Yesterday, a small victory. Today, a big vindication.
The estate of Leah Bondi Jaray has reached a settlement with the Leopold Museum over Schiele’s Portrait of Wally. I won’t go through the whole saga — I foreshadowed the settlement and my role in the origins of this case, which began in 1997, here. Suffice it to say that a settlement that grants both value to Bondi’s heir and vindication to those of us who believed her story is a good outcome.
The price for the painting, $19 million, is fair. All claims, on both sides, were dropped.
Also good is the fact Wally will, after an exhibition in New York at the Museum of Jewish Heritage, go back to Vienna to be displayed at the Leopold Museum, which owns its companion, a self-portrait by Schiele. They belong together.
One hitch remains: According to the settlement:
the Leopold Museum will permanently display signage next to the Painting at the Leopold Museum, and at all future displays of the Painting of any kind that the Leopold Museum authorizes or allows anywhere in the world, that sets forth the true provenance of the Painting, including Lea Bondi Jaray’s prior ownership of the Painting and its theft from her by a Nazi agent before she fled to London in 1939.
That’s great — but exactly what that label will say is up in the air, and it will be closely watched by those close to the case.
The Leopold Museum plans to sell some works to come up with the necessary funds, and others will be looking to see which art is chosen and how it is sold.
Here’s a link to the settlement press release, with further details.
Sadly, Henry Bondi, Leah’s nephew, who originally pressed the case, died some time ago. (So has Rudolph Leopold, just a few weeks ago.) But Henry’s wife, Inge, and son, Andre, are alive, as are other heirs.
Aside from my original story prompting the seizure, I reported more details of the situation in this Jan. 1, 1998 article, among many others.