Monday, March 3, 2014

The Monuments Men Book Inspires The Movie

By Krystal Branch


The newly released film about brave men and women going behind enemy lines to protect western cultural treasures from the Nazis during World War II was inspired by the Monuments Men book by Robert Edsel. This Texan author and art lover has become dedicated to continuing the effort to restore valuable objects to their rightful owners. The book came out in 2009 and became a best seller. Edsel has written a sequel, Saving Italy, which continues the saga of the search.

Robert Edsel has dedicated his personal fortune and his time in recent years to bringing attention to the World War II effort to return looted art to its rightful owners. He has produced a documentary, written a best-seller and its sequel, and founded a non-profit organization to educate and engage the public. It's a fact that many stolen treasures are still missing, and that others are still being discovered and returned.

The book is the story of a group of art historians, museum curators, architects, and soldiers who made up a force sanctioned by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Well-known actors represent the World War I veteran, the ballet director, the art conservation expert, and the other scholars who left their families and risked the dangers of combat to preserve western culture.

Two of the real-life members of the force died in this attempt, which succeeded in recovering over 5 million cultural objects. Although the mission was begun in 1943 to try to protect historic architecture from aerial bombing, the unit quickly began to track down stolen paintings, sculptures, and other treasures. The War was still going on, and there was real risk involved with this mission.

Recent news shows the relevance of this subject today. In a Munich apartment, officials discovered more than 1400 valuable works of art which may be on lists of stolen objects. The German recluse who hoarded these treasures is the son of an art dealer commissioned by the Nazis to sell art deemed 'degenerate' by Hitler. He is asking for the return of the objects seized recently, claiming they are his by inheritance.

Edsel himself made an exciting discovery, finding two missing masterpieces in a Dallas museum. However, although the paintings were once seized from the Rothschild family, they may have been returned and later sold. The documentation of transfer has not yet been found, so rightful ownership is unclear.

The Foundation continues to locate missing objects, some of which may have come to America with servicemen who looked at them as souvenirs. Recently two books, over 400 years old, were returned by the veteran who had brought them home. Edsel hopes that more people will examine the contents of their homes now that the subject has been dramatized by a major Hollywood film.

The book inspired the movie, which is a light-hearted look at this true story of heroism and sacrifice. However, for more in-depth information, get the book and its sequel and check out the website for the Monuments Men Foundation. You might want to look at the photos of still-missing masterpieces, too, in case you have the Van Gogh or the Raphael on your wall.




About the Author:



No comments:

Post a Comment