Defending national treasures : French art and heritage under Vichy / Elizabeth Campbell Karlsgodt.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Campbell, Elizabeth, 1970-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Art treasures in war--France--History--20th century.

Art treasures in war.

Art museums--France--History--20th century.

Art museums.

Art and state--France--History--20th century.

Art and state.

World War, 1939-1945--Destruction and pillage--France.

World War, 1939-1945.

World War, 1939-1945--Confiscations and contributions--France.

Cultural property--Protection--France--History--20th century.

Cultural property.

France--History--German occupation, 1940-1945.

France.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (405 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Stanford, Calif. : Stanford University Press, 2011.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Defending National Treasures explores the fate of art and cultural heritage during the Nazi occupation of France. The French cultural patrimony was a crucial locus of power struggles between German and French leaders and among influential figures in each country. Karlsgodt examines the preservation policy that the Vichy regime enacted in an assertion of sovereignty over French art museums, historic monuments, and archeological sites. The limits to this sovereignty are apparent from German appropriations of public statues, Jewish-owned art collections, and key "Germanic" works of art from French museums. A final chapter traces the lasting impact of the French wartime reforms on preservation policy. In Defending National Treasures, Karlsgodt introduces the concept of patrimania to reveal examples of opportunism in art preservation. During the war, French officials sought to acquire coveted artwork from Jewish collections for the Louvre and other museums; in the early postwar years, they established a complicated guardianship over unclaimed art recovered from Germany. A cautionary tale for our own times, Defending National Treasures examines the ethical dimensions of museum acquisitions in the ongoing noble quest to preserve great works of art.

Contents:

Cultural affairs under Vichy

Defending French style and beauty

Exodus

Museums fit for France

Saving historic sites

Archeology and the national revolution

Recycling French heroes : the destruction of bronze statues

Endangered local patrimony : bronze statues in Paris, Chambéry, and Nantes

Jewish art collections

Art as a negotiating tool

The Vichy legacy.

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9780804777827

0804777829

OCLC:

726734868