Robert Edsel's Blog

“Art” comes in many forms, especially today with technology offering avenues artists over the centuries couldn’t even have imagined. But an age old question remains: “what is art?”

The remarkable slide show you are  about to see depicts how art can be used to transform the mundane and functional to something beautiful. It speaks to the power of art to inspire, transcend, overcome. Enjoy – turn off your brain, turn up the sound and revel in man’s creative nature!

PowerPoint Slide show about Stockholm’s Subway

If anyone can correctly identify who assembled this slide show, we will gladly credit that person and give him/her a free copy of “The Monuments Men”.

As part of the 65th Anniversary of Victory in Europe (VE-Day) celebration at the Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum in Abilene, Kansas, I will be discussing my new book, The Monuments Men and presenting a completely revised presentation that focuses on General Eisenhower’s role concerning protection of the arts during World War II. Ike’s policies were implemented by the Monuments Men. In conjunction with the presentation I will be bringing with me one of the “Hitler Albums” which will be on display during the weekend. The presentation starts at 7pm in the Visitors Center Auditorium, with audience Q&A to follow. On Saturday, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates will be the other keynote speaker beginning at 1pm.

If you would like to attend the events, please click on the following link for more information: Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum: VE-Day 65th Anniversary

James A Leach (Photo Courtesy of NEH)

One sure sign of demonstrable progress is the ongoing public recognition by key government officials of our efforts to recognize and preserve the legacy of the Monuments Men.  Last week the recently appointed Chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities, a great friend and supporter of the Monuments Men Foundation, Jim Leach, spoke at a conference on cultural heritage at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey.  One key aspect of his speech concerned the work of the Monuments Men and the role of the Foundation in making their story broadly visible.  Below is an excerpt of that portion of his remarks.  Those wishing to read the full text of his speech may do so by clicking on the following link: http://www.neh.gov/whoweare/speeches/04102010.html

As preservationists know, one of the most respectful cultural moments in our history came at a signal moment at the end of World War II when a small cadre of American military officers came to be cultural heroes. Subsequently dubbed the “Monuments Men,” they led in cataloguing and returning works of looted art from Nazi hands to countries of origin. It is only in the last dozen years or so that historians and filmmakers—one supported by the NEH—have begun to bring perspective to the unprecedented displacement of cultural artifacts that the Second World War precipitated. Unlike other nations that have too frequently absconded with art treasures as booty of war, the American military wisely recognized that cultural objects belonged to original owners rather than conquering armies. It would have been a public insult of unpardonable dimension to have taken a culturally punitive tack.

As chairman of a House Committee with jurisdiction over banking matters, I held four years of hearings in the mid-1990s on the greatest mass theft in history, a subject which for decades had been historically slighted because Nazi avarice was so overwhelmed by its accompaniment with the greatest mass murder in history. What we unearthed in stories of victims and from perspectives applied by historians and philosophers to the shadowy corners of the Holocaust where greed reined was an axiom about the nature of evil: The genesis of evil may begin with perpetrators of violence and injustice, but complicity too frequently lies beyond the perpetrator with those who cloak themselves in the legitimacy of private business and genteel society. Indifferent to the most unpardonable ramifications of human prejudice, many of the seemingly best and brightest in civilization’s most advanced cultures manipulated with little compunction manifestly oppressive circumstances in furtherance of self-interest.

Our Congressional hearings helped galvanize many European parliaments to hold comparable reviews and led to an international conference which I chaired at the State Department on Holocaust era displacement of art. These hearings and the art conference, as well as the work of an extraordinary Under Secretary of State, Stuart Eizenstat, sparked increased attention not only to the war-time role of international banks and insurance companies where symbolic additional victim compensation packages were developed, but led to the drawing up of new national and international art provenance standards for museums.

Left to Right: Generals Bradley, Patton, and Eisenhower (Photo Courtesy of National Archives)

Having heard about the extraordinary discovery of most all of Nazi Germany’s gold reserves and paper currency, along with its vast cultural wealth from Berlin’s greatest museums and libraries, in a salt mine in Merkers, Germany, Generals Eisenhower, Patton and Bradley left SHAEF headquarters in Rheims, France and made a several day visit to see it firsthand.  As the Monuments Men, led by George Stout, were urgently crating the works of art for removal from the mine, the generals descended in a rickety elevator manned by a lone German operator.

Their sense of disconnection was palpable:  billions of dollars (in today’s currency) of gold bars and bagged coins sat stacked in one chamber adjacent to some of the world’s greatest works of art. Chests filled with gold fillings pulled from the mouths of murdered victims of the Nazi genocide sat idle, not yet smelted into bars to sit atop the Reichsbank horde.  Suitcases of silverware, another reminder of property stolen along with the lives of the owners, lined several walls.

General Eisenhower at Ohrdruf Concentration Camp (Photo Courtesy of National Archives)

Later that afternoon, the generals visited Ohrdruf, the first Nazi work camp liberated by American forces. Strewn before them were the corpses of the dead and emancipated figures of those near death.  General Patton, old “Blood and Guts”, had to lean against the side of one of the bunkhouse sheds as he was sick to his stomach from the horrors and stench of what he was witnessing.

President Franklin Roosevelt attending Yalta Conference in February 1945, less than 2 months before he died. (Photo Courtesy of Wikipedia Commons)

After dinner, as the generals returned to their respective tents, General Patton overheard on the BBC the announcement of President Roosevelt’s death earlier that day.  At age 63, 12 years into his presidency, having led the nation through its most perilous fiscal crisis and a world war, Roosevelt was gone. He did not live to see the fruits of his leadership – victory – which would follow 26 days later in Europe, and 125 days later in Japan.

April 12:  a day that had momentous implications for our nation, the world, and the Monuments Men.  (For a more detailed account of this story, please read The Monuments Men: Allied Heroes, Nazi Thieves and the Greatest Treasure Hunt in History).

National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. (Image Courtesy of Wikipedia Images)

When visiting the National Gallery of Art in Washington, it’s hard to believe it is only 69 years old.  Its majestic appearance and rich collections suggest a museum many centuries in age.  How could all these artistic treasures be assembled so late in history?  Who had the vision to suggest that the United States finally have a national collection for the people such as those in nearly all European countries?

National Gallery of Art West Side in the 1940s (Image Courtesy of Wikipedia Images)

In fact, hard as it is to believe, much of the success of the National Gallery of Art is due to the generosity of one man:  Andrew W. Mellon. Mellon was a successful financier before serving as the Secretary of the Treasury from 1921-1932 and U.S. Ambassador to the United Kingdom from 1932-1933. He began collecting art, mostly old master painters and sculpture, during World War l.  By the late 1920s he had developed a vision that would become the National Gallery of Art, a collection of the world’s greatest works of art for the benefit of its citizens.   However, while he continued to add to his extraordinary collection, his plans for the museum and the donations he would make that would assure its construction were kept secret.

Andrew Mellon (Image Courtesy of National Gallery of Art)

In 1930, with the world firmly in the grip of the Depression, Mellon seized on one of the greatest buying opportunities in the history of collecting: a series of purchases from Russia’s greatest museum, the Hermitage in St. Petersburg, a once in a lifetime event driven by orders from Soviet Premier Stalin to museum officials to raise cash by selling art. This despicable decision by Stalin was received with shock by museum officials, but fear of the repercussions outweighed any alternative.  In the course of a year Mellon purchased 21 paintings, the likes of which would never have been available but for these extraordinary circumstances, including Raphael’s Alba Madonna and Jan van Eyck’s The Annunciation.  It was the coup of Mellon’s collecting career.

The Opening Ceremony at the National Gallery of Art presided by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. (Image Courtesy of National Gallery of Art)

In 1936 Mellon wrote President Roosevelt and formally offered to build the National Gallery of Art building and donate his collection to the nation.  Ultimately 121 paintings and 21 pieces of sculpture from Mellon’s collection were gifted.  Not only did he provide $15 million to build the building, but he also stipulated that it would not bear his name.  This was not only an extraordinary act of selflessness but also a strategically wise decision because Mellon knew he had to enlist the support of his peers to also promise their respective collections to the National Gallery of Art.  Putting his name on the building was something he understood would make that task difficult if not impossible. By excluding his name from the building Mellon was empowered to persuade others, including Samuel H. Kress, Chester Dale, and Joseph P. Widener, to donate or commit their collections to the nation.  In the coming years these great collectors and many others made gifts of collections and funds, a tradition that continues to this day.

Leonardo da Vinci, "Ginevra de Benci", 1476, Oil on Wood, 38.8 cm × 36.7 cm (15.3 in × 14.4 in) (Image Courtesy of Wikipedia Images)

Mellon also established a trust, donating $10 million, to fund the Gallery during those early years.  This was just the beginning of almost a century of philanthropy by the Mellon family as Mellon’s son, Paul, and daughter, Ailsa Mellon Bruce, continued their father’s support with generous financial donations as well as works of art.  In fact, the only painting by Leonardo da Vinci in an American collection, Ginevra de’ Benci, is at the National Gallery of Art, made possible by the Ailsa Mellon Bruce fund.

Robert M. Edsel speaking at The National Gallery of Art in January 2010. (Photo Courtesy of Robert M. Edsel Collection)

The National Gallery of Art is one of our nation’s greatest cultural centers and is full of visitors every day of the year but for the two it is closed. The facilities are state of the art and beautiful to admire. Anyone wanting to see one of the world’s great collections of art need not travel further than Washington, D.C. For those seeking a great example of selfless giving, study Andrew Mellon and his role in making this once lofty vision a reality.

Photo Courtesy of National Archives and Records Administration (NARA)

Perhaps one of the most controversial and misguided decisions of World War II was made when General Mark Clark of the U.S. Fifth Army ordered the Abbey of Monte Cassino to be bombed. Some Allied leaders, as well as the soldiers on the ground fighting the terrible battle of Monte Cassino and the general public, believed that the Germans occupied the monastery and were using it as an observation point. The Abbey of Monte Cassino had become a symbol of defeat, and many felt that the Allies could not advance until it was destroyed.

Photo Courtesy of NARA

On February 15, 1944, Allied pilots were told that their “target is a huge ancient monastery which the Germans have chosen as a key defense point and have loaded with heavy guns…In the past few days this monastery has accounted for the lives of 2,000 American boys…this Monastery MUST be destroyed and everyone in it as there is no one in it but Germans.”[1] From 9:28 am to 1:33 pm, 453.5 tons of bombs were dropped on the Abbey of Monte Cassino. The abbey, founded in AD 529 and the birthplace of the Benedictine order, was bombed into oblivion.

Nazi Field Marshal Kesserlring’s headquarters was informed of the bombings by 10:30 am. “His chief of staff, Major-General Siefgried Westphal, asked by telephone, “Has it done us any harm from a military point of view?” He was told by his counterpart at the Tenth Army, “No, because we are not occupying it.” [2]

Photo Courtesy of NARA

The Vatican quickly responded, calling the destruction of the abbey “a colossal blunder” and a “piece of gross stupidity.” Thankfully, the lesson was learned and the Monuments Men swung into full action shortly after the bombing of the Abbey. They sought to ensure that historic monuments were never again treated with such disregard, or destroyed so carelessly.

[2] Ibid.

New Orleans is the place to be….Saints mania abounds, and rightfully so!!!  But there’s another exciting event which has brought me here today:  the opening of the first exhibition by the Monuments Men Foundation!  And what more fitting location could there be:  the stunning National World War II Museum!  On display are two irreplaceable historic documents which are the smoking guns of Hitler and the Nazi’s greatest theft in history:  the Gemaldegalerie Linz Album XIII, and the ERR Album 6, both of which were removed from Hitler’s home in Berchtesgaden, known as the Berghof, by U.S. Army soldiers.

This is the first time these documents have been together since being in Hitler’s possession, and the only opportunity the public will ever have to see them together.  The ERR Album 6 contains photographs of paintings stolen by Alfred Rosenberg and his notorious Einsatzstab Reichsleiter Rosenberg unit from the great collectors in France including families such as the Rothschilds, Seligmanns, David-Weill, and others.  It was presented to Hitler along with as many as 100 albums in that series.  Until the Monuments Men Foundation located Album 6, it was believed there were just 39 of these albums which, interestingly, were the chief prosecution exhibit at the Nuremberg Trials for the portion pertaining to Nazi theft of cultural property.

This 90 day exhibition marks the second leg of the journey home to Berlin for the Gemaldegalerie Linz Album XIII.  It began a week ago when I presented it to Germany’s Ambassador to the United States, Mr. Klaus Scharioth, at the United States State Department (for related story click here).  This Album, one of 31 such albums created of which only 19 were believed to have survived the war, is extremely important because it contains photographs of the works of art personally selected by Hitler for the museum he intended on building in his hometown of Linz, commonly referred to as the Führermuseum.  Album XIII is particularly significant because it contains works by German 19th century painters so beloved by Hitler.  Not only was this and the other still missing 11 albums thought to have been destroyed, but scholars believed their last known location was the Wolfsschanze or Wolf’s Lair, Hitler’s headquarters on the eastern front.  That this album was located at Berchtesgaden was quite a revelation and makes it increasingly likely others will eventually be found.

The Monuments Men Foundation believes that many of the missing albums from both series survived the war and will surface in the months and years ahead.  These documents are only the most recent examples of the millions of still missing works of art and other objects from the World War II period.  We encourage anyone with information about a missing object, or concern about some item in their possession, to contact the Monuments Men Foundation.

And an enormous “thanks” goes to all our friends at the National World War II Museum who have done such an outstanding job installing the exhibit and supporting this important display.  For all those who haven’t been to the Museum, it is truly one of the most amazing, interactive and fascinating museums in the world. For more information on the National World War II Museum visit http://www.nationalww2museum.org/.

Monuments Men Bernard Taper and Harry Ettlinger

My dad used to say, “the most important thing about birthdays is to keep having them!”.  A little Yogi Berra I admit, but like many things he told me, the wisdom became more apparent with time.

Part of his message was to slow down and celebrate them; each is precious. So today we pause for a moment to acknowledge the birthdays of two of our heroes, Monuments Men Bernard Taper and Harry Ettlinger.  I’ve spent a lot of time with both of these men and they are wonderful human beings over and above their many life accomplishments.

Strangely enough, I introduced Harry and Bernie to each other on June 5th, 2007, the day before our Senate Ceremony to honor all of the men and women of 13 nations who served in the Monuments, Fine Arts, and Archives section.  They were like two bugs in a rug from the outset swapping stories, sharing experiences.  It didn’t take long to make a significant connection:  both had interrogated Hitler’s good friend and personal photographer, Heinrich Hoffman, interestingly almost a year apart.

I walked behind them through the halls of the Senate as we headed to an appointment to meet Senator Hillary Clinton, leaning over their shoulders ease dropping on their conversation.  I always marvel at how similar older people are to young kids in the most endearing of ways. Watching the two of them get to know each other reminded me of two boys at a playground immediately engaged in conversation as if they had known each other all their lives, void of pretense and ego, just happy to have a friend.  I always cherish their first meeting among my many memories.

So here’s to our friends, Harry Ettlinger and Bernard Taper:  may you both remain in good health and be with us for many more such happy occasions!

I will be speaking at the National Gallery of Art in Washington D.C., this Sunday, January 17 at 2 pm. If you are in the D.C. area, I hope you will attend! The lecture is free and open to the public, it will be in the East Building Concourse Auditorium.

Today, The Monuments Men Year-End Newsletter for 2009 was released to the general public. Inside this newsletter, you can read about the various creative content we have produce, our ongoing engagement with the public through the media to bring much need attention to the Monuments Men, the various honors bestowed upon the Monuments Men Foundation, and all the incredible memories bringing this story to life.  Many thanks to all that have worked on this project through the years.

Please take a minute to read the The Monuments Men Year-End Newsletter.

If you would like to sign up for future newsletters, please click here (fill out form on the right side to submit).