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A riveting and stylish story set in Paris during World War II, THE ART SPY uncovers how an unlikely heroine infiltrated the Nazi leadership to save the cultural legacy of the West. On August 25, 1944, Rose Valland, a 45-year-old woman of quiet daring, found herself in a truly terrifying position. Frontline French tanks had rolled down the Paris streets and surrounded where she stood. The Nazi leadership was hiding in her beloved Jeu de Paume museum behind her. Bullets flew over the Seine. Nazi soldiers were flooding onto the streets in surrender. Would the museum curator, peering through her glasses, be killed before she could tell her story, a story that would mean saving humanity''s cultural inheritance? Based on troves of previously undiscovered documents, THE ART SPY tells the story of Valland, the only Resistance spy in the heart of the Nazi''s art looting headquarters in Paris. A veritable female Monuments Man, who until now was written out of history, she bore witness to the largest art theft in history. While Hitler was amassing stolen art for his future Fuhrermuseum , Rose was his undercover adversary. During every stage of World War II, she was front and center in the action. She came face to face with Gring, she passed crucial information secretly to the Resistance network, put herself deliberately in harm''s way to protect the museum and her staff during the Battle of Paris, and had a gun put to her back during the last hours of Liberation Day as a mob broke into the museum she was protecting. She also singlehandedly provided the information to stop the last train of looted artworks to leave France, including works by Picasso, Monet, Cezanne, Gauguin, Braque, Degas, Modigliani and Toulouse-Lautrec. This incredible story takes us through pre-War Paris, when the geniuses of our modern times--Picasso, Josephine Baker, Coco Chanel, Le Corbusier--socialized in glittering cafes. It places us in the tensions of conflict building in the glorious cities of Europe and through the harrowing years when brave people, such as Rose, had to risk everything to fight for what they believed in. This is a must read for those who loved the film Monument Men or the book, The Rape of Europa. In the spirit of Hidden Figures, Rose is a unique female hero who has not been yet celebrated as she should. ...
About the author
Michelle Young is an award-winning journalist, author, and professor whose writing on looted and lost art has appeared in Hyperallergic, The Forward, and The Wilson Quarterly. She is a graduate of Harvard College in the History of Art and Architecture and holds a master’s degree from Columbia University’s Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation, where she is a Professor of Architecture. She is the founder of the publication Untapped New York. She divides her time between New York City and Paris.
Summary
A riveting and stylish saga set in Paris during World War II, The Art Spy uncovers how an unlikely heroine infiltrated the Nazi leadership to save the world's most treasured masterpieces.
On August 25, 1944, Rose Valland, a woman of quiet daring, found herself in a desperate position. From the windows of her beloved Jeu de Paume museum, where she had worked and ultimately spied, she could see the battle to liberate Paris thundering around her. The Jeu de Paume, co-opted by Nazi leadership, was now the Germans’ final line of defense. Would the museum curator be killed before she could tell the truth—a story that would mean nothing less than saving humanity’s cultural inheritance?
Based on troves of previously undiscovered documents, The Art Spy chronicles the brave actions of the key Resistance spy in the heart of the Nazi’s art looting headquarters in the French capital. A veritable female Monuments Man, Valland has, until now, been written out of the annals, despite bearing witness to history’s largest art theft. While Hitler was amassing stolen art for his future Führermuseum, Valland, his undercover adversary, secretly worked to stop him.
At every stage of World War II, Valland was front and center. She came face to face with Reichsmarschall Hermann Göring, passed crucial information to the Resistance network, put herself deliberately in harm’s way to protect the museum and her staff, and faced death during the last hours of Liberation Day.
At the same time, a young Free French soldier, Alexandre Rosenberg , was fighting his way to Paris with the Allied forces battling to liberate France. Alexandre's father was the exclusive art dealer for Picasso, Matisse, George Braque, and Fernand Léger. The Nazis had taken everything from their family—their art collection, their nationality, their gallery, and their home in Paris.
Vivid and atmospheric, The Art Spy moves from the glittering days of pre-War Paris, home to geniuses of modern culture, including Picasso, Josephine Baker, Coco Chanel, Le Corbusier, and Frida Kahlo, through the tension-riddled cities and resorts of Europe on the eve of war, to the harrowing years of the Nazi occupation of France when brave people such as Valland and Rosenberg risked everything to fight monstrous evil.
In the spirit of Hidden Figures, with the sweeping narrative of The Rape of Europa and the depth of The Resistance Quartet, The Art Spy is an extraordinary tale of a female hero whose courage and tenacity in a time of violence and terror is an inspiration for us all.
