AllMovie

Filmmaker Andrew Shea explores the subject of Nazi art seizure during the Holocaust through the strange case of Egon Schiele's 1912 painting "Portrait of Wally," which was stolen from Viennese gallery owner Lea Bondi in 1939, and later resurfaced in Manhattan's Museum of Modern Art in 1997. Originally painted by Schiele as a gesture of affection toward his young mistress Walburga ("Wally") Neuzil, the portrait was long thought to be lost after it was stolen by Hitler's henchmen. When it reappeared in New York City nearly six decades later, the Manhattan District Attorney, the U.S. government, and Bondi's descendants launched a landmark legal battle against a top Austrian museum. In tracing the history of "Portrait of Wally" we learn how the effects of the Holocaust are still being felt today in ways many never imagined.