The turmoil of World War II brought about problems for the global community to solve. One of those issues was how the Allied Forces would be able to secure the stolen cultural treasures that were trapped in Nazi Germany.
The formation of the Monuments Men revolved around that subject. To present their captivating story, the recently-released film “The Monuments Men” and the exhibit “The Monuments Men and the National Gallery of Art: Behind the History,” which are both available to the public this year, showcase different elements of the Monument Mens’ story.
The Monuments’ Men’s mission began when a society concerned for the preservation of arts approached the U.S. government to retrieve artifacts and paintings from Germany.
“The cultural community worked through the National Gallery of Art to get to the President of the United States and to the military to say, ‘We need to have people in the field, we really need to protect these materials and monuments,’” chief of gallery archives Maygene Daniels said. “The Roberts Commission, an organization at the National Gallery, actually persuaded the war department to have monuments officers.”
The Roberts Commission’s efforts resulted in the deployment of approximately 345 men and women to Nazi Germany with the goal of recovering the stolen art and documents. Though most of the officers had jobs as curators, art historians, educators or other professions relating to the arts before their stint as the Monuments Men, they all became military officers working through the U.S. Department of War.
The film depicting the Monuments Men’s story focuses on Frank Stokes, a fictionalized character loosely based on the art conservation specialist George L. Stout. The film, directed and co-written by George Clooney, is based on the book “The Monuments Men” by Robert Edsel and acts as an entertaining beginning step into the story of the Monuments Men.
“If you watch the film, you’ll get interested [and ask], ‘I mean, what is the true story?’” Daniels said.
The exhibit at the National Gallery of Art presents the more detailed and historically accurate story of the Monuments Men with mementos from their excursion in an artistic context.
“The National Gallery has photographs and documents that recreate what it was like for the Monuments Men,” Daniels said. “It presents an organized overview of what was really going on. It presents the big picture, but also small insight into the real people.”
The specific insight into the Monuments Men’s lives are displayed through personal items from the Monuments Men themselves. One such document is a telegram from a member of the Roberts Commission who sends a telegram to the wife of a Monuments Man who was trying to tell him that he was part of the force. Another piece in the exhibit is a picture of Lt. Lamont Moore, who was a curator of the education depart of the National Gallery of Art prior to becoming a Monuments Man.
“Somebody who is really interested in learning a bit more, a little feeling of what it might have been like at the time, might find it interesting to come,” Daniels said.
“The Monuments Men and the National Gallery of Art: Behind the History” exhibit at the National Gallery of Art will be open to the public until Sept. 1, 2014. On March 16, the Gallery will host the lecture “The Inside Story: The Monuments Men and the National Gallery of Art,” where Maygene Daniels will be one of the speakers.
The film “The Monuments Men” is currently playing in theaters.
