Art Institute to defend its ownership of watercolor that New York authorities contend Nazis stole during Holocaust

Egon Schiele’s “Russian War Prisoner” (left) remains for now at the Art Institute of Chicago, while “Portrait of a Man” (center) and “Girl With Black Hair” (right) in the collections of two other museums, will be returned to heirs of Fritz Grünbaum as part of an investigation by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg. (Associated Press)

The Art Institute of Chicago will soon get to make its case that it is the rightful owner of a $1.25 million watercolor that prosecutors in New York believe was stolen from a Jewish cabaret star killed during the Holocaust.

Oral arguments in the case are set to begin April 3, according to a spokesperson for Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office, which in September issued warrants seizing three of Egon Schiele’s works.