{"id":2109,"date":"2014-06-19T06:27:29","date_gmt":"2014-06-19T10:27:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/vweisfeld.com\/?p=2109"},"modified":"2015-01-04T07:39:59","modified_gmt":"2015-01-04T12:39:59","slug":"pictures-at-an-exhibition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vweisfeld.com\/?p=2109","title":{"rendered":"*****Pictures at an Exhibition"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Sara<\/a>By Sara Houghteling \u2013 \u201cA thriller, a travelogue, and a mystery,\u201d said the Minneapolis Star-Tribune<\/em> about this 2009 novel<\/a>, the story of Max Berenzon, son of a successful Parisian art dealer who, in the 1930s, falls in love with a woman, Rose Cl\u00e9ment (the real-life Rose Valland<\/a>), assisting in his father\u2019s gallery. The three share an encyclopedic knowledge of the artists and artworks then in museums and galleries and private hands.<\/p>\n

As Jews, the Berenzons must hide in the countryside during the war, returning to a ravaged city, their hidden artworks looted, the gallery burned, and little chance of recovery. Those familiar with The Monuments Men<\/a> will appreciate this perspective on the story. (In the movie, Rose is played by Cate Blanchett and called Claire Simone). Houghteling weaves a good story that keeps the pages flying, and writes with vivid style: \u201cThat same winter, I was in Le Puy, where the stark, bare tree branches were like Chinese calligraphy against the sky.\u201d Lovely.<\/p>\n

Berenzon\u2019s father advises him to give up searching for the family\u2019s lost artworks, advising they will not be recovered for subsequent generations. And, indeed, regular news reports tell of the \u201cdiscovery\u201d and return of looted works, where that is possible, is the ongoing purpose of The Monuments Men Foundation. Says Houghteling in a postscript: \u201cThe locations of some 40,000 art objects remain unknown. They are in public and private collections and, many believe, in the former Soviet Union, plundered a second time by Stalin\u2019s Trophy Brigades.\u201d
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