Rape of Europa Documentary

The Rape of Europa is one of the most extraordinary documentaries I have had the pleasure of viewing.  After watching this amazing story, I'm ashamed to say I graduated college with a Bachelors degree in Art History without every knowing about incredible time in the world of Art History.  In some small fair way, I did graduate prior to this documentaries making but even so there should have been more said about the WWII era in Art History than "Hitler wanted to be a painter but was rejected." and "Nazi's hated modern art."

Really???

That was all that was said about this time period???

Nothing was mentioned about the extraordinary lengths to which the great museums of Europe went to protect their priceless treasures or of the thousands of Jewish gallery owners forced to flee for their lives because Hilter had an art fetish.

Out of the thousands of stories the documentary weaved together so
incredibly well, the one that stuck out the most to me was of a quite French art historian by the name of Rose Valland.  This incredible woman not only braved a Nazi occupied France but was able to spy on the Nazi's for four years!  In an age where everything is recorded on our cell phones or other electronic devices it is hard to image the daily feat memorizing each piece of art work that enters the Jeu de Paume Museum, where it came from and where it was being shipped to!  In four years this one woman was able to record more than 20,000 pieces of art, that's 13 pieces to memorize every day for four years!!  In college I remember nights chocked full of coffee and handwritten notes. My eyes blurring with the titles, artist names and dates of the works I would be tested on the following morning.  Remembering these futile exercise in memorization causes a slight shade of shame to appear on my cheeks when I read what little there is about this amazing woman.


After watching the documentary my book-shelf wish-list is piling high with Lynn Nicholes' Rape of Europa, Robert Edsel & Bret Witter's Monument Men and Rose Valland's Le Front de L'art (If I can find an english translation).

If anyone out there can offer any additional suggestions on books detailing this incredible period of Art History or further insight into the amazing life of Rose Valland please let me know!

Chachapoya

Image property of History Channel

Having made a wonderful dinner, most of which came from my garden, my husband and I sat down for our evening meal.  Tonights special: History's Mysteries: Cliff Mummies of the Andes.

A year and a half ago, my husband and I trekked four days along the Incan trail to Machu Picchu.  Prior to this trip the only history of the area that I knew was of the Incas.  Being an Art History major with a specialty in "non-western" art, I am ashamed to say as I watched the documentary that the Chachapoya were a people completely unknown to me.  The majority of the film follows Dr. Keith Muscutt of the University of CA, Santa Cruz on his 15 year quest to find an undisturbed Chachapoya burial site.

Tombs in the Cliff "Diablo Huasi"

(©Adriana von Hagen)

The documentary itself was well done but what drove me to choose the documentary was the cover image.  The stone figures painted with decorative red designs reminded me of an art exhibit that I was fortunate enough to help renovate.  The exhibit was a revamping of African art installation, mostly pieces belonging to the Dogon and surrounding north african people. The pieces which connected for me were on of the Dogon masks and an Akuaba doll.

Dogon Mask (source: GenuineAfrica.com),

Ashanti Akuba Doll (source: randafricanart.com),

Chachapoya funeral guard (source: HistoryChannel.com) 

The high broad forehead, thin straight nose and oval eyes can be found on all three statues.  For the woman who commissioned the Akuba dolls, these traits represented their ideal beauty.  Since the Akuba dolls were used by woman as a sort of fertility charm, it's only fitting that the image would represent the ideal beauty.  What I find interesting, and why I've compared the Chachapoya statue to African statues is that typical Incan humanoid statues do not share these physical traits.

Statue from "1000

Years of Incan Gold"

Source: silviahartmann.com

Pre-Incan statue @ San Augstin

Archeological Park

Source: posterlounge.co.uk

Though the Chachapoya were conquered by the Inca and not Incan themselves, the Inca's influence would have been evident in their art.  Incan faces tend to have much larger eyes, a triangular/broad nose and ornamentation in the form of a hat, earrings and/or necklace.  

Why would a culture, such as the Chachapoya, develop such a different artistic style from the cultures that surrounded it. And why would their style emulate culture which were thousands of miles away?  I don't have an answer just a series of theories, one of which includes ancient air travel.  Not probable I realize but it would definitely help to explain occurrences such as these.