From museum-security at museum-security.org Fri Apr 1 07:10:27 2005 From: museum-security at museum-security.org (Museum Security Network / Cultural Property Protection Net (Ton Cremers)) Date: Fri, 1 Apr 2005 07:10:27 +0200 Subject: [CPProt.net] FW: Assyrian treasures heading for 'hostile' territory (Cori Wegener) Message-ID: <20050401051026.ENYZ1703.amsfep20-int.chello.nl@cremers> From: Cori Wegener [mailto:coriwegener at hotmail.com] Sent: 31 March 2005 19:10 To: cpprot at te.verweg.com Subject: RE: CPProt Digest, Vol 4, Issue 88 Dear Ton: I have been a member of this listserve for several years and greatly value the service you provide. I'm writing to correct several factual errors in the March 29th Times story by Dalya Alberge posted on the list today. As a U.S. Army Reservist I was mobilized to Iraq from May 2003 to March 2004, spending most of my time working with the Iraq National Museum and the Iraqi Ministry of Culture. Below I quote from the article and respond to several inaccuracies, most of which could have been easily been corrected by simple fact checking on the internet. "The treasures were thought to have been looted during the chaos that followed the capture of the Iraqi capital by US forces, but were found intact in a basement of the country's central bank." Just for the record, the treasures were in a highly secure bank vault in the Central Bank of Iraq, several stories below street level, not "a basement." They were not "found" as everyone knew the location of the vault. The question was whether or not looters had gotten to it. "In 2003, the American authorities put them on show for several months in the museum to demonstrate that life in the capital was returning to normal." Again, for the record, the Treasure of Nimrud was on view at the Iraq National Museum for exactly one afternoon, on July 3rd, 2003, after which it was immediately returned to the Central Bank. This event was for press and invited guests of the Director of the State Board of Antiquities only. The museum was NOT open to the public during the press viewing, so the allegation that it was staged to demonstrate a return to normalcy is laughable, especially in view of the massive U.S. uniformed presence in and around the museum for security purposes. The viewing took place to allow the press an opportunity to photograph the collection since they were not allowed into the opening of the vault at the Central Bank due to security concerns. "Apart from that spell, the gold has never been seen by Iraqis." It is my understanding that the Treasure of Nimrud was on display at the Iraq National Museum for a brief period until the beginning of the First Gulf War, when it was put into the vault at the Central Bank of Iraq. Over the past couple of years I have been repeatedly frustrated by inaccurate news reporting about the Iraq National Museum. This time I felt I had to set the record straight. Best regards and thanks again for the invaluable service you provide the cultural community. Corine Wegener Assistant Curator The Minneapolis Institute of Arts From museum-security at museum-security.org Fri Apr 1 07:31:59 2005 From: museum-security at museum-security.org (Museum Security Network / Cultural Property Protection Net (Ton Cremers)) Date: Fri, 1 Apr 2005 07:31:59 +0200 Subject: [CPProt.net] A Sculptor's Weighty Work Is Whole Again Message-ID: <20050401053159.UDOP2070.amsfep16-int.chello.nl@cremers> A Sculptor's Weighty Work Is Whole Again By BEN SISARIO Published: April 1, 2005 he Ides of March" came and went, and came back again. Three of the four pieces of Philip Pavia's totemic bronze sculpture from 1962, a 3,000-pound set of three diamond shapes and a low-lying arm, which the artist liked so much he named it for his birthday - March 15, the ides - disappeared from an office building in Midtown Manhattan last week and were reported stolen. On Wednesday the three missing pieces were returned, making the work whole again but leaving many questions unanswered. The sculpture, which had stood at the porte-coch?re of the New York Hilton for 25 years before moving to the Hippodrome at Avenue of the Americas and 43rd Street in 1988, had been in temporary storage at the Hippodrome before being sent to the museum at Hofstra University in Hempstead, N.Y. On March 23 a group from Hofstra went to inspect the sculpture but found only the biggest piece, 10 feet tall and about 1,000 pounds. Representatives of the university and the building management were stunned and embarrassed, and the artist, a 94-year-old lion of the midcentury avant-garde who counted Henry Miller and Willem de Kooning among his closest friends, was heartbroken. Late last week a man, whom a police spokesman described as a scrap collector, went to the Hippodrome and tried to take the last piece. But let it not be said there is no honor among scrap men. This week a man identified by the police as a scrap dealer in the Bronx returned the missing pieces, and all four pieces of "The Ides of March" are now back at the Hippodrome. A police official said the scrap metal dealer, after learning that the hunks of bronze in his yard had been stolen, called his lawyer, who alerted the authorities. The dealer told investigators who sold him the pieces, and the police are now looking for that person, the official said. That person had been picking up scrap metal from a construction site nearby, the official said, but he did not have permission to remove the sculpture. Yesterday the pieces were in the loading dock of the Hippodrome, tucked next to a line of metal bins and piles of garbage. By midafternoon there appeared to be a makeshift screen around it, made of plywood and a plastic tarp. Some in the art world were still puzzled by the sculpture's disappearance. Only about 7 percent of art thefts happen in public and commercial spaces, according to the Art Loss Register, a London-based group that tracks stolen art. And public artworks the size of "The Ides of March" are rarely stolen, said Tom Eccles, the director of the Public Art Fund in New York. Small outdoor and public works are often stolen or destroyed in the attempt, he said, offering in surprisingly good humor a long list of pieces ripped from concrete, covered in plaster of Paris, torn apart for ease of flight and otherwise ruined. But when very large and heavy works have been threatened with theft, the threats were laughed off as hoaxes, Mr. Eccles said. In autumn 1993, when the Public Art Fund installed 14 gigantic bronzes by the Colombian artist Fernando Botero, weighing up to 2,900 pounds, along Park Avenue, a threat was received saying that the pieces would be thrown into the East River on Halloween. "We discussed whether to alert the police," Mr. Eccles said, "and then we looked at them, all 15 tons, and said 'Good luck.' " The Boteros remained unharmed. Mr. Pavia could not be reached for comment, but his wife, Natalie Edgar, said she and her husband were deeply pleased by the return of the work. "The whole aim was to recover those pieces," she said yesterday, "which he called a piece of beauty and a piece of New York." William K. Rashbaum contributed reporting for this article. http://www.nytimes.com/ From museum-security at museum-security.org Fri Apr 1 07:31:59 2005 From: museum-security at museum-security.org (Museum Security Network / Cultural Property Protection Net (Ton Cremers)) Date: Fri, 1 Apr 2005 07:31:59 +0200 Subject: [CPProt.net] China's Request forArt-Import Ban Stirs Debate Message-ID: <20050401053202.UDPL2070.amsfep16-int.chello.nl@cremers> China's Request for Art-Import Ban Stirs Debate By RANDY KENNEDY Published: April 1, 2005 As art dealers and collectors are descending on New York for the auctions, shows and lavish parties surrounding Asia Week, the attention of many is focused elsewhere - on Washington, where the Bush administration is now considering restrictions on the importation of Chinese art and antiquities that could have serious implications for American museums and auction houses. Chinese officials have asked the State Department to impose the restrictions, on a wide range of artifacts from the prehistoric period through the early 20th century, because they believe that demand in the United States for Chinese antiquities has helped fuel a sharp increase in looting of archaeological sites and even thefts from museums over the last several years. Currently, United States Customs officials can reject the importation of items from China that are suspected of having been stolen or looted, but in practice relatively few items are seized. Under the proposed restrictions, which would most likely be made as part of a bilateral treaty, many artworks and artifacts could be prevented from entering unless they were specifically approved for export by the Chinese government. The request has sparked an impassioned debate in the Asian-art world, in which many prominent archaeologists, preservationists and scholars have lined up to support the Chinese government, while many antiquities dealers and museum officials argue that the changes would be unfair, ineffective in stopping looting and devastating for the art market and for museums. Opponents of the restrictions say that the United States represents only one part of a thriving international market for Chinese artifacts, including growing demand among wealthy collectors in China itself. And they contend that China has not done enough within its own borders to protect its cultural patrimony - a key requirement under a 1983 United States art-importation law that offers help to countries that can show they are working to protect their cultural heritage in keeping with a 1970 United Nations agreement. "The statutory requirements have not been met - it's as simple as that," said Ashton Hawkins, a former lawyer for the Metropolitan Museum of Art and now president of the American Council for Cultural Policy, a New York-based group of museum officials and prominent art collectors. "Until they are, this remedy should not be offered to China." But supporters of stricter laws argue that China has made great strides in recent years in protecting archaeological and other cultural sites and in prosecuting pillagers, many of whom sell antiquities to smugglers for a tiny fraction of the price the items eventually fetch at foreign auctions. The supporters acknowledge that the United States is only one player in the world market, but they contend that it would set a powerful example by helping China stem the flow of plundered artifacts. "The U.S. is a major market for the purchase of these antiquities that have been illegally dug up and illegally exported from China, and the United States ought to be leading the way on this," said Robert E. Murowchick, director of the International Center for East Asian Archaeology and Cultural History at Boston University. "Once a site is gone, it's gone forever. You can't put it back together." The looting of thousands of antiquities from Iraq since the American invasion in 2003 has heightened international concern about the threats to many countries' cultural treasures. Over the last few years, the trade in plundered Chinese artifacts has also drawn more attention in the United States because of several high-profile cases, including one in 2000 in which customs officials seized a 10th-century marble relief panel they said had been chiseled from an ancient tomb in northeastern China and was scheduled be sold at Christie's. Opponents of the changes argue that the United States may make up only 4 percent of international auction sales of Chinese antiquities, but some dealers say that a much larger percentage of such items sold around the world end up in the United States, a contention echoed in an interview yesterday with an official in China's State Administration of Cultural Heritage, which works to protect antiquities. "The U.S. is a big part of this market," said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity. http://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/01/arts/design/01lega.html From museum-security at museum-security.org Fri Apr 1 17:05:21 2005 From: museum-security at museum-security.org (Museum Security Network / Cultural Property Protection Net (Ton Cremers)) Date: Fri, 1 Apr 2005 17:05:21 +0200 Subject: [CPProt.net] International team: Collection belonged to Montreal art dealer Max Stern Message-ID: <20050401150522.XPPJ1703.amsfep20-int.chello.nl@cremers> International team: Collection belonged to Montreal art dealer Max Stern A sizeable portion of the World War Two-era art collection of one of Canada's most prominent art dealers, which was confiscated by Nazi thugs, has been located and identified by an international team of researchers led by Concordia University in Montreal, The National Post has learned. The team, comprising archivists, art historians and other researchers, has identified 250 works of art in galleries, corporate collections and private dealers around the world from the collection of Max Stern, a Jewish art dealer who fled Nazi Germany in 1937 and settled in Montreal in 1942. Dr. Stern, who died of a heart attack in 1987, was one of Canada's most prominent art dealers, representing the British sculptor Henry Moore and West Coast artist Emily Carr, among many others. After the Second World War, he bought the prestigious Dominion Gallery in Montreal where he displayed works he had acquired since the war, including the largest collection of Rodin sculpture outside the Rodin Museum in Paris. For years Dr. Stern, who had a doctorate in art history from the University of Bonn, tried unsuccessfully to obtain the family collection that had been seized by the Nazis. Mr. Stern had taken over his father's gallery in 1934, a year after Adolf Hitler came to power in Germany. In 1937, he consigned many of the family's paintings with an auction house in Cologne that sold them at a fraction of their actual value. He fled to Paris, then London and while interned as an "enemy alien" on the Isle of Man, was able to obtain permission to settle in Canada. He was interned as a "civilian alien" in Frederiction and Farnham, Quebec, for two years before being allowed to settle in Montreal. Five years ago, Concordia art historian Clarence Epstein teamed up with archivists from the National Gallery of Canada to search for the looted works. They were soon joined by experts from the Holocaust Claims Processing Office of the New York State Banking Commission and the Art Loss Register in London, which lists looted art works. "We are confident that through moral suasion we will be able to obtain Max Stern's looted collection," said Dr. Epstein, adding that the team is very close to recovering one of the looted Stern art works -- "an important piece" says Dr. Epstein -- discovered in New York. "It's a sensitive issue and we don't want to leverage people uneccessarily when they are trying to do the right thing." For this reason, Dr. Epstein says he cannot reveal much about the 250 art works that he is pursuing, nor will he name some of the institutions that currently feature them in their collections. According to Dr. Epstein, the looted collection includes everything from Old Masters to German eighteenth and nineteenth century works. Concordia's approach of not resorting to litigation in matters of art restitution is currently being adopted by many heirs of art collections looted by the Nazis as they try to reclaim their family property. A half century after the end of the Second World War, many auction houses and collectors are returning works of questionable World War Two-era provenance, art experts say. "We should be setting an example by having the resolution of Nazi looted art cases without legal action," said Bonnie Czegledi, a Toronto-based art lawyer and one of Canada's leading experts on restitution. "We should be setting an example by not forcing long drawn-out litigation." Earlier this week another art lawyer based in the United States said that his firm was planning a global sweep of art insitutions, including the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, which currently has a painting from the collection of Dutch Jewish dealer Jacques Goudstikker. The collection was looted when Nazis invaded Holland in 1940. Concordia University, which has taken the initiative in the worldwide search for the looted Stern collection, became one of three institutional beneficiaries of Dr. Stern's estate when he died in 1987. The others are McGill University in Montreal and Hebrew University in Jerusalem. http://proquest.umi.com/ From a.cremers3 at chello.nl Sat Apr 2 02:22:42 2005 From: a.cremers3 at chello.nl (MusSecNetworkCulPropProtNet) Date: Sat, 2 Apr 2005 02:22:42 +0200 Subject: [CPProt.net] =?iso-8859-1?q?FW=3A_U=2ES=2E_v=2E_One_Oil_Painting?= =?iso-8859-1?q?_Entitled_=B3Femme_en__blanc=B2_by_Pablo_Picasso=2E?= =?iso-8859-1?q?_?= Message-ID: <20050402002243.NBFU1703.amsfep20-int.chello.nl@cremers> ________________________________ From: E. Randol Schoenberg [mailto:randols at bslaw.net] Sent: 02 April 2005 02:16 To: E. Randol Schoenberg Subject: U.S. v. One Oil Painting Entitled ?Femme en blanc? by Pablo Picasso. No April Fools, we received this afternoon a copy of United States District Judge Florence-Marie Cooper?s March 31, 2005 Order Denying Claimant?s Motion to Dismiss Complaint for Forfeiture and Order Denying Claimant?s Motion to Transfer; Order Denying Motion to Dismiss Cross-Complaint of Thomas Bennigson. A copy is available for download at http://www.bslaw.net/050331.pdf. In the opinion, Judge Cooper confirms that she has jurisdiction to resolve the dispute concerning ownership of the Picasso painting. Randol Schoenberg E. Randol Schoenberg Burris & Schoenberg, LLP 12121 Wilshire Boulevard, Suite 800 Los Angeles, California 90025-1168 Tel: (310) 442-5559 Fax: (310) 442-0353 eFax: (425) 740-0483 E-mail: randols at bslaw.net http://www.bslaw.net From museum-security at museum-security.org Sat Apr 2 08:23:10 2005 From: museum-security at museum-security.org (Museum Security Network / Cultural Property Protection Net (Ton Cremers)) Date: Sat, 2 Apr 2005 08:23:10 +0200 Subject: [CPProt.net] A Frenchman's business: fake old masterpieces paint extravagant Dubai hotel walls Message-ID: <20050402062311.XBXU2209.amsfep17-int.chello.nl@cremers> Saturday, April 02, 2005 A Frenchman's business: fake old masterpieces paint extravagant Dubai hotel walls 'Interpreting' master painters is a 'democratizing' art form of its own ... By Agence France Presse (AFP) DUBAI: What better place for a prestigious exhibition of fake old master paintings than Burj al-Arab, the sail-shaped landmark hotel soaring on the beachfront of the kingdom of extravagance, Dubai. Fancy a Picasso, a Van Gogh or a Renoir? No need to spend a fortune at London auction houses, just fly into Dubai to find your dream ... or at least a copy of it. The once-sleepy Gulf port city has succeeded in becoming the region's most vibrant business and leisure hub through gigantic projects, including an upcoming fake ski resort of real-snow slopes in the desert. It is in this spirit that flamboyant French master forger Christophe Petyt intends to present 100 exact copies of masterpieces in his "L'Art du faux," or the art of the fake, exhibition, which will run from April 9 to April 17 and cost $280,000. "This is the place where dreams come true, where extravagant things happen," said the 35-year-old Frenchman, who will only dress in eccentric Versace clothes. "Burj al-Arab is the place for that," he said, admiring the fiberglass screen of the sail facade running up to a 700-foot-high (213-meter-high) helipad, which hosted last month a game between tennis stars Andre Agassi and Roger Federer. In addition to wealthy local art lovers, foreign potential buyers will be met at Dubai airport by immaculate white Rolls Royce cars that will take them to Burj al-Arab, where guests admire every morning scuba divers feeding the fish in the giant aquariums of the golden lobby. The exhibition will be held on the 18th-floor amphitheater of the world's only seven-star hotel where clients can only stay at duplex suites with a personal butler for between $1,500 and $10,200 a night. Copies of the masterpieces were made by Petyt and his army of 82 forgers around the world for his foundation that only sells single copies of each artwork. "There will be copies of impressionist, classical, modern and orientalist works. There will be Renoir, Manet, Monet, Degas, Botticelli, Miro, Botero and Picasso among others," he said. Instead of spending millions of dollars, art lovers can buy a unique copy for between 1,000 euros and 20,000 euros ($1,292 and $25,842). "Prices only take into consideration the time taken to make the painting and the framing. We do not take into consideration the real price of the original masterpiece," said Petyt. Petyt likes to tell the story of a wealthy Swiss art lover who bought 40 Van Gogh fake paintings to mix them with the 60 original ones adorning his villa's walls near Geneva. "Some people want to hide the original in their vaults for security reasons, so they hang a fake one," he said. Petyt has been in the Guinness Book of World Records since 2000 for owning "over 2,500 fake paintings representing some of the most famous works in art history." Asked about criticism of forged masterpieces, Petyt is adamant: "It is a way to democratize painting. There is a difference between creating and interpreting: When a singer becomes a celebrity, nobody will say that he is a fake because he performs songs made, or previously sung, by others," he said. "The same goes for musicians who perform symphonies created by Mozart or Beethoven, so why isn't it allowed for painters? "Master forgers do not do it for the money, they are passionate about the technique of the artist and the history of this artist. They can only really master one or two painters' techniques," he said. Taking forgery to the extreme, Petyt's business card presents on the upper right corner a picture of a famous Van Gogh self-portrait. "It is a fake one, of course," laughs a close aide of the master forger. - AFP http://www.dailystar.com.lb/ From museum-security at museum-security.org Sat Apr 2 09:00:15 2005 From: museum-security at museum-security.org (Museum Security Network / Cultural Property Protection Net (Ton Cremers)) Date: Sat, 2 Apr 2005 09:00:15 +0200 Subject: [CPProt.net] Eagle-Eyed Garbageman Rescues Library's Stolen Bird Message-ID: <20050402070016.SCCJ4045.amsfep18-int.chello.nl@cremers> Eagle-Eyed Garbageman Rescues Library's Stolen Bird A trash collector rescued an antique stuffed bald eagle that had been reported stolen from the Goodrich Memorial Library in Newport, Vermont, when he discovered the bird in a garbage bag March 25 just before he threw it into the truck's trash compactor. Library officials reported the bird missing from its display case March 23, but believe the theft could have happened earlier, as the library has been closed for several months for renovations, according to the March 26 St. Johnsbury Caledonian-Record. The bird was part of a collection of mounted and stuffed animals donated to the library in the 1920s. Police Chief J. Paul Duquette credited publicity about the theft of the protected bird-which is a federal crime-with facilitating its return. As the anonymous garbage collector emptied bins in the alley behind the library, Duquette said, something snagged his glove. When he looked in the bag, he saw it was the talon of the missing eagle that had been in the news, and immediately turned it in to police. Posted April 1, 2005. http://www.ala.org/ From museum-security at museum-security.org Sat Apr 2 09:02:08 2005 From: museum-security at museum-security.org (Museum Security Network / Cultural Property Protection Net (Ton Cremers)) Date: Sat, 2 Apr 2005 09:02:08 +0200 Subject: [CPProt.net] Korea: Thieves Robbed Confucian Shrines and Temples with Crane Message-ID: <20050402070209.KVKS2285.amsfep14-int.chello.nl@cremers> Thieves Robbed Confucian Shrines and Temples with Crane MARCH 31, 2005 23:51 by Jae-Dong Yu (jarrett at donga.com) The police have arrested a group of people on the charge of stealing about 2,350 cultural assets, including national treasures, from temples and private museums in Youngnam, Jeonnam and Chungnam provinces. They took many priceless cultural properties such as cornerstones of Joong Jeong Dang (250th national treasury) at Dodong Seowon, a Confucian academy (1568 AD) in Dalseong-gun, Daegu and a decoration featuring the nimbus of a Buddhist statue that was preserved at the Deep Rooted Tree Museum in Boseong-gun, Jeonnam. All Time Large Scale- A team for broad investigations of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency has accused Park (53) of stealing cultural assets, and Jeong (46), who brokered sales of stolen goods to antique art dealers, of violating the protection law of cultural properties on March 31. Jeong once served as the manager of a branch office of the Association of Korean Ancient Art in the past. The police issued arrest warrants to two persons including Sohn (53), who brokered sales of stolen national assets on the same charge, and booked another two, including Kwon (63), who purchased them, without detention. According to the police, four people including Park entered Dodong Seowon at 8:00 p.m. on February 15 and robbed two cornerstones of Joong Jeong Dang established in the early Joseon Dynasty. They allegedly have stolen around 2,350 cultural properties over 11 times from August last year. It has been revealed that the offenders handed over the stolen artworks to experts on ancient art collections and that Jeong sold them to other art dealers. The seized ancient collections contain five pieces including the nimbus of a Buddhist statue at the Deep Rooted Tree Museum, which were registered on the robbery report, eight classical books preserved at the Haemi Confucian Shrine, Seosan in Chungnam, two warrior statues reserved by the Jung family, Yeonggwang in Jeonnam, and clan registers and a letter of appointment from a king in the Joseon Dynasty of the nine families, including the family of Kwon in Andong. An official from the Cultural Heritage Administration said, "The scale of the robberies is the biggest in history in terms of the number of goods stolen," adding, "Experts have not examined the value of the goods, but it is estimated at around eight billion won." The police office expect that there are at least four to five groups of thieves that excel in robbing cultural properties, so they have been tracking down three people involved in the case, such as Kim (41) who ran away during the investigation, while looking into the possibility of the export of the stolen national assets abroad. Cultural Properties Vulnerable to Robbers- The police announced that the thieves including Park (41) drove a truck with a crane and stole stone materials and cultural assets at night that were not designated as cultural treasures by the government from Confucian shrines and temples, which were not managed and guarded well. Earlier this year, three people, including Eun (54), were arrested on the charge of stealing a pair of warrior statues from tombs in Jeonnam province, which were not designated as notional cultural properties, but still valued at about two billion won. Non-designated cultural properties mean cultural materials that are not designated by the regulations of cities or local governments, but that are worth preserving. The authority said that most of non-designated cultural properties are exposed to the risk of robbery owing to a lack of management. Moreover, it is hard to record the exact conditions and numbers of those materials since their holders do not want publicity. Indeed, the policy agency has been suffering in terms of arrests of offenders since the larceners of cultural properties usually consist of cell organizations that specialize in robbing to sales of robbed goods. From museum-security at museum-security.org Sat Apr 2 09:03:38 2005 From: museum-security at museum-security.org (Museum Security Network / Cultural Property Protection Net (Ton Cremers)) Date: Sat, 2 Apr 2005 09:03:38 +0200 Subject: [CPProt.net] Riker's officer suspended in Dali painting scam Message-ID: <20050402070339.JZOE2070.amsfep16-int.chello.nl@cremers> Riker's officer suspended in Dali painting scam By DAN JANISON STAFF WRITER March 31, 2005, 6:13 PM EST Two years after a famous Salvador Dali drawing was stolen from a jailhouse wall, city investigators are accusing a correction officer of creating the crude fake that was left in its place. Officials said Thursday that George Sheehey, a 17-year correction officer, is suspended without pay in connection with the clumsy caper in which three other officers pleaded guilty and one was acquitted. Sheehey is not being criminally charged -- though he's the Department of Investigation now calls him the creator of the copy, which was detected within hours of the crime. Correction officials suspended Sheehey based on charges that included failing to report what he knew about the theft. The original was never recovered and authorities believe it was destroyed by one of the thieves as probers closed in. Last June the accused mastermind of the theft, former assistant deputy warden Benny Nuzzo, was acquitted on all charges after a month-long trial. Dali created the ink and pencil sketch, which depicts the crucifixion of Jesus, and dedicated it to Rikers inmates after cancelling a planned visit to the prison due to illness in 1965. The switch was discovered within hours by an officer who regularly prayed under the original -- and noticed the copy looked wrong and its frame was missing. The piece, valued at $250,000, was stolen March 1, 2003, from the wall of a Rikers Island visitors' center during a fire drill staged to conceal the crime. The fake was then stapled into a display cabinet without a frame. "The individual has been suspended for 7 days based on the most recent information in the ongoing DOI investigation," said Correction spokesman Tom Antenen. Sheehey is expected to be suspended again at the end of that period pending the resolution of administrative charges. He's been on "modified duty" -- reassigned from his post at the Eric M. Taylor Center on Rikers -- since March 2003, Antenen said. A voice-mail message left Thursday for Sheehey's lawyer went unreturned. In a statement from her office, Investigation Commissioner Rose Gill Hearn said: "I am pleased that the Correction Dept. is initiating disciplnary action against this officer who engaged in this conduct and did not come for with information, as is required by city law." "DOI investigators determined that (Sheehey) drew the fake crucifixion painting that was used by individuals as a substittute for the original Salvador Dali painting which they stole from Rikers in March 2003," she said. http://www.nynewsday.com/ From museum-security at museum-security.org Sat Apr 2 23:13:35 2005 From: museum-security at museum-security.org (Museum Security Network / Cultural Property Protection Net (Ton Cremers)) Date: Sat, 2 Apr 2005 23:13:35 +0200 Subject: [CPProt.net] Theft leads to jail, $500 fine Message-ID: <20050402211337.OLSG11841.amsfep19-int.chello.nl@cremers> Theft leads to jail, $500 fine By LILA FUJIMOTO, Staff Writer WAILUKU - The theft of glass artwork from a Wailea gallery last year led to a jail term for a man and community service for a woman implicated in the crime. Randy Ross and Amy Snover, both 25, were captured on surveillance video June 26 as he took two pieces of artwork from a Dale Chihuly sculpture at Elizabeth Doyle Gallery in The Shops at Wailea. Snover eventually admitted acting as a lookout for her husband. "They weren't stealing for any reason other than the thrill," Deputy Prosecutor Kevin Jenkins said during the couple's sentencing hearing Thursday. He described the defendants as educated professionals who didn't take necessities or steal to support a drug habit or children, as commonly occurs in shoplifting cases. "They do have a flaw, however, and that's greed," Jenkins said. "Pure and simple, it's greed." The glass pieces, taken on two days in June from the gallery, were recovered from the couple's Kihei residence, where the artwork was displayed on a wall, Jenkins said. He said the couple took police to the home after being arrested in July. Gallery co-owner Elizabeth LaCount, who had studied the surveillance video, recognized Snover and Ross while shopping at a Kihei grocery store, Jenkins said. LaCount followed the two to their car and obtained the license plate number, which she turned over to police. On July 26, LaCount was driving home when she saw the car on Piilani Highway and followed it to Maui Memorial Medical Center, where Ross was seen getting into the car driven by Snover, Jenkins said. He said LaCount called police, who arrested the two. Deputy Public Defender Adriel Menor asked for no jail time or a suspended jail sentence for Ross, who works full time to support the family, including a daughter born six months ago. "That event, the birth of his daughter, is all the difference in the world to him," Menor said. "He's indicated to me this will never happen again." Second Circuit Judge Joel August referred to Ross' "pattern of conduct, primarily involving property crimes" in saying he wasn't eligible for a chance to keep the latest convictions off his record. The judge imposed a 90-day jail term as part of five years' probation for Ross, who had pleaded no contest to two counts of second-degree theft. He was also ordered to pay a $500 fine. Ross was allowed to serve the jail term on consecutive weekends starting Friday evening. Attorneys said Ross has prior convictions for forgery, theft and providing liquor to a minor in Texas. While the crimes in Texas were misdemeanors, the forgery and theft offenses would be felonies in Hawaii, Jenkins said. In Snover's case, the judge cited her "good record" in giving her a chance to keep a second-degree theft conviction off her record if she follows court requirements for the next five years. She was ordered to perform 100 hours of community service. Defense attorney David Cain argued that Snover has no prior convictions and deserved a chance to keep her record clean. "This has been a tremendous experience in my life," Snover said in court Thursday. "It's carried as much weight as the birth of my daughter, and the fact that it's happening together is enormous." Jenkins, who had argued against giving her a chance to clear her record, said Snover at first denied any involvement in the theft to police. She admitted her role in a letter to the court two days before she was originally scheduled to be sentenced earlier this month, Jenkins said. The state agreed to allow Ross and Snover to plead no contest to second-degree theft instead of second-degree theft by shoplifting, which would have required a minimum fine of four times the value of the stolen property. In the case of Ross, who was convicted of theft of all the artwork, the minimum fine for felony shoplifting convictions would have been $78,000 to $92,000, Jenkins said. He said the minimum fine for Snover, who was charged for the theft on one of the two days, would have been about half. The state made the plea agreement "because the state didn't see the point in punishing the child," Jenkins said. In an unrelated case, 2nd Circuit Judge Shackley Raffetto ordered a six-month jail term as part of five years' probation for Clinton Estrella. The 19-year-old Wailuku resident had pleaded no contest to first-degree burglary and second-degree theft for a break-in on Oct. 8 at a neighbor's home on Piihana Road in Wailuku. Estrella was arrested after he was seen trying to hide stolen items as he left the home. Lila Fujimoto can be reached at lfujimoto at mauinews.com. From museum-security at museum-security.org Sun Apr 3 00:23:14 2005 From: museum-security at museum-security.org (Museum Security Network / Cultural Property Protection Net (Ton Cremers)) Date: Sun, 3 Apr 2005 00:23:14 +0200 Subject: [CPProt.net] Index March 2005 messages Message-ID: <20050402222316.TUTK2209.amsfep17-int.chello.nl@cremers> Archive Cultural Property Protection http://te.verweg.com/pipermail/cpprot/ March 2005 messages - Tulsa Native American Artist Has Thousands Of Dollars In Artwork Stolen - - China: theft of cultural relics from ancient sites and museums in China jumped by 80 per cent last year - - China: High-tech crimes threaten cultural relics - - China: Statue thieves finally sentenced - - En Afghanistan, le pillage est devenu syst?matique / sytematic looting of Afghan cultural heritage - - Ancient sky map or fake? German experts row over star disc - - Return of Axum obelisk 'imminent' - - Arts Minister Halts The Export Of Rare Cast Iron Fire Place. - - STEALING OUR HISTORY: MISSING MARKERS DISTURB KEEPERS OF STATE'S PAST - - FW: Art Theft in Denver, Colorado USA - - UK: Appeal Hearing on ?1.9M Vases Case - - Wuppertal will finally restitute three works of looted art to the heirs of former Jewish owners on the basis of the 1998 Washington Principles. - - Espa?a/Spain: Mallorca pide al Gobierno el retorno de los toros de Costitx/ Majorca requests the return of the bulls of Costitx - Espa?a/Spain - Austria: Controversia sobre obras cedidas en pr?stamo sin los permisos legales necesarios/ Controversy on works yielded in loan without the necessary legal permission - Espa?a/Spain: Robo de obras de arte en una iglesia burgalesa/ Theft of works of art from a church at Burgos - M?xico: Mayor castigo a robo de arte sacro en M?xico/ Greater punishment to robbery of sacred art in Mexico - City offers ?10,000 to Nazi loot holocaust families - - UK: Arrests over ?30m antiques theft - - UK: Organised art theft ring smashed - - (no subject) Patty Gerstenblith - FURTI D'ARTE: A PIACENZA RECUPERATA OPERA DI GASPARE LANDITRAFUGATA NEL 1971 - - Thailand: Panel to test crown in US - - Police Recover Stolen Ray Charles Tapes in L.A. - - Recovery of two paintings stolen from church in Palermo - - U.K. Court Upholds Damages Award to Borders in Book-Theft Ring - - Re: CPProt Digest, Vol 4, Issue 60 Cristina Ruiz - Sunken schooners at risk in fight over 1812 relics - - Soviet's Hungarian art loot to get display - - Former president of Phillips Historical Society fined, must pay restitution; guilty in antiques theft - - Roban tesoro arqueol?gico de cultura ind?gena colombiana - - Stolen crown theory mars Thai exhibit; crown probably stolen from crypt at Buddhist temple of Wat Ratchaburana at Ayutthaya, once the capital of Siam - - Russia reneges on deal to return German art loot - - SAFE launches Lectures Online Cindy Ho - Archeology magazine raises questions as Israel awaits big artifacts fraud trial - - UK: ?20,000 antiques raid - - Munch-Gem?lde aus norwegischem Hotel gestohlen / Three Munch paintings stolen - - Art thief comes clean after 50 years - - Roban tres obras de Munch en Noruega por segunda vez en menos de siete meses - - Trois oeuvres d'Edvard Munch vol?es dans un h?tel de Norv?ge - - Alarmante contrabando de piezas religiosas hacia EEUU y Europa/ Alarming contraband of religious pieces towards US and Europe - Three Edvard Munch works recovered after being stolen from Norwegian hotel - - Stolen Munch works recovered, nine arrested - - Va. Man Admits to Stealing, Selling Documents From National Archives - - Construction workers held for antiquities theft - - Veteran art-news reporter taken off the air by National Public Radio after MOMA complained about report on controversy over ownership of Schiele's Portrait of Wally - - Dallas police arrest jewelry theft suspect; Paralegal sought since property vanished from a law firm's vault - - Israel: Eight antiquities robbers caught - - The Indiana Jones Like Tale Of A Stolen Thai Crown - - Serbia's deputy culture minister has admitted sending agents to steal a shaving from waxworks at Madame Tussaud's in London - - Honduras: Reliquias a la "mano de Dios, No se ha podido evitar robos / Relics at the "hand of God" , It has not been possible to avoid robberies. Many robberies are not reported - - Zwei M?nner geben Diebstahl von Munch-Bildern zu / two men admit theft of Much art - - Beutekunst-Krimi im Bibelformat; Bl?tter des Codex Sinaiticus sollen im Internet zusammengef?hrt werden / Sheets of the Codex Sinaiticus are to be united in the InterNet - - Greece: Key scandal testimonies - - FW: REGIONAL INTERGOVERNMENTAL SEMINAR PROMOTING THE 1999 SECOND PROTOCOL OF THE 1954 HAGUE CONVENTION - - European heritage of manuscripts and archive documents steadily deteriorating due to fire, water damage, stains or poor restoration work - - Write to the WSJ. Sign the SAFE petition. Cindy Ho - El museo desaparecido / the lost museum - - Theft report from Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University Stephen Jones - Artwork looted from Iraq gallery is real - - Taiwan to Return Ancient Buddha Head to Mainland - - Zwei Wochen Haft f?r Munch-Diebe / Two weeks detention for Munch thieves - - New questions arise over the ownership of paintings smuggled from Russia during the Cold War - - FW: YOUR COUNTRY HAS LESS THAN FOUR MONTHS TO SIGN UP TO THE SECOND PROTOCOL TO THE HAGUE CONVENtION AND TAKE A FULL PART IN ITS IMPLEMENTATION - - U.S. to pay $25.5 million to settle WWII 'Gold Train' lawsuit (read US Response plus settlement text) - - INTERNATIONAL ART THIEF TO STAND TRIAL IN RUSSIA; thief permanently resided in Germany - - erste Beteiligte am Coup in der Kunst- und Antiquit?tenmesse im Z?rcher Kongresshaus vom vergangenen Oktober ist bereits verurteilt / coup in the art and antique fair in Zurich - - New art theft squad agents assigned by FBI - - Repost, without attachment: U.S. to pay $25.5 million to settle WWII 'Gold Train' lawsuit - - Australian archaeologist drafted damning letter describing damage to bones of "Hobbit", 18, 000-year-old hominid remains found on Indonesian island - - UK: Stolen country house antiques recovered - - ECUADOR: El templo La Balbanera contin?a desprotegido/ The temple The Balbanera continues to be unprotected - Mexico: Devastan mineras nueve zonas arqueol?gicas en Chihuahua/ Miners devastate nine archaeological zones in Chihuahua - USA: Ten reasons to reinvest in the National Park System - UNESCO TO HELP RESTORE CHECHEN MUSEUMS - - Espa?a/Spain: Los ladrones de arte ya no se fijan en Arag?n/The thieves of art no longer notice Aragon - World's biggest art collector arrested in Qatar; Sheikh Saud Al-Thani, cousin of the Emir of Qatar, is being investigated for alleged misuse of public funds - - The Last Word: Donny George; A Real-Life Treasure Hunt - - Return our 'stolen' crown, Thai thief begs US gallery - - Secret life, secret obsession in museum thefts case; serial thief died last November. - - Proponen ley protecci?n de patrimonios mundiales en China/ They propose law protection of world-wide patrimonies in China - FW: The Art Newspaper newsletter - - IGLESIA DEL CARMEN DE SANL?CAR LA MAYOR. Detenido despues de robar varias obras de arte de incalculable valor hist?rico. Arrest in robbery of four XVI and XVII century pictures from church - - UK: Detectives in Perthshire are investigating the theft of rare model trains estimated to be worth ?50,000. - - Korea: Guard against thievery of cultural assets - - Man charged in book theft, resale - - Documentary 'Stolen' Tracks Search for Lost Art - - Haaretz - Israel News - Israel Museum gives back Degas looted bythe Nazis - - FW: Press Release sent on behalf of Lawrence M. Kaye, Esq. Breakthroughs on Major Holocaust Claim - - FW: Lib?ration : Un r?seau de trafic d'art d?mantel?. Network of illicit traffic in art dismantled - - Stolen 'Cezanne' a fake: police - - How to create a National Committe of the Blue Shield - - UK: Missing trains worth ?50,000 - - Australia: Man appears in court on art theft charges - - France: Vol d'oeuvres d'art et d'antiquit?s : une dizaine de mises en examen / theft of antiquities. Ten arrested - - Library considering steps to preserve its historic materials - - FW: UNESCO to draw up re-installation project for Axum obelisk - Mexico: Diputados crean ley para evitar que destruyan monumentos/ Representatives create law to avoid the destroy of monuments - Last call: Petition to protect China's cultural heritage Cindy Ho - Bari - Recuperate opere d'arte rubate - MILANO: RITROVATI 18 QUADRI RUBATI IN GALLERIE ANTIQUARIE, DUE PERSONE ARRESTATE. 18 stolen paintings recovered, two arrested - Mexico: robberies of sacred art in Oaxaca - Critical high water in Dresden Germany / Hochwasser in Dresden vor kritischer Marke - In NPR actions, were all things considered? E. Randol Schoenberg - Bangkok: Guarding the Gods - Japan and Afghanistan to study ancient temple - Sri Lanka's maritime museum hopes fade after tsunami reclaims sea treasures - SAFE petitions deadline extended to March 27 Cindy Ho - UK: Millions in Valuables Hidden Away in Attics - Firenze: Medici Child Tomb Goes Missing - In NPR actions, were all things considered? - A Cruel Race to Loot the Splendor That Was Angkor - Cambidia: Temple raiders tamper with history - Thailand: Stop! There's a thief in the house - Canadian teen charged with Acropolis marble theft - UK-Italy: Devuelven "misal de Benevento" robado durante la Segunda Guerra/Return of "missal of Benevento" stolen during the Second War - MEXICO: Abandonados, pinturas rupestres y petroglifos de Quer?ndaro/ Abandoned, rock paintings and petroglifos of Quer?ndaro - Kloster Marienbad erh?lt wertvolle Antiquit?t zur?ck/ Monastery Marienbad receives valuable antique back - UK: How an ?8m gamble on stolen Turners netted Tate ?17m - to spruce up its Turners - Looted ancient bookmust be sent back to Italy - Australia: Cezanne real, says expert [24mar05] - SAFE presents Stolen History Tour with Roger Atwood Beth Edelstein - Convicted art - Myles J. Connor Jr. - thief busted in Natick watch heist - USA: Center's records make lost piecesharder to find - Un trafic particuli?rement lucratif. Enqu?te sur le pillage des objets d?art. / particularly lucrative traffic. Inquiry into the plundering of the objets d'art - The life and crimes of Myles Connor - USA: Miami vulnerable al tr?fico de obras de arte robadas/ Miami vulnerable for traffic of works of art stolen - City officials say missing works of art, artifacts will be hard to find; Bronze statues returned to Redding; Vandals permanently shut down library; Confidential documents reveal museum's secret past; Brancusi sculpture, lost for more than 75 years, is in - FBI: Theft of Indian artifacts on the rise - UK: Church raiders cause damage running into thousands - Renoir painting stolen from Paris auction houseTajan - Assyrian treasures heading for 'hostile' territory - Historic chalices stolen - Historical gravestones endangered - Price of Terrorism Insurance Scraps Touring Art Exhibit MusSecNetworkCulPropProtNet - FW: The Art Newspaper newsletter - ART Une huile du ma?tre de l'impressionnisme vol?e en plein jour chez le num?ro deux du march? de l'art fran?ais - Bawazir admits failures to protect antiquities, states new strategy - Book review: Pillaging Khmer Art From a.cremers3 at chello.nl Tue Apr 5 07:28:44 2005 From: a.cremers3 at chello.nl (a.cremers3 at chello.nl) Date: Tue, 5 Apr 2005 7:28:44 +0200 Subject: [CPProt.net] China: Heimkehr kultureller =?iso-8859-1?q?Gegenst=E4nde?= Message-ID: <20050405052844.TXJO1703.amsfep20-int.chello.nl@localhost> Heimkehr kultureller Gegenst?nde Die Wiedererlangung verlorener kultureller Objekte aus dem Ausland ist seit einiger Zeit ein hei? diskutiertes Thema in China. Unabh?ngig von der praktischen Durchf?hrung einer sicheren Heimkehr solcher Gegenst?nde, ist es auch an der Zeit dar?ber nachzudenken, was diese Form kultureller "Wiedervereinigung" f?r China und die Welt bedeutet. Seit den 40er Jahren des 19. Jahrhunderts begannen derartige Gegenst?nde genauso schnell aus China zu verschwinden, wie die westliche Welt in China Einzug hielt. Heute, viele Jahre nach dem Diebstahl der Gegenst?nde, fangen die Menschen an sich zu fragen, wo die Objekte wieder gefunden und ob sie nun an China zur?ckgegeben werden k?nnen. Die chinesische Regierung und einige Nichtregierungsorganisationen (NRO) haben einen R?ckfluss derartiger Objekte nach China festgestellt. Luo Zhewen, Pr?sident der Staatlichen Gesellschaft f?r kulturelle Relikte und Experte des staatlichen Amtes f?r den Schutz kultureller und historischer Relikte, beschreibt die Art der verloren gegangenen Objekte: "Chinesische kulturelle Relikte im Ausland k?nnen in drei Kategorien eingeteilt werden. Die erste Kategorie sind Objekte die als Geschenke an andere L?nder gegeben wurden, ein Trend der seit der Tang-Dynastie ?blich war. Die zweite Kategorie sind Gegenst?nde die zum kulturellen Austausch verwendet wurden. Die dritte Kategorie sind Objekte, die wir als ans ?Ausland verlorene kulturelle Relikte' bezeichnen, Gegenst?nde die durch Raub, Diebstahl und Schmuggel ins Ausland kamen." In den letzten Jahren ist der Lebensstandard in China gestiegen und Chinas nationale St?rke hat zugenommen. Folglich hat Chinas Stimme mehr Gewicht, was wiederum die M?glichkeiten der Regierung zur Wiedererlangung verlorener kultureller Gegenst?nde verbessert. Au?erdem gibt es eine wachsende globale Bewegung, bei der Entwicklungsl?nder immer lautst?rker eine R?ckgabe ihrer verlorenen Antiquit?ten fordern. Im Jahr 2002 wurde mit Unterst?tzung von ?ber 300 Experten und Gesch?ftsleuten der Sonderfonds zur Rettung verlorener kultureller Relikte aus dem Ausland gegr?ndet. Der Fonds steht unter der ?gide der chinesischen Stiftung f?r soziokulturelle Entwicklung. Direktor des Fonds ist Zhang Yongnian. Zhang legt gro?en Wert auf die Aktivit?ten seiner NRO: "Wir haben Menschen aus allen Gesellschaftsschichten dazu aufgerufen, sich die Bedeutung unseres Ziels klar zu machen und zu unserem Fonds beizutragen. Unser zweiter gegenw?rtiger Arbeitsbereich ist die Sammlung von Informationen ?ber verlorene kulturelle Relikte. Schlie?lich sammeln wir auch Gelder, um die Objekte zur?ckzukaufen." Obwohl der Fonds keine Anstrengung scheut, die Gegenst?nde zu retten, ist festzustellen, dass die Objekte, wenn sie einmal in einem Museum sind, nur sehr schwer zur?ckzuerhalten sind. Daher konzentriert sich die Arbeit vor allem auf Objekte in privaten Sammlungen. Der Fonds hat drei M?glichkeiten Objekte aus dem Ausland zur?ckzuerhalten. Die erste M?glichkeit ist die der Stiftung. Unternehmen oder Privatpersonen kaufen Objekte und stiften sie durch den Fonds der Regierung. Die zweite Methode ist, dass der Fonds Objekte mit fondseigenen Geldern erwirbt. Dies bezieht sich vor allem auf Gegenst?nde die vor der Gr?ndung der Volksrepublik China legal von ausl?ndischen Sammlern erworben und ins Ausland verbracht wurden. Damals gab es keine gesetzlichen Beschr?nkungen f?r den Export kultureller Objekte. Die dritte M?glichkeit ist eine R?ckgabe der Objekte zu verlangen, die im 19. Jahrhundert w?hrend der Invasion Chinas durch westliche L?nder gestohlen wurden. Aber dies ist der mit Abstand schwierigste Weg. Bisher hat es mit dieser Methode noch keinen einzigen Erfolg gegeben. Zhang ist der ?berzeugung, dass wirtschaftliche Methoden am besten sind. "Kulturelle Relikte sind nicht nur Zeugen der Geschichte und kulturell wertvoll, sie sind auch Wertgegenst?nde. Wir respektieren das Eigentum kultureller Relikte, wenn sie in der Hand von Einzelpersonen und gut gesch?tzt sind. Dar?ber hinaus sind wir bereit angemessen, gem?? ihrem gesch?tzten Wert, f?r sie zu bezahlen, wenn die Eigent?mer bereit sind sie nach China zu verkaufen." (China.org.cn, CRI, 4. April 2005) From a.cremers3 at chello.nl Wed Apr 6 09:21:04 2005 From: a.cremers3 at chello.nl (a.cremers3 at chello.nl) Date: Wed, 6 Apr 2005 9:21:04 +0200 Subject: [CPProt.net] Stolen cultural items on the rise, more traffic along the border Message-ID: <20050406072104.OKGZ1703.amsfep20-int.chello.nl@localhost> Busting black market dealers Stolen cultural items on the rise, more traffic along the border Sam Lewin 4/5/2005 A conference in Washington, D.C., this month aims to address the long-standing problem of looting sacred sites in America and Canada. Hard figures are difficult to come by, but anecdotal evidence and statements from federal investigators suggest that the black market business of selling artifacts is easily a multi-million dollar a year venture that is increasing all the time. Bonnie Czegledi, an international art and cultural property law attorney based in Toronto, believes artifact thefts and trafficking are becoming more prevalent, especially along the northern border. That?s because of a mouthful called the Bilateral Agreement Concerning the Imposition of Import Restrictions on Certain Categories of Archaeological and Ethnological Material-a 1997 agreement between the U.S. and Canada that placed import restrictions on some cultural items. The agreement was for five years and expired in 2002. It has yet to be renewed. ?Stuff is stolen all the time and sold south of the border for U.S. dollars,? Czegledi told the Native American Times. ?Once it?s gone-it?s gone. A piece of culture is lost permanently. Canada and the U.S. should have a treaty where customs officials can seize these things and they can be repatriated.? Czegledi said renewing the agreement is of paramount importance when it comes to stemming the tide of goods sold on the black market-except this time, she says, the deal needs to be permanent. The United States currently has similar agreements in place with countries like Bolivia, Peru and Cambodia. The Federal Bureau of Investigation likewise believes that artifact thefts are on the rise. Many of the items are worked through a fence and sold to collectors. "As the value of those pieces increases, we're going to see more theft," an FBI spokeswoman said. As the Native American Times reported last week, a rash of rip-offs have hit Indian museums around the country, with thieves stealing items that were on loan from Indian tribes. A tribal elder compared the taking of such artifacts to ?being raped.? In addition to increased security to prevent domestic thefts, experts in the field advocate more aggressive prosecution for those involved in dealing stolen arts. The case of Frederick Schultz is considered a textbook example. Schultz was a prominent New York antiquities dealer convicted under the United States National Stolen Property Act for plotting to sell items stolen from Egypt. A former leader of the National Association of Dealers in Ancient, Oriental and Primitive Art, Schultz was sentenced to 33 months in prison. The Washington conference is billed as offering both ?legal and academic insight into the increasingly contentious issue of repatriation, in the U.S. and Canada, covering actual and proposed legislation, as well as the trends among museums, research institutions, and other bodies, which are operating in the absence of legal parameters.? Speakers include representatives from the National Museum of Natural History and the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act. The conference is April 15 at the Fairmount Washington. http://www.nativetimes.com/ From pgersten at depaul.edu Tue Apr 5 18:30:30 2005 From: pgersten at depaul.edu (Patty Gerstenblith) Date: Tue, 05 Apr 2005 11:30:30 -0500 Subject: [CPProt.net] Preserving our Past: Looting and the Black Market in Art, Artifacts, and Antiquities Message-ID: The Lawyers' Committee for Cultural Heritage Preservation, together with SAFE (Saving Antiquities for Everyone) and the College of William and Mary Washington Office is pleased to announce the second event in its Law & Cultural Heritage Speaker Series. The event titled "Preserving our Past: Looting and the Black Market in Art, Artifacts, and Antiquities" will be held on Wednesday, April 13, 2005, from 6:30 - 8:30 PM, at the William and Mary Washington Office, 1779 Massachusetts Ave, NW, Washington, DC. Featured speakers include: Roger Atwood, Journalist and Author, Stealing History : Tomb Raiders, Smugglers, and the Looting of the Ancient World; Dr. Ellen Herscher, Archaeologist, Chair of the Archaeological Institute of America's Cultural Property Legislation and Policy Committee; Dr. Magnus Fiskesj?, former Director, Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities, Stockholm, 2000-2005; and Patty Gerstenblith, Professor, DePaul University College of Law, and President, Lawyers' Committee for Cultural Heritage Preservation. The event will be moderated by Dr. Lucille Roussin. The event is free and open to the public. A reception will precede the talk. Seating is limited; please RSVP to sccran at wm.edu or (202) 939-4000. For more information about the Lawyers' Committee for Cultural Heritage Preservation, visit: www.culturalheritagelaw.org. From a.cremers3 at chello.nl Wed Apr 6 09:31:50 2005 From: a.cremers3 at chello.nl (a.cremers3 at chello.nl) Date: Wed, 6 Apr 2005 9:31:50 +0200 Subject: [CPProt.net] Italy: 18TH CENTURY OIL PAINTING RECOVERED Message-ID: <20050406073150.OSYV1703.amsfep20-int.chello.nl@localhost> HERITAGE: 18TH CENTURY OIL PAINTING RECOVERED (AGI) - Palermo, Italy, Apr. 5 - Carabinieri have recovered an 18th century oil painting stolen from the church of Saint Francis in Palermo. Stolen in August 2003, the octagonal painting (1m x 1.04m) portrays the baby Jesus sitting on the Earth clasped by the spires of a snake. The baby wears a blue cloak brandishing a standard which reads "Ad Maiorem Dei Gloriam". The painting was recovered along with its original frame allowing experts to claim with certainty that the finding was the original. The painting was first logged in 1991. The painting was recovered thanks to a constant monitoring of the antiques market, leading to the finding in the premises of an antiques dealer. (AGI) . 051218 APR 05 http://www.agi.it/ From a.cremers3 at chello.nl Wed Apr 6 09:42:16 2005 From: a.cremers3 at chello.nl (a.cremers3 at chello.nl) Date: Wed, 6 Apr 2005 9:42:16 +0200 Subject: [CPProt.net] Antiques smugglers seized in Yemen Message-ID: <20050406074216.PDDQ1703.amsfep20-int.chello.nl@localhost> Antiques smugglers seized in Yemen Big News Network.com Tuesday 5th April, 2005 (UPI) Yemeni police arrested a three-man gang that smuggles antiquities outside the country through a clandestine crossing on the Yemeni-Saudi border. An official source said Tuesday a team from the General Department of Antiquities headed to the province of Hujja in northwest Yemen to investigate into the smuggling of antiquities though the border passage of Hard on the Saudi border. He said a gang made up of two Saudis and a Yemeni was arrested last week while trying to smuggle daggers, swords and art pieces dating back to the centuries before Islam. Last February, the authorities foiled an attempt to smuggle 500 pieces of antiquities by an Iraqi national who was operating under the cover of his freight company. From a.cremers3 at chello.nl Wed Apr 6 09:44:15 2005 From: a.cremers3 at chello.nl (a.cremers3 at chello.nl) Date: Wed, 6 Apr 2005 9:44:15 +0200 Subject: [CPProt.net] Antiquities sleuth sifts museum collections for fakes Message-ID: <20050406074415.PFCR1703.amsfep20-int.chello.nl@localhost> Antiquities sleuth sifts museum collections for fakes By The Washington Post Tuesday, April 5, 2005 WASHINGTON -- Most museums have fakes in their collections. This is a reality to which they don't want to bring attention. Jane MacLaren Walsh, however, loves to turn the material legacy of the past over and over in her strong hands. As an art detective, it's both her research and her reverie. She fingers a tube of jade as narrow as a soda straw and wonders about its maker, the artist who worked some 3,500 years ago and thought to carve a snake like the one crawling near the fire. Then she thinks of the other craftsmen who, roughly 200 years ago, created forgeries of such antiquities so convincing that today they nestle in the world's finest museums. Walsh sits in a sunny office at the National Museum of Natural History and wonders if the next wonderful piece of allegedly pre-Columbian art that comes through the door will be real or fake. Beneath her soft silver hair is skin reddened by the sun of Mexico, where she has just been examining the bounty from a dig. An anthropologist with the Smithsonian for 35 years, Walsh finds a certain joy in being stumped and a delicious satisfaction in spotting a forgery. It's not easy to find objects that are certifiably genuine to judge others against. But Walsh and sleuths in Britain and Mexico have three pre-Columbian collections they regard as beyond reproach: The Museo del Templo Mayor in Mexico City has the results of an accidental discovery in the 1970s of an ancient Aztec temple. The artifacts represent the last period of pre-Columbian art, from about A.D. 700-1500. The British Museum has a collection of Mayan jades dating from A.D. 100-900. And the Smithsonian has holdings from an Olmec site at La Venta, Mexico, where anthropologist Matthew Williams Stirling, working from 1938 to 1946, found a cache dated from 900 to 200 B.C. "They were selected because they are documented. They came from controlled scientific excavations," Walsh says. "We know for certain that they are authentic, and because of the cultures and sites, we know what time periods they come from." Walsh is creating a computerized reference base meant to guide those trying to spot fraudulent antiquities. After studying the holes and markings on genuine items in the three museums, she examines suspect artifacts with advanced scanners for the telltale marks of relatively modern equipment. "In excavations you don't find the tools because (the figures) were offerings to the gods," Walsh says. The workshop where they were made was somewhere else. So the indoor anthropologist has to ask hundreds of questions as she turns over an object. "What did they use to make that hole?" she says, looking at an Olmec ear ornament, dated from 900 to 400 B.C. Could the ancient craftsmen have used bamboo? Or cactus thorns or small bones or flint or quartz? What complicates the search for authenticity is that some of the forgeries are also antiques. "Fakes have been made, I think, since early in the 1800s. Some people think they begin even earlier. After the wars of independence starting in 1810, all of Mexico was opened up to travelers from Europe and America," she explains. "So when lots of travelers came in, they were fascinated by the presence of ruins and wanted to take home souvenirs. They created a demand, and as usual, somebody else created a supply." Walsh's interest in Mesoamerican archaeology and history was kindled when her father's foreign service career took the family to Mexico. In high school, she often visited the museum that had been made out of the home of Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo. There she fell in love with its paintings, folk art and antiquities. She earned her degrees from the University of the Americas in Mexico City and later got a PhD from Catholic University here. "The beauty of the collections is that they are like libraries, they tell you so much," Walsh says. At Natural History, which has the largest scientific staff of any museum in the world, the collections yielded plenty of authentic examples she could use to debunk frauds. She uses all sorts of equipment in her detective work. An Apple computer in her office is where she can manipulate high-resolution images. Many of these come from the museum's labs, which are equipped with CT scanners, X-ray machines and scanning electron microscopes. But advanced technology goes only so far: She has also created tools using materials available to ancient artisans. Walsh picks up a piece of obsidian, shiny and sharp, and shows how it might have been used. "This volcanic glass is the fifth hardest mineral there is," she says. A fake, by contrast, often shows evidence of a hard metal tool. "With modern tools, you get these regular, clean lines, very sharp, very narrow. If you see impressions left by a tool that didn't exist" at the time, she says, "you know it is a fake." A high polish may also signal the use of modern tools. She thinks of those very old hands. "Of all the documented Olmec jades that I've looked at, I haven't seen evidence of hollow drills yet," Walsh says, pointing out the jades were probably drilled with a solid pointed stone. Later, after the Olmec period, other cultures used bird bones and bamboo-like reeds for hollow drills. And there Walsh stops. "I don't want the fakers to know what to avoid," she says. Tracking how ancient carvers worked has led Walsh down some curious trails, including experimenting with a mouse bone as a drill bit. "The rodent bone worked very well. The mouse had tough small bones, and I used it to drill with sand," she says. She also tried rabbit bones she took home from a dinner out. Then there was a duck, eaten for dinner, its bones then donated to science. "It worked pretty well as a drill. Ducks and rabbits and mice all would have been available to pre-Columbian peoples, and since they would have used what they could find, I tried to use what I could find too," Walsh says. Once the bones are cleaned and sharpened, she goes to the museum's mineralogy department and with another colleague runs tests using mechanical drills that more or less duplicate the motion of an ancient hand drill. "He runs them at a relatively slow speed to simulate a bow or hand drill. Using quartz sand we see how long it takes to drill into some samples of jade and jadeite," says Walsh. Some cases are clear-cut: She was certain about a purported Aztec crystal skull. One arrived at the Smithsonian in 1992 from an anonymous donor. The alarm bells went off, since Walsh knew that New Age practitioners bragged about the powers of these objects and people were creating them to serve a special market. But had they ever really existed? "It was a class of artifact never dug up," she says. Working with the British Museum, she created a test with molds of the lines and drill holes. Under the microscope, her first inkling was verified. "One of the things that was obvious about the crystal skulls was that the carving was done by a wheel, or a rotary saw. No pre-Columbian carver had such a tool, so we felt it had to be after European contact," Walsh says. She investigated how the crystal skulls had made their way into the British Museum and the Musee de l'Homme in Paris. The same dealer had sold both, and the skulls had originated in Germany. More often, she finds pieces she is 90 percent sure are counterfeit, but is reluctant to render a verdict until she's finally completed her database. In this way she hopes she will someday be able to offer other art sleuths an authentic road map to fakes. http://www.pittsburghlive.com/ From a.cremers3 at chello.nl Thu Apr 7 08:26:22 2005 From: a.cremers3 at chello.nl (a.cremers3 at chello.nl) Date: Thu, 7 Apr 2005 8:26:22 +0200 Subject: [CPProt.net] Nairobi: Crisis At the Museum Message-ID: <20050407062622.GTGA1703.amsfep20-int.chello.nl@localhost> Crisis At the Museum The East African (Nairobi) NEWS April 4, 2005 Posted to the web April 6, 2005 By John Kariuki Nairobi Not only are top scientists at the National Museums of Kenya leaving for greener pastures, but the cash-strapped institution finds itself unable to check the flow of historical artefacts out of the country THE NATIONAL MUSEUMS of KENYA is in a multifaced crisis. Not only are low pay, lack of research funds and poor working conditions driving away its researchers, it has been forced to watch helplessly as large chunks of the country's historical legacy are spirited out of Kenya. The irony is not only that this "history drain" is taking place because the Museums don't have the funds to compete with the foreign buyers. The drain is also endangering the Museums' plans to become self-sustaining by establishing a permanent historical exhibition - once funds become available. Last year, the European Union offered the Museums a Ksh600 million ($7.9 million) grant but only on condition that it was given complete autonomy. This was meant to improve pay and improve working conditions for the various categories of professionals. A draft Bill on the proposed autonomy was forwarded to the National Assembly, where it has been lying for close to a year. Senior officials at the Museums recently said they were optimistic that the Bill would be presented to the current session of parliament, which has just begun. However, an official at the National Museums headquarters was sceptical about the Bill's chances of becoming law any time soon. "It requires three readings before it is passed and at the current pace, even if it were read in the current session of Parliament, we would be looking at its implementation next year," said one official. He would not, however, disclose how many senior researchers were still left at the institution. Besides improving salaries, the EU grant was also meant to finance a new, permanent exhibition hall to display items of historical value to Kenya. The permanent exhibition was expected to make the museums a more attractive place for visitors both local and foreign. Museums are a major attraction for tourism globally and a new exhibition would in the long run boost the viability of the National Museums of Kenya as a self-supporting entity. However, researchers warn that international traffickers are already targeting items that are crucial for such an exhibition. They include medals handed to Kenya's World War II veterans, their military uniforms and maps of old towns drawn before 1945. THIS MASSIVE ACQUIS-ition of historical items by overseas museums was brought to the attention of the Museums last year by foreign collectors who sent inquiries for a long list of new category of artefacts from East Africa being sought by international collectors. It only became apparent when individuals started making enquiries at the Department of Ethnography at the Museums, trying to sell medals and other items on the overseas requests list. "The Kenya World War II veterans wanted Ksh5,000 ($64) per medal but we had no budget for it," said Evans Kiprop, head of the Ethnography department. He said that the last time the National Museums had such a budget was in the 1970s, and has not made any acquisitions since. Kiprop said he also heard about an intended sale of a collection of the regalia used by elders presiding over the hearings at the Njuri Njeke, a traditional court in the Meru culture. "It would have formed an important part of our collection but we could not raise the Ksh5 million [$64,000] the seller was asking for," he said. "I later learnt that a Japanese art collector had offered Ksh2 million ($26,000), but the seller was adamant about his original price tag." Kiprop said that, with the poverty afflicting most Kenyans, especially in rural areas, those with material that can be sold will gladly sell it. The extent of the quest for Kenyan historical material is noted in the increase of inquiries by museums and their agents. Late last year, the Kenya High Commission in London forwarded a letter to the National Museums of Kenya that had been received from Afribilia Ltd - a renowned dealer in African artefacts - requesting contacts for a similar catalogue of Kenyan artefacts. It was handed to the office of Kibunja Mzalendo, Director of Regional Museums, Sites and Monuments, who promptly advised on the inherent dangers. "We made a request for a budgetary allocation to buy items because most of them are in the private ownership of veterans and need to be paid for. But we never received the allocation," said Dr Mzalendo. Sources in the ethnography department said that a lot of these items have already left the country and will continue to do so unless the National Museums can allocate funds to buy those in private ownership. Thousands of Kenyans were in World War II, as soldiers or carrier corps, and still hold uniforms, medals and other military gear being sought by collectors. Last year, the Survey of Kenya had to lobby the British government to hand back old towns maps that the institution considered important for historical records. "The British government agreed to hand over the maps free of charge; we only paid for the flight. But there are still more of them out there that we would like to get" said Boaz Omondi, senior assistant director at the Survey of Kenya. He said that such maps are important for documenting history and growth of the country's urban centres. There is also doubt about the fate of a huge consignment of materials from the Mau Mau freedom fighters - including uniforms and weapons - that was handed to the late president Mzee Jomo Kenyatta in 1963 at Ruringu Stadium in Nyeri (a battlefield in the Mau Mau war). Kiprop said that the material should have been kept at the Museums but his department was unable to trace it. There are a few guns, but he said he believed that the bulk of the material may have been stolen and smuggled out of the country. "I had hoped that this would be a permanent exhibition on its own," he said. Trafficking in historical material is not new to Kenya, and a lot of the country's legacy is already in overseas galleries. Among the popular items are the two stuffed hides of the man-eating lions of Tsavo (featured in the Hollywood film,The Ghost and Darkness) who terrorised workers during the building of the Kenya-Uganda railway at the turn of the 19th century, and are also the subject of a bestselling book by Colonel Patterson (the British engineer in charge of the construction). COLONEL PATTERSON sold them to the British Museum, which later sold them to the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago, where they have been a major tourist attraction. John Chipsumba, a Kenyan who has worked at the Chicago Museum, said that most of the estimated five million visitors to that open air museum are attracted by the two lions. The Hoover Institute (in the US) is also believed to be holding a sizeable amount of crucial historical material that disappeared from Kenya soon after independence. Contacted, Dr Maina Kagombe, who once headed the Kenya National Archives, said that some of the material is in microfilm and relates to the 1950s and would be an eye-opener about the atrocities committed by the British during the colonial era. Dr Kagombe said that he had persuaded the institute to return the material, which it did after long negotiations, but would only entrust it to him and in fact wanted him to travel to the US to collect it. But he was sacked from the Kenya National Archives before he could make the trip, and the issue was not pursued thereafter. It now unlikely that the material will be returned. An assistant archivist for reference at the Hoover Institute, Carol Leadenham, told The EastAfrican via e-mail that it would be illegal to return the material. "We sign an agreement with our suppliers to safeguard the material we get and as such it would be illegal to surrender it," she said. This new position is shared by several other overseas museums holding Kenyan material and the issue of repatriation has become all the more complicated following the establishment of what are now called Universal Museums, claiming to secure material for humanity. Said Kiprop, "They have this argument that they are more competent to secure such material and this has seriously affected any efforts to repatriate the items from Kenya and other Third World countries." He says that the only choice is to buy back the stolen treasures or at least try to mop up what is still in the country. "It's all about money," he added. Meanwhile, the exodus of senior researchers has sparked panic and the management is lobbying for funds to at least pay salaries. Previously, scientist would wait for an opportunity for overseas appointments but the pay hike for academic staff at the local universities has created a new avenue that is attractive to some of the Museums' best brains. "We can no longer afford the cost of doing research in our designated fields, including collecting artefacts and other items of historic importance to the country," said a source. http://allafrica.com/ From a.cremers3 at chello.nl Thu Apr 7 08:30:38 2005 From: a.cremers3 at chello.nl (a.cremers3 at chello.nl) Date: Thu, 7 Apr 2005 8:30:38 +0200 Subject: [CPProt.net] Australia: Ex-ranger accused of theft Message-ID: <20050407063038.GVQN1703.amsfep20-int.chello.nl@localhost> Ex-ranger accused of theft By Sean Parnell April 07, 2005 From: Advertisement: THE Queensland Government is investigating claims a former national park ranger has hidden ancient Aboriginal coffins and bones in a remote cave and is refusing to repatriate them. Grahame Walsh, an author and collector of artefacts, has allegedly hidden the bark coffins in a cave at Carnarvon Gorge, about 600km northwest of Brisbane, where he previously worked as a ranger. Mr Walsh, who now lives in Brisbane, could not be contacted yesterday, but Time magazine has quoted him refusing to give the coffins to the traditional owners, the Bidjara people. Mr Walsh reportedly kept the coffins in a demountable shed but, under pressure to repatriate them five years ago, hid them at the gorge. That is despite Mr Walsh claiming to have rejected an overseas collector's $1million bid for one of the coffins, and offering to repatriate them all to the Bidjara people if they looked after the artefacts and provided him with $100,000 for a rock art research facility. Queensland Natural Resources Minister Stephen Robertson yesterday said the claims had been forwarded to the compliance unit in his department for investigation. Department sources said if the claims were true, Mr Walsh had breached cultural heritage laws and could face fines of up to $15,000. Foundation of Aboriginal and Islander Research and Action spokesman Bob Weatherall said he was concerned by the underground trade in Aboriginal artefacts and had previously raised the issue with Mr Robertson. Mr Weatherall said the coffins and bones held by Mr Walsh were in a remote caravan, not a cave, and should be returned to the Bidjara people for a proper burial. "The big problem we have in Aboriginal Australia in dealing with cultural matters is most of the people who are in control of the day-to-day care and management are anthropologists or archaeologists who advise the Government on policy development," he said. "They have, over the years, continued to look after their own ilk." Mr Walsh had previously claimed to have seen a Jongara - a bear-like creature from Aboriginal mythology - at the gorge. http://www.news.com.au/ From a.cremers3 at chello.nl Thu Apr 7 08:37:52 2005 From: a.cremers3 at chello.nl (a.cremers3 at chello.nl) Date: Thu, 7 Apr 2005 8:37:52 +0200 Subject: [CPProt.net] Azerbaijan urges to stop destruction of monuments in occupied lands Message-ID: <20050407063752.GZVX1703.amsfep20-int.chello.nl@localhost> Azerbaijan urges to stop destruction of monuments in occupied lands AssA-Irada 06/04/2005 13:46 The Organization for Protection of Historical and Cultural Monuments in the Occupied Areas of Azerbaijan has appealed to the UN, OSCE and other international organizations. The appeal demands that Armenia put an end to destruction of Azerbaijani cultural, architectural and archeological monuments, as well as looting of national riches in the occupied areas of Azerbaijan. ?The provisions of the 1954 Hague Convention that envision inviolability of cultural heritage owned by peoples and nationalities are blatantly violated by Armenians.? The appeal further urges the Armenian side to provide explanations on the fate of 96,607 exhibits looted from 20 museums, 376 portraits and paintings stolen from 4 picture galleries during the occupation of Azerbaijani lands. The appeal also demands that Armenia put an end to its policy of settlement in Azerbaijan?s territory, construction of churches in the occupied regions and allow international monitoring of cultural riches. http://www.bakutoday.net/ From museum-security at museum-security.org Thu Apr 7 22:27:41 2005 From: museum-security at museum-security.org (Museum Security Network / Cultural Property Protection Net (Ton Cremers)) Date: Thu, 7 Apr 2005 22:27:41 +0200 Subject: [CPProt.net] FW: Judge Declines to Toss Suit Over Painting Allegedly Stolen by Nazis Message-ID: <20050407202742.ZHSG10828.amsfep20-int.chello.nl@cremers> ________________________________ From: E. Randol Schoenberg [mailto:randols at bslaw.net] Sent: 04 April 2005 19:24 To: E. Randol Schoenberg Subject: Judge Declines to Toss Suit Over Painting Allegedly Stolen by Nazis Metropolitan News-Enterprise Monday, April 4, 2005 Page 1 Judge Declines to Toss Suit Over Painting Allegedly Stolen by Nazis By KENNETH OFGANG, Staff Writer U.S. District Judge Florence-Marie Cooper has denied a motion to dismiss a suit by the federal government seeking forfeiture of a painting that was allegedly stolen from its rightful owner during the Nazi occupation of Paris. In an order made public Friday, Cooper rejected Marilyn Alsdorf's claim that ownership of the painting should be decided in a suit that she filed in the federal district court in her hometown of Chicago. A Northern California resident, Thomas C. Bennigson, claims that the painting belongs to his family, and the Justice Department says Alsdorf should be required to give up the painting as stolen goods. The controversy is also the subject of a Los Angeles Superior Court suit brought by Bennigson against Alsdorf and art dealer David Tunkl in 2002. The California Supreme Court has agreed to decide whether California state courts have jurisdiction in the matter. Div. Eight of this district's Court of Appeal said the do not, concluding that Alsdorf did not subject herself to California's jurisdiction by sending the painting to Tunkl's gallery, where it was on display for eight months. The dueling lawsuits concern Picasso's 1922 work "Femme En Blanc," or Women in White. Flight From Berlin Bennigson alleges that he is the lawful owner of the painting, which belonged to his grandmother, Carlota Landsberg, and which Bennigson says is now worth $10 million. The complaint alleges that Landsberg sent the painting to a Paris art dealer when she fled Berlin in 1933, but that the Nazis stole it around 1940. Alsdorf and her late husband purchased the painting in New York in the late 1970s for more than $350,000. She sent it to Tunkl in Los Angeles in December 2001. The art dealer who sold the painting signed an affidavit saying he had no knowledge it was linked to a Nazi looting. Alsdorf argues she has rights to the painting because before she bought it, the New York gallery purchased it legally from a French dealer. Bennigson said he did not know the painting existed, or that it had belonged to his grandmother, until the summer of 2002. The source of the information, he said, was The Art Loss Register, an international organization which helps to locate and recover Nazi-looted art for Holocaust victims. The Art Loss Register allegedly told Tunkl around the same time that Bennigson was the rightful owner, but Tunkl allegedly didn't tell Alsdorf until Dec. 13, 2002. Alsdorf ordered Tunkl to send the painting back to Chicago that same day, Bennigson claims Bennigson's attorney, E. Randol Schoenberg, said that Alsdorf deliberately moved the painting to sidestep a new California law extending the statute of limitations on cases concerning Nazi-looted art. Seizure Warrant The controversy took a new turn last fall when the government filed the forfeiture action here and served Alsdorf with a warrant for the seizure of the painting. It was subsequently stipulated that Alsdorf can maintain possession until the case is resolved, and the painting is now "hanging in Mrs. Alsdorf's [Chicago] apartment," Schoenberg said. Alsdorf moved to dismiss the forfeiture action or transfer it to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, arguing that court had primary jurisdiction as a result of her having previously sued there. But Cooper rejected the argument as being inconsistent with traditional principles of in rem jurisdiction. "The difficulty with Alsdorf's argument is that the Illinois court has yet to assert jurisdiction over the res," Cooper wrote. "No process has been served on the painting in the Illinois action; the painting is not in the custody, control, or possession of the Illinois court," the judge continued, whereas the seizure by the U.S. marshal under process issued by the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California established the jurisdiction of that court. The fact that the seizure was made under a statute dealing with forfeiture of stolen property that has moved in interstate commerce does not distinguish the case from more traditional types of in rem actions, the judge concluded. While the ruling is merely procedural, Schoenberg said Friday it was a good sign for his client. "I hope that Mrs. Alsdorf will now consider the likelihood that we will prevail on the merits," the attorney told the METNEWS. "We feel pretty confident...the painting has to be returned to the [family of the] original owner." An attorney for Alsdorf could not be reached for comment late Friday. Copyright 2005, Metropolitan News Company From museum-security at museum-security.org Thu Apr 7 22:37:51 2005 From: museum-security at museum-security.org (Museum Security Network / Cultural Property Protection Net (Ton Cremers)) Date: Thu, 7 Apr 2005 22:37:51 +0200 Subject: [CPProt.net] FW: Ethiopia to get obelisk back Message-ID: <20050407203759.ZUPH10828.amsfep20-int.chello.nl@cremers> Van: shlomo at eastafricaforum.net [mailto:shlomo at eastafricaforum.net] Verzonden: maandag 4 april 2005 23:25 Aan: shlomo at eastafricaforum.net Onderwerp: Ethiopia to get obelisk back http://www.news24.com/News24/Africa/News/0,,2-11-1447_1685128,00.html Ethiopia to get obelisk back 04/04/2005 Addis Ababa - Italy will return to Ethiopia the first piece of the ancient Axum obelisk on April 11, a government spokesman said Monday, ending a dispute over the religious monument taken to Rome 70 years ago. The top piece of the 1 700-year-old obelisk will leave Rome by cargo plane on April 10 and be flown directly to Axum, Ethiopian foreign ministry spokesperson Solomon Abebe said. "The first part of the Axum obelisk will be returned to Ethiopia early on April 11," he said. The obelisk has been cut into three pieces, the top one weighing 40 metric tons. In 1937, Italian dictator Benito Mussolini ordered the seizure of the 25m obelisk from the religious city of Axum, 850km north of the capital, Addis Ababa. The monument was erected in downtown Rome as a war prize from Italy's invasion of Ethiopia in 1935. Italy has agreed to pay for the transport of the 160-metric ton obelisk by cargo plane and reconstruct it at its original site in Axum. Italy signed a pledge to the United Nations in 1947 to return all of the property plundered from Ethiopia, but has so far not followed through. The obelisk was damaged by lightning in 2003, which sent several large chunks at the top to the ground. From a.cremers3 at chello.nl Fri Apr 8 09:03:03 2005 From: a.cremers3 at chello.nl (MusSecNetworkCulPropProtNet) Date: Fri, 8 Apr 2005 09:03:03 +0200 Subject: [CPProt.net] =?iso-8859-1?q?_Investigan_robo_f=F3sil_dinosaurio_?= =?iso-8859-1?q?museo_durantevacaciones_Pascua?= Message-ID: <20050408070304.PXNC2285.amsfep14-int.chello.nl@cremers> Investigan robo f?sil dinosaurio museo durante vacaciones Pascua La polic?a judicial est? investigando el robo de un fragmento de hueso f?sil de dinosaurio que desapareci? del Museu Temps de Dinosaures de esta poblaci?n durante las vacaciones de Pascua. Todo indica que el acto delictivo cont? con la participaci?n de varias personas ya que la pieza estaba protegida por una vitrina de vidrio de grandes dimensiones. Se trata de un fragmento de pubis derecho de un Iguanodon, la especie m?s frecuente de los yacimientos paleontol?gicos de Morella y la comarca dels Ports. Las instalaciones disponen de c?maras de seguridad y vigilancia que ahora sirven de base para el an?lisis de lo sucedido. Seg?n informaba la regidora de Cultura, 'el robo tuvo lugar el s?bado de Pascua. Al finalizar la jornada la persona encargada del museu revis? como cada d?a las salas y comprob? que faltaba una pieza'. 'Ese mismo s?bado- dijo la regidora- se present? la denuncia en la Guardia Civil que inici? las investigaciones para intentar recuperar la pieza lo m?s r?pidamente posible'. El hueso robado no es una de las piezas m?s importantes de la amplia colecci?n de hallazgos paleontol?gicos de Morella pero,seg?n recordaba Rebeca P?rez, 'cualquier f?sil de dinosaurio, por sus propias caracter?sticas, representa una pieza ?nica'. Se trata de un fragmento de pubis derecho del Iguanod?ntido de Morella, localizado en el yacimiento de Mas de Romeu durante las campa?as paleontol?gicas desarrolladas durante los a?os 70 y 80 por el Instituto Paleontol?gico de Sabadell y aficionados locales entre los que destac? la labor de Francisco Yeste, descubridor de importantes yacimientos de dinosaurios en el t?rmino municipal de Morella. En cuanto a las caracter?sticas del robo, para la responsable de cultura del Ayuntamiento de Morella, 'el hecho de no tratarse de una de las piezas m?s importantes y ocupar la ?ltima vitrina de la ?ltima sala del Museo, con acceso directo a la calle, hace pensar en la improvisaci?n de los ladrones'. Sin embargo, por otra parte, se?ala, 'hay otros datos que hacen pensar lo contrario, ya que no es tan f?cil levantar las vitrinas, que requieren la participaci?n de al menos cuatro personas y una ventosas para poder mover el cristal y volverlo a colocar sin da?arlo. Por otra parte, Rebeca P?rez, tambi?n incid?a en la elecci?n del s?bado de Pascua para perpetrar el robo, ya que se trata de uno de los d?as cuando la presencia de turistas es mayor en el Museu Temps de Dinosaures y las torres donde se ubican las salas registran todo el d?a afluencia de visitantes. El Museu Temps de Dinosaures est? ubicado en el interior de las Torres de Sant Miquel de Morella, en la entrada principal de la ciudad. Las piezas est?n distribuidas entre las dos torres, accediendo a las instalaciones por una de ellas. La visita recorre la primera torre, cruza por la parte alta y tiene la salida por la segunda torre. La pieza robada estaba colocada en la ?ltima sala del trayecto, donde existe una c?mara de seguridad. Sin embargo, los ladrones consiguieron burlar el sistema de seguridad. Ahora los Cuerpos de Seguridad est?n trabajando para que pronto la vitrina forzada vuelva a estar completa. Por su parte, el Ayuntamiento de Morella estudia nuevas medidas para aumentar la seguridad de las instalaciones del Museu Temps de Dinosaures que funciona desde hace once a?os. Morella dispone de un gran patrimonio paleontol?gico, con la mejor colecci?n de restos de Iguanodon del pa?s. Los expertos consideran que en esta zona se registran los mejores yacimientos de restos de dinosaurios del Cret?cico Inferior, datados hace 120 millones de a?os. Terra Actualidad - EFE http://actualidad.terra.es/ From a.cremers3 at chello.nl Fri Apr 8 09:04:33 2005 From: a.cremers3 at chello.nl (MusSecNetworkCulPropProtNet) Date: Fri, 8 Apr 2005 09:04:33 +0200 Subject: [CPProt.net] Munch robbery a diversion? Message-ID: <20050408070433.UJSM13337.amsfep19-int.chello.nl@cremers> Munch robbery a diversion? Police now apparently rounding up the final suspects in one of Norway's biggest robbery cases now believe their work may also lead to a breakthrough in the high-profile theft of two masterpieces by Edvard Munch. A shot of the NOKAS robbery in progress, captured by security cameras. The robbery, which was a ruthless and large-scale operation, resulted in the shooting death of police officer Arne Sigve Klungland, making it an exceptionally violent crime by Norwegian standards. The police investigation to catch the members of the gang behind the NOKAS robbery is the biggest law-enforcement operation ever launched in Norway, and has already cost NOK 65 (USD 10.2) million, probably a bit more than the thieves made off with. Now investigators say they cannot rule out that the robbery of Munch masterpieces "The Scream" and "Madonna" from the Munch Museum in Oslo on August 22 last year was part of an advance maneuver from the band behind the NOKAS heist. The goal would have been to tie up investigative resources by creating a spectacular art theft. On the grounds that the members of the various criminal networks in the underworld in Oslo and eastern Norway know each other, police inspector Iver Stensrud is optimistic that more than one case may be solved by the NOKAS investigation. "I would therefore not rule out that the arrests in the NOKAS case will lead to a positive development in the investigation of the Munch case," Stensrud told Aftenposten. Police have biological trace evidence in the getaway car used in the Munch robbery, and have an increasing number of suspects in custody to test. The Malaga arrest of Toska, in the company of a 28-year-old Norwegian suspected of being behind a major hashish smuggling operation, is another indicator to police that Norway's criminal circles often merge, with multi-faceted international criminals becoming the norm. "It is interesting for us that these two were arrested together. It is relevant to raise the question of whether part of the robbery take has been used to purchase large quantities of hashish, and this is something the police will investigate closely," Stensrud said. Aftenposten's Norwegian reporters Arild M. Jonassen and Inge D. Hanssen Aftenposten English Web Desk Jonathan Tisdall http://www.aftenposten.no/ From museum-security at museum-security.org Fri Apr 8 09:12:44 2005 From: museum-security at museum-security.org (Museum Security Network / Cultural Property Protection Net (Ton Cremers)) Date: Fri, 8 Apr 2005 09:12:44 +0200 Subject: [CPProt.net] Former Museum Director Indicted in Theft of Space Artifacts Message-ID: <20050408071250.ZMJJ1640.amsfep16-int.chello.nl@cremers> Former Museum Director Indicted in Theft of Space Artifacts By Robert Z. Pearlman posted: 07 April 2005 05:18 pm ET Max Ary, the former director of the Kansas Cosmosphere and Space Center has been indicted on charges of stealing artifacts from the space flight museum in Hutchinson, Kan., and selling them, according to a press statement released today by the U.S. Justice Department. In the 11-count indictment, Ary was charged with two counts of wire fraud; three counts of mail fraud; two counts of theft of government property; and three counts of interstate transportation of stolen property. In an 11th count, the government is seeking the forfeiture of any proceeds Ary obtained from the alleged crimes. "We are prosecuting this case on behalf of NASA and others who have entrusted valuable historical artifacts to the Cosmosphere's keeping," Eric Melgren, U.S. Attorney said. "It is significant to all Americans that the history of this nation's heroic exploration of space be preserved and retold to each new generation, and it is important to the citizens of Kansas that the integrity of one of the state's most valuable educational resources be protected." Ary was the president and CEO of the Cosmosphere from February 1976 to September 2002. Today, he is director of the Omniplex Science Center in Oklahoma City. According to the indictment, the Cosmosphere has received on loan artifacts from the American space program provided by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the Smithsonian, the United States Air Force, the National Air and Space Museum and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration through the Johnson Space Center in Houston. As director, Ary signed loan agreements with NASA accepting responsibility for the safekeeping of the artifacts and acknowledging the conditions of the loan, which prohibited the objects from being sold. The Cosmosphere did not receive title to the artifacts and it could not unilaterally dispose of NASA property without obtaining NASA's prior authorization. The indictment alleges that Ary: Failed to advise NASA of the loss of an Omega mock-up astronaut's watch valued at $25,000 even after an insurance claim was submitted and a payment was made for the loss. NASA loaned the replica of watches worn by astronauts during space missions to the Cosmosphere, but was not told of the insurance payment and did not receive any of the proceeds. Ary signed documents reporting to NASA that the watch was still in the Cosmosphere's possession. Deposited into his personal accounts more than $35,000 from an auction in 1999 in which he sold items through a California auction house that were listed on the books and records of the Cosmosphere as property of the museum or were loaned to the Cosmosphere by NASA. Deposited more than $45,000 into his personal accounts from an auction in 2000 in which he sold items that were the property of the Cosmosphere. Ary had no legal authority, the indictment alleges, to sell objects belonging to the museum or to NASA. The list of artifacts Ary is alleged to have sold includes: A nose cone A NASA silk screen A photographic spot meter An RX3 spacesuit component Apollo 8 silk screens n Apollo 11 silk screen A flown Apollo 13 bus bar battery cable A flown sextant crown assembly An in-flight crew shirt An Air Force One control panel A Noun 70 Code panel, loaned to the Cosmosphere by NASA that had been flow in space. It sold for $3,400. On April 4, 2001, Ary signed a report to NASA falsely stating the panel was still in the museum's collection. A flown Apollo 12 water shut-off valve A rotation controller A purge valve for a spacesuit A film canister An Apollo 15 DDR tape that was loaned to the Cosmosphere by NASA. Ary sold the tape for $2,200. Ary later signed documents and submitted them to NASA falsely indicating that the tape was still in the museum's collection. During the spring of 2003, an internal audit by the Cosmosphere turned up 26 artifacts that had been loaned by NASA to the Cosmosphere and were missing from the collection. The indictment alleges that Ary sold six of them, loaned five of them to others without NASA's permission, and traded seven to other collectors. Other items are missing and unaccounted for. "We hope to have all the items returned to their rightful place in the Cosmosphere's collection as soon as possible," said current Cosmophere president and CEO Jeff Ollenburger. "These pieces of international space history belong to the public, and they must be preserved for the benefit of future generations." If convicted, Ary faces a maximum penalty of up to five years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine on each of the wire fraud and mail fraud counts. He faces a maximum penalty of up to 10 years and a $250,000 fine on each count of theft and each count of transportation of stolen properties. The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and NASA's Office of Inspector General. As in any criminal case, an indictment merely alleges criminal conduct and the persons charged are presumed not guilty until and unless proven guilty. "We want to thank our many supporters who are standing beside us during this difficult time," said Ollenburger. "We want to assure everyone that the Cosmosphere remains one of the world's most significant space museums and remains open for visitors." Disclosure: collectSPACE Editor Robert Pearlman is among the collectors who unknowingly purchased items stolen from the Cosmosphere. In response to a request by NASA, he has surrendered the artifact - an Apollo spacesuit strap-on pocket - to NASA's Inspector General. http://www.space.com/ From museum-security at museum-security.org Fri Apr 8 18:40:53 2005 From: museum-security at museum-security.org (Museum Security Network / Cultural Property Protection Net (Ton Cremers)) Date: Fri, 8 Apr 2005 18:40:53 +0200 Subject: [CPProt.net] Canada can set an example of how disputes over Nazi-looted treasure can be resolved, by Bonnie Czegledi Message-ID: <20050408164059.EKDO1640.amsfep16-int.chello.nl@cremers> In search of stolen art Canada can set an example of how disputes over Nazi-looted treasure can be resolved, by Bonnie Czegledi War provides opportunity for the wholesale destruction and looting of cultural heritage. It was hoped that after the devastating impact of Nazi confiscations in World War II, we would rise above such barbarism, condemn the confiscation of cultural heritage and abide by the corollary principle that property pillaged and seized under such circumstances should be returned to the rightful owner. Although we are making progress, this hope has not been realized. The great relief associated with discovering artwork once thought lost forever quickly changes to despair when it leads to adversarial fighting. Attempts at restitution or compensation to the original owners of stolen art seized during war do not have to lead to courtroom misery. We have only recently learned of Nazi-looted art traced to the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts. This is not the only piece of illicitly seized art in this country. But it could serve as an opportunity to set an example of how these Nazi-looted art disputes can be resolved justly. We need only look at the U.S. experience to see that no one wins in long, expensive, aggressive litigation of restitution cases, which force Holocaust victims and their heirs to fight for return of their property at great financial and emotional expense. A remarkable restitution of Nazi-looted art is a case involving the North Carolina Art Museum. The 16th-century Madonna and Child in a Landscape painted by Lucas Cranach the Elder was returned to its heirs without acrimony. The case did not go to court. The heirs were so impressed by the museum's response that they sold the painting back to it - below market value and commending it for eschewing arguments that statute of limitations bar the claim or that "floodgates will open." The heirs cited the museum's sensitivity and respect for justice. The North Carolina resolution starkly contrasts such painful, drawn-out cases as the Egon Shiele case. This involved aggressive litigation during which the Museum of Modern Art in New York fought tooth and nail the rightful, Holocaust-victim heirs, the U.S. government and the New York district attorney to prevent the return of the Portrait of Wally. Years later, the dispute continues. Some auction houses are setting a precedent for restitution of Nazi-looted artwork. Upon discovery of pieces with questionable origins, they have begun to negotiate settlements with heirs, demonstrating willingness to avoid legal action and resolving matters quickly, fairly and outside the courts. Artwork cannot be properly acquired without provenance research (an artwork's history). This poses many difficulties. One of the most important aspects of a painting is not its aesthetic appeal, but title. Provenance reveals the life of a painting, including its creation and place in history. However, information is often vague and contains fictions. Currently there is no accountability for providing accurate data, making thorough, independent research into registries of stolen art all the more essential. Most museums publish lists of pieces of questionable provenance. However, these lists are primarily made up of artwork flagged by the gallery itself and do not necessarily reflect a comprehensive list of acquisitions. Public art galleries should be required to provide information about their collections, including how they acquired it, specific details of pieces and the status of research. There are still many institutions who are members of the International Community of Museums who do not provide provenance lists. Culture is at the core of a people and nations. Once stolen or destroyed it takes generations to recover. Let's hope we do the right thing now, as we have not in the past. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---- Bonnie Czegledi is a lawyer in Toronto practising International Art and Cultural Property law. She is also co-chair of the International Cultural Property Committee of the Section of International Law and Practice of the American Bar Association. From museum-security at museum-security.org Sat Apr 9 08:39:40 2005 From: museum-security at museum-security.org (Museum Security Network / Cultural Property Protection Net (Ton Cremers)) Date: Sat, 9 Apr 2005 08:39:40 +0200 Subject: [CPProt.net] London: Double trouble. Play about a famous art forgery case Message-ID: <20050409063941.MAGS4858.amsfep17-int.chello.nl@cremers> Double trouble By Charlotte Mullins Published: April 8 2005 09:34 | Last updated: April 8 2005 09:34 The star of the new London play by scientist Carl Djerassi is almost as old as art itself. It is art?s antithesis, the fake. Phallacy is based on the true story of ?Youth from Mt Magdalene?, a valuable Roman bronze of a lifesize nude man. For many years, the ?Youth? was the centrepiece of the classical collection in Vienna?s Kunsthistorisches museum. But in 1986 it was revealed to be a 16th-century copy. And yet it remained a beautiful artwork, one that had deceived experts since entering the collection in 1806. So just what is wrong with a fake? Certainly not enough to stop forgery becoming a multi-million dollar business. Across Europe, America and Asia, anywhere from 15 per cent to a staggering 80 per cent (in Africa and China) of artworks offered for sale are thought to be fakes. Cases such as the gang of French and Belgian forgers jailed in 2001 for reproducing Cesar?s ?compression? sculptures make headlines. And the Impressionist forgers John Myatt or Elmyr de Hory became so well known that their works are sought after because of the forger rather than the forged. The stakes are so high that academics researching provenance and authenticity of works by artists such as Modigliani have received death threats when a work?s authenticity is called into question, and catalogue authors have been offered bribes from collectors to keep particular paintings or sculptures in their publications. When a real Modigliani painting sells for more than $14m, perhaps this isn?t surprising. The repercussions of forgery are manifold. Most obviously, the value of a work is drastically affected. Often it is an object?s place in history that determines, in large part, its price. In 1983, the J. Paul Getty Museum in Malibu bought a statue of a youth from the Greek Archaic period for a reported $8m. It is now thought to be from the same hand as a known modern fake, and is practically worthless. Ninety years earlier, another famous museological gaffe occurred in Paris, when the Louvre acquired the 3rd-century BC ?Tiara of Saitapharnes? for 200,000 gold francs. It turned out to have been made in 1880 by Israel Rouchomovsky, the Russian goldsmith, and was stripped of much of its value. Perhaps the clearest case of historical loss of value is the Shroud of Turin; believed for centuries to have been the shroud of Christ, in 1988 it was found to be a medieval forgery. Radiocarbon dating placed it around 1260-1390, although attempts to discredit this finding continue. In all of these cases, one thing did not change when they were exposed as fakes - the work?s physical appearance. But our perception of beauty is necessarily affected by the knowledge that the piece is no longer the ?real thing?. The artists did not supervise the casting, make adjustments to the figure once cast, or choose the patina. They did not decide upon the pigments and grind them, select the subject matter or apply a certain glaze. Neither did they conceive of the idea for the work. This is the crucial difference between the fake - worth the cost of its materials, if that - and the original, potentially worth millions. Our relationship with the artist - our proximity to their impetus, their creative impulse -is lacking in any fake. Forgeries destroy our understanding of the unique cultural climate from which a work arises, and so the power of art to transform that climate is eroded -only the original paintings of Caravaggio could lead to Mannerism?s demise; only Picasso?s 1907 proto-Cubist ?Les Demoiselles d?Avignon? had the power to become the cornerstone of modern art. Walter Benjamin described the power of the original artwork as its ?aura?. In his seminal essay ?The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction? (1936), he writes: ?Even the most perfect reproduction of a work of art is lacking in one element: its presence in time and space, its unique existence at the place where it happens to be.? The ?aura? is the reason millions cluster around the dark and mysterious ?Mona Lisa? at the Louvre each year rather than looking at da Vinci?s most famous painting in books or online. In our world of unstoppable mass-production, the essential power of an artwork - something a forgery can never possess - is its uniqueness. There are artists who have enjoyed upsetting this applecart of originality and exploring what Benjamin?s so-called ?aura? really means. These include Marcel Duchamp presenting a mass-produced urinal as a signed artwork called ?Fountain? in 1917, and Jake and Dinos Chapman, who replaced one ?aura? for another when they recently bought ?Disasters of War?, a suite of prints by Goya, for ?25,000, painted monstrous cartoon masks on each figure and proceeded to resell the suite for ?150,000. Andy Warhol built his career on exploring the boundaries between the historical exclusivity of the artwork and the mass-reproduction of popular culture. He screenprinted his canvases, a production method devoid of the artist?s touch, and used newspaper photographs as subject matter. Not surprisingly his work has been frequently forged. The forgeries began in his own lifetime, most notably by his friend, the poet Gerard Malanga, who created works ?by? Warhol based on the artist?s Pop Art poster ?Che Guevara?. Ten years later Warhol noted in his diary the real problem with such forgeries: ?They made my prices go down because people are now afraid to buy paintings because they feel they could be buying fakes.? Dealers and collectors would often contact Warhol to have him authenticate his own work, but how do you spot a fake if the artist is complicit - Warhol actually went on to claim the ?Che Guevara? pictures were his - or dead? In the first instance, it has to be conceivable that the work is a fake. Take the Cottingley fairy pictures of 1917. These amateur photographs with painted fairies taken by children convinced even Arthur Conan Doyle, creator of Sherlock Holmes, and were not disproved until 1983, when the girls involved finally confessed. Though they are obviously fakes to our knowing eyes, such was the desire at the time to capture the supernatural that people believed what they wanted to believe. Likewise the Piltdown Man, an attempt to fake the missing link between man and apes. The ?remains? were found in England in 1912; their authenticity was not questioned until after the second world war. When there is suspicion that an artwork has been faked, scientific advances such as x-radiography, radiocarbon dating, drochronology (tree ring dating) and thermoluminescence (a method of dating pottery), have revealed inconsistencies in dates and production methods. In 1930, an early Botticelli, ?Madonna of the Veil?, was bought for $25,000 and authenticated by Roger Fry, a respected art historian. But a young Kenneth Clark disagreed, pointing out that the allegedly Renaissance Madonna looked suspiciously like the film stars of the 1920s. On his hunch, scientific research revealed that the woodworm holes in the panel had been drilled in, and that the Madonna?s robe was painted with Prussian blue, which was not used until the 18th century. There is a risk of over-zealous investigation of forgeries, however. In 1968 the Rembrandt Research Project was set up in Holland to investigate the growing number of works that were alleged to be by Rembrandt. From an initial tally of 630 paintings thought to be genuine, the figure now stands at less than 300. But many of the works now dismissed as copies probably came from Rembrandt?s studio, were painted by assistants in his style under Rembrandt?s watchful eye, and signed as if by him, with his approval. This was standard practice. While works produced in this way may not be as mesmerising or technically well painted as those done primarily by the artist, should they be expelled from under the umbrella of Rembrandt?s authentic work? Artists continue to operate studios in a similar way - Antony Gormley encourages his dozen assistants to let their personalities shine through as they weld and forge his sculptures for him; Damien Hirst employs others to complete his spot paintings, even allowing them to choose the colour of the dots. If we accept the argument for Rembrandt?s studio works, should we then also exclude works from Gormley?s or Hirst?s oeuvre? Of course not. The concept of each work, whether by Rembrandt, Gormley or Hirst, is theirs - it is the execution, not the idea, that has been delegated. The sculptor Henry Moore also employed an army of assistants (including artists Anthony Caro and Richard Wentworth) to scale his hand-sized models up to the six-metre stone and bronze sculptures that occupy public plazas around the world. One such sculpture was ?Arch? (1980), in Kensington Gardens in London. Built out of travertine, it was dismantled after 16 years when it became unsafe as a result of the stone twisting in the damp climate. Last month Carlo Bilotti, a billionaire art collector, offered to pay to have another ?Arch? made in a marble suitable for the British weather. The copy would then be placed in Kensington Gardens, and the restored original would be given to his home town of Cosenza, in Italy. But will the copy be a valid replacement? No. Restoring the original and reinserting it into the park is to be applauded, but Bilotti?s idea leaves the park with a mere copy, while the original - worth hundreds of thousands of pounds - leaves the country. In Djerassi?s play Phallacy, the ?Youth? turned out to be a Renaissance copy of a Roman original that had disappeared. While the copy immediately lost 1,400 years of history and its ?aura? as an original artwork, it became one of the earliest known Renaissance casts of a large-scale antique bronze. It has its own place in history, created almost 500 years ago at a time when the market for Roman sculptures was such that Michelangelo, who at that time was at the height of his powers as a sculptor, felt the need to do a little faking of his own. As Dr Regina Leitner-Opfermann, the (fictional) director of antiquities in Phallacy, (factually) recounts: ?Michelangelo once made a superb, life-sized Cupid and then had it buried in a garden in Rome. When they dug it up, it was bought by Cardinal San Giorgio as a Roman antique at a super-inflated price.? She adds later, ?He [Michelangelo] even did it a second time with the head of a Satyr, breaking off one of his teeth to make it look older. ?But,? she concludes, ?his object was money, not fame.? As with the creation of all fakes, it all comes back to money in the end. Charlotte Mullins is the editor of the V&A Magazine. ?Phallacy? runs at the New End Theatre, Hampstead, London NW3, until May 14. http://news.ft.com/ From museum-security at museum-security.org Sat Apr 9 08:42:07 2005 From: museum-security at museum-security.org (Museum Security Network / Cultural Property Protection Net (Ton Cremers)) Date: Sat, 9 Apr 2005 08:42:07 +0200 Subject: [CPProt.net] USA: Art dealer found guilty. Signature sought for false affidavit Message-ID: <20050409064218.SSWF13337.amsfep19-int.chello.nl@cremers> Art dealer found guilty Signature sought for false affidavit By GINA BARTON gbarton at journalsentinel.com Posted: April 8, 2005 Whitefish Bay art dealer Marilyn Karos has pleaded guilty to a federal charge of obstruction of justice. It is her second criminal conviction arising out of a saga of stolen artifacts from Rome. Advertisement Karos, 63, entered the plea this week in federal court in Milwaukee. She faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and $10,000 in fines when she is sentenced July 14. However, under parameters set out in a plea agreement and federal sentencing guidelines, she will likely receive a sentence of 10 to 16 months in prison. In January 2001, Karos pleaded guilty to one count of receiving and possessing stolen property in connection with the case. She served seven months in prison on that charge. The case began in 1985, when a man who owed Karos money instead gave her stolen artifacts with a total value of between $300,000 and $450,000. Prosecutors say Karos did some research and realized the items were stolen. Later, a man named Zakria El-Shafei agreed to sell the items on consignment for Karos. When Karos learned that El-Shafei had pawned one of the items, she lured him to the basement of her house, where Chicago-area antiques dealer Richard O'Hara and two other men beat him, according to court records. At a jury trial in 2001, O'Hara was convicted of two felonies. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison. The severity of the punishment was due, in part, to evidence that O'Hara hit El-Shafei with a baseball bat and threatened to inject something into the belly of El-Shafei's pregnant wife. Karos' latest conviction stems from an attempt to get O'Hara out of prison on appeal, according to court records. Karos asked James Kosi - another of the men who had been in the basement - to help O'Hara by signing a false affidavit, the records say. Karos also offered Kosi $56,000 to sign the affidavit, which stated that O'Hara did not threaten El-Shafei's wife. The 7th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals denied O'Hara's appeal, and he remains in custody. Kosi cooperated with the FBI in the new case against Karos, according to the records. >From the April 9, 2005, editions of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel http://www.jsonline.com/news/metro/apr05/316785.asp From ellie at bruggemansolutions.com Sat Apr 9 11:50:22 2005 From: ellie at bruggemansolutions.com (Ellie Bruggeman) Date: Sat, 09 Apr 2005 11:50:22 +0200 Subject: [CPProt.net] =?iso-8859-1?q?Venezuela=3A_Se_robaron_la_efigie_de?= =?iso-8859-1?q?l_Chino_Can=F3nico/_They_were_stolen_the_effigy_of_the_Chi?= =?iso-8859-1?q?nese_Canonical?= Message-ID: <4257A55E.4060103@bruggemansolutions.com> Se robaron la efigie del Chino Can?nico La efigie en bronce del inolvidaple pelotero Daniel " Chino" Canonico, h?roe de la serie mundial de 1941. instalada hace a?os en el estadio ol?mpico de la calle 37 de esta ciudad, fue removida del lugar que ocupaba en la parte alta de la fachada de esa tradicionales instalaciones deportivas. El hurto de placas y figuras elaboradas con bronce se ha generalizado en las ?ltimas semanas en la capital larense, aparentemente con la intenci?n de ser vendidas a los chatarreros para su posterior fundici?n. El patrimonio p?blico de nuestra ciudad es ahora el centro de atracci?n de los delincuentes. La del Chino Can?nico habr?a sido robada el pasado jueves a plena luz del d?a y la denuncia de este particular delito habr?a sido puesta ante los organismos de seguridad del estado a eso de las seis de la tarde. Las autoridades locales est?n en la obligaci?n de esclarecer este robo, ya que todos los objetos p?blicos de bronce y otros metales corren igual riesgo de ser robados. Igualmente deben ser investigados algunos centros de recepci?n de material de reciclaje, ya que ser?an algunos de estos centros los encargados de recibir el material producto del robo. Patrimonio en peligro En anterior oportunidad se denunci? en las p?ginas de El Impulso este tipo de irregularidad. hace algunas semanas fueron removidos el escudo y la placa identificatoria de bronce del monumento a Bol?var construido en el sector El Garabatal de la avenida Ribere?a con motivo de celebrarse los 450 a?os de la fundaci?n de Barquisimeto en el a?o 2002. Preocupa el hecho de que este tipo de acciones se han generalizado a lo largo de la capital larense. Muchos objetos que forman parte de nuestro patrimonio estar?an terminando en los hornos de algunas compa??as que se dedican a la fundici?n de metales. Muchos monumentos locales han sido despojados de sus placas identificatorias en Barquisimeto y las autoridades locales est?n en la obligaci?n de tomar cartas en el asunto a fin de evitar que sigan proliferando actos de vandalismo que atentan contra el patrimonio de todos los larenses. http://www.elimpulso.com/ +++ www.freetranslation.com: They were stolen the effigy of the Chinese Canonical The effigy in bronze of the inolvidaple ballplayer Daniel " Chinese" Canonico, hero of the world series of 1941. installed years ago in the Olympic stadium of the street 37 of this city, was removed from the place that occupied in the high part of the facade of that traditional sports facilities. The theft of plates and elaborate figures with bronze has been generalized in the last few weeks in the capital larense, apparently with the intention of to be sold the scrap dealers for its subsequent foundry. The public patrimony of our city is now the center of attraction of the delinquents. That of the Chinese Canonical would have been stolen the past Thursday to full light of the day and the accusation of this private crime would have been put before the agencies of security of the state around the six of the afternoon. The local authorities are in the obligation to clear this robbery, since all the bronze public objects and other metals run equal risk of to be stolen. Likewise they should be investigated some recycling material reception centers, since they would be some of these centers the responsible for receiving the material product of the robbery. Patrimony in danger In previous opportunity was denounced in the pages of The Impulse this type of irregularity. does some weeks were removed the shield and the bronze identifying plate of the monument to Bol?var built in the sector The Garabatal of the avenue Ribere?a because of being celebrated the 450 years of the foundation of Barquisimeto in the year 2002. It worries the fact that this type of actions they have been generalized along the capital larense. Many objects that form part of our patrimony would be finishing in the ovens of some companies that are dedicated to the foundry of metals. Many local monuments have been despoiled of their identifying plates in Barquisimeto and the local authorities are in the obligation to take letters in the matter in order to avoid that continue proliferating acts of vandalism that attempted against the patrimony of all the larenses. From museum-security at museum-security.org Sun Apr 10 07:34:51 2005 From: museum-security at museum-security.org (Museum Security Network / Cultural Property Protection Net (Ton Cremers)) Date: Sun, 10 Apr 2005 07:34:51 +0200 Subject: [CPProt.net] Italy, victim of numerous cultural property thefts, takes over 50 years to fulfill promise and return Axum Obelisk to Ethiopia Message-ID: <20050410053453.XWIR1640.amsfep16-int.chello.nl@cremers> Ethiopians celebrate return of 160-ton 'souvenir' from Italy ANDREW HEAVENS IN AXUM, NORTHERN ETHIOPIA ABEBE Alemyehu was 12 when he watched Benito Mussolini's soldiers storm into the Ethiopian town of Axum to steal its ancient obelisk. Now the 81-year-old is preparing to go out on the streets near his family compound once again, as a new generation of Italians bring the sacred monument back. Later this month, Italy is due to return the first part of the 24m high 160-ton tower of granite, almost 70 years after its soldiers seized it during fascist Italy's brief occupation of Ethiopia in the build-up to the Second World War. The return will mark the end of a bitter feud between Italy and the impoverished East African country, which has spent decades campaigning for the repatriation of a national symbol. Ethiopian campaigners also plan to use the event to increase pressure on a host of other European institutions, including the British Museum, National Archives of Scotland and Edinburgh University Library, to hand back plundered Ethiopian treasures in their collections. "The Ethiopian people have waited so long for the return," Teshome Toga, Ethiopia's minister of youth, culture and sport said. "There has been a very continuous and sustained struggle to get back our heritage. At last it seems we have a light at the end of the tunnel." Thousands of Ethiopian priests and dignitaries are expected to pour into the northern Ethiopian town to welcome the monument, thought to have been erected as an imperial grave marker as far back as the 3rd century AD. Meles Zenawi, Ethiopia's prime minister, and Girma Wolde Giorgis, its president, will be among the guests of honour on the return of the obelisk - as will Abebe Alemyehu, one of only a small handful of people who can still bare witness to the original theft. Abebe remembers watching as a gang of Italian soldiers started hauling the intricately-carved obelisk along the streets of the dusty town, once the capital of the mighty pre-Christian Axumite Empire. "We used to come and play around the Italians every morning because there was no school. They were quite open to us. But they kept the adults back, sometimes with whips," said the retired government official, who still lives a 10-minute walk away from the obelisk's original home on the edge of the town. He can still remember the silent despair of his parents and friends. "They were covering their faces so the Italians couldn't see them crying," he said. "I saw it when it departed from Axum, and, if God permits, I will see it when it comes back. I am very, very happy." The obelisk was seized as a war trophy on the orders of Mussolini in 1937. Soldiers dragged it out of Axum and transported it to Rome via ship and train. They then erected it at the centre of a busy road junction in the Piazza di Porta Capena, not far from the Coliseum, to act as a symbol of fascist Italy's new empire in Africa. Those dreams died after Italy's defeat in the Second World War. But Rome held on to the monument, despite promising to dismantle and return it in international treaties signed in 1947 and 1997. The Italian government finally agreed to take down the obelisk in October 2003 after a concerted campaign of petitions, letters and banner-waving protests led by politicians and academics. Richard Pankhurst, son of the suffragette Sylvia Pankhurst and a history professor at Addis Ababa University, said that Italy's decision should encourage other holders of Ethiopian loot to follow suit. "I think you can't return a piece of stone weighing more than 100 tons without it having implications. "I think it will have implications for the return of Ethiopian loot taken by the British as well as by the Italians. But also for the return of loot taken by colonial powers from other parts of the world." A number of Ethiopian manuscripts and other treasures currently on display in institutions like National Archives of Scotland and Edinburgh University Library were originally taken from Ethiopia during the British invasion of the country in 1868. http://news.scotsman.com/ From museum-security at museum-security.org Sun Apr 10 07:34:51 2005 From: museum-security at museum-security.org (Museum Security Network / Cultural Property Protection Net (Ton Cremers)) Date: Sun, 10 Apr 2005 07:34:51 +0200 Subject: [CPProt.net] USA: Debate kindles over art values Message-ID: <20050410053458.XWIZ1640.amsfep16-int.chello.nl@cremers> Debate kindles over art values By Tom Saul Armed with two letters and a memo from the city administrator, Davenport Alderman Keith Meyer, 3rd Ward, has begun to insist that he be given object-by-object values of the city's $12 million art collection. But Mayor Charlie Brooke said he will do whatever it takes within the law to keep the information from becoming public. "We've talked about ways to keep it from becoming public, and if there is a way I can do so within the law, I'll do it," Brooke said during a