Adolf Hitler purged art he hated, and he stole art he coveted. The Rape of Europa 1, PBS 2008
Lost art is still being found; battle damage is still being repaired, and stolen masterpieces are still caught up in bitter disputes. ibid.
Art continued to obsess him, and became part of his political agenda. ibid.
Organised looting of Jewish property began on a massive scale. ibid.
Today, the struggle over Adele Bloch-Bauer’s portrait is only one of many such disputes still unresolved. ibid.
Sixty years after the war, a panel of Austrian judges awarded to Maria Altmann and her family the five paintings by Gustav Klimt, including the portrait of her aunt. ibid.
Along with looting, the Nazis unleashed a modern war that destroyed historic European architecture. The Rape of Europa II
The Roberts Commission warned President Roosevelt of a grave problem facing the Allied armies: how to save Europe without further destroying its historic buildings and cultural treasures. ibid.
Rome’s people and ancient monuments were spared. ibid.
Daily, the Monuments Men were rescuing thousands of vulnerable art works. ibid.
Three staggering hordes of stolen art. ibid.
In any society, the artist has a responsibility. His effectiveness is certainly limited and a painter or writer cannot change the world. But they can keep an essential margin of non-conformity alive. Thanks to them the powerful can never affirm that everyone agrees with their acts. That small difference is important. Luis Buñuel
Nothing is original under the sun. Art and Craft: Mark Landis, Sky Arts 2015
I was in the habit of saying I had a sister. ibid.
I just like to copy things. It’s reassuring. ibid.
‘I found 46 museums in 20 States; but more than 100 pieces he’s offered up to these institutions.’ ibid. curator
I live by the code of The Saint ... Such a great show. ibid.
Copying pictures is my gift. ibid.
‘He gave it to the museum for free.’ ibid. rozzer
Germany November 2013: the world is stunned as more than 1,500 lost artworks seized by the Nazis are found safe in a small run-down apartment in Munich. Hunting Hitler’s Stolen Treasure, National Geographic 2014
The story of the Monuments Men – a group of art experts who in the last years of the war set out to solve the greatest art theft in history. ibid.
The return of 5,000,000 objects. ibid.
As many as 200,000 masterpieces remain missing. ibid.
We have been tasked to find and protect buildings, monuments and art. The Monuments Men 2014 starring George Clooney & Matt Damon & Cate Blanchett & Bill Murray & John Goodman & Jean Dujadrin & Bob Balaban & Hugh Bonneville & Sam Hazeldine & Dimitri Leonidas et al, director George Clooney
It’s exactly what we’re fighting for – for our culture and for our way of life ... But if you destroy their achievements and their history then it’s like they never existed. ibid. Clooney to men
There were over five million pieces recovered. ibid.
In 1978-79, Peggy Guggenheim gave what was to become the last interview of her life for Jacqueline B Weld’s biography, Peggy: The Wayward Guggenhiem. Peggy Guggenheim: Art Addict, BBC 2016, opening caption
Interviewer: You’ve often said your greatest achievement was your discovery of Pollock.
Guggenheim: Yeah, I think so.
Interviewer: And your collection?
Guggenheim: That was my second achievement. ibid.
L’Etoile de Mere, 1928 director Man Ray; Vormittagsspuk, director Hans Richter; Emak-Bakia, director Man Ray; Spellbound sets by Salvador Dali. ibid. captions
‘She actually helped artists to leave Europe, to New York, to the United States.’ ibid.
Peggy once gave a lunch for Pollock at the Chelsea Hotel. Pollock as belligerent and got so drunk that he threw up. A guest told Peggy, ‘You should frame the carpet; it could be worth millions someday!’ ibid.
All artists are anarchists to some degree. The Walk 2015 starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt & Charlotte Le Bo & Ben Kingsley & Clement Sibony & James Badge Dale & Cesar Domboy & Ben Schwartz Benedict Samuel & Steve Valentine at el, director Robert Zemeckis
One of the pioneers of the LA performance art scene. The R & B Feeling: The Bob Parks Story, BBC 2016
He cared about art and he genuinely believed in its redemptive power. ibid.
The Vietnam war had reached new levels of brutality. And LA itself was a violent, unhappy place. These new artists were responding to that friction, that upheaval. ibid.
Bob took his performance art to national television. ibid.
One of those words – an idea, a call to arms and a way of thinking. Vic Reeves, Gaga for Dada: The Original Art Rebels, BBC 2016
Dada made an art out of the absurd: mocking politicians, satirizing the media and ridiculing centuries of culture. ibid.
The world has gone gaga for dada. ibid.
Also shaping comedy, music and political protest. ibid.
In Berlin Club Dada would unleashed a fiercely political rage. ibid.
Dada mutated and evolved: Zurich Dada had introduced absurdist nonsense; Berlin Dada had targeted the political established, and New York Dadaists had sent up the art world. Now in Cologne it was all about shock for shock’s sake. ibid.
Christie’s is the world’s largest auction house. At the crossroads of art, taste and money it brings together great works of art, fervent collectors, world-beating prices, and the fine art of the sell. This year this great British brand celebrate its 250th anniversary. Sold! Inside the World’s Biggest Auction House, BBC 2016
Will they stay at the top of their £5-billion-a-year game? ibid.
Anyone can just wander in. ibid.
When James Christie founded his firm, George III was on the throne. ibid.
Ten years ago Christie’s became the first art auctioneers to open up in Dubai. ibid.
Christie’s don’t just wait for buyers they go after them. ibid.
Modigliani $170.4 million; Francis Bacon’s Triptych $148.4 million; Picasso $179.3 million. ibid.
New York: now located at the swanky Rockefeller address. ibid.
Some sellers are so desperate that bargains can be had, but most put a reserve price below which the auctioneer cannot sell, and it becomes a pass. ibid.
They can create an appearance of interest in the room to push up bids and it’s quite legal. ibid.
Twenty years ago Christie’s went beyond the rules fixing commissions with apparent rivals Sotherby’s. ibid.