On Saturday, Aug. 23 at 2 p.m., the Museum will host author Michelle Young for a special presentation of her acclaimed new book, The Art Spy: The Extraordinary Untold Tale of WWII Resistance Hero Rose Valland. The event will feature a book talk, signing, and audience Q&A—all included with Museum admission. Praised as one of Publishers Weekly’s Best Books of Summer 2025, The Art Spy uncovers the astonishing true story of Rose Valland, a French art historian and curator who became one of the most daring figures of the French Resistance. From her post at the Jeu de Paume museum in Nazi-occupied Paris, Valland risked her life to secretly record the systematic theft of France’s cultural treasures by Hitler’s regime. Her meticulous notes became a roadmap for the recovery of countless masterpieces after the war.
Valland’s story reads like a thriller. On August 25, 1944, during the liberation of Paris, she stood inside the Jeu de Paume while gunfire thundered outside and Nazi leaders made the museum their final line of defense. Facing the possibility of death, Valland held onto information that would later help save humanity’s cultural inheritance. Throughout the war, she came face to face with high-ranking Nazis such as Hermann Göring, relayed vital intelligence to Resistance networks, and even provided the key details that stopped the last train of looted art from leaving France—a train loaded with works by Picasso, Monet, Cézanne, Gauguin, Degas, Modigliani, and Toulouse-Lautrec. Drawing on newly discovered archival material, Young restores Valland’s rightful place in history as a “female Monuments Man.” Though often overlooked, her courage directly opposed Hitler’s vision for the Führermuseum and preserved some of the world’s greatest works of art.
Vivid and atmospheric, The Art Spy transports readers from the glittering cultural scene of pre-war Paris—home to Picasso, Josephine Baker, Coco Chanel, and others—through the shadow of Nazi occupation, to the final desperate days of liberation. It is both a gripping narrative of espionage and resistance and a powerful testament to the extraordinary bravery of a woman who refused to let civilization’s masterpieces vanish into darkness. The Art Spy is more than a work of history; it is a reminder of how one individual’s determination can alter the course of cultural survival. Valland’s heroism, brought to life in Michelle Young’s meticulously researched account, continues to inspire in a time when the value of art and heritage remains as urgent as ever. The book is available at THIS LINK. The book talk, signing, and audience Q&A are free with Museum admission. For more information, visit www.museumofflight.org
