Even for those who can not remember or were not born when the President
of the United
States was murdered while he rode through Dealey Plaza
in Dallas, Texas, we think only
of the events
in the immediacy
of the moment — the drive down the street, the shots themselves, and the
shock that immediately
followed.
As I dug deeper I was struck by the sense
of outrage and loss this painting aroused
in so many people: The family
of Lea Bondi, determined to reclaim the stolen portrait she had failed to recover
in her lifetime; the Manhattan District Attorney who sent
shock waves through the international art world and enraged many
of New York's most prominent cultural organizations when he issued a subpoena and launched a criminal investigation
following the surprise resurfacing
of Portrait
of Wally; the New York art dealer who tipped off a reporter about the painting during the opening
of the Schiele exhibition at MoMA; the Senior Special Agent at the Department
of Homeland Security who vowed not to retire until the fight was over; the art theft investigator who unearthed the post-war subterfuge and confusion that ultimately landed the painting
in the hands
of a young, obsessed Schiele collector; the museum official who testified before Congress that the seizure
of Portrait
of Wally could have a crippling effect on the ability
of American museums to borrow works
of art; the Assistant United
States Attorney who took the case to the eve
of trial; and the legendary Schiele collector who bartered for Portrait
of Wally
in the early 1950s and fought to the end
of his life to bring it home to Vienna.