I think this museum director should be censured by the AAM or by the organization of museum directors for his inappropriate remarks.  The Museum of Modern Art in  New York, for example, has posted a list with illustrations of 14 paintings in their collection where the provenance
history is missing between 1933 and 1945.  In itself, this would seem to be an enlightened way to approach the problem of identifying art looted by the Nazis especially in light of MOMA's own initial reluctance to cooperate with the courts regarding the ownership of an Egon Schiele
work that had been on loan from Europe (I believe that matter was resolved in favor of the family of the original owners?)
Jane Necol
York College, CUNY

Cheryl Maslin wrote:

> Dear Museum-L readers,
>
> In Roger Smith’s latest Globalmuseum memo from January 6, is an article
> regarding comments made by a gallery director in regard to the
> repatriation of works plundered by the Nazis.  The comments would seem
> that of an apologist and should be read very carefully.  If you are not
> able to link directly to this article from Globalmuseum, it can be
> located at the following website:
>
> http://www.nationalpost.com/home/story.html?f=/stories/20010104/425404.html
>
> I would also encourage readers to respond online to my letter with more
> recommendations to solving this problem and perhaps even to the board of
> the gallery in question as the comments made by this director are
> grossly improper given the circumstances involved.
>
> The issues that are to be addressed, though not exclusively, are as
> follows:
>
> 1.  The first sentence and comment by this director: “ ‘The Nazis may
> have unwittingly ‘served the greater good of mankind’ by stealing art
> from Jews and protecting it from the ravages of war,’ says the director
> of a prestigious Canadian gallery.”
>
> It would seem obvious by now that the Nazis instigated the bombings and
> the war at the start when first Hitler directed his mobs to attack
> people of Jewish heritage, both physically and economically, and then
> followed with a succession of invasions and ethnic cleansings of
> neighboring countries.
>
> 2.  The second paragraph: “Ian Lumsden, executive director of the
> Beaverbrook Art Gallery in Fredericton, says ‘it's not the worst thing
> in the world’ that some art works stolen from European Jews
> have ended up in galleries and museums around the world. “ ‘I don't
> really believe that people have right to ownership of a major work of
> art.’ “
>
> I have taken art history courses in the past few years that have
> concentrated on white women and people of color because these
> populations are systematically excluded from discussion in mainstream
> text books and of university coursework.  I would have to say that what
> this director considers a “major work of art” is limited to a minority
> of white men proclaimed great by another minority of white men.  His
> limited perspective on who makes a “great work of art” is seriously
> flawed, is not unlike what Hitler deemed great in his ideal world of the
> “master race”.  There is still much work to be done regardless of the
> advances of studies of women and people of color otherwise, and there is
> still much work yet to be done to improve the equity of tenured women
> and men of color in tenured art history professorships and as directors
> of major museums.  Perhaps then, “major works of art” will be far more
> comprehensive.
>
> 3.  His remarks seem to be made in a response to his gallery’s lack of
> funding for research.  Recently, a move has been issued to American
> museums at least, that all works within certain criteria, particularly
> those works made before WWII and acquired after, be made public on
> websites so that others, particularly those families who have lost their
> possessions and their heirs may do their own research.  It is certainly
> the responsibility of the director to understand the importance of
> supporting the collections managers and curators who maintain the
> information of the works in their collections so that this information
> is easily at hand for all members of their audiences as an aid for their
> own research.  It is, afterall, the existence of the collections, that
> is the root of the existence of the museum itself.
>
> For his final comment in number 2., that people have no right to
> ownership of any work of art is not only dehumanizing to individuals
> that make the works and those who support the artists by purchasing the
> works to make their own living spaces more enjoyable, it goes against
> common sense.  The simple fact of the matter is museums cannot and
> should not hold every major work.  If indeed his gallery has so little
> funding to even research what is held there, they certainly have no
> space or money to hold every work made, let alone care for it while in
> storage.
>
> 4.  The director in question further avoids the issue at hand when he
> introduces the plight of First Nations and the wrongful removal of their
> personal property.  He is correct that, ideally, the property of the
> ancestors of First Nations be returned to them.  But he also fails to
> mention the reality of the contamination of these objects by the
> original “collectors” of these objects with mercury and other poisons
> that makes the handling and the return of the objects even more
> dangerous to the plaintiffs, and that the cost of decontamination is
> substantially more than that of the research required to located WWII
> looted works.  This is just one more major problem all nations will have
> to deal with and are taking the first steps to acknowledging all the
> issues involved, but not at the cost of excluding others problems of
> equal importance.  Theft is still theft.
>
> 5.  His comments that the works plundered are “ ‘not important pieces of
> Judaica, they don’t say anything specifically about the Jewish
> people...’ “, does not justify the violence committed by the Nazis, nor
> does it justify the works not being returned to the rightful owners or
> their heirs.
>
> In fact, what this director does not see as part of Judaica is far more
> telling than what is- that the Jewish people, who purchased and owned
> works of art by Jews and non-Jews alike, especially in the early part of
> this century, had a far higher level of intelligence and compassion, as
> well as acceptance and understanding of different perspectives other
> than their own.  Based upon the history books and any number of pending
> and successful lawsuits by Jewish families of late, it would seem that
> many of these works were bought directly from the artist (thus
> supporting these artists so they may create more works) or were held in
> families’ possesions for many generations.  Given the well-known turmoil
> of European governments and recent research on great artists, such as
> Vincent Van Gogh, it is not surprising to find that numerous works by
> these artists were destroyed by non-Jews because of their lack of
> education.   My, what we could have had if it weren’t for this
> ignorance...
>
> For that matter, if it had not been for the Nazis, many of these
> families with their possesions and economy intact might very well have
> given many of these works even, as as a complete collection, to museums
> or have established their own museums, adding to the wealth of culture
> we have already.  The provenances would have been unblemished and we
> would not have had this problem in the first place.
>
> 6.  The director’s final comments seem to confirm the apoligistic
> attitude and that he is not fit to lead an institution of high culture.
> Since we know “what war is about”, we have a responsibility of stopping
> war altogether.  At the Western Museum Association conference in
> Sacramento, California, 1999, human rights activist, Dolores Huerta
> spoke at one of the keynote sessions.  She said, “that without libraries
> and museums, there is no civilization.”  But what should also be noted
> is that no civilization can last if it is dependent upon war and its
> spoils.  It taints the knowledge base and it dehumanizes us all for
> future generations.  We have a tremendous responsibility to correct what
> we can and prevent such occurences from happening again.
>
> Your responses are desired and welcomed.
>
> Cheryl Maslin
>
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