Art of the Defeat provides an unflinching look at the art scene in Occupied France. Beginning with Adolf Hitler's staging of the armistice at Rethondes, the book offers a survey of Nazi and
Vichy artistic policies, key events and organizations, and individual acts of collaboration and resistance. Among the subjects examined are the demonization of foreigners and modernists, the
looting of state museums and Jewish collections, the glorification of Philippe Petain and French national identity, and the official junket by French artists to Germany. The narrative is
grounded by archival research and discussion of works by Gerard Ambroselli, Jean Bazaine, Arno Breker, Francois Cogne, Aristide Maillol, Henri Matisse, Pablo Picasso, and dozens of other
artists and artisans. The sum is a pioneering expose of the deployment of art to hold darkness at bay.
