Monuments Man to be featured in program

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Monuments Man to be featured in program

20TH CENTURY FOX

George Clooney as Frank Stokes, a character based on George Stout. in "The Monuments Men."

December 31, 2014 5:00 am • [url=http://qctimes.com/search/?l=50&sd=desc&s=start_time&f=html&byline=John Willard%0Anewsroom%40qctimes.com]John Willard newsroom@qctimes.com[/url]

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Iowa art expert George Leslie Sout was a real 'Monuments Man'

He was from Iowa, this art restoration expert who saved priceless works of art by the likes of Vermeer and Michelangelo. His legacy reaches fa…

IF YOU GO

What: Presentations on Iowa native Monuments Man George Stout by Nancy Trask and screenings of “The Monuments Men” movie, sponsored by the German American Heritage Center.

When: The movie will be shown at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. Saturday at the Figge Art Museum, 225 W. 2nd St., Davenport. Trask's presentations will be 12:30 and 2:30 p.m. Sunday at the German American Heritage Center, 712 W. 2nd St. Davenport.

How much: Admission to the movie is $5. The holiday open house at the German American Heritage Center is free. Donations for Trask's appearance will be taken at her presentations.

More information: Call the German American Heritage Center at 563-322-8844 or visit its website atgahc.org.

PRESENTATION A LABOR OF LOVE

Nancy Trask delivered her program on Monuments Man George Stout more than a dozen times in Winterset, Iowa, where she is the director of the public library, before taking it on the road.

She never tires of the task.

“It gives me a real sense of fulfillment to tell the story. Every time I give the presentation, I feel grateful. That's what keeps me going,” she said.

She began her quest in 2009 when the book, “The Monuments Men: Allied Heroes, Nazi Thieves and the Greatest Treasure Hunt in History,” by Robert M. Edsel was published. It is the basis for the 2014 movie “The Monuments Men,” co-written, directed by and starring George Clooney.

Trask has corresponded with a movie publicist, who kept her abreast of the film's production.

She learned that Stout's granddaughter, Leslie Hayes Marks, of Lincoln, Calif., attended the New York premiere of “The Monuments Men,” where she got a hug from Clooney. Marks also met Monuments Man Harry Ettlinger. Ettlinger, who is Jewish, and his family fled their native Germany for the United States when he was a child in order to escape Nazi persecution.

Six years later, after he graduated from high school, he was drafted into the U.S. Army and sent to the European Theater. Fluent in German, he was promoted to technician fourth grade (sergeant) and served as a translator with the storied Monuments, Fine Arts and Archives unit of the 12th Army Group.

Nancy Trask, the director of the Winterset (Iowa) Public Library, figured the military-themed book she bought in 2009 would give readers some insight into a little- known chapter of World War II.

But as she read the book, “The Monuments Men: Allied Heroes, Nazi Thieves and the Greatest Treasure Hunt in History” by Robert M. Edsel, she was surprised.

One of the Monuments Men, the name given to a specialized Allied unit charged with safeguarding landmarks and works of art from war damage and looting, was a Winterset native, George Leslie Stout. He is the inspiration for the lead character played by George Clooney in the 2014 movie “The Monuments Men,” based on the book. Clooney directed the movie and co-wrote the screenplay.

Trask vowed to find out more about her hometown hero. “His is a story that needs to be told,” she said.

With photos and her considerable research into Stout's life, Trask will tell his story at 12:30 and 2:30 p.m. Sunday at the German American Heritage Center in downtown Davenport as part of its free holiday open house.

Her presentation will come a day after a center-sponsored screening of “The Monuments Men” at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. Saturday at the Figge Art Museum, also in downtown Davenport.

Although both are from Winterset, a town of 5,000 people about 35 miles southwest of Des Moines, the fact that Trask was not familiar with Stout is understandable. He co-authored a text on art restoration that is still in use today, but he never wrote about his military exploits. Nor was his fine arts expertise widely known of in his home state.

Trask, the daughter of a veteran who was wounded during World War II and the sister of a Vietnam War veteran, is out to change that.

Stout, the oldest of six boys, was born in Winterset in 1897 and died in 1978 at age 80. (Actor John Wayne was born in the town in 1907.) Stout's grandfather settled in Winterset in 1867 after being wounded in the Civil War. His father, Abraham Lincoln Stout, was a banker who served on the Winterset City Council and the school board.

George's many activities at Winterset Senior High School, where he was known as Stouty, included music, drama, quarterbacking the football team and managing the yearbook, for which he drew cartoons.

He attended Grinnell College for two years before serving as a bandsman with the 88th Infantry Division in France during World War I. He earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Iowa and his master's degree from Harvard University. There, he served as the head of the art conservation department at the university's Fogg Art Museum before and after the war. Later, he was director of the Worcester (Mass.) Art Museum and the director of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston.

Stout, a Naval Reservist, went on active duty in 1943 as a specialist in camouflage testing, but he was soon recruited as one of the first members of the Monuments, Fine Arts and Archives unit of the 12th Army Group. One of the first “Monuments Men” to land at Normandy in 1944, he remained on the front lines, helping to rescue cultural treasures throughout France and Germany. He received the Bronze Star and Army Commendation Medals for his service.

John Schultz, QUAD-CITY TIMES

Henry Storgohann of Davenport views vintage helmets from the German military Sunday during an open house at the German American Heritage Center in Davenport.

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January 04, 2015 6:11 pm • By [url=http://qctimes.com/users/profile/Linda Cook]Linda Cook[/url]

He was from Iowa, this art restoration expert who saved priceless works of art by the likes of Vermeer and Michelangelo. His legacy reaches far beyond the Midwest, because millions of people from all over the world

Nancy Trask of Winterset, Iowa, painted her own portrait of “George Leslie Stout: Iowa’s Own Monuments Man” Sunday afternoon in the German American Heritage Center, Davenport.

Trask gave her free presentation twice Sunday to more than 200 people at the center, 712 W. 2nd St.

Trask has researched the “Monuments Men” — actually the Monuments, Fine Arts, and Archives program established in 1943 to help save cultural property in war-affected areas — and in particular Stout, for many years.

“I think my presentation is almost more colorful than the movie, because it’s about the real guys,” she said. The movie focused everyone’s attention on a “slice of history that would go into oblivion unless someone like George Clooney (who directed, co-wrote the screenplay and stars) brings it all back,” she said.

Trask’s presentations were a “gift to the community,” said Janet Brown-Lowe, executive director of the center. “We wanted to keep the annual tradition of holding an excellent open house.”

The group held a membership drive Sunday afternoon during the presentations.

On Saturday, the center hosted two showings of the “Monuments Men” movie in the Figge Art Museum’s John Deere Auditorium.

The Jewish Federation of the Quad-Cities supported the presentations, Brown-Lowe said.

Among those attending Sunday were Dean and Lee Ficke of Davenport. Both are volunteers at the center.

“Something like this is history, and it’s related to our history and an unfortunate event that occurred in World War II,” Dean Ficke said. “We’re basically wanting to learn more about our history.”

“I didn’t know much about it,” Lee Ficke said, adding that she may pick up a book to learn more. “We need this (center) in our community.”

Audience members were engaged throughout Trask’s talk, which included Stout’s background. Stout earned a master’s degree in art from Harvard University and developed modern scientific principles of art conservation, Trask said.

“Nine officers and several administrators were assigned to protect the art of Europe,” Trask said.

The group found “unimaginable” challenges out in the field, she said, entering dangerous territory to retrieve the artworks, much of which had been stolen from Jewish families.

Nancy Trask, the director of the Winterset (Iowa) Public Library, figured the military-themed book she bought in 2009 would give readers some … Read more

ABOUT THE CENTER

Sunday’s presentations about the “Monuments Men” were part of an open house and membership drive for the German American Heritage Center, 712 W. 2nd St., Davenport.

Members receive quarterly issues of the “Infoblatt” magazine, free admission to many programs and the permanent exhibits, free admission and/or discounts to special exhibits and discounts on classes, events, trips and facility rental.

Membership is $35 for individuals, $45 for two adults in the same household, $55 for up to two adults and children in the same household, $55 for up to two grandparents and their grandchildren.

The center focuses on teaching, demonstrating and bringing to life the timeless spirit, values and work ethic of the German immigrant to current and future generations.

“The immigrants and their descendants helped to weave a strong fabric of family values, hard work, perseverance, stewardship and community spirit to the Quad-Cities region and surrounding Midwestern states,” said Janet Brown-Lowe, executive director for the center. “The values and work ethic that are present in our community today are directly linked to the immigrants settling in this region.”

The center is the “crossroads for the generations,” Brown-Lowe said.

Hours are 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturday and noon-4 p.m. Sunday. The center is closed Mondays and some holidays. Admission is free for members, $5 for adults, $4 for senior citizens, $3 for children 5-17 and free for children younger than 5.

For more information, visit gahc.org or call 563-322-8844.

He was from Iowa, this art restoration expert who saved priceless works of art by the likes of Vermeer and Michelangelo. His legacy reaches far beyond the Midwest, because millions of people from all over the world regularly see the masterpieces he preserved during World War II.