The Monuments Men

On this Memorial Day, I would like to take time to remember some of the soldiers that went to war in order to preserve art and other cultural artifacts. They are known as The Monuments Men, even though there were women involved as well. When it was discovered that one of Hitler's main goals was to take the great works of European museums for his own private collection these men and women took it upon themselves to reclaim the paintings, sculptures, and other great works of art that had been stolen by the Nazis. These volunteers left jobs as museum directors, curators, art scholars and educators, artists, and archivists. Their one goal was simple, to save European art and cultural artifacts from the ravages of war. Hitler was extremely thorough in gathering his collection and, whenever he had the chance, was known to loot museums like he was shopping at a Macy's day sale.


Thousands of artifacts were found hidden in churches, castles, and even inside a salt mine.

Not all of the stolen works of art have been recovered, and there are continuing efforts to find the missing artifacts. The Monuments Men foundation is now working to preserve the mission of the original Monuments Men, and protect culture during future wars as well. If you feel it in your heart to donate to this organization you can do so here.

If you are interested in learning more about The Monuments Men there is a book, written by Robert Edsel. Also, if you are the type of person who would rather watch your history, there is a movie directed and starred in by George Clooney, scheduled to be released in December.

Marc Davis

The Disney animators are like many of the great Renaissance artists, smaller names working under the banner of a big name. Marc Davis is one of those smaller names, but his individual name is so prevalent in the Disney lexicon that he deserves more recognition than he gets. Not just an animator, his creativity is present in the Anaheim park as well, and now that I know who he is and what is in his portfolio I appreciate the little bits of his skills all the more. He is responsible for many animal characters, as he had a fondness for drawing animals in zoos; though he did get pulled into animating humans as well. I love the fondness he had for animating villains, as they are always more multidimensional than the damsel in distress. Some of my favorite pieces of his work have nothing to do with his animations though, I love the work he did on the actual rides at Disneyland in Anaheim. Specifically The Pirates of the Caribbean ride; he designed this painting that appears as a mural at the ride.


He was also responsible for most of the little bits of humor that make the journey through the Pirate Cove so much fun. This series of videos on Marc Davis is a more complete picture of the man than I can paint though.
 

Yayoi Kusama's Obliteration Room

Yayoi Kusama, who is now 84 years old, is an integral part of the Western world's art community. As noted in Wikepedia, "A precursor of the pop art, minimalist and feminist art movements, Kusama influenced contemporaries such as Andy Warhol and Claes Oldenburg.[1] Although largely forgotten after departing the New York art scene in the early 1970s, Kusama is now acknowledged as one of the most important living artists to come out of Japan, and an important voice of the avant-garde." She has obviously seen a lot in her time on this earth and has collaborated with a wide variety of people/organizations including Louis Vuitton, Marc Jacobs. In this exhibit at the Tate in London, she chose to collaborate with the general public.