The New York herald., 1921-04-11
Art Treasures Out Of Hiding.

According to a recent announce
ment OF the French Ministry of Fine
Arts all of the objects OF art that
were removed from Paris during the
wur have been restored TO their for
mer places In the national galleries
and museums. That this work OF
restoration was very considerable
task and that 1t required many
months Of hard labor viii be under
stood when IL is said that the arti-
cles handled filled 400 large cases and
included more than $4,000 pieces.
Frances chief war loss in art
treasures occurred in the small cities
of the northwest. whose people had
not sufficient time 60 remove the val
rlables from their galleries and mu-
seums at the time of the German
invasion. Valenciennes, Lille, ST.
Quentin, la Fei're and Maubeuge
were all communities OF unusual
interest to students Of French art.
At St Quentin was the most com
plete collection of the works Of
it's distinguished son, DE La Tour,
the famous pastelist; at valenciennes
ANTOINE, LOUIS and FRANCOIS WAT
rEAU and HARPIGNIEs were born, and
all left to their birthplace some of
their best works. These treasures as
well as most other objects of artistic
value which came into the possession
of the Germans were collected first
at yalencicnnes and aftcrWhrd re-
moved to the city of Brussels. Those
works which were not destroyed or
hopelessly damaged are now in the
possession of France and will be re-
stored to the sites from which they
were taken as soon hs the towns are
able to protect them.
Almost with the outbreak of the
war the removal of the most valued
contents of the Paris public build
ings began. Not only were the paint
ings and statuary taken from the
Louvre and Luxembourg galleries.
ana the principal objects Of historical
interest from the Cluny Museum, but
the sculptures, paintings and old
stained glass windows were taken
from tile Oldest churches, In particu-
lar from the Sainte Chapelle and
Notre Dame. All of this work was
done In accordance with well
planned system and with such expe-
iition and absence of confusion that
the Parisians themselves knew little
about the destination of their national
treasures or how they were trans
ferred to places Of concealment.
IL Is now known that these articles
and also such portable valuables as
could be collected in the invaded re-
gion of northwestern France were
sent to eighteen storage depots In the
interior OF the republic. Here they
we're so carefully protected and
guarded. and with such degree of
secrecy. that the people in the towns
where these depots were situated had
no knowledge of the treasures they
were harboring. Fifteen OF these
storage houses have been emptied.
The remaining three depots contnin
the treasures rescued from the in
vaded districts, mostly from Verdun
and Rheims These will he restored
as soon as the buildings from which
they were taken have been put in
condition to receive them.
The world can congratulate itself
that these art treasures were 50
we'll cared for and that they were
restored in their entirety and With
out any serious damage. The men
who had charge of the job showed
foresight in their preparation against
the exigencies of war and skill In the
execution Of plans requiring great
expedition and intelligent manage
ment.