Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2020/10/20/facebook-post-leads-to-nazi-stolen-painting-returned-to-jewish-family.html
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Suppose that you were interested in something like Uighur or Rohingya art. Is there any conceivable way that one could do so legitimately without risking assisting the oppressors of those people? I mean, I guess the museum that had the painting should not have purchased art from Nazis but I kind of doubt that they knew they were buying ill-gotten art.
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The next time fake news and bots and misinformed uncles crowd your Facebook feed and you’re ready to pitch it, consider that there’s also puppies, babies and finding justice against the Nazis too.
This (and the sharing of puppy and baby photos) could have just as easily happened without this toxic social media platform, which has also (until literally days ago) enabled Holocaust denial and which continues to enable the resurgence of right-wing populism and open white supremacy.
This positive outcome happened because Dr. Hoffmann and her team diligently and pro-actively research a lot of museum and art-related Web sites and because everyone involved co-operated in the interest of justice. Facebook was just another Web site in this context.
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My partner is an art historian with an interest in art, markets, and social power. Her take seems to be that there’s almost no way you can be any kind of art historian without contributing to the wealth of plutocrats. I’m less nuanced and informed than my partner, so my opinion is that the discipline of art history exists for the purpose of creating value which can be converted into capitol. But I’m a cranky, frustrated pseudo-Marxist.
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One of the aspects of modern society that I really appreciate is the ability of artists to create and distribute their art in a way that obviates the need for the aristocracy that has always been the funder and gatekeeper of art. This is true for visual media as well as music. The tools are now extraordinarily cheap and the platform to reach an audience is significantly more accessible than at any point in history. Sure, you may not achieve the wealth and notoriety of, say Jackson Pollack, but who needs it?
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I assume fine art will be valuable as long as it is a convenient means of money laundering.
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I don’t think that any actual Nazis were harmed, or even dealt any justice, in the return of this painting. The museum, likely unaware, is now out a valuable piece of art, though perhaps insurance will cover it. Pretty much the piece is back where it should be, that’s all.
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Art collections from prominent Jewish families, including the Rothschilds, the Rosenbergs, the Wildensteins[9] and the Schloss Family were the targets of confiscations because of their significant value. Also, Jewish art dealers sold art to German organizations – often under duress, e.g. the art dealerships of Jacques Goudstikker, Benjamin and Nathan Katz[10] and Kurt Walter Bachstitz. Also non-Jewish art dealers sold art to the Germans, e.g. the art dealers De Boer[11] and Hoogendijk[12] in the Netherlands.
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awesome. now there’s a facebook shill writing for boingboing
What’s all this about R. Kelly having stolen nazi art?
Ohhh.
Painting will be returned to the family…
…Screw art and family history, we’re taking the money b*tches!
Painting goes up for auction… disappears forever into a dark vault where it exists solely as an asset on a balance sheet.
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