Robert Edsel's Blog

Rembrandt, "The Storm on the Sea of Galilee", 1633, Oil on canvas, inscribed on the rudder, 161.7 x 129.8 cm (Image Courtesy of Isabella Stewart Museum)

Today it has been 20 years since 13 invaluable works of art were stolen from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston, in what has been called the largest property theft in recorded history.

Vermeer, "The Concert", 1658–1660 Oil on canvas, 72.5 x 64.7 cm. (Image Courtesy of Isabella Stewart Museum)

On the night of March 18, 1990, two thieves dressed as Boston police officers gained entry to the museum, handcuffed both night guards, and proceeded to spend about 40 minutes stealing art from 3 different galleries. Among the missing works of art are Vermeer’s The Concert and Rembrandt’s Storm on the Sea of Galilee. A $5 reward is still being offered for information leading to the recovery of the works of art.

For more information on the theft, please visit the museum’s website:
http://www.gardnermuseum.org/information/theft.asp

Monuments Man George Stout (Image Courtesy of National Archives)

The Gardner Museum is one of the premiere museums in the United States, established at the turn of the 20^th century. It houses more than 2,500 works of art in an intimately designed space. Monuments Man George Stout [link to his bio] served as Director of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum from 1955 to 1970.

Robert Edsel presents Mary Quessenberry with her copy of the Senate Gold Leaf Resolution which recognized all 350 Monuments Men and women from 13 nations, and an American flag that flew over the Capitol in her honor.

Monuments officer and Army Veteran, Mary Regan Quessenberry, is an extraordinary woman. 94 years young, in full possession of a remarkable memory, and blessed with a piercing sense of humor, this lovely lady provided my small team with a wonderful interview we will always cherish.

This was the third time I’ve been to Boston to visit Mary. We have become friends.  She has so many of the characteristics I have witnessed in the other Monuments Men I have interviewed….gratitude, humility, keen sense of intelligence blended with a wisdom of the years.

Mary is the sole living connection back to the beginning of the Monuments Men efforts and those key people who had the vision that led to their creation.  From Langdon Warner, the great scholar of Asian art and swashbuckling explorer, to Paul Sachs, the founder of the first museum studies course in America, to Mason Hammond, legendary professor of Classics at Harvard, Mary knew them all.  We have been so fortunate to find her and record her memories and stories in time.

This illustrates the race with time with which we’ve been engaged these past 7 years…trying to locate those living witnesses and record their stories and gather their documents while they exist.  With each discovery of someone like Mary, I wonder, will we be fortunate to find someone else?

Left to Right: Mary Regan Quessenberry, Mary Churchill and Unknown

Today the Monuments Men Foundation for the Preservation of Art, recipient of the 2007 National Humanities Medal, announced they have identified a second living female member of the Monuments, Fine Arts, and Archives section (“MFAA”), or “Monuments Men” as they were more commonly known: Mary Regan Quessenberry of Boston, Massachusetts.

The Monuments Men were a group of 345 men and women from thirteen nations, many of whom were museum directors, curators, artists and architects, who together worked to protect monuments and other cultural items from the destruction of World War II. In the last year of the war they tracked, located and ultimately returned more than five million artistic and cultural treasures stolen by Hitler and the Nazis.

Regarding this important occasion, Robert M. Edsel, author of The Monuments Men, and President of The Monuments Men Foundation for the Preservation of Art stated, “This news makes Veterans Day even more special for the Monuments Men Foundation. The men and women who collectively comprised the Monuments Men set the standard for the protection of cultural treasures during armed conflict. Although we hope our ongoing research efforts identify other living Monuments Men and women, today we know of only 10, including Mary Regan Quessenberry, who played an important role in the post-war work of the Monuments Men, assisting with the efforts to return millions of works of art to the countries from which these treasures had been stolen. This significant occasion underscores the importance and urgency of our research to recognize the contribution and preserve the legacy of these remarkable men and women who saved so much of our cultural heritage during World War II.”

Mary Regan Quessenberry and Robert M. Edsel

After watching an interview with Robert Edsel on BBC regarding his new book, The Monuments Men, Ms. Quessenberry’s niece contacted the Monuments Men Foundation about her aunt’s role as a Monuments officer. Mr. Edsel immediately traveled to Boston to meet with Mary, and presented her with a flag of the United States which had flown over the United States Capitol in honor of the Monuments Men, as well as a gold leaf copy of the Congressional Resolution that was passed in both the House and the Senate recognizing for the first time in the United States the heroic efforts of the members of the Monuments, Fine Arts, and Archives section.

Born in Boston on October 10, 1915, Mary Regan attended Radcliffe College and later received a master’s degree in Fine Art from Harvard, where her professors included Monuments Men Paul Sachs, Langdon Warner, and Mason Hammond, all key figures in Mr. Edsel’s new book, The Monuments Men. The United States entered World War II in December 1941. By July 1942 Mary had given up her job as a high school art teacher and was in uniform serving with the WAAC (Women’s Auxiliary Army Corps). Over 400,000 women applied to be part of the first group of women to serve in the US military; only 450 were chosen. She would later become a recruiter for WAC (Women’s Army Corps), where one of the highlights was meeting the Churchill family when they visited Boston. Mary was sent overseas in 1943. Prior to becoming a Monuments officer, she trained with the U.S. Army 8th Air Force under General Doolittle; she was also sent to the Royal Air Force base at Medmenham as part of the Central Interpretation Unit and later, Mary received orders to report to General Carl Spaatz. At that time he commanded the 8th, 9th, and 15th Army Air Corps and led the strategic bombing campaign against Germany reporting directly to General Eisenhower. Mary became “company commander of the 550 WACs who ran Spaatz Headquarters.” For her service as company commander, Mary received a Bronze Star.

Following the Allied victory, Mary read in Stars and Stripes that officers with an art history background were needed as Monuments Men. Despite having more than enough points to return home, Mary traveled to Berlin to volunteer for service with the Monuments Men. As a Monuments officer stationed in Berlin, Mary traveled to the Munich Collecting Point, Wiesbaden Collecting Point, various repositories, and badly damaged cities. She worked with fellow Monuments Men Bancel LaFarge, Rose Valland, Charles Kuhn, Calvin Hathaway and others to restitute stolen works of art to their rightful owners. She served as a Monuments officer until 1948, when she retired as a Major after an extraordinary and accomplished military career.

Mary returned home to the United States and taught humanities at the University of Florida, and married her husband Tim Quessenberry in 1965. Mary Regan Quessenberry currently lives in Boston, Massachusetts.

About the Monuments Men Foundation

The Monuments Men Foundation was created to raise public awareness of the 345 or so men and women from thirteen nations, many of whom were museum directors, curators, and educators, who protected monuments and other cultural treasures from the destruction of World War II. By 1945, these heroes of civilization tracked, located and later returned more than 5 million artistic and cultural items stolen by Hitler and the Nazis. The Foundation intends for their rich legacy to serve as a beacon for the preservation of such treasures in future armed conflict and to finish the task of locating and returning some of the hundreds of thousands of stolen and missing works of art and documents to the victims of the greatest theft in history. The Monuments Men Foundation for the Preservation of Art was one of ten recipients of the 2007 National Humanities Medal, the highest honor given for excellence in the Humanities field.

For more information about the Monuments Men Foundation, please visit www.monumentsmenfoundation.org.

To speak with Robert Edsel or for further details, Please Contact:
Christy Fox
Telephone: 646-246-3743
Email: christyfox1@aol.com

Senator Edward (Ted) Kennedy (1932 - 2009)

Senator Ted Kennedy, whose leadership of this nation spanned half a century, has died of a brain tumor. He lived 77 years, but filled them with far more than that of experiences.  In my view, despite his ambitions and those of his family to be elected president, he had a far broader and more lasting impact on our nation as Senator of Massachusetts.

This man was a critical early supporter of our Senate Resolution to honor the Monuments Men and women of all 13 nations. Out initial contacts with Senators began in January 2007 with visits to all 100 offices at the three buildings in which they office.  Christy Fox, who has been such a vital part of ongoing effort to recognize these heroes and preserve their legacy, accompanied me and helped me carry some of the Rescuing Da Vinci books we were giving each Senator as a way of explaining who these men and women were.  Senator Kennedy was one of the earliest visits we made.

Just entering his office was an overwhelming experience; I had to sit down and catch my breath.  On the walls were literally hundreds of photographs that covered the past 50 years of this country’s history:  every world leader, every major event–happy and sad, every notable moment was captured in some photograph hanging on those walls.  It was a visual representation of the trials and accomplishments of a young nation growing up, and the common denominator was Senator Ted Kennedy.

We quickly received word he supported the proposed Resolution full on.  With his Harvard connections to the Monuments Men (more than 30 were educated there), Boston connections to its great museums including the Museum of Fine Art and Isabella Stewart Gardner, and his long-standing support of the arts, it was no surprise he wanted to honor these heroes of civilization and assist our efforts.  But the moment I shall never forget was returning from a run one hot afternoon several months later to open my mailbox and see a letter from Senator Kennedy to me which stated, in part, the following:

With Senator Kennedy’s death we lose a stalwart champion of caring for others, especially those among our great nation whose voices are too often ignored.  He used his privilege and resources to make the world around him a better place.  His was a lifetime of service on behalf of others.  We as a nation, and in fact our world, are diminished for his loss.