A detail of "Girl with Black Hair,'' 1911, by Egon Schiele, which has been restituted by Oberlin College's Allen Memorial Art Museum to New York authorities in relation to an investigation into Nazi art theft during World War II.CLEVELAND, Ohio — The Allen Memorial Art Museum at Oberlin College has given up its claim to a drawing by early 20th-century Viennese artist Egon Schiele stolen by the Nazis from the Austrian-Jewish art collector Fritz Grünbaum.
The district attorney’s office seized both pieces in September as part of a criminal investigation that didn’t involve wrongdoing on the part of the museums. In all, the district attorney’s office has returned nine Schiele drawings to the Grünbaum heirs. Schiele was a highly important artist in turn-of-the-century Vienna, known for the emotional intensity and frank eroticism of his controversial portraits, including those of prepubescent girls.
When questions about the work’s ownership history, or provenance, arose later, “Oberlin invested significant resources researching the history of its sale and purchase and concluded it had been lawfully acquired,’’ the college said.