Nazi-Era Art Schiele Battle

What started out as a battle over a 1917 watercolor by Austrian Expressionist Egon Schiele has escalated into a legal tug-of-war over artwork that may be worth more than $100 million. The dispute involves Sotheby's Holdings Inc., the world's largest auction house, Boston philanthropist David Bakalar, several prominent art dealers, and the heirs of a popular Viennese cabaret singer who died in a Nazi concentration camp. The legal tussle started on March 21 when Bakalar filed a complaint in New York federal court against Leon Fischer and Milos Vavra, who claim to be the heirs of singer Fritz Grunbaum. Bakalar, 80, contends that Fischer and Vavra sabotaged his effort to sell the 1917 Schiele watercolor by claiming they were the rightful owners of 'Seated Woman with Bent Left Leg (Torso),' an erotic picture of a headless woman brushed on paper with opaque paint. For the full story - click the title Irish Art