Rose Valland (1898-1980) She was a French art historian and curator of the Jeu de Paume in Paris and a member of the Resistance who secretly recorded details of artworks looted by the Nazis. During the German occupation of Paris (1940-44) the Jeu de Paume served as a storage facility for the many works of art looted by the Germans. In 1961, Rose Valland published Le Front de l'Art, a book based on her secretly taken notes. Today, Rose Valland is recognized for her role in protecting France's cultural heritage and her documents remain of great value to provenance research and restitution efforts.
On November 21, Portrait de femme à mi-corps by Nicolas de Largillierre, painted between the XNUMXth and XNUMXth centuries, will be part of the auction of old master paintings in Paris: Maîtres Anciens: Peintures – Dessins – Sculptures.
The history of the painting is closely linked to that of the Allied Section of Monuments, Fine Arts and Archives. Looted from the bank vault of Baron Philippe de Rothschild (1902-1988) in Arcachon in the late 1940s and transferred to the Jeu de Paume in Paris in February 1941, the portrait was recovered by the Monuments Men in May 1945, days before the end of World War II, at Neuschwanstein Castle in Bavaria, thanks to notes that Rose Valland had taken and shared in secret.
Portrait of a Woman with a Body is not only a beautiful painting, but it is also part of an iconic photograph taken in May 1945 on the steps of Neuschwanstein Castle in Bavaria, showing James J. Rorimer of the Monuments, Fine Arts and Archives Section alongside three soldiers from the US 7th Army, holding three of the many works of art looted by the Germans. Portrait of a Woman with a Body can be seen on the right side of this iconic photograph, which is the visual element that traces the important work and history of the Monuments Men during and after World War II. Thanks to Rose Valland's foresight in taking secret notes, The painting was found in early May 1945 in Bavaria along with thousands of other looted works of art, and was returned to Paris in November 1945., underlining the pragmatic attitude of the Allied authorities, who favored a rapid first wave of restitutions. The work was then officially returned to the Rothschild family on May 3, 1946 and remained in their collection until 1978 when it was purchased at auction by the current owner. The portrait will be offered on November 21st in Paris in the auction “Maîtres Anciens: Peintures – Dessins – Sculptures” with an estimate of 50.000-80.000 euros. It is expected to be of great interest to many collectors.
Portrait of a Woman with Her Body exemplifies the style of Nicolas de Largillierre, one of the leading painters in Paris during the reign of Louis XIV and the Regency. His acclaimed portraits, in the style of Rubens and van Dyck, are part of the permanent collections of the Louvre, the Château de Versailles and the Uffizi Galleries, among others. Nicolas de Largillierre's works are receiving renewed recognition from collectors around the world.
The Jeu de Paume and Rose Valland, their story
The Jeu de Paume was built in 1862 in the Tuileries Gardens in Paris as an arena to play an early variation of tennis. As tennis became the more popular sport at the turn of the century, the Jeu de Paume was largely abandoned before being transformed into an art gallery. During World War I, it was used as a ration-book distribution site and later became a section of the Musée du Luxembourg, a museum in the Luxembourg Gardens dedicated to living artists. From 1940 to 1944, the Germans, during their occupation of France, turned the Jeu de Paume into a repository for over 22.000 works of art confiscated from other French museums and Jewish families. Exhibitions of art were held for high-ranking Nazi officials. As art passed through the building, Rose Valland, the only employee of the original museum held by the Nazis, eavesdropped on German conversations and secretly kept notes on where looted pieces were headed. Her documents were instrumental in the recovery of tens of thousands of works of art. After the war, the facility was reinstated as a museum, this time dedicated to Impressionist and Post-Impressionist art. The Jeu de Paume closed its doors in 1986, and most of its collection was moved to another Paris landmark, the Musée d'Orsay. It was later used to host temporary exhibitions of modern art. Today Valland rests in the cemetery of her hometown, not far from Grenoble, while a commemorative plaque hanging on the wall of the Jeu de Paume recalls his exploits, those of a heroine of the French Resistance determined to “save a fragment of the beauty of the world.”
Rose Valland, the Spy Who Risked Her Life to Save French Art
Rose Valland received numerous honors, including the médaille de la Résistance française (1946). She was appointed Officer of the Legion of Honor and Commander of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French government. Abroad, she was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom of the United States (1948) and the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (1972), becoming one of the most decorated French women ever.
