Robert Edsel's Blog

Tomorrow marks the passing of a truly remarkable man and a key figure for the Monuments Men, Monuments Officer Charles Parkhurst. His contribution to the Monuments Men and to the cultural heritage to America cannot be measured. Below is the blog we posted the day of his death in 2008 and here is a link to his biography on the www.monumentsmen.com website.

Lieutenant Charles Parkhurst, 1913-2008. Photo Courtesy of Charles Parkhurst Collection.

One of the greats, Charles Parkhurst, has died. He was 95 years of age.  Charles had an incredibly distinguished career as a museum director, curator, and art historian which spanned more than 50 years.  During those years he worked at the National Gallery of Art, The Baltimore Museum of Art, the Albright-Knox AA Gallery in Buffalo, and the Princeton University Art Museum, among others.  He was also an outstanding educator of art with teaching positions at Oberlin College and Williams College.

But we will forever remember and honor Chuck for his service not just to our nation as a Lieutenant in the U.S. Navy during World War ll, but his critically important work as a Monuments Officer.  Beginning in May 1945 Parkhurst served as the Deputy Chief of the Seventh Army MFAA section of the U.S. Military Government in Germany. He helped coordinate the numerous tasks of the Monuments Men in post-war Germany centered on restitutions of the hundreds of thousand of stolen works of art and other cultural belongings stolen by Hitler and the Nazis and located by the Monuments Men.

But Charles Parkhurst’s service was much greater. In addition to standing with his fellow Monuments Men on the principle that no works of art should be removed from Germany,  in the face of great controversy, he also played a key role in jump-starting cultural life in Germany after the war by creating exhibitions which allowed local citizens to see works of art even though German museums were closed due to damage during the war.

For his wartime efforts as a Monuments Officer, Charles was named a Chevalier, Legion of Honor by France.

Photo taken on my visit with Charles Parkhurst in 2006. Photo Courtesy of Robert M. Edsel Collection.

Charles was so fortunate to have a magnificent lady and art scholar in her own right, for his wife, Carol, and a wonderful family.  It was one of the personal highlights of my work these past 7 years having the opportunity to meet Chuck and Carol two years ago at their charming home in Amherst.  Knowing he was ill, and of course the age of all the Monuments Men and women, underscored the sense of urgency to our effort to seek Senate and the House of Representatives support for our Resolution honoring the men and women of the Monuments, Fine Art and Archives section.

We will miss Charles Parkhurst, and all he stood for in the education, appreciation and protection of art and culture, enormously.  Our condolences go out to his family and numerous close friends.

At Winfield House, residence of the Ambassador of the United States to the United Kingdom, with Anne Olivier Bell and Ambassador Robert H. Tuttle. Photo Courtesy of Robert M. Edsel Collection.

Today is British Monuments Woman Anne Olivier Popham Bell’s 94^th Birthday. Anne is the only living female member of the Monuments section that we have located.  In December 2007, I had the honor of presenting Anne with a flag of the United States which was flown over the United States Capitol in her honor, as well as a gold leaf copy of the Congressional resolution that was passed on June 6, 2007 in recognition of the heroic efforts of the Monuments Men. U.S. Ambassador to the United Kingdom Robert H. Tuttle and his wife were also in attendance, as well as Anne’s family. It was truly a moving and memorable day. You may read more about Anne in her biography below.

MFAA Officer Anne Popham Bell. Photo Courtesy of Anne Popham Bell.

Anne Olivier Popham Bell (b. 1916)

Civilian Officer Grade 2, British Element, Monuments, Fine Arts, and Archives (MFAA)

Anne Olivier Popham was well prepared for work with the MFAA.  From 1934 to 1937, she studied art history at the Courtauld Institute which, combined with her family’s background in art, made her an ideal candidate.  Her father, A.E. ‘Hugh’ Popham, was a distinguished authority on Italian drawings and Keeper of the Department of Prints and Drawings at the British Museum, whose collection was transferred for safety to Wales in advance of the German Blitzkrieg on London.  Popham’s ‘war work’ began in 1941 when she joined the Ministry of Information as a research assistant in the Photographs and Publications Divisions.  Popham’s focus centered around the production of informative booklets on the British war effort published by His Majesty’s Stationary Office.  In 1945 she was transferred to the MFAA Branch of the Control Commission for Germany, and in October was stationed at Bünde in Westphalia, the Divisional Headquarters where she coordinated the Branch officers’ work.  Popham’s diaries detail her daily activities during this time and are preserved at the Imperial War Museum in London.

Following her return home from Germany in 1947, Popham joined the Art Department of the Arts Council of Great Britain, where she engaged in the preparation of major exhibitions in London and the provinces, and edited their authoritative catalogues.  In 1952 she married Quentin Bell, who later became Professor of History and Theory of Art at both Leeds and Sussex Universities.  He was the son of Clive and Vanessa Bell (the artist), central figures in the ‘Bloomsbury Group’, of which Vanessa’s sister, Virginia Woolf, was a participant.  After raising three children, Popham worked with her husband on research for his 1972 biography of his aunt, Virginia Woolf, and thereafter undertook the editing of Woolf’s complete Diary (five volumes) for which Popham was appointed a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and given two Honorary Doctorates.

Anne Olivier Bell currently lives in Sussex close to Charleston, the Bell family home.  The Charleston Trust, of which she is senior Trustee, has overseen the restoration of the historic house, which is now open to the public.  She is the only known surviving British member of the MFAA, and is still actively associated with the Bloomsbury Group.

Metallica's Drummer Lars Ulrich and Diego Edsel. Photo Courtesy of Robert M. Edsel.

I’m outside Zurich with my son Diego getting ready to head to the stage to see his idols – Metallica – perform. The rain has stopped, skies cleared, and Diego has just met Lars before we all head over to the performing area for what I know will be an incredible evening. And yes, to all my friends who keep asking me, I gave Lars, James, Robert and Kirk an inscribed copy of The Monuments Men!”

Monuments Officer at the Munich Collecting Point (Craig Hugh Smyth second from the left). Photo Courtesy of NARA.

In June 1945, Monuments Man Craig Hugh Smyth was charged with opening and running the Munich Collecting Point, to be housed in the former Führerbau (Hitler’s offices) and Verwaltungsbau (Nazi Party Headquarters). Collecting Points were necessary to house and sort the hundreds of thousands of works of art being found by Monuments Men in repositories across Germany, and the Central Collecting Point in Munich was designated to primarily hold ERR loot, Hitler and Goering’s collections, and other works found in the Altaussee salt mine.

Munich Collecting Point before repairs were made in June 1945. Photo Courtesy of NARA.

Smyth was given less than two weeks to convert the severely damaged buildings into a suitable home for a world-class art collection. Explosives had to be removed, windows, roofs, and electric lines repaired, underground passages closed off, and a trustworthy and knowledgeable staff had to be assembled.  Monuments Man George Stout came to Munich to assist in outlining proper unloading and art handling procedures.

Exterior of the Munich Collecting Point. Photo Courtesy of NARA.

On June 17, 1945, the first load of artworks arrived in Munich from Altaussee. As each object was unloaded, it was assigned an arrival number and collecting point card, then was stored in the proper room. Eventually racks were built to safely hold all of the paintings, a library was created, and a photography studio established, all to assist with restitutions. In the six years that followed, the Monuments Men would restitute 5 million cultural items from the collecting points. Today the legacy of the Monuments Men who worked at the Munich Collecting Point lives on, as the MCP cards are still frequently used in provenance research and restitution cases.

Lt. James Rorimer (kneeling, at left) and Louvre curator Germain Bazin pose in front of Goya’s painting Time, which had been successfully protected during the war at the Château de Sourches in France. Photo Courtesy of NARA.

While tens of thousands of Allied troops were flooding the beaches of Normandy on D-Day (June 6, 1944), the Monuments Men were impatiently waiting to cross the English Channel for their chance to contribute. For Monuments Man James Rorimer, and future director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the gravity of the situation gripped him that day:

“We are told that the invasion of Western Europe by overwhelming forces is underway…Now I am thinking of the combat troops and the task which is theirs. We older men are anxious on the one hand to help deal the death blow to tyranny, and on the other we think of our families at home and the obligations which we have as husbands, fathers, sons, and members of the peace-time community.”
-James Rorimer Letter to his Family, June 6, 1944

While conducting research for my books (The Monuments Men and Rescuing Da Vinci) and reading the hundreds of letters the Monuments Men wrote to their families, one of the first things that struck me was the extent to which the thoughts and feelings conveyed in these letters reflected their age and maturity. The Monuments Men had an average age of 40; a few had even fought in World War I. For the most part, these heroes were not the fearless young men who went to war before their adult lives had really begun. In contrast, these men had accomplished careers, they had wives and children, they had learned lessons from life’s experiences, and they had everything to lose. Rereading their letters always reminds me about their commitment to saving the cultural world and its great artistic treasures we all cherish, and the courage of their convictions in volunteering to serve.

Robert Posey’s wife, Alice, sent him this military cartoon featuring “Private Buck” during the last week of May 1945. The cartoon was no doubt inspired by the huge Nazi repository found at Merkers, Germany, which received a large amount of media attention. It makes me wonder though, did Alice even know yet that Posey had been at Merkers ?! Likely not, considering the strict censorship rules on mail and the weeks of lag time between writing and receiving letters. I imagine Alice simply wanted her husband to know that the American public was paying attention to the daunting task of the Monuments Men.

Since its founding almost 3 years ago the Monuments Men Foundation has been working to encourage museums and collectors alike to comply with best practices guidelines. Simply stated, that means “know your collection” and where the objects were during the reign of the Nazis:  1933-1946.  Many museums, and some collectors, have embraced these guidelines. Some have been slow to catch up. A few continue to ignore the matter.

Belo’s Dallas station, WFAA, an ABC affiliate, broadcast a piece last evening highlighting a recent case we discovered several years ago at SMU’s Meadows Museum in conjunction with research on my first book, Rescuing Da Vinci.  Officials at the Meadows are now aggressively engaged conducting key provenance research on their collection as a whole and the two paintings covered by the story in particular, to their credit.

This case highlights one aspect of the work of the Foundation and the tangible results we continue to obtain while trying to work with important institutions like the Meadows Museum.

You can view the story by clicking on the following link:

http://www.wfaa.com/news/local/Art-Stolen-by-Hitler-Found-at-SMU-Meadows-Museum.html

This month’s Monuments Men Newsletter focuses on the efforts of Dwight D. Eisenhower regarding his victory in Europe and protecting cultural property. We also highlight the role of Germany in this last chapter of World War II. Please click on the link to read the newsletter.

Robert M. Edsel speaking at 65th Anniversary of "V-E Day" hosted by Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum. Photo Courtesy of Robert M. Edsel Collection

This weekend I was honored to be one of two speakers at the Eisenhower Presidential Library in Abilene, Kansas on the occasion of the 65th anniversary of the end of the war in Europe, known as “V-E” Day or Victory in Europe.  The other speaker was Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, who took the opportunity to make a major policy statement about the urgent need for  Defense Department budget cuts citing warnings from General Eisenhower years ago about controlling the costs of post-war military spending.

Secretary of Defense Dr. Robert Gates speaking at the 65th "V-E Day" Anniversary hosted by Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum. Photo Courtesy of Robert M. Edsel Collection.

The campus like setting is beautiful with the museum and library buildings adjacent to Ike’s family home where he lived until leaving home for West Point.  There is a small chapel where Ike and his wife Mamie are buried alongside their son Doud who died at the age of 4.  In fact, one of the most touching moments of the weekend was seeing acclaimed political observer David Gergen make a point of visiting the chapel – the only member of a large media contingent to do so. He understood no doubt the historical importance of this great man and wanted to pay his respects.

From L to R: Robert M. Edsel; Karl Weissenbach, Director of Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum; Allen Cullum, Trustee, Monuments Men Foundation. Photo Courtesy of Robert M. Edsel Collection

Director Karl Weissenbach and his great team organized a fantastic celebration which began with my lecture Friday night. On Saturday he provided our group with a full tour of the archive and museum.  It was an honor to be surrounded by reminders of this great leader’s historic achievements – as a soldier, Supreme Allied Commander, President, and as a family man and friend.  The archives are overwhelmingly impressive with millions of documents involving all facets of Ike’s life and career and more than a half million photographs!  A researcher’s delight awaits.

Robert M. Edsel standing in front a statue of General Dwight D. Eisenhower. Photo Courtesy of Robert M. Edsel Collection.

General Eisenhower’s leadership saved our world from the greatest threat of the 20th century – perhaps ever. To be a part of honoring him and the millions of soldiers who fought to win the peace in Europe was an honor and experience I will forever cherish.

“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”.