. "We are confident in our legal acquisition and lawful possession of this work," said a spokeswoman for the Art Institute. "The piece is the subject of civil litigation in federal court, where this dispute is being properly litigated and where we are also defending our legal ownership." The painting was seized "in place" which means it remains in possession of the Art Institute for now. However, warrants seen by the BBC state that it can be moved to New York after 60 days. A drawing entitled Portrait of a Man has been seized from the Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh. A warrant states it is valued at $1m. A spokesman for the Carnegie Museums said they were "deeply committed to our mission of preserving the resources of art and science by acting in accordance with ethical, legal, and pro){kind=link}
US authorities have seized artworks by the Austrian artist Egon Schiele from American museums following a claim they were looted during the Holocaust.
Investigators in New York have seized three pieces from galleries in Chicago, Pittsburgh and Ohio.
The pictures are being sought by the heirs of Fritz Grünbaum, an Austrian-Jewish art collector, cabaret performer and outspoken critic of Nazism.
The museums say they are confident in their legal ownership of the art works.
Mr Grünbaum, who died in a concentration camp at Dachau in 1941, owned 81 pieces by Schiele.