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Ardelia Hall: From Museum of Fine Arts to Monuments Woman

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 March 2014

Victoria Reed
Victoria Reed*
Affiliation:
Sadler Curator for Provenance, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Email: vreed@mfa.org.
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Abstract:

Ardelia Ripley Hall (1899–1979) served from 1946 until 1962 as the Fine Arts and Monuments Adviser to the U.S. Department of State. In this role she oversaw the recovery and restitution of movable cultural property that had been displaced during the Second World War. In spite of her vast accomplishments, almost nothing has been written on Ardelia Hall, and little is known about her life. She began her career at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, but personal circumstances led to her resignation in 1941. During the war, she was employed by the Office of Strategic Services. The expertise she established as an art historian working with the Roberts Commission at this time led to her appointment at the State Department in 1946. This essay traces for the first time Hall’s remarkable journey from curatorial researcher to adviser on international art restitution.

Type
Research Article
Information
International Journal of Cultural Property , Volume 21 , Issue 1 , February 2014 , pp. 79 - 93
Copyright
Copyright © International Cultural Property Society 2014 

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