Join award-winning journalist, author, and professor 
Michelle Young
 
for the launch of 
The Art Spy
, a riveting and stylish saga set in Paris during World War II featuring the brave actions of Jeu de Paume curator Rose Valland and chronicling how she infiltrated the Nazi leadership to save the cultural legacy of the West.
 
Michelle will be in conversation with 
Nannette Maciejunes
, Executive Director Emerita of the Columbus Museum of Art.
Registration for this free event is required. You can pre-purchase
 
The Art Spy
 
during registration. Young’s book will also be available at the event.
BEXLEY PUBLIC LIBRARY is Gramercy’s Community Partner for this program.
On August 25, 1944, Rose Valland, a woman of quiet daring, found herself in a desperate position. From the windows of her beloved Jeu de Paume museum, where she had worked and ultimately spied, she could see the battle to liberate Paris thundering around her. The Jeu de Paume, co-opted by Nazi leadership, was now the Germans’ final line of defense. Would the museum curator be killed before she could tell the truth—a story that would mean nothing less than saving humanity’s cultural inheritance?
Based on troves of previously undiscovered documents, 
The Art Spy
 chronicles the brave actions of the key Resistance spy in the heart of the Nazi’s art looting headquarters in the French capital. A veritable female Monuments Man, Valland has, until now, been written out of the annals, despite bearing witness to history’s largest art theft. While Hitler was amassing stolen art for his future Führermuseum, Valland, his undercover adversary, secretly worked to stop him.
At every stage of World War II, Valland was front and center. She came face to face with Reichsmarschall Hermann Göring, passed crucial information to the Resistance network, put herself deliberately in harm’s way to protect the museum and her staff, and faced death during the last hours of Liberation Day. She also singlehandedly provided information to stop the last train of looted artworks—bearing paintings by Picasso, Monet, Cezanne, Gauguin, Braque, Degas, Modigliani, and Toulouse-Lautrec—from leaving France.
Vivid and atmospheric, 
The Art Spy
 moves from the glittering days of pre-War Paris, home to geniuses of modern culture, including Picasso, Josephine Baker, Coco Chanel, Le Corbusier, and Frida Kahlo, through the tension-riddled cities and resorts of Europe on the eve of war, to the harrowing years of the Nazi occupation of France when brave people such as Valland risked everything to fight monstrous evil.
In the spirit of 
Hidden Figures
, with the sweeping narrative of 
The Rape of Europa
 
and the depth of The Resistance Quartet,
 
The Art Spy
 is an extraordinary tale of a female hero whose courage and tenacity in a time of violence and terror is an inspiration for us all.
Michelle Young
 
is an award-winning journalist, author, and professor whose writing on looted and lost art has appeared in 
Hyperallergic
, 
The Forward
, and 
The Wilson Quarterly
. She is a graduate of Harvard College in the History of Art and Architecture and holds a master’s degree from Columbia University’s Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation, where she is a Professor of Architecture. She is the founder of the publication 
Untapped New York. 
She divides her time between New York City and Paris.
Nannette Maciejunes
 is Executive Director Emerita of the Columbus Museum of Art (CMA) after serving as Executive Director and CEO for 20 years. Prior to that, she worked as a curator for two decades, culminating in her tenure as CMA’s Chief Curator. Her arts scholarship and passion for making the museum accessible and welcoming to all stood at the forefront of her tenure as director, along with organizing major exhibitions, advocating for public art funding, and innovating educational programming. Nannette alsospearheaded Art Matters, the largest and most successful endowment and capital campaign in CMA’s history, supporting the Museum’s transformative renovation, expansion, and commitment to courageous imagination. An Ohio native, Nannette received her B.A. from Denison University and did her graduate work in the History of Art at Ohio State University. She’s also a graduate of both Stanford’s Executive Program for Nonprofit Leaders and the Getty’s Leadership Institute for Museum Management. In 2018, Nannette was appointed Adjunct Assistant Professor in Ohio State’s Arts Administration, Education and Policy Program.
Information Source: Gramercy Books | eventbrite

Franklin County

United States

Columbus

Searching for information and tickets regarding Author Talk Features Extraordinary Story About WWII Paris Art Curator! | Bexley Public Library taking place in Columbus on May 29, 2025 (UTC-4)? Trip.com has you covered. Check the dates, itineraries, and other information about Author Talk Features Extraordinary Story About WWII Paris Art Curator! | Bexley Public Library now! Trip.com has also prepared more similar exciting activities and discounted flight and hotel packages.

Author Talk Features Extraordinary Story About WWII Paris Art Curator! | Bexley Public Library: Tickets, Dates & Itineraries | Trip.com

Author Talk Features Extraordinary Story About WWII Paris Art Curator! | Bexley Public Library

Author Talk Features Extraordinary Story About WWII Paris Art Curator! | Trip.com

null | Trip.com

Spread the word! Share your result with friends and discover their opinions!

Hilton Columbus/Polaris

Recommended Products for Author Talk Features Extraordinary Story About WWII Paris Art Curator! | Bexley Public Library

Time:	May 29, 2025 (UTC-4) ENDED
Location:	Bexley Public Library

Author Talk Features Extraordinary Story About WWII Paris Art Curator! | Bexley Public Library

Details

Vote

Are you interested in Author Talk Features Extraordinary Story About WWII Paris Art Curator!?

Recommended Products for Author Talk Features Extraordinary Story About WWII Paris Art Curator! | Bexley Public Library

Hilton Columbus/Polaris

Author Talk Features Extraordinary Story About WWII Paris Art Curator! | Bexley Public Library

Details

Vote

Are you interested in Author Talk Features Extraordinary Story About WWII Paris Art Curator!?

Recommended Products for Author Talk Features Extraordinary Story About WWII Paris Art Curator! | Bexley Public Library

Hilton Columbus/Polaris

More contents about Columbus