
- This event has passed.
Hybrid Exhibition talk: Portrait of Wally: Opening the floodgates for restitution, Shauna Isaac
January 31, 2023 @ 6:30 pm - 7:30 pm
Part of the Vienna Model of Radicalisation: Austria and the Shoah exhibition event series
One of the most significant cases of Nazi looting took place in 1998 when the Manhattan District Attorney seized Egon Schiele’s Portrait of Wally under the US stolen property act. This case captured the imagination of the public and changed the international conversation on restitution. This painting was looted from Viennese art dealer Lea Bondi Jaray, who was Shauna Isaac’s great Aunt. Shauna will talk about her family’s fight to reclaim Portrait of Wally, which spanned several decades. She will also discuss the influence that this case has had on contemporary restitution.
About the speaker:
Shauna Isaac has been active in World War II art recovery for several years and has worked with families and government organisations to return Nazi looted art. She set up the Central Registry on Looted Cultural Property and served as a member of the Working Group for the Holocaust Era Assets Conference in Prague. Shauna studied at the Courtauld Institute of Art and Smith College. She is a regular lecturer at the Sotheby’s Institute of Art. Her publications include articles for The Art Newspaper, Times Literary Supplement and Art Quarterly. She is a contributor to the book Insiders/Outsiders: Refugees from Nazi Europe and their contribution to British Visual Culture.
The talk will be chaired by Monica Bohm-Duchen.
This event is hosted in partnership with Insiders/Outsiders.
Event guidelines for those joining online:
1. The Library will send you a Zoom link and joining instructions via email prior to the event. Please check your junk email folders.
2. Please try and join 5 minutes before the event start time and we will let you into the room (do try and bear with us if this takes a few minutes).
3. If you would like to ask a question during the event, please type your question into the chat function, and we will endeavour to answer as many questions as possible during the Q&A. Your webcam will not be seen during this event.
Book nowWe need your support more than ever. Help us preserve the truth.
We are an independent charity dependent on your support. We need to raise over a quarter of a million pounds each year for our work to continue and this is only possible with your help.
With your support we can continue to;
- Be a world leading Holocaust archive
- Offer a vital learning resource to oppose anti-Semitism and other forms of prejudice.
- Reach out to our worldwide audience of over two million people
- Preserve our archive for future generations so they can learn the lessons of the past
- Provide a free program of public events and exhibitions