The Monuments Men and Women Foundation, formerly known as the Monuments Men Foundation for the Preservation of Art, is an American IRS-approved 501(c)(3)not-for-profit organization,[1] which honors the legacy of those who served in the Monuments, Fine Arts, and Archives program during and after World War II,[2][3] more commonly known as the Monuments Men and Women. Today, the foundation continues their mission by recovering Nazi looted artworks, documents, and other cultural objects and returning them to their rightful owners. Raising public awareness is essential to the foundation's mission of "Restitution, Education and Preservation".[4]
It was founded in 2007[5] by Robert M. Edsel, author of Rescuing Da Vinci,[6]The Monuments Men: Allied Heroes, Nazi Thieves and the Greatest Treasure Hunt in History,[7][8]Saving Italy: The Race to Rescue a Nation's Treasures from the Nazis,[9][10] and The Greatest Treasure Hunt in History: the Story of the Monuments Men.[11] The film The Monuments Men, scripted, directed by, and starring George Clooney, is based on Edsel's best-seller and was released in February 2014 and has been shown in over 100 countries.[12] The film was also privately shown at the White House for members of President Barack Obama's administration.[13]
The Monuments Men outside Neuschwanstein Castle, Germany, 1945
The creation of the Monuments Men Foundation was announced by Robert M. Edsel during a ceremony on June 6, 2007, the 63rd anniversary of D-Day, that celebrated Senate and House concurrent resolutions honoring the Monuments Men.[17][18][19]
Robert M. Edsel is the foundation's current chairman of the board. In November 2019, Anna Bottinelli (an alumna of the Courtauld Institute of Art and John Cabot University) was nominated the foundation's new president.[22][23]
In March 2022, the foundation announced the creation of WWII Most Wanted Art™ playing cards,[26][27] featuring 52 works of art that are still missing today—to engage the public in the search and return of these paintings, sculptures, and other cultural objects.
During the course of their research into the whereabouts of lost art, Edsel and the staff of the Monuments Men and Women Foundation discovered four large, leather-bound photograph albums which documented portions of the European art looted by the Nazis.[28][29][30] The albums were in the possession of heirs to an American soldier stationed in the Berchtesgaden area of Germany, in the closing days of World War II.[29]
The albums were created by the staff of the Third Reich's Einsatzstab Reichsleiter Rosenberg (ERR), a special unit that found and confiscated the best material in Nazi-occupied countries, to use for exploitation.[28] In France, the ERR engaged in an extensive and elaborate art looting operation, part of Hitler's much larger premeditated scheme to steal art treasures from conquered nations.[28] The albums were created for Hitler and high-level Nazi officials as a catalogue and, more importantly, to give Hitler a way to choose the art for his art museum, the Führermuseum, which was planned to be built in Austria.[28] A group of these photograph albums was presented to Hitler on his birthday in 1943, to "send a ray of beauty and joy into [his] revered life".[31] ERR staff stated that nearly 100 such volumes were created during the years of their art looting operation.
In November 2007, at a ceremony with Archivist of the United States, Allen Weinstein, Edsel announced the discovery of the first two photograph albums and, separately, donated the albums to the National Archives.[28] Weinstein called the discovery "one of the most significant finds related to Hitler's premeditated theft of art and other cultural treasures to be found since the Nuremberg trials".[32]
The foundation's research confirmed the existence of ERR cards for both paintings. ERR cards were a crucial part of the Nazi cataloguing system of looted works and are evidence that the paintings were indeed taken as part of the Third Reich's systematic looting process.[34] The Nazi ERR code is still visible on the stretcher of Saint Justa, while it appears to have been rubbed off from the same position on the stretcher of Saint Rufina.[34][37] The discovery was covered by the Dallas Morning News and other notable outlets.[38][39][40] Edsel noted that University and museum officials had "publicly acknowledged the correct provenance of these two paintings by Murillo, and more importantly, have now, by recognizing the Nazi theft of the artwork on the museum's website, contemporaneously endorsed the 'best practices' guidelines of both the American Association of Museums (AAM) and the Association of Art Museum Directors (AAMD)."[36][35]
Hitler's Tapestry
On December 16, 2016, the foundation, in conjunction with Dr Nick Mueller and the National World War II Museum, facilitated the return to Germany of a 16th-century Burgundian tapestry, referred to as "Hitler's Tapestry", that once hung in Adolf Hitler's Kehlsteinhaus or Eagle's Nest, in Berchtesgaden, Germany.[41][42]
Edsel first saw the tapestry in the National World War II Museum in New Orleans, where it had been donated by Cathy Hinz, the daughter Lt. Col. Paul Danahy of the 101st Airborne.[43] In collaboration with the museum and Hinz, Edsel and his team established that Danahy had removed the tapestry from the Eagle's Nest and subsequently sent it home as a souvenir where it hung in the family dining room.[44]
Further research by the foundation's team located Konrad Bernheimer, the grandson of the Jewish, Munich-based art dealer who sold the tapestry to Hitler's architect in 1938.[45] Bernheimer told Edsel directly that he believed its sale was not forced as the full price was paid.[44][46] Thomas R. Kline, a Washington D.C.-based attorney who specializes in art restitution, advised the foundation on the case and said multiple factors can go into determining if a sale was forced.[47] Kline suggested that some Jewish gallery owners decided to sell collections for fear the Nazis would inevitably confiscate the works if they refused to sell.[48] Since Bernheimer ultimately made no claim to the tapestry, it was returned to the Bavarian National Museum, the official heir to property once owned by Hitler, Göring, and the Nazi Party.[43][44]
Awards
National Humanities Medal
Edsel with President George W. Bush and four Monuments Men
The Monuments Men and Women Foundation is one of the recipients of the 2007 National Humanities Medals.[49] The award cited it for "sustained efforts to recognize the contributions of the scholar-soldiers of the Second World War".[50] The award was presented by the 43rd president of the United States, George W. Bush.[51][52][53][54]
The Foundation's good work helps commemorate the Monuments Men's efforts to rescue and preserve priceless artworks during World War II.
The foundation worked alongside officials from the United States Mint and their team of artists on the design of the Congressional Gold Medal honouring the Monuments Men Foundation; featuring a quote from General Eisenhower.[16]
Monuments Men and Women Museum Network
The foundation launched the Monuments Men and Women Museum Network in 2021.[60] The international network was created to recognize the pre and postwar contributions of the Monuments Men and Women, who influenced the growth and success of member institutions.[61]
^Edsel, R. M. (2006). Rescuing Da Vinci: Hitler and the Nazis stole Europe's great art, America and her allies recovered it. Laurel. ISBN9780977433490. OCLC884216162.
^Edsel, Robert M. (2014). The monuments men: Allied heroes, Nazi thieves, and the greatest treasure hunt in history. Thorndike Press, a part of Gale, Cengage Learning. ISBN978-1-4104-7122-2. OCLC1054990568.
^Edsel, Robert M. (3 February 2014). Saving Italy: the race to rescue a nation's treasures from the Nazis. W. W. Norton & Company. ISBN978-0-393-34880-4. OCLC875354298.
^Edsel, Robert M. (2013-04-15). "Saving Italy!". RobertEdsel. Archived from the original on June 10, 2023.
.jpg)
