Howard N. Spiegler, attorney for the estate of Lea Bondi Jaray, in front of a projected image of Egon Schiele's "Portrait of Wally," at ceremony at Museum of Jewish Heritage. Photo: Mackie Healy

By Mackie Healy, Art Market Views Contributor

About fifty heirs of art dealer Lea Bondi Jaray gathered this morning for the unveiling of Egon Schiele’s 1912 Portrait of Wally, at the Museum of Jewish Heritage in lower Manhattan, marking the resolution of the landmark Nazi looting case.

Andre Bondi, Lea Bondi Jaray’s great-nephew, spoke at the event, wiping tears from his eyes with a red cloth.

The museum’s chairman, Robert Morgenthau, took the podium after Bondi. “All’s well that ends well,” he said.

As Manhattan’s District Attorney, Morgenthau was responsible for the 1998 subpoena of the painting.

The portrait of the artist’s red-headed muse, in storage for the last 11 years, remains on view at the Jewish Heritage Museum until August 18. Then it will return to the Leopold Museum in Vienna where it will hang beside a 1911 Schiele self-portrait.

U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara and police commissioner Raymond Kelly attended the morning’s proceedings. Howard Speigler, attorney for the Bondi Jaray estate and Andre Bondi, the heirs’ spokesman, were among speakers on a panel about the case.

The court case was settled last week, on the eve of a trial. The Bondi heirs will receive $19 million to drop claims.  The agreement also requires that the Bondi Jaray provenance to be mentioned in wall text with the painting.

“Justice requires patience,” said Morgenthau.

Robert Morgenthau speaking at Museum of Jewish Heritage at unveiling of "Portrait of Wally." Photo: Mackie Healy

Andre Bondi, representative of the estate of Lea Bondi Jaray. Photo: Mackie Healy

"Portrait of Wally," on view at Museum of Jewish Heritage. Photo: Mackie Healy