Synopses & Reviews
The legendary names include Rothschild, Mendelssohn, Bloch-Bauerand#8212;distinguished bankers, industrialists, diplomats, and art collectors. Their diverse taste ranged from manuscripts and musical instruandshy;ments to paintings by Old Masters and the avant-garde. But their stigma as Jews in Nazi Germany and occupied Europe doomed them to exile or death in Hitlerand#8217;s concentration camps. Here, after years of meticulous research, Melissa Mand#252;ller (Anne Frank: The Biography) and Monika Tatzkow (Nazi Looted Art) present the tragic, compelling stories of 15 Jewish collectors, the dispersal of their extraordinary collections through forced sale and/or confiscation, and the ongoing efforts of their heirs to recover their inheritance. For every victory in the effort to return these works to their rightful heirs, there are daunting defeats and long court battles. This real-life legal thriller follows works by Rembrandt, Klimt, Pissarro, Kandinsky, and others.and#160;
Praise for Lost Lives, Lost Art:and#160;
and#8220;A heartbreaking and enthralling story of the brutal and mindless Nazi destruction of a singularly cultivated caste of rich German and Austrian Jews and the pillage of their great art collections: a world that was lost and could never be recreated.and#8221; ~ Louis Begley
"Each chapter focuses on a single collector. . . the adulatory profiles [are] matched with an attractive layout and an abundance of well-selected images." ~ Wall Street Journaland#160;
"The book is meticulously researched, brilliantly and dispassionately written, and is in all likelihood a game changer in the world of art, art provenance, and art restitution that will resound for years to come."~and#160;ForeWord Reviews
"Richly illustrated with excellent art reproductions and family photographs, this is a solid addition to works on Nazi art plundering and the world of art restitution, ownership, and property rights. This will be of great interest to readers wanting to know more about upper-class Austrian and German Jews. Recommended." ~and#160;Library Journal
Review
andquot;Every decade or so, a new book celebrates the Allied soldiersandhellip;who tracked down these objects. Only rarely are the aggrieved collectors themselves studiedandhellip;This is what Melissa Manduuml;ller and Monika Tatzkow are trying to remedy with andquot;Lost Lives, Lost Art,andquot; a hybrid of popular history and coffee-table book that introduces 15 Jewish collectors whose artworks were stolen by the Nazis.andquot;
Review
andquot;A sophisticated exploration. . . . Elegant photographs and illustrations accompany the tour guidesand#39; illuminating text. . . . The tree collections of essays combine to evoke and#39;a remarkably fertile period in the cityand#39;s history, the styles and aesthetics of which are now very much back in vogue.and#39;andquot;
Review
andquot;New York Mid-Centuryandnbsp;is a sparkling account of Gotham at the moment it became the cultural center of the world. It is the work of three masters of their genres. In their hands the mid-century city leaps to life and its history engages us on every page.andquot;
Review
andquot;New York Mid-Century: 1945-1965, which tells the story of how [New York] came to be the capital of art, architecture, design and the performing arts, is my favorite read of the moment. It will be yours too if you have an interest in the history of American arts.andquot;
Review
andquot;Not only am I a design and decorating enthusiast, but I am also a major history lover, so the book I just finished--New York Mid-Century--was absolutely perfect for me. . . . It was fascinating to read about the struggle that so many people in these creative fields had trying to figure out what art and design should look like in a post-war America.andquot;
Review
andquot;It surely speaks well of a book if a team of reviewers is needed to do it justice, and this is certainly the case with a glorious new volume from The Vendome Press, New York Mid-Century: 1945-1965. . . . The design folks at The Vendome Press have outdone themselves in making this a volume to treasure.andquot;
Review
andquot;A very pleasing combination of first-rate text and wonderfully chosen illustrations, the new Vendome Press book andldquo;New York Mid-Century 1945-1965andrdquo; takes us through one of the peak periods in the history of New York.andrdquo;
Synopsis
Many assume that modern works of art are easily preserved; that their whereabouts can be readily established, thanks to sophisticated documentation systems; and that, in general, they are not subject to loss or destruction. But many important works have disappeared over the last century in a variety of ways, including war, theft, natural catastrophe, and carelessness. Most significantly, loss itself has been a major theme within modern and contemporary art, with elements of transience central to the practice of many well-known figures. Grouped into 10 sectionsDiscarded, Missing, Rejected, Attacked, Destroyed, Erased, Ephemeral, Transient, Unrealized, and Stolenthis unique book surveys 40 case studies, looking at the stories behind lost works of art by artists such as Kandinsky, Miró, Kahlo, Christo, Keith Haring, and including Michael Landys 2001 project Break Down, in which he systematically destroyed every one of his possessions himself.
About the Author
Melissa Mand#252;ller wrote the bestselling Anne Frank: The Biography, and is coauthor with Traudl Junge of Until the Final Hour: Hitlerand#8217;s Last Secretary, which was the basis for the film Downfall.
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Monika Tatzkow, a historian, is coauthor of the restitution-case handbook Nazi Looted Art.
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