Text

theses

ETD graduate

The impact of the Third Reich’s large-scale art thefts across Europe during World War II are still being thoroughly examined in the modern day. France, in particular, was left with some 60,000 works that were destined to be repatriated to museums, Jewish families, Jewish art collectors, and various cultural institutions in the aftermath of the war. After much time was spent returning these works, the French state was left with about 2,000 pieces of art that had gone unclaimed. The Musée du Louvre was given just over 1,000 of the aforementioned works. Three years ago, in February of 2018, the Musée du Louvre presented the installation of a small, permanent gallery space that would display thirty-one of their MNR (Musées Nationaux Récupération) works. The curators that worked on the exhibition asserted that it would become a stage in which French Holocaust survivors could visit and potentially find (as well as reclaim) their stolen works. This thesis strives to determine whether or not a museum’s gallery spaces can function as a pathway to legitimate restitution of stolen and forced-sale artworks. Among the variety of points that will be touched upon in this thesis, the most critical is the ethical implication of such an exhibition, and if it is as accessible as the museum claims it to be. These queries will be disseminated through a methodological study of discourse analysis with specific focus on the system of archival silencing. In turn, the question is asked, does the exhibition, in its present format, allow for repatriation of cultural heritage objects or does it perpetuate the silences that are glaringly present in museum practices?

ETD_11652

M.A.

Includes bibliographical references

doi:10.7282/t3-9gx3-z878

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