Book Talk – Art Restoration under the Nazi Regime, by Dr Morwenna Blewett

Revelation and concealment are the two tasks performed most by restorers – both today and historically. Removing dirt and non-original materials to uncover the true intention of the maker but also the bare facts of condition, is standard procedure. Following this process of revelation, restorers often compensate for damage by retouching areas to conceal loss and to restore visual unity to the whole.

During the National Socialist period (1933-45), restorers twisted their familiarity with the practice of revelation and concealment to serve other ends. They engaged in ideological ‘revelation’ through the physical preservation of looted works of art and also helped to conceal the fact that many of these works had been stolen from victims of the regime. They also sought to conceal their involvement with criminal objectives through the minimisation of their roles or the erasure of their status under the regime. Such acts of revelation and concealment, both physical and intellectual, were fully documented both intentionally and unintentionally. Through their work, restorers conspired with the Nazi regime to aid and abet criminal acts. Their rewards were rich. But their reputations have largely remained unsullied.

In this talk, Dr Morwenna Blewett will discuss her new book, the first in-depth study of the restoration and conservation field in the National Socialist era. She will discuss the completely new perspective on the physical manipulation of fine, applied arts and other cultural property, under the regime from 1933 to post war in 1948 her book uncovers.

She will also discuss the motivations behind the participation of the conservation and restoration profession in this network of profit, crime, persecution and ideological broadcast.

Dr Morwenna Blewett completed her BA in the history of art and then postgraduate diploma in easel painting conservation at the Courtauld Institute of Art. She completed a law degree at University of Northumbria, being awarded the Bond Dickinson Prize. She held research fellowships at Worcester Art Museum and Harvard University Art Museums, and then posts at the National Gallery, London and National Galleries of Scotland. She taught paintings conservation at the Hamilton Kerr Institute, Cambridge University. She held a research fellowship at Worcester College, University of Oxford, in conservation history. Her doctorate was completed at Birkbeck under Nikolas Wachsmann. She is an accredited investigator of criminal offences and misconduct commissioned by police officers and she works in the regulatory field.

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