Restituted Objects

Each object tells a story. Some are still missing, some are restituted or resolved, and some have cases still pending. The circumstances of looting and the efforts for recovery are just as fascinating as the famous works of art themselves.

Egon Schiele, Autumn Sun (Herbstonne), 1914

Egon Schiele’s Autumn Sun depicts sunflowers that were deprived of natural light. This painting is influenced by Vincent van Gogh’s famous sunflower paintings, but instead of being a symbol of hope, Schiele’s version is more somber, portraying a sense of death and decay, which resonates with the mood in Austria before World War I. This painting is considered to be one of Schiele’s masterpieces, but its whereabouts was unknown for 64 years.

Autumn Sun was acquired by Karl Gruenwald from the Gmur family. Mr Gruenwald was a Viennese art, textiles and antiques dealer who was also a good friend and admirer of Egon Schiele. The two men served in the Army together during the Great War, where Gruenwald was Schiele’s commanding officer. Gruenwald recognised Schiele’s artistic talents and was instrumental in getting him appointed as a war artist instead of being sent to the front line. The men remained friends until Schiele’s death in 1918.

Gruenwald continued to acquire an impressive art collection, but during Austrian Aunschluss in 1938, Gruenwald fled Vienna for France. When Gruenwald settled in Paris, he made arrangements to transport part of his collection out of Austria. Gruenwald stored several of his paintings, including Autumn Sun, in Strasbourg, whree the Nazis confiscated them. Autumn Sun was subsequently sold by the Nazis at auction in 1942.

Gruenwald was spared being sent to a concentration camp, but his wife and one of his daughters died while imprisoned in a camp. After the war, Gruenwald concentrated on trying to find his missing collection. When he passed away in 1964, his son Frederic took over the family search. Frederic was able to recover a couple of artworks, including a painting by Gustav Klimt, but Autumn Sun had eluded him. When Frederic died in 2004, he urged the family to continue to search for the Schiele masterpiece.

Many feared that this lost treasure was destroyed, but a fateful visit by Christie’s changed this. In December 2005, two experts from Christies were asked to do a routine valuation at an apartment in France by a man who acquired a painting several years earlier. The Christie’s specialists saw a photo of Autumn Sun and assumed it was a copy. Nevertheless, the experts paid the gentleman a visit and were astonished to discover that the painting that hung in this man’s house was the missing masterpiece.

The Christie’s experts then explained the painting’s history to the current owne. The French gentleman, who wanted to remain anonymous, recognised that the painting should be restituted to the Gruenwald family, and the artwork was restituted in February 2006.

The Gruenwald heirs were thrilled to get back a part of their family’s legacy. They put the painting up for auction at Christie’s in June 2006 where it sold for £11.7 million.

Gustav Klimt, Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I

Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Street Scene, Berlin

Henri Matisse, Odalisque

Edvard Munch, Summer Night on the Beach

Nicholas de Nuefchatel, Portrait of Jan van Eversdyck

Domenico Pennacchini, In the Wine Cellar

Pablo Picasso, Portrait of Angel Fernández de Soto

Egon Schiele, Autumn Sun (Herbstonne)