Russia's wartime art plunders?
Ne...@my-dejanews.com
came across in Nazi Germany and brought it back to the USSR, including not
only German artwork but also booty that the Nazi's themselves had plundered
form conquered nations. A few years ago I remember hearing about some of this
art being brought forth but does anyone know the current status of the bulk
of this stolen art? Could some of it be work that we've effectively written
off as destroyed or lost during the war? Any good books on the subject?
Nevik
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Charles Eicher
> At the close of WW2, the victorious Russian army seized whatever art they
> came across in Nazi Germany and brought it back to the USSR, including not
> only German artwork but also booty that the Nazi's themselves had plundered
> form conquered nations. A few years ago I remember hearing about some of this
> art being brought forth but does anyone know the current status of the bulk
> of this stolen art? Could some of it be work that we've effectively written
> off as destroyed or lost during the war? Any good books on the subject?
There is an ongoing story on this subject nearly every month in a
specialized magazine published in Britain, called "The Art Newspaper." It
is my favorite art publication, so I recommend it highly.
There is a major movement worldwide to repatriate stolen artworks from the
WWII era. It often makes national headlines, particularly in cases where
people have identified works stolen by the Nazis from Jewish families. I
think there was a case locally, settled just last month, where a family
settled with the Art Institute of Chicago over a painting confiscated from
their grandparents by the Nazis.
Anyway, to get back to Russian issues, yes, there is now some opening of
the old vaults containing hidden war plunder. It is not hard to find these
stories, just look in any art publication. I just picked one up at random,
ArtNews for December, and there is this article:
"Nine drawings stolen from the Print Room of the Dresden Gallery in the
last days of World War II have been returned to the museum, officials at
the State Art Collections in Dreseden announced. The drawings, all 19th
Century German works, were in the custody of an unidentified family of
Russian emigrants living in New York and were returned through the
mediation of Sotheby's and the German Consulate of New York."
This is a rather minor case, the collection was reported to be worth less
than $10,000, but that doesn't seem to matter when you're talking about the
cultural heritage of a country.
In another related case, there is an extensive story in this same magazine
about the new "Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act" that
requires American museums to return Native American religious artifacts and
skeletons to the tribes where they originated.
So.. Look for this story to remain as one of the major issues in Art
Collecting and international politics for a LONG time to come. They will
pop up at random, as cases are discovered (like that recent case about the
Swiss banks holding gold confiscated from Jewish families by the Nazis).
Nobody's going to fight a war over some stolen paintings, but it does
create a substantial amount of political friction.
----------------
Charles Eicher
cei...@inav.net
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Heikki Kastemaa
http://www.dhh-3.de/biblio/
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Heikki Kastemaa, kulttuurinavigaattori/cultural navigator
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