Join award-winning journalist\, author\, a nd professor \;Michelle Young \;for the launch of \;The Ar t Spy\, a riveting and stylish saga set in Paris during World War II featuring the brave actions of Jeu de Paume curator Rose Valland and chron icling how she \;infiltrated the Nazi leadership to save the cultural legacy of the West. Michelle will be in conversation with \;Nannette M aciejunes\, Executive Director Emerita of the Columbus Museum of Art.
\ nRegistration for this free event is on Eventbrite. You can pre-purchase The Art Spy during registration. Young&rsquo\;s book will also be available at the event.
\nOn August 25\, 1944\, Rose Valland\, a woman of quie t daring\, found herself in a desperate position. From the windows of her beloved Jeu de Paume museum\, where she had worked and ultimately spied\, she could see the battle to liberate Paris thundering around her. The Jeu de Paume\, co-opted by Nazi leadership\, was now the Germans&rsquo\; final line of defense. Would the museum curator be killed before she could tell the truth&mdash\;a story that would mean nothing less than saving humanit y&rsquo\;s cultural inheritance? \;
\nBased on troves of previou sly undiscovered documents\, \;The Art Spy \;chronicles the brave actions of the key Resistance spy in the heart of the Nazi&rsquo\;s art lo oting headquarters in the French capital. A veritable female Monuments Man \, Valland has\, until now\, been written out of the annals\, despite bear ing witness to history&rsquo\;s largest art theft. While Hitler was amassi ng stolen art for his future Fü\;hrermuseum\, Valland\, his undercover adversary\, secretly worked to stop him.
\nAt every stage of World War II\, Valland was front and center. She came face to face with Reichsma rschall Hermann Gö\;ring\, passed crucial information to the Resistanc e network\, put herself deliberately in harm&rsquo\;s way to protect the m useum and her staff\, and faced death during the last hours of Liberation Day. She also singlehandedly provided information to stop the last train o f looted artworks&mdash\;bearing paintings by Picasso\, Monet\, Cezanne\, Gauguin\, Braque\, Degas\, Modigliani\, and Toulouse-Lautrec&mdash\;from l eaving France.
\nVivid and atmospheric\, \;The Art Spy& nbsp\;moves from the glittering days of pre-War Paris\, home to geniuses o f modern culture\, including Picasso\, Josephine Baker\, Coco Chanel\, Le Corbusier\, and Frida Kahlo\, through the tension-riddled cities and resor ts of Europe on the eve of war\, to the harrowing years of the Nazi occupa tion of France when brave people such as Valland risked everything to figh t monstrous evil.
\nIn the spirit of \;Hidden Figures\, with the sweeping narrative of \;The Rape of Europa \;an d the depth of \;The Resistance Quartet\, \;The Art S py \;is an extraordinary tale of a female hero whose courage and tenacity in a time of violence and terror is an inspiration for us all.
\nMichelle Young \;is an award-winning journalist\, author\, and p rofessor whose writing on looted and lost art has appeared in \;Hy perallergic\, \;The Forward\, and \;The Wilson Quarterly< /em>. She is a graduate of Harvard College in the History of Art and Archi tecture and holds a master&rsquo\;s degree from Columbia University&rsquo\ ;s Graduate School of Architecture\, Planning and Preservation\, where she is a Professor of Architecture. \;She is the founder of the publicati on \;Untapped New York. \;She divides her \;time betw een New York City and Paris. \;
\nNannette Maciejunes \;is E xecutive Director Emerita of the Columbus Museum of Art (CMA) after servin g \;as Executive Director and CEO for 20 years. Prior to that\, she wo rked as a curator for two decades\, culminating in her tenure as CMA&rsquo \;s Chief Curator. Her arts scholarship and passion for making the museum accessible and welcoming to all stood at the forefront of her tenure as di rector\, along with organizing major exhibitions\, advocating for public a rt funding\, and innovating educational programming. Nannette also spearhe aded Art Matters\, the largest and most successful endowment and capital c ampaign in CMA&rsquo\;s history\, supporting the Museum&rsquo\;s transform ative renovation\, expansion\, and commitment to courageous imagination. A n Ohio native\, Nannette received her B.A. from Denison University and did her graduate work in the History of Art at Ohio State University. She&rsq uo\;s also a graduate of both Stanford&rsquo\;s Executive Program for Nonp rofit Leaders and the Getty&rsquo\;s Leadership Institute for Museum Manag ement. In 2018\, Nannette was appointed Adjunct Assistant Professor in Ohi o State&rsquo\;s Arts Administration\, Education and Policy Program.
\nJoin us in person\, or live stream this \;program \;on \;BPL's YouTube channel.
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