Woman in Gold: Restituting a Plundered Klimt Masterpiece

Thanks to Gustav Klimt’s Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer, art lovers around the world will instantly recognize Maria Altmann’s beloved aunt and her iconic choker necklace. After the annexation of Austria, Bloch-Bauer’s necklace found its way into the possession of Herman Goering’s wife, while her stunning portrait was plundered by Vienna’s Belvedere Gallery. For years, it was the cornerstone of their collection, but Altmann filed a restitution claim as the last surviving Bloch-Bauer heir that ultimately forced Austria to confront its National Socialist past. Altmann’s dramatic early years in Austria and her protracted legal battle are chronicled in Simon Curtis’s The Woman in Gold (trailer here), which opens this Wednesday in New York.

The Bloch-Bauers were a wealthy, assimilated Jewish Austrian family with a reputation for supporting the arts. This was especially true of Adele Bloch-Bauer, Altmann’s childless aunt. The Bauer sisters had married the Bloch brothers, so the entire family lived together in their elegant Elisabethstrasse home during Adele’s lifetime. Sadly, Adele Bloch-Bauer died tragically prematurely from meningitis in 1925, but she would be spared the horrors that her family would face. She also made quite an impression on young Altmann, which is why her portrait meant more to the niece than its mere one hundred million dollar-plus estimated value.

For years, the Belvedere simply dubbed the painting “The Woman in Gold” to disguise its Jewish provenance, but the world knew it for what it was. Eventually, Austria announced a new restitution process, in hopes of improving its post-Waldheim image, but it was mostly just for show. Altmann and her initially reluctant lawyer Randol Schoenberg (grandson of the composer) make a good faith try to work within the Austrian legal framework, but soon find a more hospitable reception in the U.S. Federal court system. Whether or not Altmann even has standing to sue the Belvedere, an agency of a foreign government, becomes the crux of the litigation dramatized in the film.

Curtis and screenwriter Alexi Kaye Campbell nicely illuminate the various legal technicalities of the case without getting bogged down in excessive detail. Curtis also juggles the 1938 Austrian timeline with the more contemporary legal drama rather adroitly. He was particularly fortunate to find such a convincing younger analog for Dame Helen Mirren in Orphan Black’s Tatiana Maslany, who grew up listening to her German language speaking parents in their Canadian household.

Of course, Dame Helen dominates the film and she is terrific as usual. She projects Altmann’s regal bearing as well as her no-nonsense pragmatism. While Schoenberg’s character is somewhat underwritten in the first two acts, Ryan Reynolds capitalizes on some crucial humanizing moments down the stretch. He gives some bite to what might otherwise been a relatively milquetoast role.

On the other hand, Katie Holmes really has nothing interesting to do as Schoenberg’s wife, Pam—and never elevates the thankless part either. However, Jonathan Pryce absolutely kills it in his too brief scene as Chief Justice William Rehnquist, portraying the jurist as quite a witty and gracious gentleman, which is rather sporting of the film, considering he ruled against Altmann in his dissent.

With Gold, Curtis does justice to a fascinating story with far reaching political and cultural implications. He helms with a sensitive hand, while maintaining a healthy pace. Frankly, it represents a marked improvement over My Week with Marilyn, which always seemed to focus on the blandest actor in any given scene. That never happens in a Dame Helen film. Still, the documentary The Rape of Europa remains the most authoritative and comprehensive cinematic word on the disputed ownership of Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer and the systematic National Socialist looting of Jewish property in general (catch up with it now, if you haven’t already). Highly recommended (in its own right) for general audiences, Woman in Gold opens nationwide this Wednesday (4/1), including the venerable single-screen Paris Theatre in New York.

Art Wars: Portrait of Wally

Rapacious looters, the National Socialists and their collaborating allies scooped up “spoils” almost indiscriminately.  For years, the work of Egon Schiele was considered hardly worth the trouble of plundering.  Times change.  Last year a Schiele cityscape was auctioned for a sum just north of forty million dollars.  Yet, it was a Viennese gallery owner’s emotional attachment to a portrait of the artist’s mistress that fueled her family’s drive to reclaim it.  Their precedent setting legal battle is documented in Andrew Shea’s Portrait of Wally (trailer here), which opens this Friday in New York.

In the case of Schiele, the term “degenerate artist” was not so utterly unfounded.  In fact, he and his mistress Walburga “Wally” Neuzil carried on rather scandalously until he precipitously dropped her.  A portrait of Schiele’s now celebrated model and muse held a special place in the private holdings of his gallerist, Lea Bondi.  Unfortunately, when a well-connected Nazi civilian confiscated her business, he also laid claim to her personal collection, literally pulling paintings off the walls of her home. 

The Bondis successfully immigrated while they still had the chance, but reclaiming their unjustly appropriated property after the war proved to be a Kafkaesque exercise in futility.  Then one day, the late Bondi’s heirs noticed her beloved painting had been loaned to the MoMA as part of a historic Schiele retrospective.  It would become even more historic when the Manhattan DA sided with the Bondis, effectively halting the return of Neuzil’s portrait.  Thus began an epic twelve year legal battle.

There are many fascinating in’s and out’s to this specific case, but it is really part of a far greater story.  To get a fuller sense of the scope and significance of the National Socialist looting campaign, the definitive documentary Rape of Europa should be required viewing.  In contrast, Portrait is less concerned with historical context, instead passing judgment on those it identifies as the villains in this complicated morality tale, most definitely including the venerable MoMA. 

Yes, anyone of good conscience will sympathize with the Bondis and the fact that nobody seriously challenged the facts constituting their claim to ownership is significant.  On the other hand though, it is understandable why the MoMA was a bit reluctant to tell their colleagues at the Leopold Museum they would not be returning the jewel of their collection after all. 

Claims by the MoMA and every other museum in the City, including the Jewish Museum, that this would have a chilling effect on art lending to American institutions were scoffed at in the film and during a special post-screening during this year’s Tribeca Film Festival.  However, it was rather off-handedly admitted that Russian museums no longer loan art to their American counterparts after having lost a similar case.  Granted, Russia is not exactly a beacon of enlightened public policy.  In no way does this mean the Museums were right and the Bondis’ advocates were wrong.  The overall picture is just more complex than Shea and co-writer David D’Arcy choose to paint it.

There is a widespread fascination with intrigue in the world of fine art, even amongst those who rarely set foot in a museum or gallery.  Portrait delivers plenty.  It lucidly explains the twists and turns of the legal case, but its propensity for contemporary partisan finger-pointing dilutes its gravitas.  Consistently interesting nonetheless, Portrait of Wally opens tomorrow (5/11) in New York at the Quad Cinema.

The Rape of Europa and the Heroism of the Monuments Men

The Rape of Europa
Directed by Berge, Newnham, and Cohen
Menemsha Films

They were the best and the brightest of the Greatest Generation. They were a handful of highly educated and cultured American military officers, charged with recovering and protecting Europe’s artistic legacy. It is these so-called Monuments Men who emerge as the true heroes of the outstanding documentary The Rape of Europa (trailer here), available today on DVD.

Largely based on the NBCC Award-winning book by Lynn H. Nicholas, who often appears as an on-screen expert, Europa significantly deepens viewers’ understanding of WWII. Nicholas convincingly argues Hitler and his fellow National Socialists allowed their appetite for prestigious plunder to influence their war plans, persuasively pointing to the shopping lists German art experts drew up prior to each military invasion.

Refreshingly, Europa rejects any suggestion of moral equivalencies. Certainly, the Allies did at times destroy important monuments (which was always exploited by Axis propaganda). It was war, after all. However, Europa makes it crystal clear that great efforts were made by American forces to avoid such collateral damage, with Gen. Eisenhower explicitly ordering his commanders to “respect monuments so far as war allows.” By contrast, the retreating Germans deliberately wrecked destruction on the irreplaceable landmarks of Florence and other cities, simply out of evil spite.

Charged with minimizing the damage to Europe’s architectural treasures and restoring its looted art, but working with little material support, the Monuments Men included officers in their ranks like Lincoln Kirstein (co-founder of the New York City Ballet) and painter Deane Keller. It would be Keller who emerges as first among heroes in Europa, having recovered the treasures of Florence and initiated the restoration of Pisa’s all but destroyed Campo Santo under desperate conditions—an effort which continues to this day.

A clear moral distinction between the Allies is also strongly implied. The Americans had Monuments Men. The Soviets had Trophy Brigades. The Americans returned Nazi loot to the governments of its rightful owners, whereas the Soviets loaded now twice-looted art on trains headed east. Europa also documents the revelation of seventy-four such trophy paintings in the Hermitage, which became a cause célèbre for Russian Communists and ultra-nationalists in the late 1990’s, with the Duma passing a resolution barring the return of these works to the heirs of their rightful owners.

Using the complex controversy surrounding the disputed ownership of Gustav Klimt’s Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer (often referred to as the Gold Portrait) as its touchstone case, directors Berge, Newnham, and Cohen have well-organized a wealth of fascinating material, including some remarkable eye-witness accounts. They are not afraid to broach controversial issues, and address the Holocaust with honesty and sensitivity. When Europa was released theatrically (becoming one of the top five grossing documentaries of the year), I thought it was one of the ten best films of the year. After revisiting it on DVD, my respect and enthusiasm for this documentary remains undiminished. I recommend it strongly to anyone who values the art and culture of Western Civilization.

Another Vermeer

As the architect of the Third Reich’s systematic looting operation, Hermann Goring confiscated many of Europe’s great artistic treasures, but his troops were not discriminating, filling enormous warehouses with art and furniture plundered from Jewish homes and museums (as seen in the documentary The Rape of Europa). He would have been susceptible to a con-artist like Han Van Meegeren offering him a crudely forged Vermeer. At least, that is what Van Meegeren must prove or face far worse punishment as a collaborator in Another Vermeer, Bruce J. Robinson’s new fact-based drama opening at the Abingdon last night.

The real life artist, dealer, and forger Van Meegeren did indeed face charges of collaborating and selling Dutch cultural property to the enemy. To prove his innocence of the more serious charges he must convince the court that he forged Goring’s Vermeer. To do so, he must now forge another Vermeer in his cell, as he hopes evidence of his past Vermeer forgeries will be discovered to buttress his case.

Austin Pendleton, the instantly recognizable character actor whose films includes A Beautiful Mind and Catch-22, plays the drug and absinthe addicted Van Meegeren, as he desperately paints his final work, Jesus Among the Doctors, while confined in his prison cell. As he struggles with his canvas and the reluctant guard assigned as his model, the forger sees visions of Vermeer, his teacher Bartus Korteling, and Dr. Abraham Bredius, his art critic-nemesis. He also labors under the intimidating inspections of Lt. Keller, the American officer assigned to the case.

Vermeer probably spends too much time on the courtship between Van Meegeren and his Dutch guard, and the early appearance of Vermeer is a bit awkward. However, when Van Meegeren spars with Lt. Keller and Dr. Bredius, the play seriously turns up the intensity. Van Meegeren is a small, deeply flawed man. Keller and Bredius, played by Christian Pedersen and Thom Christopher respectively, tower over him. Both are dominating physical presences, particularly in the Abingson’s Dorothy Strelsin Theatre.

Vermeer does not let Van Meegeren simply play the victim. In searing exchanges, the vision of his mentor (played by Dan Cordle) and Lt. Keller devastatingly critique his wasted talents and unfulfilled potential. Perhaps most effective though, is the arrival of Bredius in the flesh. Rather than merely portray him as the stock villainous critic, Robinson actually gives him some interesting points to make, including (perhaps shrewdly) a defense of criticism. All the while, Pendleton is quite compelling as the world-weary forger forced to come to terms with a life of regrets.

Staged in an intimate space as one continuous act, the production nicely conveys a sense of claustrophobia. It offers sharp observations about the nature of art and some strong performances by Pendleton, Christopher, Cordle, and Pedersen. It is an intellectually stimulating play, with a surprisingly honest emotional payoff. It opened Sunday the 6th and plays through the 20th.

Coming Soon: The Rape of Europa

Fine art should be inspiring and ennobling. It should help man relate to his fellow man, and enrich the lives of those who experience it. Yet, whether as objects to be vilified for propaganda purposes, greedily plundered, or spitefully destroyed, the National Socialists were obsessed with works of art. The upcoming documentary, The Rape of Europa (trailer here) details the various Nazis campaigns against art, revealing how truly dangerous the Nazis nihilistic reign of terror was to the survival of Europe’s cultural legacy.

The touchstone work for Europa is Gustav Klimt’s Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer, described in the film as the most recognizable and celebrated Austrian work of art. Looted by the Nazis, it long hung in an Austrian museum before it was finally restored to the Bloch-Bauer heir. The film also makes the salient point that it is widely known in Austria as the Gold Portrait rather than by its given title, which referred to its rightful Jewish owner.

Based in large measure on Lynn H. Nicholas’ NBCC winning book of the same title, Europa lucidly chronicles the National Socialists’ Degenerate Art (Entartete Kunst) exhibit, and other propaganda attacks on modern art. It also describes in detail the scope of their systematic looting Jewish homes and museums, organized at the highest levels, which continued unabated even as the fortunes of war turned against Germany.

Europa does identify some heroes however. First and foremost were the Monument Men, a select group of American officers with elite training in the arts. Given the mission of minimizing the damage to Europe’s architectural treasures and restoring its looted art with little material support, they were remarkably effective. The Monument Men included officers in their ranks like Lincoln Kirstein (co-founder of the New York City Ballet) and painter Deane Keller. It would be Keller who emerges as first among heroes in Europa, having initiated the restoration of Pisa’s all but destroyed Campo Santo under desperate conditions—an effort which continues to this day.

As Europa makes clear, the Soviets also had a similar corps of officers, but tellingly, they were referred to as “trophy” men. One reason many pillaged old masters remain missing is that they were put on trains headed east. The revelation of trophy art in the Hermitage became a cause célèbre for Russian nationalists in the late 1990’s, with the Duma passing a resolution barring the return of these works to the heirs of their rightful owners.

Europa is fascinating and frustratingly topical. It is a very well crafted documentary that has powerful moments, effectively supported by Marco D’Ambrosio’s score recorded by the Prague Philharmonic. To their credit, the filmmakers offer quite a bit of insight, and are not afraid to broach controversial subjects.

Screening Europa makes evident the differences between the values of America and totalitarian regimes like the National Socialists and the Communists (and now it appears, Russian Nationalists). Free societies value art for its own sake, apart from pecuniary and propaganda concerns. Those who share a love of art should see Europa to gain an appreciation for those who protected and restored Europe’s treasures during the continent’s darkest hour. It is an important film that deserves a wide audience. Europa opens in New York September 14th (at the Paris and Angelika).