Rudolf Leopold | Austrian art collector, 85

Rudolf Leopold, 85, who assembled Austria's largest private art collection, including works allegedly stolen by the Nazis, died Tuesday in Vienna.

Mr. Leopold is credited with assembling the country's largest and most important private art collection, which includes more than 5,000 works by artists such as Egon Schiele and Gustav Klimt. But the collection, which draws art aficionados from around the world, has been criticized in recent years by Austria's Jewish community and others who say it contains works seized by the Nazis that should be returned to their rightful owners or heirs.

In 2008, a legal opinion commissioned by the Jewish community found that at least 11 of the foundation's works belonged to people who were persecuted by the Nazis and that Mr. Leopold must have been aware, when he acquired them, of the possibility that they had been seized. Mr. Leopold, at the time, disputed the allegations.

Culture Minister Claudia Schmied, who has sought "clarity" regarding Mr. Leopold's collection, said that Austria had lost a passionate collector and great personality of the art world. - AP