Monuments Men and Women Foundation
A United States nonprofit dedicated to honoring the Monuments Men and Women and advancing the recovery, restitution, education, and preservation of cultural property displaced during and after World War II.
Last updated November 4, 2026
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Overview
The Monuments Men and Women Foundation is an American IRS-approved 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization focused on the legacy and unfinished work of the Monuments, Fine Arts, and Archives program, commonly known as the Monuments Men and Women. The wartime and immediate postwar program brought together art historians, museum professionals, archivists, architects, librarians, and other specialists who worked with Allied forces to protect cultural sites, locate endangered collections, document Nazi looting, and return cultural objects to their rightful owners. The foundation was established in 2007 by Robert M. Edsel, an author and researcher whose books brought wider public attention to the wartime cultural-restitution effort. Its public mission is commonly expressed through three connected priorities: restitution, education, and preservation. Restitution involves researching the histories and locations of artworks, archives, and other cultural objects displaced through Nazi persecution, occupation, and wartime theft. Education includes public programming, publications, exhibitions, historical research, and recognition of the individuals who carried out this work. Preservation refers both to protecting cultural heritage and to maintaining the documentary record needed to establish ownership and provenance. The organization has participated in or supported investigations involving Nazi-looted art and objects associated with the wartime seizure of cultural property. Its research contributed to the identification of two paintings by Bartolomé Esteban Murillo in the collection of Southern Methodist University's Meadows Museum as works stolen from the Rothschild family in Paris in 1941. The foundation also helped facilitate the 2016 return to Germany of a sixteenth-century Burgundian tapestry that had hung in Adolf Hitler's Berghof-related compound at the Eagle's Nest in Berchtesgaden. In another notable discovery, Edsel and foundation staff located photograph albums produced by the Nazi Einsatzstab Reichsleiter Rosenberg, the organization responsible for cataloguing and looting artworks in occupied Europe. The albums were later donated to the United States National Archives. The foundation's work also has a commemorative and civic dimension. It helped build support for congressional recognition of the Monuments Men and Women from the fourteen nations represented in the program. In 2014, President Barack Obama signed legislation awarding the group the Congressional Gold Medal, and the medal was formally presented in Washington, D.C., on October 22, 2015. The foundation was also among the recipients of a 2007 National Humanities Medal, presented by President George W. Bush, for efforts to recognize the wartime scholar-soldiers and their contribution to preserving cultural heritage. Popular awareness of the foundation increased following the 2014 release of The Monuments Men, a feature film directed by and starring George Clooney and loosely based on Edsel's book. Although the film dramatized and condensed historical events, it introduced the subject to a broad international audience. The foundation subsequently expanded its educational and institutional work. In 2021 it launched the Monuments Men and Women Museum Network, connecting museums and heritage institutions with direct links to members of the wartime program. In 2022 it introduced WWII Most Wanted Art playing cards featuring works that remain missing, using a popular educational format to encourage public interest in unresolved restitution cases. In 2024 it published the first English translation of Captain Rose Valland's memoir The Art Front: The Defense of French Collections 1939–1945, further extending access to the testimony of a prominent French Monuments Woman. The foundation is therefore best understood not as a commercial consumer brand but as a nonprofit heritage, research, education, and cultural-property organization. Its identity combines historical commemoration with continuing provenance research and advocacy for the lawful return of art and other cultural objects.
History
The Monuments Men and Women Foundation was announced in 2007 by Robert M. Edsel, an author and researcher who had become interested in the Allied effort to protect Europe's cultural heritage during World War II. The organization was created to honor the members of the Monuments, Fine Arts, and Archives program and to continue public and research work related to the art, archives, monuments, and other cultural property endangered by Nazi occupation and wartime destruction. The original Monuments Men and Women served in military and civilian capacities across Europe during and after the war. Their responsibilities included locating hidden collections, documenting looted artworks, protecting historic buildings, assisting museums and archives, and organizing the return of property to governments, institutions, and private owners. The foundation's modern mission extends this history through three broad activities: restitution, education, and preservation. Its restitution work involves provenance investigation and cooperation with museums, families, governments, scholars, and legal specialists. Its educational work includes books, public talks, museum collaborations, exhibitions, commemorative projects, and resources intended to make the history accessible beyond specialist art-historical circles. One of the foundation's early high-profile achievements was the discovery of photograph albums created by the Einsatzstab Reichsleiter Rosenberg, the Nazi agency that catalogued and confiscated cultural property in occupied Europe. The albums were intended for Adolf Hitler and other senior Nazi officials and documented works gathered for Nazi collections and the proposed Führermuseum. Two albums were announced in 2007 and donated to the National Archives, where they became important documentary evidence of systematic cultural plunder. The foundation also contributed to provenance research on two paintings by Bartolomé Esteban Murillo held by Southern Methodist University's Meadows Museum. Research into Nazi documentation, including Einsatzstab Reichsleiter Rosenberg records, established that the paintings depicting Saint Justa and Saint Rufina had been stolen from the Rothschild family in Paris in 1941. The case illustrated the foundation's approach: combining archival evidence with museum disclosure and accepted professional standards concerning Nazi-era provenance. Another major case concerned a sixteenth-century Burgundian tapestry that had been displayed at Hitler's Eagle's Nest near Berchtesgaden. After the tapestry was donated to the National World War II Museum in New Orleans, Edsel and foundation researchers traced its wartime history and identified its connection to Hitler's property. Working with the museum, the donor's family, the Bavarian National Museum, and advisers familiar with restitution issues, the foundation helped arrange the object's return to Germany in December 2016. The case also demonstrated that historical research can be relevant even when a modern private claimant does not assert ownership. The organization received a National Humanities Medal in 2007 for its efforts to recognize the contribution of the World War II cultural-preservation specialists. It later supported the campaign for federal recognition of the Monuments Men and Women. President Barack Obama signed the Congressional Gold Medal legislation in 2014, and the honor was awarded at a Washington ceremony on October 22, 2015. The foundation participated in the medal's development and worked with the United States Mint on its design. Four living members of the wartime program attended, including Harry Ettlinger and Motoko Fujishiro Huthwaite. The 2014 release of The Monuments Men, a film directed by and starring George Clooney, created a major popular-culture point of contact for the subject. The film was loosely based on Edsel's nonfiction work and fictionalized or compressed aspects of the historical story. It was distributed internationally, reportedly reaching audiences in more than one hundred countries, and a private screening was held for members of President Barack Obama's administration at the White House. The film increased public recognition of the foundation's subject while also making the organization an important source of historical context for the broader cultural conversation. In 2019 Anna Bottinelli, an art historian associated with the Courtauld Institute of Art and John Cabot University, was nominated as the foundation's president. In 2021 the foundation launched the Monuments Men and Women Museum Network, an international group of museums and cultural institutions with direct connections to individuals in the wartime program. Members have included institutions in the United States, Germany, the United Kingdom, and New Zealand. The network links local collections and institutional histories to the wider story of cultural rescue and restitution. The foundation has also developed accessible educational formats. In 2022 it announced WWII Most Wanted Art playing cards, each highlighting a work that remained missing, with the aim of turning public attention into potential leads. In 2024 it published an English translation of Captain Rose Valland's memoir The Art Front: The Defense of French Collections 1939–1945. Valland was a key French witness and participant in the protection and documentation of collections during the occupation, and the translation broadened access to an important first-person source. Today the foundation remains an active nonprofit heritage organization rather than a commercial brand. Its work combines commemoration of the original Monuments Men and Women with continuing provenance research, museum cooperation, educational publishing, and advocacy for the preservation and responsible restitution of cultural property displaced by conflict and persecution.
- 2024
Rose Valland memoir translated
[1]The foundation published the first English translation of Rose Valland's wartime memoir.
- 2022
WWII Most Wanted Art cards introduced
[1]The organization released an educational card project highlighting 52 artworks that remained missing.
- 2021
Museum Network launched
[1]The foundation launched an international network linking museums with direct connections to Monuments Men and Women.
- 2019
Anna Bottinelli nominated as president
[1]Anna Bottinelli was nominated to lead the foundation as president.
- 2016
Hitler-associated tapestry returned to Germany
[1]The foundation helped facilitate the return of a sixteenth-century tapestry connected to Hitler's Eagle's Nest to the Bavarian National Museum.
- 2015
Congressional Gold Medal presented
[1]The medal was presented at a Washington ceremony on October 22, 2015.
- 2014
Congressional Gold Medal legislation signed
[1]President Barack Obama signed legislation granting the Monuments Men and Women the Congressional Gold Medal.
- 2009
Murillo provenance findings
[1]Research helped establish the Nazi-looted provenance of two Murillo paintings held by the Meadows Museum.
- 2007
Foundation announced
[1]Robert M. Edsel announced the creation of the organization on June 6, the anniversary of D-Day, establishing a nonprofit dedicated to the legacy of the Monuments, Fine Arts, and Archives program.
- 2007
National Humanities Medal
[1]The foundation received a National Humanities Medal for recognizing the contribution of the World War II scholar-soldiers who protected cultural heritage.
Products and positioning
A nonprofit cultural-heritage organization positioned at the intersection of art restitution, historical research, public education, and preservation. It presents the Monuments Men and Women as an international community of cultural professionals and continues their mission by investigating displaced objects and promoting responsible stewardship and restitution.
Educational merchandise · 2022
WWII Most Wanted Art playing cards
A 52-card educational project introduced in 2022. Each card features a work of art that remained missing after wartime displacement or Nazi looting. The format is designed to make unresolved provenance cases understandable to a broad audience and to encourage the public to share information that might assist recovery and restitution efforts.
Historical publication · 2024
The Art Front: The Defense of French Collections 1939–1945
The first English translation of Captain Rose Valland's memoir, published by the foundation in 2024. Valland documented the protection, movement, and postwar recovery of French collections during the German occupation. The publication expands access to a significant first-person historical source concerning the Monuments Men and Women era.
Marketing campaigns
- 2022WWII Most Wanted Art
United States · International
The foundation used a deck of playing cards to present 52 artworks that were still missing, combining public engagement with information about unresolved wartime losses.
Outcome. The project created an accessible channel for public education and potential leads concerning missing cultural objects.
- 2021Monuments Men and Women Museum Network
United States · Europe · United Kingdom · Australia · New Zealand
The foundation created a network of museums and cultural institutions connected to at least one member of the wartime Monuments, Fine Arts, and Archives program. Participating institutions use their collections and institutional histories to interpret cultural rescue, preservation, and restitution.
Outcome. The initiative established an international platform for collaborative commemoration and education.
- 2014The Monuments Men public-awareness campaign
United States · International
The foundation supported public education surrounding the release of The Monuments Men, a feature film loosely based on Robert Edsel's nonfiction account of the wartime cultural-preservation program. The film introduced the subject to international audiences and incorporated the foundation's historical representatives into promotional activity.
Outcome. The film broadened popular awareness of the Monuments Men and Women and the foundation's restitution mission.
Brand decisions
2021
Create an international museum networkStrategyBackground
The foundation sought to connect institutions whose collections or histories were directly linked to members of the Monuments, Fine Arts, and Archives program.
Action taken
It launched the Monuments Men and Women Museum Network with participating institutions in North America, Europe, the United Kingdom, and Oceania.
Aftermath
The network strengthened institutional collaboration and provided a framework for shared interpretation of wartime cultural preservation.
2007
Adopt restitution, education, and preservation as core prioritiesStrategyBackground
The foundation was created to honor the wartime Monuments Men and Women while addressing continuing questions about Nazi-looted art and displaced cultural property.
Action taken
It organized its work around provenance research and restitution, public education, and preservation of the historical and documentary record.
Aftermath
These priorities continued to guide investigations, publications, museum partnerships, and commemorative initiatives.
Recent events
- 2024
English translation of Rose Valland memoir published[1]
Product launch · Other
The foundation published the first English translation of French Monuments Woman Captain Rose Valland's memoir, The Art Front: The Defense of French Collections 1939–1945.
- 2022
WWII Most Wanted Art playing cards announced[1]
Product launch · Campaign
The foundation introduced a deck featuring 52 missing works of art to promote public awareness and encourage information about unresolved wartime losses.
- 2021
Monuments Men and Women Museum Network launches[1]
Campaign
The foundation created an international network of museums and heritage institutions connected to members of the Monuments, Fine Arts, and Archives program.
- 2016
Tapestry associated with Hitler's Eagle's Nest returned to Germany[1]
Other
The foundation worked with the National World War II Museum and the object's holder to facilitate the return of a sixteenth-century Burgundian tapestry to the Bavarian National Museum.
- 2015
Monuments Men and Women receive Congressional Gold Medal[1]
Other
The medal was formally presented in Washington on October 22, 2015. Living program members Harry Ettlinger and Motoko Fujishiro Huthwaite attended alongside foundation representatives and congressional leaders.
- 2014
The Monuments Men film brings the foundation's subject to a global audience[1]
Campaign · Other
A feature film directed by and starring George Clooney, based loosely on Robert Edsel's book, was released internationally and helped popularize the history of the Monuments Men and Women.
- 2014
Congressional Gold Medal legislation is signed[1]
Other
President Barack Obama signed legislation awarding the Monuments Men and Women the Congressional Gold Medal, the United States' highest civilian honor.
- 2009
Murillo paintings identified as Nazi-looted works[1]
Other
Foundation research helped establish that Meadows Museum paintings of Saint Justa and Saint Rufina by Bartolomé Esteban Murillo had been stolen from the Rothschild family in Paris in 1941.
- 2007
Foundation is established to continue the Monuments Men legacy[1]
Other
Robert M. Edsel announced the creation of the foundation during a June 6 ceremony marking the anniversary of D-Day and honoring the wartime cultural-preservation program.
- 2007
Foundation receives National Humanities Medal[1]
Other
The organization was recognized for sustained efforts to commemorate and explain the contributions of the scholar-soldiers who protected cultural heritage during and after World War II.
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