This story could be told from many different perspectives. There could be the tale of a wealthy Austrian sugar baron, of the breakaway group of artists that constituted the Vienna Secession, of the grand theft of art by the Nazis in the War years, and the cover-up that followed. One could go further back in time and myth when a maiden was impregnated by a shower of gold. One could baldly report on the staggering value given to works of art by those who can afford to do so, and the role of art as an expression of the human condition, that priceless jewel.
Perhaps we should begin with the impregnation of Danae, daughter of Acrisius, by Zeus. Acrisius was told by the oracle that he would be killed at the Earth's end by his daughter's child. He shut up Danae in a bronze tower or chamber to prevent her from bearing a child, but Zeus transformed himself into a shower of gold that fell through the bronze ceiling, impregnating her. Danae and her child, the famed Perseus were cast into the sea by an angry Acrisius, enclosed in a wooden chest. The hero survived, went on to slay the Medusa, fly on Pegasus, marry Andromeda, and accidentally killed his grandfather in an athletic competition. Much art has been inspired by these events, as we shall see.
Let us accelerate now to the years after the Great War, the first one, which saw much destruction of European industry and property by all sides, notably the Germans. In 1916, the Quartermaster General of the Imperial Armies circulated an assessment of the damages French industry had suffered in the War, as a result of which, German/Austrian industrialists could hope to recoup gains after the war ended, by virtue of greater production. A relevant excerpt on the sugar industry reads,
Sugar Industry. The French refineries, with a few rare exceptions, have suffered greatly from the war. None of them has escaped requisitions. Everywhere their stocks of sugar, of treacle, their provisions of coal, coke and petroleum, rubber and leather belting, live stock, consisting of horses, oxen, etc., carts, harness; implements, narrow gauge railways, patent trucks and electric wiring have been removed, and in only a few shops, four or six, now working for the Germans, has indispensable equipment been left.
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War wastage has caused such damage to whole series of refineries that their reconstruction would be impossible. Even those that survive, in a more or less damaged condition, will long feel the disastrous effects of the war. The French sugar industry should disappear as a competitor on the world market during the next two or three years.
Article comments
1 - Duke De Mondo
Aaman, this was tremendous! tremendous, i say!
2 - Aaman
Thanks, we try:)
3 - Snarkattack
Bloody good piece, truly. It makes me want to pull out my art books and listen to German expressionist song cycles again, ah those wacky days at uni...
Some fellow lipgloss-addict co-conspirators informed me that this work was actually purchased by Lauder just before reading your article, and I have to say, I'm really glad that the dough I spent on lipgloss went towards funding this magnificent work, and thus my love for modernism and lipgloss are fused, if you'll permit me such a shallow comment.
4 - arspoetica
The problem with blogs and their unqualified commentators continues to be their strange notion of fact and truth -- "an octogenarian concentration camp survivor"? Where did you get this fabrication? Although Mrs. Altmann's husband was imprisoned at Dachau (for ransom), she has never claimed incarceration; so why do you?
5 - shnstl
I am very surprised that Mr. Lauder is allowing the painting to be made available to the American public. This gesture is very decent and will provide many viewers with the opportunity to see something spectacular.