Ar & Entertainment

&About

Europe's Masterworks

According to U.S. estimates, the Nazis stole
one-fifth of all the known artworks in
Europe during the Third Reich and World
War II. Today, more than 60 years later,
the legacy of this history continues to play
out as families of looted collectors recover
major works of art, conservators repair
battle damage and nations fight over the
fate of ill-gotten spoils of war.
Based on Lynn Nicholas' award-win-
ning 1995 book of the same name, the
2006 documentary The Rape of Europa,
narrated by film actress Joan Allen, tells
the story of the systematic theft, deliber-
ate destruction and miraculous survival
of Europe's art treasures. It builds on
Nicholas' scholarship by incorporating
the latest historical research, examining
the legal and political problems presented
by contemporary restitution claims and
assessing the lingering effects of massive
cultural displacement.
The film, directed by Richard Berge,
Nicole Newnham and Bonni Cohen,
begins and ends with the story of artist
Gustav Klimt's famed 1907 Gold Portrait

of Adele Bloch-Bauer, the wife of a Jewish
sugar industrialist and the hostess of
a prominent Vienna salon. Stolen from
Viennese Jews in 1938, it is considered one
of the artist's masterpieces.
Cosmetics mag-
nate Ronald S. Lauder
recently purchased it
for the Neue Galerie in
Manhattan for $135 mil-
lion, the most expensive
price ever paid for a
painting.
In its journey through
seven countries, the film
also unveils the mission
of the Monuments Men,
mostly American art
historians and museum
curators who, drafted
into military service,
mounted a miracu-
lous effort to protect
monuments and recover
millions of pieces of dis-
placed art.
The Rape of Europa
Gustave Klimt's
will be shown at the

Gail Zimmerman

Arts Editor

Detroit Film Theatre in the Detroit
Institute of Arts. Robert M. Edsel, a
retired Texas oilman and co-producer
of the film who published Rescuing Da
Vinci, a lavishly illustrated book devoted
to the Monuments Men, will discuss the
film at the Detroit Film Theatre following
its 7:30 p.m. Thursday, March 15, screen-
ing.
It also will be shown 7 and 9:30 p.m.
Friday and Saturday and 4 and 7 p.m.
Sunday, March 16-18. Tickets are $5-$7.50.
(313) 833-3237 or www.dia.org/dft.

Global Art

Gold Portrait

"Tergloba," an exhibit running March 10-
April 15 at Oakland University Art Gallery,
includes artists from a diverse range of
nationalities and ethnicities who explore
various facets of globalization. Featuring
primarily photography, video and the
Internet, the exhibition and catalogue
look at a shrinking, interconnected world
culture and the role of contemporary arts
and artists within the globalization debate.
Among the 17 artists represented is
Melissa Shiff, a video, performance and

FYI: For Arts related events that you wish to have considered for Out & About, please send the item, with a detailed description of the event, times, dates, place, ticket prices and publishable phone number, to: Gail Zimmerman, JN Out
& About, The Jewish News, 29200 Northwestern Highway, Suite 110, Southfield, MI 48034; fax us at (248) 304-8885; or e-mail to gzimmerman®thejewishnews.com . Notice must be received at least three weeks before the scheduled
event. Photos are appreciated but cannot be returned. All events and dates listed in the Out & About column are subject to change.

MI
16.

I

Nate Bloom
Special to the Jewish News

ael Roth And Ronnie
filp
This year, the Rock and Roll Hall of

(1)

40

Fame and Museum
is inducting David
Lee Roth, 52,
the lead singer
of the rock band
Van Haien, and
Ronnie Spector,
the lead singer of
David Lee Roth
the singing group
the Ronettes. All
the members of Van Halen and the
Ronettes will be inducted, with the
ceremony airing 8:30 p.m. Monday,
March 12, on VH1 Classic.
Roth, a witty guy, grew up in a
middle-class Jewish family, the
son of a doctor. He learned to sing
while studying for his bar mitzvah.
Roth and the brothers Eddie and

March 8 • 2007

Alex Van Halen were still in high
school when they met in 1972. In
1974, they joined forces and formed
the band Van Halen. Roth's stellar
rock vocals and stage antics helped
propel the band's popularity, and
Van Halen was a top act by 1978.
Roth was ousted from Van Halen in
1985 — and his stormy relations with
Eddie Van Halen
have been a gos-
sip item for 20
years.
Early in
February, it was
announced that
Roth, who's
had a roller-
Ronnie Spector
coaster solo
career, would
join Van Halen for a reunion tour.
However, Eddie Van Halen appar-
ently scuttled that deal right after
it was announced. It is questionable

whether Eddie will even appear at
the hall of fame induction ceremony.
Spector, 63, was born Veronica
Bennett to a white father and a
black and Native American mother.
In 1961, Ronnie joined her sister
Estelle and her cousin Nedra Talley
to form the Ronettes. The group had
a string of huge hits in the 1960s,
including the classic "Be My Baby,"
co-written by Jewish songwriters
Phil Spector, Jeff Barry and Ellie
Greenwich, and produced by Phil
Spector.
In 1968, Ronnie wed Phil Spector.
The marriage was a nightmare,
with "crazy Phil" keeping Ronnie a
virtual prisoner in his mansion until
they divorced in 1974. Ironically,
Phil, accused of murdering actress
Lana Clarkson, will go to trial March
19, the same month Ronnie is being
honored.
Ronnie went on to marry another

Jewish guy, Jonathan Greenfield,
her current manager, and they
had two sons together. While it is
not publicly known whether or not
Ronnie has formally converted,
she has long referred to herself as
"Jewish" and her sons have been
raised Jewish.

TV Premieres

Two spring replacement series fea-
turing Jewish
actors start
next week. A
March premiere
isn't a sign of
network confi-
dence, but the
series could be
back next year
Bryan Greenberg
if they show
surprisingly
good ratings.
The handsome actor Bryan