ART LOST FOREVER – AN UNFATHOMABLE LOSS TO CIVILIZATION – Part 5

Works of art are a statement of and a commentary on the time, place and persons who created them and patronized them. They are the images of the civilization gone bye and help us to understand history. Although we may not realize it, art is a cultural statement that remains to inform and educate future generations of how life once was. This is what makes certain pieces of art more poignant and famous than others, when they come to symbolize a generation or period of time.

Though priceless and invaluable there have been occasions in history when they were not shown the respect they deserved and they were pillaged, plundered, stolen and destroyed. Thus either unknowingly or worse still, knowingly and with a vengeance of intolerance they have been destroyed and left gaping holes in the story of our civilization. So whether it was because of the World Wars or it was the plunder of Muslim fundamentalists of ISIS or Taliban, many precious works of art were lost forever. Accidents, fire, negligence and botched up restoration efforts too have contributed to the tragic loss of priceless artworks.

The wars have had a very detrimental impact on culture and civilization and art which remains an embodiment of both has suffered most and many epics have been lost forever. The invading armies were either ignorant of their true value or were so afraid of their potential to revive a culture that they purposely destroyed them.

When properly taken care of, works of art can persist through millenniums that tell the stories of the times passed to future generations. To preserve cultural heritage from getting destroyed, art galleries and museums have installed a set of rules designed to protect the artworks from thieves, vandals, and accidents. Artworks are often protected by safety ropes that keep the visitors at a reasonable distance. Some pieces are placed inside bulletproof glass boxes.

But, since art venues are trying to keep the sense of accessibility, many works are showcased without these protective items. Instead, they are guarded by a series of guidelines that the visitors must obey. For instance, viewers are often asked to leave their belongings (such as briefcases and umbrellas) at the front desk. Since children are prone to accidents of all kinds, museums demand that they must be accompanied by adults. Food and drinks are not allowed and touching the pieces is strictly forbidden.

There's a reason why museums and galleries ask people not to touch works on display. Human skin carries natural oils and acids that are harmful to artworks. A single touch can initiate permanent changes, darken the paint or corrode metal. But despite these rules, accidents happen and artworks get shattered, punched through or completely destroyed.

In a 5 part series I will be presenting 50 priceless and invaluable works of art which we will never be able to see again because they have been lost forever and this is the fifth and the last series of 10 such masterpieces:


41. Five Dancing Women - Edgar Degas

Five Dancing Women is a pastel painting by Edgar Degas that features the subject for which he is best known. More than half of his works feature dancers and they were the subject that he most identified with. Done sometime in the late 19th century, this pastel piece of art depicts five beautiful ballerinas. The dancers appear on stage mid-performance. Degas is considered by many to be an impressionist despite the fact that he thought himself to be much more of a realist.

This piece was part of the collection of Baron Mor Lipot Herzog who had one of the greatest art collections in all of Europe and was a jew. It was the largest in Hungary and featured more than 2,500 works of art. Baron Mor Lipot Herzog died in 1934 and the collection then went to his widow who died in 1940. After that the art collection passed down to his three children, Andras, Istevan and Erzsebet.

In 1944, Hungary an ally of Nazi Germany not only began forcing all Jews to register their art but also began sending them to Nazi death camps. The Herzog family attempted to save their art by hiding in the basement of one of their factories, but it was eventually discovered. Andras was sent to a work camp where he later died, but his daughters did manage to escape.

Today a significant portion of the Herzog collection is on display in various museums throughout Hungary. The family has filed suits to try and get the art back but to no avail. There has also been no information on what happened to this Degas work but it has not appeared in any museums in Hungary. The art was divided soon after it was found with some of the art staying in Hungary and some being sent to Germany.

42. A Harlot’s progress - William Hogarth

This encompasses a series of 6 works by W. Hogarth and in these 6 plates he had depicted the rise and fall of a prostitute. Hogarth, an English painter is seen as the father of ‘satirical caricatures’. The original paintings depict the story of a young lady who, finding herself in London gets into prostitution and dies aged 23. We see her selling her body for money, getting arrested for it, succumbing to poverty and eventually dying of syphilis. Her disgrace doesn't end there though. In the final plate her coffin is used as a tavern bar, ironically enough in the presence of other whores and whoremongers bringing the story to a full circle. These plates were also gutted in a fire, but due to the massive number of copies sold, they managed to remain for about 30 years.

A Harlot's Progress (also known as The Harlot's Progress) is a series of six paintings (1731) and engravings (1732) shows the story of a young woman, M. (Moll or Mary) Hackabout, who arrives in London from the country and becomes a prostitute.

The first of Hogarth’s ‘Modern Moral Subjects’, he intended the pictures to stand without accompanying text. The series had 1,240 subscribers and was so popular that pirated versions were quickly issued. A Male version of this morality is found in another series called 'the Rake's progress' (1735) where a man gradually loses all his money on wine, women and gambling in a series of 8 successive paintings. He is finally in a mental asylum in the last painting. Marriage-a-la-mode (1745) is a similar riches to rags story told in 6 pictures. The 'Four Stages of Cruelty' (1751) is the most gruesome series of 4 pictures by this artist in which he shows how a young boy tortures animals, becomes a criminal as an adult and eventually hung at the gallows.

43. Philosophy - ceiling panel for the Great Hall of Vienna University (1899 - 1907) - Gustav Klimt

Upon presenting his paintings commissioned by University of Vienna entitled Philosophy,Medicine and Jurisprudence, Klimt came under attack for ‘pornography’ and ‘perverted excess’ in the paintings. In the end, none of the paintings would go on display in the university. In the very very end, in May 1945 all three paintings were destroyed by retreating SS forces. In1911 Medicine and Jurisprudence were bought by Klimt’s friend and fellow artist, Koloman Moser. Medicine eventually came into the possession of a Jewish family, and in 1938 the painting was seized by Germany. In 1943, after a final exhibition, they were moved to Schloss Immendorf, a castle in Lower Austria, for protection. In May 1945 the paintings were destroyed as retreating German SS forces set fire to the castle to prevent it falling into enemy hands. All that remains now are preparatory sketches and a few photographs. Only one photograph remains of the complete painting of Medicine, taken just before it was destroyed.

Philosophy was the first of the three pictures presented to the Austrian Government at the seventh Vienna Secession exhibition in March 1900. It had been awarded a gold medal at the World Exhibition in Paris, but was attacked by many art critics in his own country. Klimt described the painting as follows: "On the left a group of figures, the beginning of life, fruition, decay. On the right, the globe as mystery. Emerging below, a figure of light: knowledge". Critics were disturbed by its depiction of men and women drifting in an aimless trance. The original proposal for the theme of the painting was "The Victory of Light over Darkness", but what Klimt presented instead was a dreamlike mass of humanity, referring neither to optimism nor rationalism, but to a "viscous void".

Medicine was the second painting, presented in March 1901 at the tenth Secession Exhibition. It featured a column of semi-nude figures on the right hand side of the painting, representing the river of life. Beside it was a young nude female who floated in space, with a newborn infant at her feet, representing life. A skeleton represented death in the river of life. The only link between the floating woman and the river of bodies is two arms, the woman's and a man's as seen from behind. At the bottom of the painting Hygieia tood with the Aesculapian snake around her arm and the cup of Lethe in her hand, turning her back to mankind. Klimt conveyed an ambiguous unity of life and death, with nothing to celebrate the role of medicine or the science of healing.

Jurisprudence, too, is laden with anxiety: a condemned man is depicted surrounded by three female furies and a sea monster, while in the background, the three goddesses of Truth, Justice, and Law look on.

44. An Angel with Titus Features - Rembrandt van Rijn

Rembrandt van Rijn or simply Rembrandt as he has become known today was active as a painter from 1620 until his death in 1669. He was a printer and a painter, showing an early skill for the craft. He was able to open his own studio at a very young age and was known to have created hundreds of paintings and etchings throughout his lifetime. He also had several periods where he explored different techniques and themes, but his work was always recognized for the skill and the emotion behind them.

It was in his later years that more and more biblical themes appeared in his works and it might have been around that time that he completed this piece. This elegant but soft piece evokes very strong emotions and portrays the skill that Rembrandt was known for. There is very little known about this piece even before World War II however. This piece is cataloged by the Art Loss Register as missing due to the Nazi invasion of France.

This artwork was kept in chateau in the French countryside. There it was found by the Nazis and taken to Paris sometimes in 1943. It is believed then that this piece was set aside to become part of Hitler’s museum along with more than 300 other pieces of art that Hitler found to be worthy. It is well known that Hitler had great respect for the old masters and therefore would have wanted a Rembrandt in his museum. Even though 162 of the pieces that were slated for Hitler’s museum were recovered, there has been no sign of many of the others.

45. Temples of Palmyra

In May 2015, the terrorist group ISIS captured Palmyra, an ancient city in Syria that holds many archaeological ruins. Over the next eight months, ISIS plundered and destroyed a number of archaeological sites, including ancient temples dedicated to the gods Baalshamin and Bel

The Temple of Baalshamin was an ancient temple in the city of Palmyra, Syria, dedicated to the Canaanite sky deity Baalshamin. The temple's earliest phase dates to the late 2nd century BC; its altar was built in 115 AD, and the temple was substantially rebuilt in 131 AD.

The temples date back around 2,000 years and featured several massive, finely decorated columns. At the time the temples were in use, Palmyra was under Roman control. The city was becoming a hub for trade, bringing the city great wealth. A hybrid of eastern and western design, this temple showcased the cultural diversity and great wealth of Palmyra.

The temple, consecrated to the Mesopotamian god Bel, worshipped at Palmyra in triad with the lunar god Aglibol and the sun god Yarhibol, formed the center of religious life in Palmyra and was dedicated in 32 AD, the temple was destroyed by ISIS.

46. A Hunting Trip - Józef Brandt

This historic painter Józef Brandt, who spent a large part of his life in Munich, became famous for his depictions of hunting, rows, battles and Kozak-Tatar fights, as well as the 17th-century Swedish wars. Józef Brandt also had a huge influence on later Polish painting, as well as literature (notably the Trilogy of Sienkiewwicz. His painting entitled A Hunting Trip was kept at the Silesian Museum in Katowice until the Second World War. Following the invasion of the German army, the museum's collection was transported to the Landesmuseum in Bytom. Many works were either destroyed or stolen during transport. Towards the end of the war, the cultural heritage stored in Bytom was transferred to local monasteries and palaces. Their further fate remains unknown.

The painter was acclaimed for his military art. Throughout the second half of the 19th century, he was the leader of a Polish artistic colony in Munich. He was born in 1841 in Szczebrzeszyn, and died in 1915 in Radom. His other famous paintings are Chodkiewicz in the Battle of Khotyn and Return from Vienna – Rolling Stock. Brandt reached his highest artistic form in the 1870s and 1880s. After the presentation of Battle of Vienna during the World’s Fair in 1873 he was awarded Order of Franz Joseph. In 1875 he was designated to be a member of Academy of Fine Arts in Berlin, and in 1878 he got a honorary professorship in the Bavarian Academy.

47. Portrait of a Young Woman - Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio

This oil on canvas painting is relatively small at only 23 by 14 inches. It was part of the Kaiser-Friedrich Museum prior to the war. Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio was known for creating paintings that have a realistic observation of the people within them. He captures both photo realistic representations of people but also the depth of their emotional state. His dramatic use of lighting in his paintings would greatly influence the Baroque paintings that would follow him.

Portrait of a Young Woman is no different from the rest of his stunning works. It features a beautiful young woman, nicely dressed and touching some flowers at her chest. The precision in her facial expression truly captured the personality of the subject matter. It has not been seen since 1945.
The painting belonged to the Kaiser-Friedrich Museum (now the Gemaldegalerie) in Berlin but was moved to the Berlin-Friedrichshain Flak tower repository. The painting was moved because the tower had reinforced concrete structures which were believed to be anti-aircraft and therefore a perfect place to protect the priceless artwork.

As of May 1945 the painting was believed to be in the tower but when the Soviets entered Berlin they found it difficult to keep a tight guard on the paintings still stored within the tower. That month a fire started within the tower that spread throughout the entire repository. It is believed that all of the art was destroyed but in 2011, a painting that was believed to be stored in the tower turned up for auction in New York. This leads some to believe that other paintings might have been saved.

48. Portrait of Trude Steiner - Gustav Klimt

This portrait by Gustav Klimt was of the daughter of Jenny Steiner a Viennese collector. Gustav Klimt was a popular painter in Vienna who was very selective about who he chose to paint. With no end to the commissions coming to his door he could pick the portraits that most appealed to him. In most cases he opted to paint women as they were his favorite subject. It was said that he would paint day and night in his home wearing nothing other than sandals and a robe.

Gustav Klimt was very secretive about his methods and how he painted. His golden period was during the early 20th century and it was then that he not only used gold in his paintings but that he was at the height of his popularity as a painter. He died in 1918 after suffering a stroke due to the pneumonia epidemic of the time.

The Portrait of Trude Steiner was one of the commissioned paintings that Gustav Klimt did. It is a simple piece that gives a softer and less erotic feel than some of Gustav Klimt’s other works. It was commissioned around 1900 which was before Gustav’s golden period and before he became a very prominent painter throughout Vienna.

The painting was lost when Jenny Steiner fled Austria with her daughters in 1938, shortly after the Nazi invasion of Vienna. The painting was taken by the Nazis that same year under the pretense of being part of a collection to pay the taxes. It was sold at auction around April of 1941 and there has been no information on the portrait since then.

49. General Honjō's Samurai Sword - Goro Nyudoo Masamune

Japan’s most famous swordsmith, Goro Nyudoo Masamune made this quasi-legendary katana – said to be perhaps the finest sword ever made – in the early 14th century. It was wielded in combat over the course of centuries, getting its name from a 17th-century owner, General Honjō Shigenaga. The story goes that another samurai attacked Honjō with this sword and split his helmet in two with a single blow, but Honjō won the fight and took the sword as his prize. It was worn by the Tokugawa shoguns and declared a national treasure of Japan in 1939. It disappeared, along with a collection of 15 prized swords, in January 1946, when these blades were taken by someone who appeared to be an American allied officer. None has been recovered.

Swordsmith Gorō Nyūdō Masamune (lived A.D. 1264 to 1343) is considered by many to be the greatest sword maker in Japanese history. This sword is named after one of its owners, Honjo Shigenaga, who took it as a prize after a 16th-century battle. The sword came into the possession of Tokugawa Ieyasu, a leader who became the first shogun of Japan, after winning a series of wars in the 16th century.

The sword would be passed down through the Tokugawa family until the end of World War II, when, during the American occupation of Japan, the sword had to be turned over to American authorities who were concerned that this sword, and others like it, could be used as weapons against the Americans. The sword never re-appeared again. It's possible that American soldiers destroyed the sword, along with other captured Japanese weapons; or they may have brought the sword to America, meaning it could be re-discovered.

The last record of this sword’s whereabouts was during 1862, when it was given by Tokugawa Ishige to the imperial family to mark his marriage to Princess Kazunomiya. However, that this is the first Masamune sword that has been identified in roughly 150 years.

50. The Just Judges - Hubert and Jan van Eyck

The "Just Judges" is a panel that is part of the Ghent Altarpiece, a 15th-century work of art painted by Hubert and Jan van Eyck that is located in the Saint Bavo Cathedral in Ghent, Belgium. The panel shows a number of characters on horseback, their identity uncertain. Philip the Good, who was Duke of Burgundy at the time the altarpiece was created, is likely one of the characters on horseback. The panel was stolen in 1934 and has never been found.

The panel was removed from the frame, apparently with care, leaving the other panels undamaged. In the empty space was left a note, written in French, with the words, "Taken from Germany by the Treaty of Versaile", a reference to the fact that the altarpiece, having been removed to Berlin by German forces during World Wat I, had to be returned in accordance with Article 247 of the Treaty of Versailles. On 30 April, the Bishop of Ghent received a ransom demand for one million Belgian francs, to which the Belgian minister refused to agree. A second letter was delivered in May. The Belgian government then commenced negotiations with the thief arguing that since the lost panel was a national treasure, the diocese's ownership interest was subordinate to that of the nation. Correspondence continued through October between the thief and the government, with the exchange of at least 11 letters. In an act of good faith the ransomer returned one of the panel's two parts (a grisaille painting of St John the Baptist).

However, despite the passage of time, new tips continue to come in and the case file is still active with the attorney general's office still updating the 2,000-page file, wrote art historian Noah Charney in an article published in the Guardian in 2013. Before the Just Judges was stolen in 1934, there were numerous other attempts to steal it and other parts of the Ghent Altarpiece.

With this I conclude the five part series of lost treasures of the world of art. Whether it was a deliberate act of theft or a natural calamity like earthquake, floods, or accidents like fire, shipwreck, plane crash or pure negligence of the connoisseurs like touching, poking or destroying inadvertently or lack of tolerance towards art, whatever may be the reason, but loss of a priceless work of art is an incalculable toss to our culture and heritage. I felt it was best to spread this message through the social media so that those who also feel similarly can simply spread the word by passing on the Facebook and WhatsApp messages to their friends and family. We must always remember that this is our treasure, we have inherited it and it is our responsibility to pass it on to the next generation. 

Developing a taste for art brightens up our lives in more ways than one. Visits to museums and galleries, reading books and watching documentaries on Art History, discussing with those who know all together make you more and more an art connoisseur. And once you start enjoying Art it becomes your responsibility to protect it so that others too can enjoy!