Enfilade

The leader of the Monuments Men, Capt. James Rorimer, and three soldiers after the rescue of artworks from Neuschwanstein Castle.

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As noted last month by Nina Siegal in The New York Times:

Nina Siegal, “For Sale: A Painting the Monuments Men Rescued from the Nazis,” The New York Times (25 October 2024). The portrait by a French court painter is one of three displayed in a photo that came to depict the efforts of a U.S. Army unit that tracked legions of looted art.

Nicolas de Largillièrre (1656-1746), Portrait of a Woman Half-Length, oil on canvas, 81 × 65 cm. To be sold at Christie’s Paris, 21 November 2024 (Sale #23018, Lot 27), estimate: €50,000–80,000.

It appears, memorably, in a snapshot taken in May 1945 of American soldiers on the steps of Neuschwanstein Castle in Bavaria—a painted portrait of a woman in a shimmering gown with porcelain skin and curly silver hair. The portrait and two other old master paintings are held by American soldiers in combat fatigues who have just liberated them from a Nazi storehouse of looted art.

The G.I.s were helping the Monuments Men, a special U.S. Army unit that tracked down millions of works of art stolen by the Germans during World War II. The image became a resonant depiction of the unit’s role in undoing Nazi evil and restoring part of European heritage to its rightful place.

Now the portrait, by the French court painter Nicolas de Largillièrre from the era of Louis XIV, is to be auctioned next month at Christie’s. . .

The full article is available here»

Note (added 22 November 2024) — The portrait sold for €529,200 (ten times more than its low estimate).