Christie’s is honored to announce that the family and heirs of the renowned performer, composer, and art collector Fritz Grünbaum have entrusted Christie’s with the sale of two important works on paper by Egon Schiele, which will be included in Christie’s Evening sale of 20th Century Art in New York this November. These two exceptional watercolors were part of the collection numbering in the hundreds of works that Fritz Grünbaum – said to be the inspiration for Joel Grey’s character in the Broadway musical Cabaret – assembled in Vienna in the first decades of the last century. The collection was lost when the Nazis invaded Austria in the late 1930s, and both Mr. Grünbaum and his wife were sent to concentration camps where they perished. Christie’s and the Grünbaum family hope this sale will offer an opportunity to celebrate the life, art, and genius of Fritz Grünbaum.
Richard Aronowitz, Christie’s Global Head of Restitution, said: “It has been a privilege to work with the Grünbaum heirs and I want to thank them for giving us the opportunity to offer these extraordinary Egon Schiele drawings. We look forward to sharing these works with the world, and to introducing a new generation to Fritz Grünbaum, a renowned performer who was also a renowned collector.”
Raymond J. Dowd, Esq., who is representing the Grünbaum heirs, said: “I want to thank Christie’s for the expertise, professionalism, and personal care they have shown throughout this process. I am confident that we have placed the legacy of Fritz Grünbaum and the trust of his family in the best hands in the business.”
Christie’s has the largest and most experienced Restitution team of any international auction house, underscoring our responsibility to this field. Located in New York, London, Berlin, and Vienna, our researchers have a century of combined years of experience. We have made Nazi-era provenance research a hallmark of our expertise.