A Materialist Argument on the Strategic and Revolutionary Enigma of Nationalistic Art Heists Throughout History

• In Event: 4166 - Section on Marxist Sociology Refereed Roundtables (1 hour)
  In Refereed Roundtable 60min: 1. Et tu, Art? Art as a Capitalist and Imperialist Tool

Abstract

As a scholar, I often find myself questioning one’s nationalistic pride and patriotic desire, and how it bleeds into every aspect of social life. As a Marxist, I question if nationalism and patriotism are yet another facet of intellectual opium to be systematically dispersed to the masses. These inquiries, however, cannot be answered quickly or simply. Why do citizens of a particular state feel as though they must have an innate patriotism to the country in which they live? What economic and political factors contribute to surges of intense desire in individuals to act upon this patriotism and requitism with one’s national identity? Years of scholastic inquiry into these questions prove that there is not one all-encompassing answer to titillate scholars who ask these big questions, but I would like to add to the discourse on the topic through analyzing nationalistic art thievery.
Not only are there hardly any scholastic inquiries into the social implications resulting from art thievery, but I believe that what I call nationalistic art thievery is much more complex and radical than art thievery, for example, perpetrated by Nazi looters, or more recently, ISIS art thieves. What economic and political factors can be observed in nationalistic art thievery throughout history? And more importantly, how could these heists serve as a radical and revolutionary complex mechanism by which individuals reclaim art? Could these mechanisms of nationalistic art theft, henceforth, be tied to Marxist ideologies of reclaiming statehood for the people, by the people? I believe that nationalistic art thievery perpetrated by one or a few individuals could be seen as a revolutionary act upon which intensely important relics of art and culture are stolen in order to stand up against the bourgeois, elite state and the overarching institution of art.

Author

• Jenna L O'Connor, DePaul University