Thursday 4 April 2019

#HistoricalFiction author, Jennifer S. Alderson, is taking a look at the Restitution of Artwork stolen by the Nazis during World War Two. There is also a chance to check out Jennifer's book — The Lover’s Portrait #Giveaway #Art #WWII @JSAauthor




Historical Fiction author, Jennifer S. Alderson, is taking a look at the Restitution of Artwork stolen by the Nazis during World War Two.



Before moving to the Netherlands, I knew very little about the restitution of artwork stolen by the Nazis during World War Two – a topic that plays a central role in my novel, The Lover’s Portrait: An Art Mystery. Only after I began to study art history in Amsterdam did I understand the complexities involved – for both the claimant and the cultural organization or government tasked with caring for the artwork until the legal owner is found.

The ‘Monuments Men’

As an art history buff, I was quite familiar with stories about the ‘Monuments Men’ discovering crates of paintings stored in castles, salt mines, and abandoned train carriages. This international group of civilian museum curators, art historians, and other cultural specialists were officially part of the ‘Monuments, Fine Arts and Archives Program’ (MFAA), recruited in 1943 by the Allied Forces to track down and recover hundreds of thousands of artistic and cultural treasures stolen from art collectors, cultural institutions, businesses and individuals all over Europe.

MFAA Officer James Rorimer supervises U.S. soldiers recovering looted paintings from Neuschwanstein Castle. 

These precious objects – sculptures, paintings, furniture, religious relics and artifacts – were brought to a series of collection points, where the ‘Monuments Men’ attempted to determine which country their former owners hailed from. In rare cases, documents had been crated up with the artwork which clearly identified its last legal owner. However, the artwork’s destination was most often based on a ‘best guess’ by the plethora of well-educated and well-meaning MFAA experts.

Dutch Artistic Treasures Returned from Germany

But what happened after the artwork was returned to their suspected country of origin – in this case the Netherlands?

Try to imagine it’s October 1945 and you are in Amsterdam, capitol of the Netherlands. Five months earlier, the city was freed from five long years of Nazi occupation. Hundreds of thousands of locals are missing or dead. Many homes are empty shells; anything of value – from furniture to floorboards – has been torn out by desperate looters, leaving rat-infested ruins behind.

The trams haven’t run in four years, not since the Nazis banned public transportation. And even if they were able to, any wood used to hold the rails in place had been torn up and burned for heating and cooking long ago. Oil and gas are non-existent. Food has been rationed for years and most daily household products are simply unavailable. Many government offices have been closed for months, due to a lack of sufficient personnel and the resources to keep the lights on.

And then, from the far reaches of Europe, a plane full of precious artwork and artifacts lands at Schiphol airport on the morning of 8 October 1945. Days later, truckloads of irreplaceable paintings, sculptures, religious icons and relics begin arriving at the Rijksmuseum, delivered into the chaos that was once the lively, well-organized city of Amsterdam.

Despite all the hardships, the Dutch government organized the first exhibition of looted artwork, entitled Dutch Artistic Treasures Returned from Germany, in the spring of 1946, in the hopes of reuniting these pieces with their legal owners. In 1950, the Rijksmuseum organized a second, heavily publicized exhibition of the remaining unclaimed artwork.

The Rijksmuseum visible from the Museumplein.

 
In order to claim their property, claimants had to provide definitive proof of ownership in the form of a title transfer, purchase agreement, or similar document. Considering the exorbitant value of many of these works of art – paintings by Rembrandt, Picasso, Matisse, Van Gogh, Frans Hals, and the like – the Dutch government wasn’t making an unreasonable request.

Thankfully, many claimants had taken their important paperwork with them when they fled the country or went into hiding. They were the lucky ones.

Too many of those attempting to claim their property had literally lost everything during the war. They were sent to concentration camps, their homes stripped clean and sold off, belongings stolen, clothes burned, and loved ones murdered. They had absolutely nothing and no one left. How could they fulfill the government’s seemingly simple requirement?  They could not and their artwork remained in the care of the Dutch government.

Restitution of Stolen Artwork influenced by Swiss Bank Scandal

Fast forward to the year 1995. The world was shocked to discover that several Swiss banks knew they held dormant Jewish WWII bank accounts, yet refused to return the money to the surviving relatives because the claimants couldn’t supply the bank with a death certificate. Those murdered in German concentration camps never received one, leaving the families powerless. Only after the World Jewish Congress took up the case on behalf of several Jewish organizations, did the banks finally agreed to return money owed to the account holders’ relatives.

Suddenly no institution – cultural or otherwise – wanted to risk being stigmatized as profiting from the atrocities of the Second World War.

Archival Research and Digital Collections

Dutch museums and cultural institutions – as most of those across Europe – began actively searching through their collections, earmarking any pieces which might have been stolen from their rightful owners by the Nazis. Teams of researchers began the tedious process of reconstructing the provenance of artworks and objects, often searching through archives and libraries all over Europe to trace the paths these pieces had taken in their lifetimes.

Simultaneously, museums were beginning to digitalize their collections, for the first time allowing the public access to all of their objects, including the majority hidden in their vast depots. Thanks to this influx of new information, heirs were able to hire private investigators or conduct their own research into these digitalized collection databases.

Strangely enough, Adolf Hitler’s policies have aided the restitution process. Because Hitler considered Germans and Dutch citizens to share a common linguistic and cultural heritage, his troops weren’t officially allowed to seize art or cultural objects from Dutch citizens – as they were given free rein to do in other countries. Here they had to ‘purchase’ the artwork – often from owners placed under duress or blackmailed into doing so – and create official purchase contracts for the transactions. The title transfers and purchase agreements created by these Germans became important resources for both Dutch researchers and the heirs of the unclaimed artwork.

In most cases, the art and the rightful owners were reunited and both the museum and family found peace. In exceptional cases, two or more parties submitted seemingly legitimate claims on the same object or collection. These rare stories inspired the plot of my art mystery, The Lover’s Portrait.

These more complex claims are the ones which garner the most media attention. Stories passed down from one generation to the next, fading photographs and old letters with vague references to the painting in question are all brought into play – argued over and re-interpreted by numerous museum personnel, documentation experts, and art historians before judgement is finally reached – always leaving one party certain justice has not been served and vowing to fight the claim to the bitter end. 

The home of Jewish art dealer, Jacques Goudstikker. He died in a tragic accident while fleeing the Netherlands and his prestigious collection was confiscated by the Nazis. The resulting restitution cases made the international news.



Giveaway
Giveaway is now closed.

Jennifer S. Alderson is giving away a cloth bag from the Anne Frank House, a bookmark featuring canal houses in Amsterdam, and a lovely card.



All you need to do is answer this question:


Who is your favourite artist?

Leave your answer in the comments
 at the bottom of this post.

Giveaway Rules

• Leave your answer in the comments at the bottom of this post.
• Giveaway ends at 11:59pm BST on April 16th 2019.
• You must be 18 or older to enter.
• Giveaway is only open to residents of the Internationally.
• Only one entry per household.
• All giveaway entrants agree to be honest and not cheat the systems; any suspect of fraud is decided upon by blog/site owner and the sponsor, and entrants may be disqualified at our discretion.
• Winners will be announced in the comments.
--> • Winners have 48 hours to claim prize or new winner is chosen.


The Lover’s Portrait: An Art Mystery



A portrait holds the key to recovering a cache of looted artwork, secreted away during World War II, in this captivating historical art thriller set in the 1940s and present-day Amsterdam.

When a Dutch art dealer hides the stock from his gallery – rather than turn it over to his Nazi blackmailer – he pays with his life, leaving a treasure trove of modern masterpieces buried somewhere in Amsterdam, presumably lost forever. That is, until American art history student Zelda Richardson sticks her nose in.

After studying for a year in the Netherlands, Zelda scores an internship at the prestigious Amsterdam Museum, where she works on an exhibition of paintings and sculptures once stolen by the Nazis, lying unclaimed in Dutch museum depots almost seventy years later.

When two women claim the same portrait of a young girl entitled Irises, Zelda is tasked with investigating the painting’s history and soon finds evidence that one of the two women must be lying about her past. Before she can figure out which one and why, Zelda learns about the Dutch art dealer’s concealed collection. And that Irises is the key to finding it.

Her discoveries make her a target of someone willing to steal – and even kill – to find the missing paintings. As the list of suspects grows, Zelda realizes she has to track down the lost collection and unmask a killer if she wants to survive.



The Lover’s Portrait is available as audiobook, paperback, eBook:

Amazon • Audible • Barnes & Noble • iTunes.

Read for FREE on


Jennifer S. Alderson

Jennifer S. Alderson was born in San Francisco, raised in Seattle, and currently lives in Amsterdam. Before settling in the Netherlands, she traveled extensively around Asia, Oceania, Australia, and Central America. Her love of travel, art, and culture inspires her award-winning mystery series, the Adventures of Zelda Richardson. Her background in journalism, multimedia development, and art history enriches her novels. When not writing, she can be found in a museum, biking around Amsterdam, or enjoying a coffee along the canal while planning her next research trip.

Connect with Jennifer: WebsiteFacebookGoodreadsTwitter.


References:
rorimer_at_neuschwanstein.jpg : MFAA Officer James Rorimer supervises U.S. soldiers recovering looted paintings from Neuschwanstein Castle (Photo credit: NARA / Public Domain)

The Rijksmuseum visible from the Museumplein.  (Author's photo)

The Lover’s Portrait in Amsterdam. (Author's photo).

The home of Jewish art dealer, Jacques Goudstikker. He died in a tragic accident while fleeing the Netherlands and his prestigious collection was confiscated by the Nazis. The resulting restitution cases made the international news.



52 comments:

  1. What a fascinating article, Jennifer! It's great that art institutions are making efforts to restore artworks stolen during WWII. Your book will be going on my TBR list.

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    1. Thank you! I'm glad to hear the topic and book interest you! It is wonderful to see so many pieces being returned to their rightful owners. Take care and good luck!

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  2. Thanks for sharing my article and giveaway with your readers, Mary Anne!

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  3. this was a very informative post, thank you ... as for my favorite painter (there are 2) the renaissance (for me) has to go to Michelangelo and post modern (again for me) has to go to Pollock (Jackson) ... thanks for the chance at a win

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    1. Thank you for reading it's! Excellent choices - good luck!

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  4. Loved your Article Jennifer, So Happy that the Art Institutions are making efforts to restore artworks that were stolen.

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    1. Thank you!! I'm really happy to hear this. And yes, I agree, it's wonderful to see so many institutions returning work to the rightful owners. I really appreciate your comment - have a great night!

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  5. great article.
    My favorite artist is MichaelAngelo
    Thanks,
    Crystal

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    2. Thanks! Excellent choice - good luck!

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  6. Excellent article. I have learned so much about art restitution through you books and writings. One of my favorite artists is Gauguin. I like his use of color and his simplified, non-naturalistic style.

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    1. Thank you, Pamela! I'm so glad you enjoyed The Lover's Portrait. Gauguin is one of my favorites! His use of color is extraordinary. Good luck!

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  7. I thought this was a really interesting post. I especially liked the work being done to restore and work on the damaged pieces

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    1. Thank you, Felicity! So glad you enjoyed reading the article.

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  8. Fascinating reading. I would love to read your book.

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    1. Thank you so much! If you do read it, I hope you enjoy it.

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  9. wonderful article! thanks for the chance to win! my favorite artist is Vincent Van Gogh

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    1. Thanks for reading, so glad you enjoyed it! Van Gogh is one of my favorites, too. Good luck!

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  11. Nancy Burgess My favorite artist is
    Michael Angelo.

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    1. Gorgeous choice - thanks for entering!

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  12. My favorite artists are 1. Arielle Etheridge,, my 21 year granddaughter who is working on her degree an art program. Her designs and art work have graced my walls for years. Number 2 is a great grandson who has been drawin Portraits and such freehand since he was less than three....he’s 9 now and has illustrated a book one of his teachers wrote... and then there was my brother who died in 1986... ..but was.ready an accomplished artist.....and I am in awe of anyone who can express their art...my claim to fame is reading and loving others arts ...whether it be book, a photo, a song...etc

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    1. That's lovely! You have a talented family and it's wonderful you're so supportive. Thanks so much for entering.

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    2. Renee, you have won the competition. Congratulations. Please send me an email author@maryanneyarde.com to claim your prize.

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    3. Congratulations, Renee Collins!!

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  13. My favorite artist is Michelangelo but my 2 grandchildren are a tie with him to me.

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    1. That is wonderful! You must be proud to have two talented grandchildren. Thanks for entering!

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  14. Vincent Van Gogh is my favorite artist. I especially like Starry Night.

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    1. I love this painting!! It was in an exhibition at the Van Gogh museum last year (I think) and I must have a spent a half hour absorbing the colors and composition. Excellent choice!

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  15. Currently, my favorite artist is my third daughter, Katherine. She majored in landscapes and photography in art school. Now she works as a graphic designer doing the web pages for a jewelry company. I have always loved the Impressionists with their sense of light and movement in the paintings.

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    1. That's fantastic! Wonderful to hear she's still working in the field. I'm with you - the Impressionists use of color, light and movement is incredible. Thanks for entering!

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  16. Great article. Happy to hear stolen pieces of art will be back with their rightful owners.

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    1. Thank you so much for reading! I agree, it's wonderful to see so many pieces being returned.

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  17. I just love Van Gogh's paintings. Both posters and in person. <3

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    1. I agree completely - thanks for entering!

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  18. My favorite artist is Monet. One of my favorite paintings is Irises3.

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    1. Gorgeous! I love his work - thanks for entering!

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  19. awesome giveaway

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  20. Awesome giveaway my favorite artist would be Van gogh

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    1. Hey, thanks! Van Gogh's one of my favorites, as well! Good luck.

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  21. I have always liked Van Gogh, particularly his sunflowers :)

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    1. Excellent choice! They almost look alive and ready to decorate a table. Gorgeous painting - good luck!

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  22. Great article! I like Georgia O'Keefe.

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    1. Thank you! Funny enough, a visit to a Georgia O'Keefe exhibition was my favorite part of a trip to Las Vegas! I didn't know much about her work before then, but was completely mesmerized by her use of color. Excellent choice - good luck!

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  23. I love the art of Michaelangelo. Thank you for the opportunity of winning.

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    1. Wonderful choice! Thanks for entering!

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  24. Jennifer Alderson, this was a very informative article. Thank you for sharing this historical knowledge.

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  25. Thank you! I'm so glad you enjoyed reading it.

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  26. Giveaway is now closed. The winner is Renee Collins. Congratulations. Renne, email me to claim your prize author@maryanneyarde.com

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See you on your next coffee break!
Take Care,
Mary Anne xxx