Robert Edsel's Blog

I have been asked to write a guest entry for the blog.  Before I began working here, I did not know much about the Monuments Men.  I knew they saved art during WWII, but that was all I knew.  They were a pretty incredible group of people.  From Ettlinger to Valland, there are some great people with some incredible stories.   I wonder what Rose Valland was thinking when she decided to keep notes on these works of art.  Did she know that it would lead to finding them later?  Did she think they were for her own personal records and memories?  I wonder, what was the initial spark that forced her to begin to document what was going on with the art pieces?  Minus the actual combat part, their work must have been fascinating.  I wish I was getting a paycheck to discover the stolen art hidden by the Nazi’s.  Talk about thinking outside the box, wow!

Though there are many different inspirational stories between the Monuments Men, there is one unifying theme.  They all felt the need to serve a purpose greater than themselves.  In today’s society, for the most part, all people care about is themselves and their latest bell or whistle.  I don’t think our society cares how many innocent people we kill on a daily basis, much less saving the cultural treasures in the Middle East.  A childhood buddy of mine was in the first platoon into Saddam’s main house and they did some terrible stuff to that house including the relics and treasures there.  I can only imagine what has happened to other cultural treasures in one of the oldest regions in the world.  If more people knew about The Monuments Men and their mission, we could have a special unit deployed in the Middle East focused on saving the cultural treasures of the region.  Maybe the people in charge of our nation’s foreign policy do not want to save the cultural treasures.  Maybe they do not want to preserve the culture from that region.  No W.M.D.’s and oil isn’t cheap, one has to wonder, what are we doing there?

I’m grateful that someone had the foresight to see the importance of saving the cultural treasures for future generations before they were destroyed.  In the times of World War II, people were more educated and understood the importance in saving cultural treasures for future generations.  Nationwide, our public school systems cut back funding for the arts before any other subjects.  Today, MTV and all the rest of the filth on television, teaches our children that cultural treasures are pieces of jewelry that Paris Hilton wore.  When you see how little importance our nation puts on the arts and culture, it’s not hard to see why this has not become a bigger issue.  It is going to take the masses getting educated, rising up and demanding that we save the cultural treasures in the Middle East before anything will change.  So I’m here doing my small part, helping Mr. Edsel and the Monuments Men Foundation in raising awareness and educating people about The Monuments Men and their mission.

Monuments Men Foundation Announces that Famous Murillo Paintings Stolen from Rothschild Family in Paris, later discovered by the Monuments Men during World War II, have been Identified at SMU’s Meadows Museum

Dallas, TX (October 22, 2009) — Based on new evidence about the systematic looting of art from Jewish owners in the course of hostilities in Europe during World War II, a pair of famous paintings on display at SMU’s Meadows Museum created by Spanish master Bartolome Esteban Murillo (1618-1682) of Seville’s Patron Saints Justa and Rufina, estimated to be worth more than $10 million, are believed to have been stolen from the Rothschild family in Paris in 1941. The Nazi ERR (Einsatzstab Reichsleiter Rosenberg) code evidencing Rothschild ownership is still visible on the stretcher bar of one of the paintings; it appears to have been rubbed off the other. The Monuments Men Foundation, recipient of the 2007 National Humanities Medal for its work preserving the legacy of these unknown heroes, which it received from the President of the United States at a White House ceremony, is continuing its research to document conclusively whether both paintings were properly restituted to the rightful owners prior to donation to the Meadows Museum.

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I spoke at the annual gathering of the Southern Independent Book Association membership this past Friday evening in Greenville, SC.  What a group of passionate and dedicated people!  I had numerous discussions with individuals who told me about their love of books, their passionate commitment to encourage others to read, and most flattering of all their love of the Monuments Men story.  An incredibly literate and very down to earth crowd, I really enjoyed getting to know everyone I met.

Saturday morning I had a taxi driver, a fellow from South Carolina, drop me off at several bookstores to sign my book before taking me to the airport.  On the way there he asked me about what I did, what it was like writing a book, then launched into a bit about his life.  Very affable and sweet, he told me he hadn’t had much education…”books with words longer than 6 letters scare me to death!”…and he then proudly told me how he and his wife had raised 3 kids, put them all through college, one of whom was a librarian, one was a medical technician, and the third was in advertising.  He then said, “I guess I’m kinda pattin’ myself on the back cause me and my wife done pretty good”.  I’ll say.  Great American success stories like this abound when you start listening to others.  Meeting him was a wonderful reminder.

Tonight I will be making a few brief remarks and then signing books at the Legacy Books in Plano at 7pm.  For those of you who haven’t been to this amazing book store you are in for a real treat.  It is a magnificent space with more attractions than anything you’ve seen at a normal book seller.  Your visit will be well-rewarded!  I hope to see a lot of familiar faces there along with many new ones.  Please stop by and introduce yourself.

See you tonight!

Legacy Books Official Website

Nazi Party number 2 man Goering announced his intentions plainly, and well in advance, when he said, “I intend to plunder and to do it thoroughly”.  And plunder he did.  By the time of his arrest, he had amassed more paintings in his personal collection than exist today in the National Gallery of Art’s European painting section, some 1800 plus works.

My colleague, and the world’s leading authority on Hermann Goering and his painting collection, historian Nancy Yeide, Head of Curatorial Records at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D. C., has recently completed a seven year study and has written a masterpiece entitled Beyond the Dreams of Avarice: The Hermann Goering Collection.  Nancy’s exhaustive analysis is groundbreaking research that will no doubt lead to the identification of works of art previously unknown to have been a part of the Reichsmarschall’s collection.  More importantly, in time it will make possible the return of paintings to the victims of the greatest theft in history.  It is active detective work of the highest caliber.

There was a wonderful interview with Nancy in The Washington Times yesterday.  To read about her and her tremendous accomplishment, please click on the following link.