New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1918-12-08
By ROYAL Cortissoz

the week is that which comes in dis
patches from abroad. stating that GER
tain treasures stolen from France bv
tne Germans are once more in the
| possession of their rightful owner.
hardly any details are given We are
told merely of works by La Tour
curiously described in the cable as "a
famous etcher"-and of paintings by
| Vatican. But this is clue enough to
what we may believe has really hap
pcned. 1t means that st. Quentin has
aot back the Incompatible pastels Of
Maurice Quentin de La Tour, the most
famous of her artists in the egh-
teenth century. He was among the
first of the court portrait painters of
that period, patronized by the Pom
padour, all the beauties of her day
and scores of the galants. The town
of his birth, as is the way in France,
made a positive cult of him and had
glorious collection of his produc-
tions. The very fragility of the me-
dunn he employed has been a source
of anxiety to connoisseurs the world
over since it was known that the Ger
mans had seized the collection at st.
Quentin. The bloom Of pastel is so
easily ruined. But there is reason to
hope that the La Tours have come
back to their old home intact. The
Watteaus also arc souvenirs OF g
peculiarly intimate character. They
are the paintings which were pre-
served at Valenciennes, where he was
born. 1t is this fact which points to
the recovery of far more than the dis
patches indicate.
When the Germans ovcrran this part
of France they formed at Valenciennes
what they called Musee de Guerre,
transporting to it the principal paint
ings, sculptures. tapestries and other
objects of art found by them in the
museums and churches of Lille, Douai,
Cambria, Laon, La Fore and other
places. To these they added works
/ stolen from private collections. The
La Tours, by the way, appear to have
heen taken from St. Quentin to Maui
4 bcuge, along with rare books and man
uscripts, but it was at Nalenciennes
! was concentrated. The illustrated cat
, aloguc prepared by the brigands runs
to more than six hundred numbers AS
regards the paintings alone. The Ca
zette des Beaux-Arts' reports dclect-
able feature of this book. 1t consists
of long list of pictures in which the
compilers give themselves the pc
dantic luxury" of changing the attribu-
tons, Not content with robbng the
French. these gentry assumed to
know more about the works of art in
question than the French knew them
selves. Their catalogue bears the title
of sWorl-c of Art CnNnI tho Orru
pied Regions of Northern France" and
we may safely count upon the propa-
gandists who want soft piece tor
/ Germany to make great play with that
word Saved" The Germans them
selves have already begun to talk about
their good intentions. and are doubt
less pointing with pride" to the haste
with which they carried back paint
ings lifted from King Albert's palace.
! But we have no reason for imagining
| that anything save defeat has driven
them to these acts of PREPARATION, and
it is important to note that nothing
was given back" at Valenciennes. The
town was retakeD, and France owes
the Germans no thanks for what they
recovered there in the aforesaid Musec
de Guerre. The cable we have men
toned above says that 'the Germans
have begun restitutions.' The term
is Justly applied to the return of gold
stolen from the Russians, but it should
not be linked to the art treasures at
Valenciennes or to those found in other
towns recaptured by the Allies. If the
Germans had won they would have
carried every last one Of them to
! Berlin.
The reader who fancies that we are
unduly severe toward the Hun has only
to follow the Allies, as we have all
along endeavored to follow them,
! across the scene Of Hunnish destruc-
ton and pillage. In one. article alone
which "The Gazette" prints in a re-
cent "chronique" there is evidence
enough of what the good" German can
do. The humiliation Of architecture
and other monum ents at Cambria is
sketched--and the signs of theft. In
the ruined cathedral only the frames
remain Of the great o1'isoilles painted
after Rubens by Geeraerts and Sau-
wage. In the museum among the plct-
ures left behind when the best were
sent to Valenciennes, there are some
destroyed by the knife or the bayonct
Carriers statue ale Miroir" has com
pletely disappeared. At Lille, where
the renowned "Wax Head" was sue
cessfully hidden, two German officers
stole ancient gold coins and jewels
with some miniatures equally precious
And SO the dreary record goes. ne
finishing touch is given to it in the
placard found at the foot of pillar In
st. Quentin: "Achtung! cingemauerte
Sprengstoffe!"- warning against ex
plosives concealed in the masonry. AS
the Allies have taken over the terri
tories occupied by the Hun he has beer
compelled to reveal the mines he hat
hidden. Where these have been laid II
roads, with a view to impeding pursuit
or for similar purely military purposes
one can understand the stratagem a.
human But the mines set in the pll
lars of churches already ruined these
tell another story, which is OF lnsen
safe malice, pure and simple.
Let US not talk Of "restitution' a
France and Belgium take under thel
care once more the works Of art which
the Hun failed to steal or destroy oni.
because Foch was too quick for him
Burglars who are caught with the swa'
Get no praise from the police for no
having hidden it in time. If any com
plintants are to be paid to the Hun 70
leaving his loot behind, we would d.
we'll to delegate the paying Of them t
those tacit apologists who fall in II
at the idea of treating him with wha
they call "harshness. And such thinl.
yelled propaganda will in due cours
defeat itself.
The statue of Edwin Booth recent.
|. had