Orders to hand back artworks by Austrian painter Egon Schiele to the American heirs of their former Jewish owner have forced some of Austria's top museums to deny claims that some of their holdings were Nazi loot.- The Klimt precedent -
In other cases, the Alpine country of 9.1 million inhabitants has so far returned about 15,800 artworks to the heirs of their former Jewish owners.
Several museums and collectors have surrendered artworks by Egon Schiele to investigators who say they were looted. But others are asserting that the evidence is inconclusive.
Three artworks believed stolen during the Holocaust from a Jewish art collector and entertainer have been seized from museums in three different states by