The movie “The Woman in Gold” depicts the most important theme all should be aware of – the significance of memory and non-monetary inheritance to human life. Maria Altmann, born to a well-off Jewish family residing in Vienna, barely escaped the invasion of Nazis months before Hitler grabbed control of the German Army. She, together with her husband left her parents with their blessing, but their separation was a moment that she couldn’t leave behind. Stolen from their home, the painting now named “The Woman in Gold” is now the center of the significant museum in Vienna – Belvedere Museum. The portrait is alleged as Austria’s Mona Lisa and has an estimated value of over a hundred million dollars. Maria wishes to reclaim the painting, not for …show more content…
During the Restitution Conference held in Austria, Maria stated: “When people see the famous portrait, they see a masterpiece by one of Austria’s finest artists. But I see a picture of my aunt, a woman who talked to me about life while I brushed her hair in her bedroom. Restitution. You see, that’s an interesting word. Restitution: the return of something to its original state. Now that made me think. You know I love to return to my original state. I would love to be a happy woman living in this beautiful city. Like so many of my generation, we had to flee, I will never forgive them for preventing me from living here. At the very least, we should be reunited with what is rightfully ours.” (Curtis). The same year as Maria’s sister’s death, 44 countries, including Austria signed the Washington Principles on Nazi-Confiscated Art. The Austrian Parliament passed its own law requiring museums to allow researchers to explore their archives in order to have plundered items returned to their lawful owners. (McDowall). With the help of the Supreme Court of the U.S., Maria was able to sue the Austrian government.
Up until today, the restitution case provides lessons about the way Austrians are still treated. The illegal taking of the owners’ art collections was a rigorous effort whose importance
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The tolerance in the graphic splendor of the street scenes of Vienna, interiors, and architectural aspects provide a good distraction form some dull minutes of the film, where in fact they could have used better scripts. The use of lights and shadows (Sepia and Black and White) helped in the flashback instants the film exposed, it resembled early years suitably. Some of the common shots used were: Arc shots – where the camera man focused and circled on Maria’s wedding day, laughter and love felt within her family and friends were caught on camera. Bridging shot – where the film focused on the view of Austria when the plane rode by Maria and Randi begun landing, thus depicting Maria’s anxiousness in coming back home. The cinematographer also used deep focus camera shot to emphasize the invasion of the Nazis and how homes in Austria were destroyed and humans were insulted. Lock down shot was also used, it focused on the emotional seconds of the movie, where the camera focused on Maria’s family while their home and belongings were being
Merryman, John Henry. Thinking about the Elgin Marbles: Critical Essays on Cultural Property, Art, and Law. London: Kluwer Law International Ltd, 2000.
In the film it is stated that during World War II the Nazi party started to forcefully collect artworks from all around Europe in 1939. The term forcefully collect is better described as stealing. Hitler wanted these artworks to add to his personal collection. This became his hobby. His hobby took to others in the regime and eventually all high ranking officers were looting paintings for the sport of it. As it progressed collecting art became a required hobby for them.
However, I feel this act forces archeologists to halt further investigations and possibly damages lost records of history. Returning these artifacts and bones prevents them from being preserved a...
The type of shots has an important role in the understanding of Joan’s victimization. Medium close-ups and close-ups are used through out the film, creating a scary intimacy between Joan and the judges. In The Passion of Joan of Arc, Dreyer uses close-ups to show that Joan is struggling against forces much larger than herself. “Dreyer uses strange and distorted medium shots, emphasizing the aesthetic tension between a frightened and disoriented Joan, and of her cruel and mocking tormentors. ” This distortion creates pity and fear in the viewer. Also, the close-ups make us fully focus on the story and Joan’s emotion since the set, props or anything else that could appear in a long shot cannot distract the viewer. In addition, Dreyer shot torture instruments with a close-up. By giving us the chance to see the instruments closely, we become fearful and feel sympathy for Joan. Again, this emphasise, the clergy’s
Today, Mona Lisa is stored within the Louvre museum in France for public viewing. No matter the lucky visitors who have a chance to glance at Mona Lisa, or fans who enjoy themselves so much as to forget to leave, people will be attracted by her unique charm without exception. Legend says, staring at this picture, we will produce the Mona Lisa syndrome proposed by an Italian art historian Vezzosi Alessandro, referring to intoxicate from Mona Lisa’s smile, and her smile also becomes more and more mysterious. Countless mysteries hide in Mona Lisa. Although there are many people have made a research on her, it is now still murky.
At first glance, Western society appears to have changed significantly since the nineteenth-century. Today, industrialized nations enjoy more efficient transportation, communication, medical care, and manufacturing than they did in the nineteenth-century. But have our core values changed? While the Western world has changed considerably, people's opinions of the core values and morality is well-preserved since the nineteenth-century. This assertion becomes apparent when one compares the standards by which Western society judges what is considered artwork. While today's definition and criteria of censorship in a Western art museum is unchanged since the nineteenth-century, the act of censorship has changed with museums and their role in society.
“Duncan’s (1991) article provides an examination of western museums as a vehicle for the “modern state” to project imperialistic values over art objects of the Third World. The American/European art museum is a type of “temple” that is used to ritualize western art objects as a projection of modernity over the “primitive” art of Third World cultures.”
soldiers during the Jewish Holocaust, knew that the Nazi’s actions were inhumane and cruel; hence, he commanded his soldiers to not confiscate property from the Jews. Although the Nazi soldiers did not take valuables away from the Jews, they still dehumanized and exterminated the Jews, rega...
For years on end, countries have been fighting with big museums from other countries for ancient artifacts that belong to the original countries. The argument of whether or not the museums should be able to keep them still remains. It is the right of the country to have their own artifacts. It is imperative for countries to be able showcase their historical artifacts, therefor museums should return them to their rightful owners.
"The Nuremberg Laws: Background & Overview." Jewish Virtual Library. American-Israeli Cooperative Enterprise, n.d. Web. 15 Mar. 2014. .
... people that protect the artwork that cannot be replaced. “An art thief robbed the Dutch museum of arts so easily he filed to sue the museum for it being so easy to rob.”(Art thief threatens to sue) That should never happen to any museum that the very thief who robbed them sues them.
Recently the major countries that were part of WWII are starting to try and push for museums to send back the stolen art to their rightful owners. With the millions of pieces that were stolen during WWII the number of pieces that have not been returned to its heirs is well over 100,000 pieces of art and most of them are currently missing.("Nazi Plunder," n.d.) To help return stolen art, museums search through all of their art to check if any of it was stolen during WWII. Currently though the progress has stopped for returning stolen artwork back to its rightful heirs, because the museums are refusing to give back some of the more major pieces of art. Also the lack of knowing who the art truly belongs to is also slowing down the
This film captures this class distinction without subduing the atmosphere through the use of a variety of cinematic devices. “A good film is not a bag of cinematic devices but the embodiment, through devices, of a vision, an underlying theme” (Barnett, 274). The audience can see this theme of the realities of the oppression, poverty and despair of this time period through the use of the things mentioned, but also through the character development that is driven by the character’s hopelessness. Each of the characters associated with the lower class is motivated by the conditions, which are viewed through the cinematic devices mentioned above: color, spherical lenses, long shots, and high angle shots. Sources Cited:.
In “Whose Culture Is It, Anyway? ”, Kwame Anthony Appiah begins by pointing out that some of the museums of the world, particularly in the West, have large collections of artefacts and objects which were robbed from developing and poor countries. He then raises a question: who owns these cultural patrimony and properties? Our first answer may be that since they make up the cultural heritage of a people, they belong to the people and culture from whom they were taken. Appiah has doubt about this and argues that if some cultural artefacts are potentially valuable to all human beings, they should belong to all of humanity. He thinks that when they make contribution to world culture, they should be protected by being made available to those who would benefit from experiencing them and put into trusteeship of humanity.
The Mona Lisa could mean so many things and is surrounded by speculation, which is why she is famous and why she is valued art. Not only has the reason why the Mona Lisa is valued changed over time but, the Mona Lisa herself changed dramatically over the three years of her conception. Change and the ability to change -- the ability to be perceived differently at different times enables a piece of artwork to be timeless. Intention is a valuable part of art work; not only the artist intention but, the observers intention when they are observing the art