Richard M. Barancik, Architect, Artist, The Last of the Monuments Men of WWII Died at Age 98

[appalachiablue]

Link to tweet

- 'Richard Barancik (1924–2023), last of the Monuments Men of WWII,' By Eric San Juan, July 24, 2023, Legacy.

Richard Barancik was the last surviving member of the Monuments Men, a group of around 400 who worked to help protect, preserve, & return cultural items, art, and other significant artifacts affected by or stolen during World War II. Died: July 14, 2023 (Who else died on July 14?) Details of death: Died in Chicago at the age of 98. We invite you to share condolences for Richard Barancik in our Guest Book.

- Richard Barancik’s legacy. A lifelong Chicagoan, Barancik was an accomplished architect and artist, though he was best known as the last surviving member of the Monuments Men. The group’s efforts during World War II to help protect, preserve, and return cultural items, art, and other significant artifacts affected by or stolen, were depicted in the 2014 film “The Monuments Men”; the film was in turn adapted from the best-selling 2007 book by Robert M. Edsel, “Monuments Men: Allied Heroes, Nazi Thieves, and the Greatest Treasure Hunt in History.”

Along with the others in this group, Barancik received the Congressional Gold Medal, among the nation’s highest civilian honors. He attended Cambridge University and the Ecole des Beaux-Arts at Fontainebleau, then earned a degree in architecture from the University of Illinois. After the war, he founded Barancik Conte & Associates, through which he designed many of the buildings that now grace Chicago’s skyline. When not working, Barancik devoted himself to art & his community, serving on an array of boards, including those of the Latin School of Chicago, the San Francisco Asian Art Museum, The Monterey Institute of International Studies, & the Monterey Museum of Art. - Tributes ...https://www.legacy.com/news/celebrity-deaths/richard-barancik-1924-2023-last-of-the-monuments-men-of-wwii/

* WATCH: Who Were The Real 'Monuments Men,' with guest Robert Edsel, CBS News (2014). The movie 'The Monuments Men' tells the story of the Nazis looting of 5 million artworks across Europe and the battle to save them. The Allies sent a group of 345 museum curators, historians and architects to rescue the stolen art. * Clip, guest HARRY ETTLINGER joined the Monuments Men at age 19 and was fluent in German.
------------
- The Met: 'Monuments Men and Artworks in World War II,' The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

In 1943, the Monuments, Fine Arts, and Archives program (MFAA) was established under the Civil Affairs & Military Government sections of the Allied armies as part of a concerted effort to protect artworks, archives, & monuments of historical & cultural significance as the Allies advanced across Europe. Representing 13 nations, 345 men & women volunteered for service in this group, which was known as the "monuments men." Among their ranks were museum curators & art historians, as well as others with specialized training or professional expertise that enabled them to identify and care for works of art subject to forced relocation or harm under the difficult wartime conditions...https://www.metmuseum.org/about-the-met/provenance-research-resources/monuments-men