AP/JWST 4631 3.00

Nazi-Art Crime, Theft, Recovery and Restitution

This seminar examines why, during the Nazi era, more than 5 million artworks illegally changed hands—a disproportionate number of them being works stolen from Jewish collectors—and how come it has been so challenging to restitute these pieces to their rightful owners. This course is divided into two parts: a study of the complex history of Nazi-art theft and its recovery from 1945 to the present, followed by classes that focus on six of history’s most important cases of Third-Reich looting and restitution.

Nazi-era art theft and restitution is an emerging field of study. Scholarly literature on the subject is found across various fields, including law, anthropology, criminology, international relations, and art history. It is one of the most important and highly discussed subjects in the art world as a result of media attention on cases including Austria’s 2004 return of Gustav Klimt’s famous Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I and the 2012 discovery of 1,285 unframed artworks found in the Munich apartment of Cornelius Gurlitt, works suspected to have been looted during the Second World War.
Media coverage of Nazi-era art theft and restitution has had a significant role in shaping the public perception of the subject. This course will look at the issue in a broader context: from an art historical, legal, cultural, and ethical viewpoint. Reading news coverage, critiquing films and comparing scholarly and popular representations of Nazi-era art theft and restitution is a productive way of opening up questions and studying the field.

No prerequisites but have at least 3rd year standing.