Landscape with Smokestacks: The Case of the Allegedly Plundered Degas | 
 enlarge | Authors: Howard J. Trienens, Scott J. Stone
Publisher: Northwestern University Press
Category: Book
List Price: $24.95
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Rating:  3 reviews
Sales Rank: 1182034
Media: Hardcover
Pages: 122
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.9
Dimensions (in): 9.5 x 6.3 x 0.7
ISBN: 0810118203
Dewey Decimal Number: 345.730262
EAN: 9780810118201
ASIN: 0810118203
Publication Date: November 22, 2000
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| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
Against a background of controversy over the possibility that works of art owned by American collectors may have originally been stolen by the Nazis from Jews later killed in the holocaust, the story of one work of art "Landscape with Smokestacks" by Degas captured the headlines. As told by the media, the story is straightforward. The landscape, owned by Jewish banker in the Netherlands, was sent to Paris in 1939. The Nazis occupied France and stole the Landscape. The Jewish banker and his wife were killed in the Holocaust. Their heirs searched for the landscape but did not locate it until, half a century later, it was found in the possession of an art collector in Chicago. The heirs sued to recover the work. But the real story is far more complicated than that told by the media. Had the landscape been sent to Paris for safekeeping or to be sold? Was the work stolen by the nazis or sold to an art dealer during the war? During the litigation a mass of documents was produced that shed light on the fate of the landscape. But because the suit was settled before trial, the story under the surface of the media headlines has not been publicly presented. Trienens, a lawyer for the defendant collector, tells the story of this Degas work's travels rom its prewar home in the Netherlands to the Art Institute of Chicago where it is now on display. This book demonstrates the unpredictable complexity of Holocaust-related restitution cases, and challenges the performance of the media in their superficial tratment of this emotionally charged story.
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| Customer Reviews:
 It's all about interpretation. March 18, 2002
Keri Collins (California, USA)
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
Truth is found in the details. By logically organizing the paper trail scattered through several countries, written in at least four different languages, and held by a variety of individuals, Trienens establishes the facts of the case. Whether or not readers agree with his interpretation of these facts is another issue. I don't believe anyone withholds their sympathy from the Gutmann family or anyone who suffered from the events of World War II. However, sympathy should not blind readers to the facts of the case, including the 1967 signed statement that upon payment from the German government, the Gutmanns would not pursue any further compensation. While the attention to detail can at times interfere with the narrative, in the end the author sheds light on the complicated process of Nazi-era provenance research and reparation -- and the role of the press in shaping America's ideas about this sensitive issue.
 Disappointing March 6, 2001
Tony W (Richmond, VA, USA)
3 out of 4 found this review helpful
When I picked this book up, I thought it was a great find. I read a great deal of non-fiction of this type, and the opening pages were very promising. But I ultimately found it disappointing, even offensive. Trienens sinks the book in legalistic detail, focusing so much on the civil suit that he loses sight of the fascinating larger story. Worse, he seems to regard the Goodmans -- descendants of the owner who died in the Holocaust -- as little more than opportunists, and displays little sympathy or respect for their family's tragedy. And while he claims to be taking an objective view, over and over he interprets facts in a light most favorable to the defendant in the suit -- his client. This book is a badly missed opportunity. I would love to see someone else do it again.
 Superb insider account of ownership of a Degas artwork November 21, 2000
Anthony Damato (Chicago, IL USA)
5 out of 6 found this review helpful
Landscape with Smokestacks is a beautiful monotype created by Edgar Degas around 1890 and currently on view at the Art Institute of Chicago. Degas smeared oil colors on a metal plate in large diagonal strokes with a rag, then placed a paper on the plate and used a press to transfer the image to the paper. As Degas described it, The result is a picture on paper more luminous than if the artist had worked directly on the paper. He used fingerprints for texture at the horizon of the scene, and then dabbed on pastel colors in little dots of yellow or pink. Green striations of monotype ink were matched with green pastel. Prussian blue pastel was smeared into the sky to suggest smoke coming from the nearly eradicated monotype chimney.pThe family that owned the work of art perished in the holocaust. They had sent the art to a dealer in Paris, either for safekeeping or on consignment to be sold. If it was sent for safekeeping, it may have been stolen by the Nazis (especially Goering) who were looting art throughout the occupied countries of Europe during the Second World War. If it was sold on consignment, however, then the heirs of the family (who brought suit in the United States to recover the painting) would be out of luck. Their only recourse would be to find the Parisian art dealer and sue him for the proceeds. But maybe the painting was stolen, in which case the heirs might have a claim to get it back. After the painting left the art dealer in Paris, it wound up in Switzerland, and went through the hands of various purchasers, finally winding up in a private art collection in Chicago. The owner donated it to the Art Institute, and the real legal battle began -- between the heirs who claimed the painting had been stolen, and the Art Institute, which of course wanted to keep it (though the Institute would have returned it to the heirs if the Institute had been convinced that the painting indeed had been stolen). pAlthough the author, Howard Trienens, represented the defendant art collector in Chicago, I found his book exceptionally fair in its meticulous treatment of the provenance (sales history) of the Degas painting and in describing the negotiations that ensued between the heirs and the Art Institute. Like the Degas painting itself, the book is a little gem.
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