Watch, Read, Remember: Films & Books That Inspired Cynefn

At Cynefn, our collections are more than prints - they’re portals into stories that history tried to silence. Below is a curated list of films, books, and documentaries that explore the lives and legacies of the artists we honour, and the cultural forces that tried to erase them.

The Danish Girl

FILMS

• Stealing Klimt (2007) – A documentary chronicling Maria Altmann's legal battle to reclaim five Gustav Klimt paintings stolen by the Nazis. IMDb
• The Monuments Men (2014) – A dramatisation of the true story of a World War II platoon tasked with rescuing art masterpieces from Nazi thieves and returning them to their rightful owners. IMDb
• The Danish Girl (2015) – A film inspired by the lives of Danish artists Lili Elbe and Gerda Wegener, exploring Lili's journey as one of the first known recipients of sex reassignment surgery. IMDb
• The Art of Nazi Germany (BBC) – A documentary overview of state censorship and so-called “degenerate” art.
• Beyond the Visible: Hilma af Klint (2019) – A vital documentary that reframes art history to give Hilma her rightful place as the first abstract artist.

BOOKS

• Hitler’s Art Thief by Susan Ronald – A deep dive into how the Nazis looted Europe’s greatest private art collections.
• The Story of Art Without Men by Katy Hessel – An essential read that reframes art history through a female lens.
• Women, Art and Society by Whitney Chadwick – Groundbreaking, accessible feminist art history.
• Queer Art: From Canvas to Club by James Smalls – A look at LGBTQ+ visual language through time.
• The Rape of Europa by Lynn H. Nicholas – The classic text on Nazi art looting and cultural erasure.
• Hilma af Klint: Notes and Methods – A fascinating glimpse into the spiritual and process-based side of Hilma’s work.

EXHIBITIONS

• Degenerate Art: The Trial of Modern Art under Nazism – An exhibition at the Musée Picasso in Paris that delves into the Nazi regime's persecution of modern art, featuring works labeled as "degenerate." Musée Picasso Paris

Have a film or book you think belongs here? Email us and help us grow the list.