I had hoped to resume blog entries September 1st, however the nature of writing a book often times resembles a bear going into hibernation. The last few weeks have been intensive periods of creativity as I close in on the final section of my new book on the Monuments Men. When researching and writing, there is simply no way to forge ahead without shutting out the world and focusing on completing that next page of text. It is an exciting process but mentally and physically exhausting, especially trying to balance the multitude of other projects we have underway. Sorry for the delay, but I am back!

The highlight of my summer was time spent with my son, Diego, who was embarked upon a new chapter in his life attending school in Miami, Florida. I also had the opportunity to do a little work around my house which has been neglected as a result of my focus on our Monuments Men projects. I even spent a little time doing nothing more important than feeding the swans the meander up and down the creek in front of my home.

I hope your summer was enjoyable and I look forward to sharing with you in the weeks ahead the exciting developments underway and providing reports from the long list of cities that I will be traveling to this fall for lectures about the Monuments Men.

Sherman Lee

1918 - 2008

A renowned expert on Asian art, Sherman Lee served as a Lieutenant in the Naval reserve from 1944 until 1946, when he began working as an advisor to the MFAA in Tokyo. Unlike in Europe, the Monuments Men were not sent to Japan until after hostilities ended in 1945, and even then there were only a handful of Monuments Men and several Japanese assistants and colleagues charged with inspecting cultural property across Japan. Their mission was to inventory all Japanese art and monuments, including buildings, gardens, and national parks, to evaluate war damage, and also to promote exhibitions of Japanese art and living artists. Through Lee’s negotiations with the Japanese government, the collection of the Shosoin Imperial Repository in Nara was exhibited publicly in 1947 for the first time in history.

Lee used the experience of working as a Monuments Man in Japan to further his career as well, "I took every opportunity to avail myself of the chance, and such knowledge as I now possess I owe to our Japanese representatives in the field." In recognition of his service, the Japanese Government awarded Lee the Order of the North Star and the Order of the Sacred Treasure. He also received the Legion of Honor.

(photograph by Yousuf Karsh)

Prior to his military service, Sherman received both his Bachelors and Masters of Arts from American University, and his Doctorate degree from Case Western University in 1941. He became Curator of Far Eastern Art at the Detroit Institute of Arts in 1941. From 1948 until 1952 he taught at the University of Washington and also was Associate Director at the Seattle Art Museum. In 1952, Lee began his long career as Chief Curator of Oriental Art, Assistant Director, and Associate Director, becoming Director in 1958. As director, he greatly expanded all areas of the museum’s collection, and highlighted the role of educational programs, adding an education wing in 1971. Lee retired from the Cleveland Museum in 1983 and began teaching as an adjunct professor of art history at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. The Ruth and Sherman Lee Institute for Japanese Art was founded in his honor at the Clark Center near Fresno, California.

(Visiting with Sherman Lee in 2006. Robert M. Edsel Collection)

Sherman Lee is survived by his wife, Ruth, daughter Katherine Lee Reid, former director of the Cleveland Museum of Art, Elizabeth Lee Chiego and her husband Bill, Director of the McNay Art Museum in San Antonio, and Margaret Gray Bachenheimer, and one son, Thomas Weaver Lee.

(Lieutenant Charles Parkhurst, 1913-2008)

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.)

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.

(Monuments Men (from left to right): Bernard Taper, James Reeds, Harry Ettlinger, and Horace Apgar)

One year ago I had a sleepless night at the business center of a really crummy hotel in Washington, D.C. Through the wee hours of the morning I drafted and redrafted the speech I would deliver later that day — the 63rd Anniversary of the D-Day landings - -at the Senate Ceremony to recognize and honor the Monuments Men of all 13 nations.

Events of June 6th, 2007 unfolded in the most dignified manner befitting the contribution of these men and women during World War ll. That this would be the last trip taken by my father before his death earlier this year was something I sensed might happen. So his presence, in particular the visit on June 5th with the Monuments Men and their spouses to the World War ll Memorial, made this the experience of my life.

How did we pull it off? Angels, pure and simple. Congresswoman Kay Granger and her staff invested countless hours helping us. We will always hold her special for she was the first person to ask, "how can I help?". Others followed, Senators, members of Congress, staffers, organizers, and others whose help made our plans a reality. But behind the scenes, two people stand alone without whom we would not have succeeded.

(Karen Evans)

Christy Fox and Karen Evans love these men. Every waking hour has been spent helping me do my job, helping me garner the recognition they deserve. I, alone, have received the media attention, but their toil in the trenches has enabled us to experience the success attendant to this project. Karen spent a week in Washington preparing to receive the Monuments Men and their families while looking over my parents and all the details of the lunches and private dinners we hosted. Not a detail was overlooked. Such has been her dedication to these men and one woman these past 4 years, day in and day out. She regularly speaks with them, offers words of encouragement when illness strikes, finds little ways to show them the respect and love she feels for who they are and what they did. No amount of recognition would be too great for her endless dedication to them.

(Christy Fox)

Christy Fox once commented about my respect for elderly people. I can’t recall a more rewarding compliment. But it is Christy who sets the example. The depth of her respect and love for these men is immeasurable. She helped me carry 100 copies of my book, 6 at a time, each of which weigh 4.6 pounds, into the Senate buildings which took us three full days. We personally delivered each one to a Senator and explained who the Monument Men were and why they were important as part of our effort to gain support for the Senate Resolution. Her credibility with the media allowed her to obtain coverage few organizations of any size could ever obtain. Her pitch was genuine, well prepared, and timely in every instance. She hates the limelight as does Karen, yet without her the events of a year ago wouldn’t have happened.

It is wise to remember our achievements and the hard work that went into making aspirations realities. But it is essential that we also recognize two people whose dedication and sacrifice produced the results that followed. In honoring these heroes they did themselves honor. On behalf of the Monuments Men, we salute you both!!!

(Congratulating the Monuments Men of all 13 nations at the Senate Ceremony on June 6, 2007)

Yesterday I addressed an audience of about 150 people as part of a symposium entitled "Protecting the Past: the Fate of Cultural Property in Times of Armed Conflict". It was befitting that this event was held at the headquarters of the National Trust for the Historic Preservation. In addition to the important role that organization plays in the preservation of our nation’s cultural history, the building was once an elegant apartment for Andrew Mellon, in my view our nation’s most benevolent patron of the arts.

It was a great honor to join my friend Lynn Nicholas and other speakers who included András J. Riedlmayer, Bibliographer in Aga Khan Program for Islamic Architecture in Harvard’s Fine Arts Library, who discussed the destruction of cultural property during the Balkan Wars of the 1990’s, Hays Parks, U.S. Department of Defense, and a decorated Veteran himself, who made an excellent presentation on the 1954 Hague Convention, Corine Wegener, President, U.S. Committee of the Blue Shield, who served in Iraq in the aftermath of the looting of the National Museum and is herself a modern day "Monuments Man", John Russell, Professor, Massachusetts College of Art, who also served in Iraq as an advisor to the Iraqi Ministry of Culture, and Richard Jackson, a retired Army Colonel who is now the Special Assistant to the Judge Advocate General for Law of War Matters.

This great group of experts, brought together by The Lawyer’s Committee for Cultural Heritage Preservation, Andrews and Kurth law firm, and the George Washington University Museum Studies Program, put on a heck of a show. I took 18 pages of notes and learned much more detail about the pervasiveness of this problem in past and present conflicts. It was sad in so many ways to see how painfully expensive the cost to our nation and civilization as a whole for not heeding the lessons learned by the Monuments Men during World War II However, I remain hopeful because of the people I met who are deeply committed to seeing improvements in our performance as a nation and as a member of the global community in this vitally important area.

A copy of my remarks follows:

(Lynn Nicholas, Thomas Kline, and me)

THE MONUMENTS MEN: HEROES OF CIVILIZATION

Let it be said that the telling of history is a never-ending relay race run at inconsistent intervals. Each historian advances our knowledge of a particular subject. Someday, others follow and, building on that body of work, further the research and provide new insights and understanding. For those of us working in this arena of cultural property, we will always owe a debt of gratitude to Lynn Nicholas for her extraordinary achievement in researching and writing “The Rape of Europa."

President John F. Kennedy once said, “A nation reveals itself not only by the men it produces, but the men it honors, the men it remembers.” We as a nation have done a very poor job honoring the accomplishments of the Monuments Men and women, and even worse when it comes to preserving and utilizing their rich legacy In these last few years our country has paid a horrible price. The wisdom of the ages tells us that those who ignore history are destined to relive it. Events in Iraq in April 2003 made sad proof of this timeless truth. How different it might have been!

Within weeks of the Japanese surprise attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7th, 1941, key American museum personnel, scholars, and other respected officials in the cultural world set in motion actions that within less than two years resulted in the creation of the American Commission for the Protection and Salvage of Artistic and Historic Monuments in War Areas, known as the “Roberts Commission”. Under their aegis a section was created known as the Monuments, Fine Art, and Archives, or MFAA. These “Monuments Men”, initially a part of the Civil Affairs Division, were later attached directly to the various individual Allied Armies in the field of battle.

This small group of museum directors, curators, art historians and educators volunteered for service to protect cultural monuments and works of art, and assist with temporary repairs when possible. With no more than a dozen or so men working in Italy, and another dozen in France by D-Day plus 30, their task was seemingly impossible. Hitchhiking was a common mode of transport as they had almost no vehicles. The resources available to them to do their job were pitiful. So much of what they accomplished occurred as a result of personal initiative and ingenuity.

As the war progressed and the full scope of Hitler and the Nazi’s greatest theft in history became known, the Monuments Men’s attention shifted to locating and rescuing tens of thousands of the most treasured works of art including paintings by Rembrandt, Vermeer, and Leonardo da Vinci, and sculpture by Donatello and Michelangelo to name but a few. In the closing months of the war these Monuments Men, by that time numbering no more than 50 or so American and British officers and soldiers, located in more than 1500 hiding places—salt and copper mines, castles, and other structures above and below ground—paintings, sculpture, church bells, Torah scrolls and other religious artifacts, stained glass, the great libraries of Europe, the entire contents of the Reichsbank including gold worth in today’s dollars about $5 billion, and even the trolley cars from the city of Amsterdam. It was the greatest treasure hunt in history, a hunt that continues to this day.

At war’s end, when most of the western Allied Forces were being demobilized and sent home, the Monuments Men’s work had just begun.Collecting Points were created almost overnight to house the hundreds of thousands of cultural items and art treasures being located and removed from repositories throughout Germany and northern Austria. The Monuments Men needed everything: research assistants, photographers, typists, packers and shippers to name just a few of their personnel needs. Within a few months their ranks rose to a total number of about 350 or so men and women from 13 nations of which about 70 percent were American. Restitutions began almost immediately. Paintings and sculpture belonging to the great museums of Florence made a triumphant entry into Piazza Signoria in July 1945. In northern Europe, returns initially focused on the iconic works of art stolen from the key Allied countries. The great Ghent Alterpiece was first, followed by the Bruges Madonna and then token restitutions of select paintings to France and the Netherlands. The restitutions that followed took years and in fact, occupied a few of the Monuments Men and women until 1951 when the final Collecting Point was closed. By that time, more than 5 million cultural items had been returned to the countries from which they had been stolen.

The actions of the Monuments Men were without precedent. It was the first time an army attempted to fight a war while mitigating damage to cultural treasures.Historic orders were issued on numerous occasions by the Supreme Allied Commander, General Eisenhower, stating that “We are bound to respect those monuments so far as war allows.” At the end of the war, the policy of the Western Allied nations was clearly announced to the world: to the victors do NOT belong the spoils of war. That which was stolen was ordered returned.

More orders were issued:General Bradley stated, “we are a conquering army, but we are not a pillaging army”. The statements of these leaders during World War II stand in stark contrast to comments we heard from the Secretary of Defense in the aftermath of the looting of the National Museum of Iraq:“Freedom’s untidy, and free people are free to make mistakes and commit crimes and do bad things…stuff happens.”

And lest you think all the attention of the Monuments Men was focused on Europe, consider that Monuments officer Langdon Warner, one of the world’s leading authorities on Asian art and a noted archaeologist, pleaded with the War Department to avoid bombing the key Japanese cities of Kyoto and Nara in the closing days of the war. He successfully made the case that destruction of these cultural centers would forever impair Japan from rebuilding. Today, in both cities, there stand shrines built by the citizens of those cities honoring Langdon Warner for his actions.

Several years ago an archeologist was interviewed about how Iraq’s treasures could have been better protected. In response to a suggestion from the reporter that perhaps such noted scholars could assist in the field, the archeologist demurred and said, “it is too dangerous; someone could be killed.” And during the fighting in World War II, two Monuments Men were killed: Major Ronald Balfour, a British officer who in civilian life was a noted Cambridge scholar; and Captain Walter Huchthausen, an accomplished American architect. Dangerous indeed. When asked ‘is art worth a life’, one of our 12 living Monuments Men, Lt. Bernie Taper, had the following to say:

In late 1945, in an act of ambition or ignorance, official word came from the United States ordering the removal from one of the Collecting Points in Germany to the National Gallery in Washington of 202 irreplaceable works of art formerly in the Kaiser-Friedrich Museum in Berlin on the grounds that the Monuments Men were not able to properly and safely protect these works of art. An outcry erupted. Perhaps the most eloquent words ever written on the subject of art looting and restitution were penned by a group of Monuments officers who then took the unprecedented step of signing this document under threat of court-martial and subsequently submitting it to their superior officer.

“no historical grievance will rankle so long, or be the cause of so much justified bitterness, as the removal, for any reason, of a part of the heritage of any nation, even if that heritage may be interpreted as a prize of war. And though this removal may be done with every intention of altruism, we are none the less convinced that it is our duty, individually and collectively, to protest against it, and that though our obligations are to the nation to which we owe allegiance, there are yet further obligations to common justice, decency and the establishment of the power of right, not of expediency or might, among civilized nations.”

Monuments Officer Captain Edith Standen would later write, “it is not enough to be virtuous, we must also appear so.” In time, all 202 works of art were returned to Germany.

I could extol the virtues of these brave men and women endlessly, and I fully intend to do so. Every time we walk into a museum, a church or library in Western Europe, we enjoy a timeless part of who we are as a civilization because of the sacrifices they made 63 years ago. They wrote the book on the protection of cultural property during armed conflict. They placed their lives and their careers at risk to stand on the principle that the cultural treasures of others should be protected and returned. They left us a legacy so replete with life affirming examples there can only be one action required of us: to find the courage to act.

Emanuel Leutze (American: 1816 - 1868), Washington Crossing the Delaware, 1851. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gift of John Stewart Kennedy, 1897 (97.34). Photograph © 1992 The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

The National Endowment for the Humanities
Cordially Invites You to Join

The Honorable Bruce Cole
Chairman, National Endowment for the Humanities

Robert M. Edsel
President, Monuments Men Foundation

Loriene Roy
President, American Library Association

Daniel Schneider
Acting Assistant Secretary for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
and

at
Nasher Sculpture Center
for an event focused on

Picturing America provides an innovative way for citizens of all
ages to explore the history and character of America
through some of our nation’s greatest works of art.

Wednesday, April 16, 2008 at 1:30 pm
In Nasher Hall ◦ 2001 Flora Street, Dallas, TX 75201 ◦ Reception to follow.

The National Endowment for the Humanities wishes to thank the following:

Mr. and Mrs. Robert H. Smith

National Trust for the Humanities

(William F. Buckley)

As a boy I remember watching on television this sometimes funny looking man, slumped in his chair with a cheap looking clipboard precariously balanced on his crossed legs, eyebrows arching as he spoke with a distinct but somewhat unidentifiable accent using words of which about every 5th one I’d never heard. I was curious; I watched. The program was "Firing Line".

Over the years I returned often to witness the parade of luminaries engage in the most intelligent conversation I had heard. The show was thought provoking, with frequent formal debates on complicated subjects by people so articulate and gifted in the persuasion of argument that it always left me questioning the position I held at the onset of the program. My horizons and views were broadened. I remember several occasions I ordered transcripts of the show just to reread what had been said.

"Firing Line" was but one of the creative contributions of this great man. In his lifetime he wrote at least 50 books — imagine! He also authored some 5,600 newspaper columns. The New York Times reported that his collected papers, donated to Yale, weighed some seven tons! Of course, Buckley will always be best known as the father of the conservative movement, but I rather think of him as a passionate thinker and speaker who brought invaluable visibility to people and subjects which deserved more time and attention of the public. For me, agreeing or disagreeing with his politics was secondary to the value of an intelligent debate about serious subjects.

I was both surprised and flattered to receive several wonderful and complimentary notes from "Bill" shortly after my book, Rescuing Da Vinci, was published. We exchanged several messages and one of those exchanges led us to the discovery of the son of a Monuments Man, Hellmut Lehmann-Haupt. This resulted in another exchange or two. That someone as educated and worldly as Bill Buckley didn’t know about the Monuments Men merely affirmed my conviction of the open field before us to tell their story.

William F. Buckley was a voice we as a society need. As mentioned, his views were secondary to stirring lively and reasonable debate on subjects of lasting importance. He was a far cry from the hollow radio and talk show chatterboxes who inundate the airwaves with vitriol and oftentimes venom which bar, not underwrite, the sharing of differing views. He will be sorely missed.

We’re all busy….fast paced lives, burning candles on both ends, too often focused on "stuff" that consumes time but really doesn’t amount to much. I know….I’m guilty of it too. The clock doesn’t care however: time well spent- - or wasted — it matters not. Life speeds by too quickly.

I think back to my languorous days in Florence, filled with gardening, the study of art, and a life that moved much more slowly. Many days, I miss that tranquility. But I see now how that period was a rebirth for me, a chance to charge my batteries, prepare for this new challenge I have undertaken, to grow with a much deeper sense of appreciation for many things I previously took for granted. My reflection on those days is done not out of longing as much as gratitude.

Three events in the last 24 hours have brought painful focus to the speed at which life passes as I received news about a dear friend, a man not much older than me, who had a heart attack; almost forgot that yesterday would have been my father’s 82nd birthday despite having written it on my calendar shortly after he died as a double reminder; and news this morning of another Monuments Man, gravely ill, who will soon leave us. I feel sadness, frustration, a little overwhelmed at times on how to process all these events.

We are in a race against time on this remarkable project to be sure. Finding the witnesses much less participants while they are still with us is by nature an urgent undertaking. But we all face this race against time in our own lives, a race to make use of each precious moment.

Last night, as I lay in bed thinking about my life since those relaxing days in Florence, I realized that the more a person loves what they do with their time, in particular if it involves a great project or adventure, the more that love masks time speeding by even quicker. That’s the trade-off. The richness of life comes at a price — but I wouldn’t trade it.

This Saturday, February 2nd, my interview with world traveler par excellence, Rick Steves, will air on radio stations across the nation. (To find the station in your area and time of the broadcast, please click on the following link: www.ricksteves.com/radio). In Dallas, the program will air at 2pm on KERA-FM 90.1.

(Rick Steves)

Rick, born and raised in Edmonds, Washington, has built a remarkable business centered around his love of travel and particular fondness for Europe. For that reason, it wasn’t surprising that the story of the Monuments Men would have particular appeal to him. Rick has visited on multiple occasions most of the museums and important monuments which are mentioned in my book, Rescuing da Vinci. What fascinated me was Rick’s excitement about this remarkable period of history because, like so many others including me, he had never known the story despite having visited the places in which the events unfolded. That’s just one of the reasons this story continues to grip people from all walks of life. Just when you thought you knew every major story of World War II, here comes one of epic proportion.

One story I discussed during the interview concerned the post-war use of paintings, by artists such as Caneleto and Bernardo Bellotto, as reference material for the reconstruction of many of the devastated eastern European cities. Bellotto was known for his meticulous attention to detail in his paintings of cities such as Dresden and Warsaw. Because of the effectiveness of the Nazis’ scorched earth policy, many of these cities’ building records and architectural plans were destroyed thereby denying those who survived the war the ability to use them in the rebuilding process.

Case in point: Noted below are photographs of one of Bellotto’s paintings of the Church of the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament as it appeared in 1778, what the church looked like after the war, and how it appears today. This situation was repeated over and over in war-torn Europe. It is another example of why art matters today, why these timeless cultural treasures are still essential to the way we live hundreds of years later. It also punctuates the importance of the role of these remarkable men and women during World War II, known as the Monuments Men. For those of you visiting my blog for the first time, I encourage you to read other blog entries and to visit the book’s website, www.rescuingdavinci.com, where you can find other exciting stories about the Monuments Men. Better yet, buy the book and see for yourself!!! It is a perfect source of travel ideas for future trips to Europe.

We also have created an organization, known as the Monuments Men Foundation for the Preservation of Art (www.monumentsmenfoundation.org) which contains information on the men and women of this great group and informs the public how they can help us locate all of them and put their remarkable legacy to its best use. I encourage you to visit the website and learn more about the Monuments Men!

Rick, and his talented producer, Tim Tattan, made this interview one of the most interesting of the many I have done. I appreciate and enjoy speaking with others who share the passion of art, travel, and this amazing world in which we all are fortunate to live. Please tune in…and enjoy the show!!

The vicissitudes of life are beyond description sometimes. As we were preparing to head home for some rest after an emotionally wrenching week, I received a call from our contact at CBS who was letting me know that the segment on the Monuments Men and my work with them will air THIS SUNDAY, JANUARY 27. Click here to view the show times in your area. If you live in Dallas or the central time zone, the program begins at 8am. As Dickens wrote, “…these are the best of times, these are the worst of times…”

It’s been so cold in Dallas this week it’s hard to recall how warm it felt when the CBS crew visited Dallas on one of several shoots to conduct part of the interview, but it was indeed a beautiful day. This great program is one of the few left that has the luxury of dedicated time for in-depth reporting of stories. It is not surprising then that many of their staff also have worked at or do work at CBS’ other award-winning program, 60 Minutes. They were a joy to work with and their enthusiasm for the story readily apparent. I hope you will have an opportunity to tune in and see the show.