Art Institute of Chicago: Difference between revisions

A collection of approximately 500 objects from [[Nepal]], India and elsewhere in Asia that was donated to the Art Institute by trustee [[Marilynn Alsdorf]] in 1989 was later found to contain several objects that were looted; nine objects have been returned by the museum to Nepal over the years, while some additional items are still being contested.<ref>{{Cite web |last=CHERNEY |first=ELYSSA |title=She was the queen of Chicago’s arts community. But her collection now means trouble for the Art Institute. |url=https://www.chicagobusiness.com/arts-entertainment/art-institute-chicago-nepal-looted-art-concerns |website=chicagobusiness.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Mills |first=Elyssa Cherney,Steve |date=2023-03-20 |title=Questions Shadow These Items From a Renowned Art Collection |url=https://www.propublica.org/article/chicago-art-institute-alsdorf-repatriation-origins |access-date=2023-11-07 |website=ProPublica |language=en |quote=Crain’s Chicago Business and ProPublica have identified at least nine objects once owned by James and Marilynn Alsdorf that have been sent back to their countries of origin since the late 1980s. Nepali activists — and government officials, in one case — are pressing for the return of more Alsdorf objects donated to the Art Institute of Chicago, saying they have evidence the pieces may have been looted and sold on the art market.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-03-22 |title=Investigation raises concerns over Art Institute's Nepal items |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/museums/ct-ent-nepal-looted-antiquities-aic-20230322-4y4vueyjxrebrk5v7f5lanyelu-story.html |access-date=2023-11-07 |website=Chicago Tribune}}</ref> In 2023, the [[Manhattan District Attorney]]'s Office moved to seize [[Egon Schiele]] paintings from several museums on the grounds that they had been looted by the Nazis from [[Fritz Grünbaum]], who was killed in the [[The Holocaust|Holocaust]]. The paintings included the ''Russian War Prisoner'''.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Ho |first=Karen K. |date=2023-09-14 |title=US Investigators Move to Seize Three Egon Schiele Works from Museums on Claims From Jewish Heirs of Stolen Property |url=https://www.artnews.com/art-news/news/us-investigators-seize-three-egon-schiele-museums-jewish-heirs-stolen-property-claims-1234679610/ |access-date=2023-11-07 |website=ARTnews.com |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=2023-09-14 |title=Egon Schiele art seized in US over Holocaust claim |language=en-GB |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-66815694 |access-date=2023-11-07}}</ref> The Art Institute continues to hold the work, as it is contesting the seizure in court. According to its investigation, it acquired the watercolor drawing in 1966 from an American art dealer through a proper provenance from Grünbaum's legal heir, and it also argues that the claim is time-barred because Grünbaum's heirs were aware.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Cohan |first=William D. |date=2023-11-06 |title=Were These Artworks Looted? After Seizures and Lawsuits, Some Still Debate |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/06/arts/design/egon-schiele-art-lawsuits-looted.html |access-date=2023-11-07 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Sheppard |first=Carrie |date=2024-01-17 |title=Art Institute fights to hold on to disputed Egon Schiele artwork |work=Axios |url=https://www.axios.com/local/chicago/2024/01/17/art-institute-holocaust-painting-franz-friedrich-grunbaum |access-date=2024-02-01}}</ref> In February 2024, the Manhattan District Attorney filed a 160 motion accusing the Art Institute of "blatantly ignoring evidence of an elaborate fraud undertaken to conceal that the artwork had been looted". According to the ''New York Times'', the court filing provided detailed evidence that provenance documents provided by the Swiss art dealer [[Eberhard Kornfeld]] contained forged signatures or were altered long after he came into possession of the paintings and sold them to other dealers in the mid-1950s. Court hearings on the matter are expected in 2024.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Mashberg |first=Tom |last2=Bowley |first2=Graham |date=2024-02-23 |title=Investigators Say Chicago’s Art Institute Is Holding onto ‘Looted Art’ |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/23/arts/investigators-say-chicagos-art-institute-is-holding-onto-looted-art.html |access-date=2024-02-26 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>