Painting at center of Holocaust case
Austrian man claims Gustav Klimt painting purchased by cosmetics magnate Leonard Lauder originally belonged to his grandmother, who disappeared during the Holocaust
The grandson of an Austrian woman who disappeared during the Holocaust is demanding restitution for a Gustav Klimt painting now owned by cosmetics magnate Leonard Lauder, saying the artwork was stolen from his grandmother's home.
Lauder, who purchased the painting "Blooming Meadow" in 1983 from the late Manhattan gallery owner Serge Sabarsky, says his investigation found no evidence that the work ever belonged to man's grandmother.
The man, Georges Jorisch, 79, believes the painting was first acquired by his great-uncle, Viktor Zuckerkandl, a Viennese steel magnate and friend of Klimt. After Zuckerkandl's death in 1926, the painting passed to his sister, Amalie Redlich, according to Jorisch's attorney, E. Randol Schoenberg.
Redlich was deported to Poland by the Nazis in 1941 and was never heard from again.
Schoenberg said he was preparing a letter demanding the return of the property, which he says could be worth as much as $20 million.
"I hope they'll return the painting or agree to purchase it," the attorney said.
Lauder's attorney, Andrew Frackman, said he and his client have been "in discussions" with Schoenberg for five years over the painting.
"We've told Jorisch all along that if in fact his painting belonged to Ms. Redlich, Mr. Lauder would do the right thing," Frackman said.
He said that he and Lauder had conducted an "extensive investigation" of documentary evidence from the 1920s and '30s surrounding six Klimt paintings in Zuckerkandl's estate, and "we have satisfied ourselves that Mr. Lauder's painting is not any of those six."
