MATRIX:MIDLAND

WED, MAY 14, 2025 / 6:30 PM
Free to Attend, Tickets Required

Hailed by the Wall Street Journal as “an utterly extraordinary –- and extraordinarily important -- book” (WSJ, July 9, 2022), this new edition of James Rorimer’s classic work presents Lou’s father’s first-hand account of his service as a monuments officer in Europe during Word War II. James was born in Cleveland. After college at Harvard, he joined the Medieval Department of the Metropolitan Museum in New York, where he was instrumental in completion of The Cloisters in 1938. In 1943, at age 38, he volunteered to join the Army, where he helped recover works of art the Nazis had stolen, as depicted in the 2014 movie, The Monuments Men. His book about his experience was originally published in 1950. He later became Director of the Metropolitan.

Lou, a retired partner with Jones Day in Cleveland, undertook to republish his father’s book after appearance of the movie. He was joined as co-author by his sister, Anne Rorimer, an art historian. They had the good fortune to connect with Rizzoli Electa. In collaboration with Rizzoli, they brought their father’s classic work back to life, in a significantly enhanced edition, with additional photos, new maps and extensive explanatory material.

The result was this “extraordinary book.” Lou will discuss his father’s career as a monuments officer in France and Germany, the new issue of his book, and recent developments in the field, such as the Army’s new team of monuments officers and the November 2024 public auction of a well-known painting by Nicolas Largillière rescued by Rorimer and his team from the Nazis’ grasp.