirs after a 17-year battle with Oberlin College.
The Nazis first stole the drawing, “Girl With Black Hair,” by Austrian Expressionist Egon Schiele, from Fritz Grünbaum, a prominent Jewish art collector and cabaret artist, under the Nazi confiscation of Jewish property. Grünbaum died at the Dachau concentration camp in Germany in 1941.
The Allen Memorial Art Museum at Oberlin — a private liberal arts college in Ohio — contains 15,000 items in its collection, including for several decades, “Girl With Black Hair.”
Girl With Black Hair, by Austrian Expressionist Egon Schiele, was the subject of a criminal seizure warrant out of the Manhattan District Attorney’s office. (Legal Insurrection)
The Equal Protection Project (EPP) of the Legal Insurrection Foundation President William Jacobson told Fox News Digital that the art museum first bought the drawing in the late 1950s from an art dealer in France.
“They bought it, according to the court papers, in the late fifties from an art dealer in Paris, which of course should have raised flags,” Jacobson said. “Any art purchased in immediate postwar Europe you would know to check the provenance of it to make sure it wasn’t Nazi looted art.”
Jacobson said the Allen Memorial Art Museum was notified about the stolen piece from family members of Grünbaum “no later than 2006.”
Court documents show the college’s refusal to return the artwork in both 2006 and 2009, after Grünbaum family members requested the museum return it.
In 2016, Congress passed the Holocaust Expropriated Art Recovery Act (HEAR Act). The act provides victims of Nazi-era persecution and their heirs a fair and just opportunity to recover art stolen from their ancestors.
A bust and paintings inside the Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin, Ohio. (Jeffrey Greenberg/Universal Images Group via Getty Images/File/Fox News)
Under the HEAR Act, Grünbaum’s family sued Oberlin in 2022 for the artwork.
“The Grünbaum estate sued Oberlin College in late 2022, and Oberlin has been fighting the lawsuit,” Jacobson said. “(Oberlin) has been fighting it for about nine months. Still refusing to give it back.”
In September, the Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office served a criminal seizure warrant to seize the disputed drawing.
Warrants issued by Bragg’s office said there is reasonable cause to believe that the artwork is stolen property. Prosecutors believe they have jurisdiction, because the artwork was bought and sold by Manhattan art dealers at some point, the Associated Press reported.
Allen Memorial Art Museum at Oberlin College in Ohio. (Megan Harding via Allen Memorial Art Museum)
“Oberlin College announced, consistent with their position for 17 years, that ‘this is rightfully ours, we lawfully own it, and we’re not giving it back,'” Jacobson said. “And that changed, after the criminal warrant.
“But the reality is they’ve been fighting this for 17 years,” Jacobson added. “They fought it in civil court, in federal court, and they only gave in when they were going to look really bad, when all the world knew that they had stolen a painting looted by the Nazis from a concentration camp.”
Earlier this week, the college announced its plan to voluntarily return the drawing to the Grünbaum family.
In a statement to Fox News Digital, Oberlin College said it “invested significant resources” in the history of the artwork and “concluded it had been lawfully acquired.”
“Oberlin College purchased Egon Schiele’s drawing Girl with Black Hair in 1958. When questions relating to the artwork’s ownership came to light in the years that followed, Oberlin invested significant resources researching the history of its sale and purchase and concluded it had been lawfully acquired,” a spokesperson for the college said.
“This artwork was purchased for Oberlin’s Allen Memorial Art Museum by Charles Parkhurst, director of the museum from 1949 to 1962. As one of the ‘Monuments Men,’ he was celebrated for tracking down and returning art looted by Nazis in WWII,” the spokesperson added. “It is inconceivable that Parkhurst would have knowingly purchased any artwork that he believed might have been stolen.”
A woman sat on a bench looking at artwork in the Allen Memorial Art Museum at Oberlin College. (Jeffrey Greenberg/Universal Images Group via Getty Images/File/Fox News)
Oberlin said that once the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office began investigating the artwork, it voluntarily returned the drawing.
“The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, through its ongoing investigation, has nonetheless raised questions about the ownership of Girl with Black Hair,” the spokesperson continued. “As a result, we are voluntarily returning the drawing. We hope this will provide some measure of closure to the family of Fritz Grünbaum.”
Jacobson noted the irony of the situation due to Oberlin College being “one of the most virtue signaling progressive colleges in the country.”
The college recently voluntarily returned a Native American craft to the Nez Perce tribe.
“They had a whole symposium bragging about the fact that they’re giving this bag back to the Nez Perce tribe. And I don’t criticize them for giving it back,” Jacobson said. “I think the point is, look how they’re treating that tribe as opposed to this family who is trying to get back the property stolen from their immediate ancestor.”
LONDON (AP) — With a few daubs of a paintbrush, the Brontë sisters have got their dots back.
More than eight decades after it was installed, a memorial to the three 19th-century sibling novelists in London’s Westminster Abbey was amended Thursday to restore the diaereses – the two dots over the e in their surname.
The dots — which indicate that the name is pronounced “brontay” rather than “bront” — were omitted when the stone tablet commemorating Charlotte, Emily and Anne was erected in the abbey’s Poets’ Corner in October 1939, just after the outbreak of World War II.
They were restored after Brontë historian Sharon Wright, editor of the Brontë Society Gazette, raised the issue with Dean of Westminster David Hoyle. The abbey asked its stonemason to tap in the dots and its conservator to paint them.
“There’s no paper record for anyone complaining about this or mentioning this, so I just wanted to put it right, really,” Wright said. “These three Yorkshire women deserve their place here, but they also deserve to have their name spelled correctly.”
It’s believed the writers’ Irish father Patrick changed the spelling of his surname from Brunty or Prunty when he went to university in England.
Raised on the wild Yorkshire moors, all three sisters died before they were 40, leaving enduring novels including Charlotte’s “Jane Eyre,” Emily’s “Wuthering Heights” and Anne’s “The Tenant of Wildfell Hall.”
Rebecca Yorke, director of the Brontë Society, welcomed the restoration.
“As the Brontës and their work are loved and respected all over the world, it’s entirely appropriate that their name is spelled correctly on their memorial,” she said.
In a case that has sent shockwaves through the Vancouver Island art community, a local art dealer has been charged with one count of fraud over $5,000. Calvin Lucyshyn, the former operator of the now-closed Winchester Galleries in Oak Bay, faces the charge after police seized hundreds of artworks, valued in the tens of millions of dollars, from various storage sites in the Greater Victoria area.
Alleged Fraud Scheme
Police allege that Lucyshyn had been taking valuable art from members of the public under the guise of appraising or consigning the pieces for sale, only to cut off all communication with the owners. This investigation began in April 2022, when police received a complaint from an individual who had provided four paintings to Lucyshyn, including three works by renowned British Columbia artist Emily Carr, and had not received any updates on their sale.
Further investigation by the Saanich Police Department revealed that this was not an isolated incident. Detectives found other alleged victims who had similar experiences with Winchester Galleries, leading police to execute search warrants at three separate storage locations across Greater Victoria.
Massive Seizure of Artworks
In what has become one of the largest art fraud investigations in recent Canadian history, authorities seized approximately 1,100 pieces of art, including more than 600 pieces from a storage site in Saanich, over 300 in Langford, and more than 100 in Oak Bay. Some of the more valuable pieces, according to police, were estimated to be worth $85,000 each.
Lucyshyn was arrested on April 21, 2022, but was later released from custody. In May 2024, a fraud charge was formally laid against him.
Artwork Returned, but Some Remain Unclaimed
In a statement released on Monday, the Saanich Police Department confirmed that 1,050 of the seized artworks have been returned to their rightful owners. However, several pieces remain unclaimed, and police continue their efforts to track down the owners of these works.
Court Proceedings Ongoing
The criminal charge against Lucyshyn has not yet been tested in court, and he has publicly stated his intention to defend himself against any pending allegations. His next court appearance is scheduled for September 10, 2024.
Impact on the Local Art Community
The news of Lucyshyn’s alleged fraud has deeply affected Vancouver Island’s art community, particularly collectors, galleries, and artists who may have been impacted by the gallery’s operations. With high-value pieces from artists like Emily Carr involved, the case underscores the vulnerabilities that can exist in art transactions.
For many art collectors, the investigation has raised concerns about the potential for fraud in the art world, particularly when it comes to dealing with private galleries and dealers. The seizure of such a vast collection of artworks has also led to questions about the management and oversight of valuable art pieces, as well as the importance of transparency and trust in the industry.
As the case continues to unfold in court, it will likely serve as a cautionary tale for collectors and galleries alike, highlighting the need for due diligence in the sale and appraisal of high-value artworks.
While much of the seized artwork has been returned, the full scale of the alleged fraud is still being unraveled. Lucyshyn’s upcoming court appearances will be closely watched, not only by the legal community but also by the wider art world, as it navigates the fallout from one of Canada’s most significant art fraud cases in recent memory.
Art collectors and individuals who believe they may have been affected by this case are encouraged to contact the Saanich Police Department to inquire about any unclaimed pieces. Additionally, the case serves as a reminder for anyone involved in high-value art transactions to work with reputable dealers and to keep thorough documentation of all transactions.
As with any investment, whether in art or other ventures, it is crucial to be cautious and informed. Art fraud can devastate personal collections and finances, but by taking steps to verify authenticity, provenance, and the reputation of dealers, collectors can help safeguard their valuable pieces.
