[CPProt.net] Safeguarding precious paintings

[MSN CPPnet (Ton Cremers)]

Safeguarding precious paintings 
Oct 10:
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The majority of paintings recently reported "missing" from the National Art
Gallery has been accounted for. But the incident highlights the need for
electronic tagging and regular inventory. OOI KOK CHUEN writes
 

WHAT a relief that 89 of the 127 paintings reportedly missing from the
National Art Gallery have been "found" in various parts of the gallery
itself in the past week.

This came a week after Auditor-General Tan Sri Hadenan Jalil's 2004 Report
listed 127 works as "missing".

Two oil paintings - Gadis Melayu (1959) by Datuk Hoessein Enas (1924-95) and
Wajah (1956) by Yusof Abdullah - were already reported missing in 1994.
Gadis Melayu, estimated to be worth RM120,000, was brazenly ripped from its
frame while it was hung at the gallery's previous premises at Jalan Sultan
Hishammudin. Wajah is estimated to be worth between RM6,000 and RM10,000
(see accompanying story).

Ten of the works were found to have been destroyed in a fire. (Why was this
not reported when it happened?)

Of the newly discovered 26 "missing" works, the important ones are Anak Dara
Melayu by Singapore pioneer Cheong Soo Pieng (1912-83), Fruits by China
painter-calligrapher-poet Qi Baiqi (1863-1957) noted for his shrimps
renditions and Pesta, an oil by Chia Yu-chian (1939-91), arguably the first
Malaysian artist to receive formal art education in France.

Others include Ketenangan I (Mohd Sani Mohd Dom), Layar Merah and Perigi
Dalam Rumah (both by William K.K. Lau), Pemandangan Kampung (Keng Seng
Choo), Rupa Duduk (Hajeedar Abdul Majid) and Menjemur Jaring (Nelson Lai
Kwee Foh).

British-trained Lau (born 1936) was a pioneer member of Penang's Thursday
Art Group (1957) and the Penang Teachers Art Circle (1965, unofficial), and
is noted for his paintings as well as prints.

Architect Hajeedar (born 1945), of Hajeedar Associates Chartered Architects
Sdn Bhd, was active during the 1960s in Peter Harris's Wednesday Art Group,
while Sani (born 1944) and Keng are both adept in watercolours.

These shocking revelations came hardly half a month after Dr Saharudin
Ismail took over as National Art Gallery director from an indisposed Rahime
Harun on Sept 16.

In revealing the recovered 89 works in a Press conference at the gallery
last Friday, Culture, Arts and Heritage Minister Datuk Seri Dr Rais Yatim
had said that some of the missing works were loaned to Government agencies
and Ministries and were either not returned or if returned, not properly
recorded.

This is baffling. Once in the permanent collection, every work of art is a
national treasure and should not be treated as "wallpaper" to be dispersed
to Ministries or Government agencies on loan. The various agencies ought to
have their own funds for acquiring artworks, and if they were to be loaned
works, they should be from a "floating" pool of less important works, not
from the permanent collection.

Any loss of artwork is irreplaceable and could not be repeated or
duplicated.

A major cataloguing exercise led to the publication of a book in 2004
listing 2,566 works in the permanent collection from its modest start of
four donated paintings in 1958, until 2003. The whole permanent collection
is valued laughably at between RM10.7 million to RM13 million, but the REAL
figure is much, much more.

In the Auditor-General's 2004 report, 206 were listed as missing up to
November 2002, while 79 were later found. Of the missing works, 14 were
found to have been on loan to Government agencies, two were destroyed by
termites, and three categorised as one work of art.

Rais had assured a revamp of the current system of documentation and
security, like electronic tagging and more regular stocktakings, and while
at it, he should also look into the conservation and restoration of the
collection.


Cases of art theft

WHERE do all the stolen artworks go, especially ones as world-famous as
Edvard Munch's Scream (torn from its security panel in an Oslo museum in
August last year)? Why, in August 1995, even a sculpture by Marcel Duchamp's
Bicycle Wheel (it was a third copy based on the lost original) was taken out
of the Museum of Modern Art in New York. 

In Europe and the United States, there are special art theft police who also
look into art being used for money laundering and other crimes. 

In these parts, five paintings, including those by Raden Salleh, Basuki
Abdullah and Affandi, stolen from the Indonesian National Museum in Jakarta,
were put up for auction in Christie's Singapore for its October 1996
edition! 

In Malaysia, art crimes are gradually increasing with the high prices of
artworks in auction houses, and with more individuals and corporations
turning to art as investments. With many artists being able to command
six-digit figures for their works now, it's small wonder.

Here are some of the better known art theft cases:

September 2005: Nine works were found missing from Raja Azhar Idris' ArtCase
gallery in City Square, with three works recovered from an auctioneer in
Petaling Jaya. 

June 2001: An ink-and-wash work entitled Working Drawing 2 (21cm x 15cm) by
Jalaini Abu Hassan was stolen from Galeri Petronas in KLCC, which boasts of
state-of-the-art 24-hour electronic surveillance. It was at his Garis
Gemalai (Rhythmic Lines) exhibition.

June 1996: An oil painting by China artist Zhang Yibo was stolen from an
exhibition mounted by Art House at the Shangri-La Kuala Lumpur.

September 1994: Gadis Melayu (55cm x 45cm), a 1959 oil by Datuk Hoessein
Enas (1924-95) was cut from its frame from where it was hung in the National
Art Gallery. Also stolen in the same year from the gallery was Yusoff
Abdullah's 1956 oil on canvas, Wajah. 

1994: Some Chinese brush paintings by Datuk Reverend Zhu Mo (Chuk Mo)
(1913-2002) were reported missing from his Triple Wisdom Hall abode in
Penang. But they were "returned", thrown into the hall six months later,
probably because of the wide publicity in the Chinese media.

1994: An aluminium sculpture marquette submitted by Lee Kian Seng as a
proposal to the Kuala Lumpur City Centre allegedly went missing, and is now
a court case. He had also reported stainless steel parts of his sculptures
being stolen from his house in 1998 and earlier this year, which were
believed to be sold as scraps. 

August 1991: Six khat paintings by Begum Neyar Ehsan Rashid were stolen from
the City Hall foyer in Kuala Lumpur. It was at the 99 Names of Allah
exhibition. The works worth RM16,000 were not insured but the artist was
compensated by City Hall.

September 1990: A cachet of 20 early works by Awang Damit Ahmad was found
missing from his rented house on his return from studies in the United
States.

1986: Datuk Ibrahim Hussein's Lebai Malang and Rawana (both done in 1969)
were discovered missing from Wisma Putra and a university respectively.
 
 http://www.nst.com.my/