Portrait of Wally

Name: Portrait of Wally
Genre: History, Documentary, News
Released: May 11, 2012
Duration: 90 min
Rating: 70

2012

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Generally favorable reviews based on 10 Critic Reviews

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Movie Details & Credits

7th Art Releasing | Release Date: May 11, 2012 | Not Rated

Summary: "Portrait of Wally”, Egon Schiele’s tender picture of his mistress, Walburga (“Wally”) Neuzil, is the pride of the Leopold Museum in Vienna. But for 13 years the painting was locked up in New York, caught in a legal battle between the Austrian museum and the Jewish family from whom the Nazis seized the painting in 1939. Portrait of Wally"Portrait of Wally”, Egon Schiele’s tender picture of his mistress, Walburga (“Wally”) Neuzil, is the pride of the Leopold Museum in Vienna. But for 13 years the painting was locked up in New York, caught in a legal battle between the Austrian museum and the Jewish family from whom the Nazis seized the painting in 1939. Portrait of Wally traces the history of this iconic image – from Schiele’s gesture of affection toward his young lover, to the theft of the painting from Lea Bondi, a Jewish art dealer fleeing Vienna for her life, to the post-war confusion and subterfuge that evoke "The Third Man", to the surprise resurfacing of “Wally” on loan to the Museum of Modern Art in Manhattan in 1997. (7th Art Releasing)… Expand

Director: Andrew Shea

Genre(s): History, Documentary, News

Rating: Not Rated

Runtime: 90 min

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Critic Reviews

Michael Phillips

Jun 30, 2012

The documentary carrying the same name as Schiele's painting works like a suspense drama and a slippery chronicle of ownership, theft and vaguely unsettling resolution. Read full review

Chuck Bowen

May 8, 2012

The conclusion is a testament to the fact that authentic justice is probably only attainable by accident. Read full review

Kimberley Jones

Sep 6, 2012

With a saga this sprawling and byzantine, it makes sense that the emphasis is not on Schiele, but rather on what the sorely wronged Bondi never stopped calling "my Schiele." Read full review

John Anderson

May 8, 2012

Turning over rocks in and around the New York art world, helmer Andrew Shea finds a lot of ugly stuff while chronicling what amounts to a 60-year hostage drama centered around the Egon Schiele oil painting that gives the film its title. Read full review

Nick Pinkerton

May 8, 2012

Shea's documentary is a well-arranged if rather drawn-out parade of talking heads telling Wally's story, including a trenchant and funny Morley Safer, never missing a chance to knock the art world. Read full review

John DeFore

May 8, 2012

Portrait of Wally may be too narrowly focused for some viewers, but offers an engaging narrative and high-profile subject that should attract audiences at fests and in specialized theatrical bookings. Read full review

Mark Feeney

Jun 28, 2012

What's most vexing about Portrait of Wally is its lack of nuance. Read full review

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