In 1964, Robert Owen Lehman Sr., a philanthropist and art collector who led the Lehman Brothers investment firm through the Great Depression, bought a small drawing by the Austrian artist Egon Schiele.
A few weeks later, his son Robert Owen Lehman Jr. says, he received the drawing, a portrait of a rosy cheeked woman with a soft smile, from his father as a holiday gift.
The collectors, Karl Mayländer and Heinrich Rieger, were associates of Schiele in Austria, and their heirs have each claimed ownership of “Portrait of the Artist’s Wife,” a depiction of Edith Schiele.
Mayländer was a textile merchant who is depicted in at least two Schiele portraits.
Both men were killed by the Nazis during World War II.
Persons:
Robert Owen Lehman Sr, Egon Schiele, Robert Owen Lehman Jr, Karl Mayländer, Heinrich Rieger, Edith Schiele, Mayländer, Rieger
Organizations:
Lehman, Schiele
Locations:
Austrian, Austria