US authorities have returned seven artworks by Austrian Expressionist Egon Schiele (1890-1918) to the heirs of Fritz Grünbaum (1880-1941), a Jewish cabaret performer and art collector who was murdered by the Nazis. Seized from collections throughout the US, the works are collectively valued at nearly $10 million (£8.2 million).

“Despite the horror, tragedy and destruction caused by the Nazis, it’s never too late to teach the world about incredible people like Mr. Grünbaum,” announced Manhattan District Attorney Alvin L. Bragg.

Born in the Czech Republic, Grünbaum moved to Vienna where he became a celebrated cabaret artist. As a passionate patron of the arts, Grünbaum amassed an enviable collection that included 81 pieces by Schiele. He was also politically engaged, known for publicly quipping the Nazi Party. According to his heirs, the Nazis arrested Grünbaum attempting to flee occupied Vienna and sent him to Dachau concentration camp in 1938. Officials coerced him into signing a power-of-attorney document, which forced his wife Elisabeth to hand over their art collection. A few years later Grünbaum and Elisabeth were killed at extermination camps.

Grünbaum’s heirs have spent more than a quarter of a century seeking to recover their family collection. Many of their claims have prompted civil suits in state and federal courtrooms. In 2018, a New York civil court ruling declared that Grünbaum had indeed never sold or surrendered any of his collection before his death, making his heirs the rightful owners. Over the course of several years, Bragg’s office worked closely with Homeland Security Investigations to retrieve the artworks.

All seven of the returned works had been sold by Manhattan-based dealer Otto Kallir (1894-1978) to public and private collections across the US, which gave prosecutors jurisdiction to seize them. Several prominent museums agreed to return pieces, including the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) and The Morgan Library & Museum in New York, as well as the Santa Barbara Museum of Art in California.

The returned works include a delicate pencil on paper portrait of Schiele’s wife Edith Harms (1915) from the Santa Barbara Museum of Art) and an arresting watercolour portrait entitled “Prostitute” (1912) from the MoMA. Schiele was declared a “degenerate artist” by the Nazis, who sold works by such artists to fund the Nazi Party, as well as seizing many for private gain.

“By recovering these long-lost artworks our law enforcement authorities have today achieved a measure of justice for the victims of murder and robbery,” said Timothy Reif, a judge in the US Court of International Trade and one of Grünbaum’s descendants.

The Schiele artworks were handed over to Grünbaum’s heirs during a poignant ceremony at Bragg’s office. “This is of huge importance in our world,” added Reif at the ceremony. “It sets the tone and the agenda for all future cases.” At least six of the pieces have been consigned for sale at Christie’s this autumn in New York.