First-Ever English Translation Release of Rose Valland’s “The Art Front”

On November 1st, we remember the birthday of an emblematic figure of the French Resistance and heroin of the art world: Rose Valland (1898-1980). This year, on November 22nd, thanks to the Monuments Men and Women Foundation, her memoir was finally released in its first-ever English translation, as per Valland’s wishes.

Rose Valland studied Arts at the Ecole Nationale des Beaux-Arts in Lyon, at the Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris, at the Ecole du Louvre, and at the Sorbonne. During WWII Nazi Occupation, the Musée du Jeu de Paume in Paris, where Valland was working at the time, was converted into headquarters and clearing house for Nazi-looted artworks. Upon the request of French National Museums Director Jacques Jaujard, Valland was asked to remain at her post in order to be able to register daily the artworks passing by the museum to be sent to Germany. Even at great risk for her life, she continued her activity at the museum secretly spying on the artworks’ movements, taking notice of all information she could find on their whereabouts. This, and her subsequent involvement with the Monuments Men group in the 1940’s, has made it possible to trace back and save over 45,000 artworks stolen from Jewish art dealers, collectors, and artists.

The information Valland had gathered led to the discovery of various repositories of looted art, among which the Neuschwanstein Castle in the Bavarian Alps where thousands of works were found.

Rose Valland received the decorations of the French Légion d’Honneur, the German Order of Merit and the U.S. Medal of Freedom. Since 1997, her work has been made available online by the French Ministry of Cultural Affairs and the MNR (Musées Nationaux de Récupération) which lists all records of the artworks looted during WWII and is still used today for provenance research.

In 1961, Valland’s memoir Le Front de l’Art was published but never translated in English, despite her wishes.

Thanks to the initiative and efforts of the Monuments Men and Women Foundation, Rose Valland’s wish has been fulfilled: it is now possible to order The Art Front on the Foundation’s website: click to see and order the book. It is possible to buy only the book or a special edition with the limited-edition stamp issued by France to honour Valland’s life and work.