Sunday, October 20, 2013

Stolen Art Watch, Moore The Merrier, Marinello Makes Waves As 7ft Standing Figure Goes Walkabout, Moore, Much Henry Moore

Three men hunted over theft of £3million Henry Moore statue from Stewartry estate

Police say the suspects were seen with a Ford Transit van, described as an “unusual shade of blue”, near the “Standing Figure” at Glenkiln reservoir.
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A distinctive van may hold the key to the theft of a world famous £3 million statue from a Stewartry estate.
The Ford Transit, described as an “unusual shade of blue”, was spotted twice in the vicinity of Henry Moore’s “Standing Figure” at Glenkiln reservoir.
It was first seen a week before the theft and witnesses have told police three men, with the van at the time, were studying the statue.
The Transit was also seen in the area on Friday, around the time of the theft.
Yesterday the man leading the hunt for the sculpture, Detective Inspector Colin Burnie, revealed one of the men seen with the van had ginger, shaven hair and was wearing a red or orange waterproof jacket.
The trio, all in their 20s or 30s, had a collie dog with them.
DI Burnie said: “We are delighted with the response from the public so far in this investigation, which has helped us immensely. We now require further help to identify this blue van and occupants and would again ask the public to call us if they have any information which may help us.”
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Galloway News

The seven foot tall “Standing Figure” was one of four Henry Moore statues on display in Lincluden park, near Shawhead.
The world renowned “King and Queen” is one of the others alongside pieces by Auguste Rodin and Jacob Epstein which complete the set the late Sir William Keswick put together between 1951 and 1976.
Some of the remaining statues have now been removed for safekeeping.
DI Burnie added: “The sculpture is one of six on public display and as well as the monetary worth, it has great emotional and sentimental value to the family.
“We feel for Sir Henry Keswick who has continued to display the sculptures outdoors for all to see, despite them previously being damaged, and to now have one stolen is sickening.”
Director of The Henry Moore Foundation, Richard Calvocoressi, said: “The Henry Moore Foundation is deeply saddened by the theft of the Henry Moore bronze, ‘Standing Figure’ from the Glenkiln Estate.
“We profoundly sympathise with the owners of this important sculpture, which was purchased directly from Moore by Sir William Keswick and sited on his estate, a spectacular setting which pleased Moore immensely.”
The statue was valued at around £3million in 2008.
Police are keeping an open mind whether it was stolen for its scrap metal value or in a “fairly daring raid” due to its value as a work of art.
The sculpture park is a popular visitor attraction and tourism bosses are hoping the theft won’t put people off visiting the area.
Paula McDonald, regional director of VisitScotland, said: “We are extremely disappointed at what has happened to the ‘Standing Figure’ and we hope that it is safely recovered and returned to its rightful place.
“While the hopefully temporary absence of the sculptures is a great shame, we would expect visitors to continue to enjoy the region’s array of beautiful landscapes and attractions.”
Christopher Marinello, Art Loss Register

Christopher Marinello Art Loss Register Director Sets Up Rival Firm - ArtLyst Article image

Christopher Marinello Art Loss Register Director Sets Up Rival FirmThe ALR, the world’s largest private database of lost and stolen art, antiques and collectables is about to have some competition. Christopher Marinello the Director General Counsel for the company is leaving to set up his own rival firm, after seven years service. been a lawyer since 1986, specialising in resolving art related title disputes. Marinello who is also a lawyer said in a recent interview, "The Art Loss Register and I have been a good fit for the last seven years".

The ALR's range of services have included item registration, search and recovery services to collectors, the art trade, insurers and worldwide law enforcement agencies. These services are delivered by employing art IT technology and a team of specially trained professional art historians. The worldwide team has been deliberately constructed so as to offer a range of language capabilities as well as specialities (modern art, old masters, antiquities).

Conceptually, there are two aspects to the business. First, by encouraging both the registration of all items of valuable possessions on the database and also the expansion of checking searches, the ALR acts as a significant deterrent on the theft of art. Criminals are now well aware of the risk, which they face in trying to sell on stolen pieces of art.

Second, by operating a due diligence service to sellers of art and also being the worldwide focus for any suspicion of illegitimate ownership, the ALR operates a recovery service to return works of art to their rightful owners. In recent years, the service has been extended to negotiate compensation to the victims of art theft and a legitimising of current ownership.

The ALR’s pre-eminence in the field of stolen art has allowed the business to be instrumental in the recovery of over £160m ($320m, €230m) worth of stolen items.

In a recent letter Marinello stated; "I am pleased to announce that after 7 years as General Counsel for the Art LossRegister, I have left the company to form Art Recovery International, a London based partnership that specialises in recovering stolen, missing, and looted works of art. I have assembled a small team of legal experts and other professionals who offer discreet and bespoke services to collectors, dealers, insurers, museums and artists.

While our primary focus is on art recovery and resolving complex title disputes, we also provide due diligence services and provenance research. We will be active in education on art crime and cultural heritage preservation and plan on instituting a pro bono service for artists, eligible claimants, and non-profit institutions.

We are also working with a number of developers to build what will be the most comprehensive central database of stolen and looted artwork, title disputes, fakes and forgeries, and works that may be subject to financial security interests. Utilising the most advanced technology available, the database will be run ethically, responsibly and with respect for the rule of law.

This is the ground floor of a very exciting business. I am open-minded to ideas and policies and recognize that all of you have either years of experience or youthful brilliance to impart. I welcome and appreciate both and thank you in advance for your support".

Unholy €25K art heist in Limerick shocks priests

Stripped bare: Fr Tom Ryan stands in front of one the frames where the paintings were cut out with a stanley knife, in the Holy Rosary church on the Ennis Road, where the theft occurred. Picture: Michael Cowhey

PRAYERS were said at the weekend for the return of five paintings stolen from the Holy Rosary church in Limerick, which are estimated to be worth at least €25,000.
The religious paintings by the renowned artist the late Fr Jack Hanlon had been hanging proudly in the Ennis Road church for over 50 years.
But on Wednesday last - some 20 minutes after Fr Tom Ryan left the church - a thief with a newspaper covering his face entered the church and cut the five paintings out of their frames with a stanley knife.
Chief Superintendent Dave Sheahan said they are appealing for the public’s assistance in this case, and will be circulating images of the stolen works to alert the public and any potential buyers.
“People are very shocked, as indeed am I,” said Fr William Walsh.
“It’s a dreadful and very unfortunate thing to happen. We had 100 people at mass on Thursday morning and people were very distressed and annoyed. At first some people thought the paintings had been removed for restoration,” he told the Limerick Leader.
Measuring about three feet long by five feet wide, the works were valued at €5,000 each when they were assessed by a local evaluator in 2010.
However, it’s understood they could be worth considerably more, as one work by Dublin born Fr Hanlon, who died in 1968, recently sold for as much as six times that figure in the United States.
His work was recently featured in an exhibition in the Irish Museum of Modern Art (IMMA) in Dublin, which went on to tour the country.
The paintings depict St Patrick, St Brigid, St Oliver Plunkett, Jesus in the carpenter’s shop with the Holy Family, and Pope Pius IX.
“People are very upset by this, especially our older parishioners who remember when the paintings were first mounted in the church,” said Fr Ryan.
“It’s hard to know what they could do with them. It’s a big shock.”
The theft is believed to have occurred at about 12.50pm.
The paintings were specifically painted for the church by Fr Hanlon after it opened in 1950.
The famous art collector John Hunt introduced the artist to Monsignor Michael Moloney, a parish priest who later became Diocesan secretary to successive bishops of Limerick, and who had a great interest in history and the arts. Hunt encouraged a number of artists at the time to contribute to the decoration of the church, and also loaned items from his own collection to the church for its opening.
Art dealers have been informed of the theft.

Man claims auctioned Basquiat drawing was stolen

The 27-by-20-inch Basquiat drawing that was auctioned for more than $600,000 at Christies

Back off my Basquiat!
A Manhattan man claims he is the rightful owner of a Jean-Michel Basquiat drawing that raked in $627,000 at a Christie’s auction.
Francesco Pellizzi, 73, says his mother paid $8,800 for the 27-by-20-inch work in December 1988, and gave it to him as a Christmas present.
The Upper East Sider reported the artwork stolen when he realized it was missing from the file drawer where he kept it, according to his lawyer, Peter Stern in 2000, said his lawyer, Peter Stern.
Pellizzi didn’t know the fate of the piece until he cracked open a Christie’s catalogue this year and saw it among the lots ready to be sold off, according to a Manhattan Supreme Court lawsuit filed last month.
Thaddeus Stauber, a lawyer for Vorbach, called Pellizzi’s claim “belated” and said he expects it to be dismissed.
He contacted Christie’s, but eventually agreed to let the current owners, Chicago lawyer David Ruttenberg and art dealer Jennifer Vorbach, sell the art and allow Christie’s to hold the funds until the ownership dispute could be decided, according to court papers.
Pellizzi, Ruttenberg and Vorbach were unable to settle their differences on their own, so Pellizzi is asking a judge to step in and award him $520,000 of the proceeds — the amount of the winning bid.
“It changed hands a number of times, but Vorbach and Ruttenberg are not able to trace it back to anyone who obtained it from Mr. Pellizzi,” Stern said.
The Basquiat in dispute, which portrays a weird, wobbly stick figure, “has a very long history of life outside the United States where the laws are different,” Ruttenberg told The Post.
The attorney paid six figures for the piece in 2012, which Vorbach located in a Swiss gallery, he said.
They’d researched the ownership of the art going back about a decade, and found it had gone through owners in Europe and China before they came upon it.
“If it’s being sold around Europe, you’re not doing a very good job of looking for your artwork,” Ruttenberg quipped. “We bought it as an innocent buyer.”
He declined to name the exact purchase price but said it was less than what the work fetched at auction.
Pellizzi “has no proof of ownership. We’ve never seen any proof his mother gave it to him,” said Ruttenberg.
“That’s what courts are for,” he said of the dispute.

$1 million Norman Rockwell painting goes missing in Queens

The work was about to be shipped to its new owner when workers discovered it had been pinched. The oil painting shows a fisherman in a yellow raincoat braving the drops in a rowboat as he holds a fishing pole.

The portrait Sport by Norman Rockwell. It is signed in the right corner.

'Sport,' the missing Norman Rockwell oil on canvas.

Color it gone.
An art thief has swiped a pricey piece of Americana — a Norman Rockwell painting valued at more than $1 million — from a Queens storage facility, cops said.
Workers at Welpak Art Moving and Storage at 58-60 Grand Ave. in Ridgewood realized the painting, titled “Sport,” was missing at 7 p.m. Sept. 13.

RELATED: PICASSO, MATISSE, MONETS STOLEN FROM MUSEUM
The work was about to be shipped to its new owner, but workers discovered it had been pinched, cops said.
The 22-by-28 canvas oil painting shows a fisherman in a yellow raincoat braving the drops in a rowboat as he holds a fishing pole. The painting is — or was — secured in a gold-colored wooden frame.
Rockwell’s signature appears in the water in the lower right corner of the painting that once graced the cover of the Saturday Evening Post.

Albania: Hundreds of looted icons recovered

TIRANA, Albania (AP) — Albanian police have seized more than 1,000 religious and secular pieces of art dating from the 15th to the mid-20th century that were stolen from churches and cultural centers in Albania and neighboring Macedonia.
Prime Minister Edi Rama, who began his career as an artist, inspected the works and praised police for recovering them.
The thefts involved 1,077 icons, frescoes and other pieces, and two men suspected of planning to sell them abroad were arrested, a police statement said Wednesday.
After a four-month investigation, the works were found in two houses in the capital, Tirana, where the arrests took place late Tuesday. Officials did not provide an estimate of the items' value.
Culture Ministry spokeswoman Milena Selimi said the looted art was probably headed for sale in other Balkan countries or in Western Europe.
The recovered works were being kept at the National Gallery of Arts in Tirana, where experts will examine them and restore damaged ones.
Cultural authorities say much of the country's religious heritage remains at risk due to limited resources in a country where religion was banned for decades under communism.
Rama urged Albanians to help stop the plundering of religious icons.
"What little we have we must protect," said Rama, himself a painter. He made his name in politics as a mayor of Tirana who led a campaign to paint the drab apartment block facades with bright colors.
"If we lose this wealth, our history will vanish with it."

POLICE in India have confirmed a 1000-year-old statue on display at the Art Gallery of NSW was stolen from a temple in southern India, most likely in 2002, increasing the likelihood that a slew of antiquities in Australia's pre-eminent art galleries will have to be surrendered.

AGNSW director Michael Brand has also confirmed his gallery has joined the National Gallery of Australia in officially co-operating with the international investigation into alleged antiquities-smuggling mastermind Subhash Kapoor.
- See more at: http://www.theaustralian.com.au/arts/visual-arts/agnsw-statue-stolen-from-temple/story-fn9d3avm-1226736454533#sthash.1iIPR2aD.dpuf

Five-year restoration of masterpiece to reveal art mystery

SPLIT, STOLEN, EVEN stashed in a salt mine, one of the world’s most mythical oils, Flemish masterpiece “The Adoration of the Mystic Lamb”, is undergoing its most ambitious clean-up in 600 years.
By Flemish primitive masters (and brothers) Hubert and Jan Van Eyck – though Hubert remains something of a mystery – the 24-panel work is also known as the Ghent Altarpiece or Lamb of God, and features the first known nudes in Flemish art, Adam and Eve.
Its unusually eventful past as well as questions over its genesis pose an extra challenge to the five-year restoration project taking place in full public view at the Ghent Fine Arts museum (MSK), with details also on website closertovaneyck.kikirpa.be.
“We’ll never find the exact original state, it just isn’t possible!” project leader Livia Depuydt-Elbaum told AFP.
“With time, colours fade, materials alter. But we can get closer than has ever been possible before.”
Early hidden sketch under layers of paint
After a year at work, state-of-the-art analysis has also shown that the wood in two panels was carved out of the same tree. Infrared reflectography has revealed an early sketch hidden under layers of paint.
“It is a much finer work than ever said before, which uses extremely complex painting techniques,” said art historian Helene Dubois after poring over St John the Baptist’s robe with a special 3-D microscope at the Ghent museum.
Visitors to the museum in the Belgian city can see the work in progress behind a large glass panel.

King Filip and Queen Mathilde of Belgium visits the Mystic Lamb altarpiece. (Image: Pool Lieven Van Assche/Belga/PA Images)

Already the iconic Van Eyck reds and greens, the optical effects and mastery of detail such as fabric patterns and jewels are emerging from beneath old dulled varnishes.

How long did it take to complete?
Hopes are that the €1.2 million project will clear up questions about the creation of the work – how long it took to complete, which of the brothers or their assistants painted what?
Little is known about the Van Eyck family and although Jan’s works are famous, not a single painting has been attributed with certainty to Hubert. Some even doubt his existence.
“We have noticed huge differences in painting technique,” said Dubois. “There are very big differences in quality not only between the panels but also between different parts of one panel.”
In the first months, conservationists researched the work’s chaotic history before painstakingly scraping off coats and coats of yellowing varnish and layers of over-paint at a rate of just four square centimetres a day.
“All in all there are no catastrophic gaps, no faces or key elements have been badly damaged or attacked,” said Depuydt-Elbaum. The worst problem area is a large white spot in St John the Evangelist’s robe, she said.
That panel was either badly restored in the past or left too close to a window in the almost 100 years the work spent in a Berlin museum, where its side panels were sawn apart to separate back and front.
From its start, the talk of Europe
Made of 12 oak panels painted on both sides, the massive altarpiece from its beginnings was the talk of Europe, attracting kings and queens to St Bavo’s cathedral in Ghent – even German artist Albrecht Durer made the trip in 1521.
According to letters etched into the frame that make up a chronogram in Roman numerals, the immense 4.4 x 3.4-metre work dates to 1432 – although art historians squabble about whether it was really finished by then.

Image: AP Photo/Yves Logghe, File

The red capital letters are part of a four-line verse stating that Hubert Van Eyck, “a greater man than whom cannot be found,” began the work, but that it was completed by Jan, “the second greatest artist.”
With the Reformation, Protestants attacked Ghent in the 16th century and the altarpiece was hauled up to safety in the St Bavo tower.
Two centuries later, panels that had been seized by the French were returned to the church by the Duke of Wellingon after his victory at Waterloo against Napoleon.
The nudity was a moral shocker at the time
Ghent sold them not long after to an art dealer – with the exception of the Adam and Eve panels whose nudity was a moral shocker at the time – from where they wound up in the hands of the king of Prussia before heading home.
In 1934, two of the panels were stolen in Ghent and one – The Just Judges – remains missing to this day.
Nazis hid it in a salt mine
Sent to the Vatican for protection during World War II, the panels went instead to France and were seized by the Nazis, who later hid them in a salt mine in Austria.
There they were saved from planned destruction by the 3rd US Army.
Art historian and restorer Dubois said she first saw the work at age 15 and was transfixed.
“It inspired me to become who I am,” she said.
“After 600 years, this work has not yet delivered all its secrets.”

Specialist in tracking of stolen artworks says curators must not return Klimt portrait to Austria

An unfinished portrait by Gustav Klimt used as the centrepiece of the National Gallery's major new exhibition is loot stolen by the Nazis, according to a leading expert. The painting of Amalie Zuckerkandl, which the Austrian was working on when he died in 1918, is the centrepiece of the museum's show Facing the Modern: The Portrait in Vienna in 1900, which runs until January. It is on loan from the Belvedere Gallery in Vienna, which received it as a gift from a private collector.

E Randol Schoenberg is a Los Angeles-based lawyer who specialises in the restitution of significant artwork and has won a number of high-profile cases relating to the recovery of stolen art, particularly during the Holocaust. He outlined his concerns about the over the Zuckerkandl painting last week.
"Gustav Klimt's beautiful unfinished portrait of Amalie Zuckerkandl, herself a Nazi victim, was owned by Amalie's friend, the Jewish sugar baron Ferdinand Bloch-Bauer. In 1938, Ferdinand was forced to flee Austria, and survived the war in Zurich. He died in 1945. As he explained in his will, his 'entire property in Vienna [had been] confiscated and sold off'. His heirs never found the portrait."
Mr Schoenberg said the painting was still at Bloch-Bauer's home nine months after he fled, and that a Nazi inventory in 1939 listed the work. Dr Erich Führer, a lawyer and high-ranking SS officer, was initially hired by Bloch-Bauer to protect his property, but ultimately became the liquidator. According to Mr Schoenberg, he kept 12 of Bloch-Bauer's paintings, including a Klimt, for himself. Mr Schoenberg said: "No one knows exactly what Dr Führer did with the portrait, but Amalie's son-in-law supposedly came into possession of it during the war and sold it to the art dealer Vita Künstler. Vita held on to the painting for many years, donating it to the Austrian gallery when she died in 2001."
In 2006, an arbitration panel granted ownership of the Zuckerkandl portrait to the state, but a dispute over the decision continues.
In the same year, Mr Schoenberg successfully represented 90-year-old Maria Altmann in her effort to win back five stolen Klimt paintings from the state of Austria that had been seized by the Nazis, including his famous gold portrait of Bloch-Bauer's wife and Maria's aunt, Adele. It sold for $135m (£83.54m) later that year, with Mr Schoenberg reportedly earning $120m after the paintings were sold, having acted on a "no win, no fee" basis.
Mr Schoenberg concluded on his blog: "The portrait of Amalie is a Nazi-looted painting, wrongly withheld by the arbitration panel. Under Austrian law, as it is currently being interpreted, the painting would be returned to Ferdinand's heirs.
"Perhaps before the National Gallery returns the painting to the Austrian gallery, it should request a new determination by the Austrian art restitution advisory board. That way, this misappropriated painting can finally be returned."
A spokeswoman for the National Gallery said it had "both legal and ethical obligations to ensure a work can be borrowed for an exhibition" as well as international agreements with which it has to comply. She said: "Klimt's Portrait of Amalie Zuckerkandl is among those paintings in Facing the Modern for which the Government offers immunity from seizure. Therefore, the National Gallery has been obliged to investigate the history of these paintings."

Antiques and Tiffany crystal stolen in Falls

NIAGARA FALLS – More than $4,000 worth of antiques and collectibles were stolen from a house in the 8700 block of Pershing Avenue between 5 p.m. Tuesday and 5 p.m. Wednesday, said police.
The 70-year-old owner told police he noticed some things had been moved and found that a Tiffany bowl and plate, a pocket watch and parts, costume jewelry, and Victorian candle holders with a dragon valued at over $2,500, were stolen; and an antique Chinese trunk was damaged. He said other items were missing from boxes, but he couldn’t remember what was taken. Total loss was estimated $4,050.
Police said a large number of boxes were stacked throughout the house.

Ex-Imelda Marcos aide on trial in NYC for selling Monet work

STOLEN, SOLD Claude Monet’s “L’ Eglise de Vetheuil,” shown here in a photo supplied by the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office in New York, was sold for $32 million by former Imelda Marcos’ social secretary, Vilma Bautista. The buyer said he bought the stolen artwork “in good faith” and has agreed to a $10-million settlement with the counsel of martial law victims.

NEW YORK—A debt-ridden onetime aide to Imelda Marcos wrongly sold a hidden treasure: a $32 million Monet painting the former Philippine first lady had acquired and her country wants back, prosecutors said Wednesday as the ex-assistant’s conspiracy trial opened.
In a New York courtroom, Vilma Bautista is facing charges that invoke the tangled history of Philippine officials’ efforts to reclaim items from Marcos and her late husband, former President Ferdinand Marcos.
Bautista is accused of scheming to sell the artwork—part of the French Impressionist’s famed “Water Lilies” series—and trying to peddle other valuable paintings that prosecutors say she had no right to sell. The artwork vanished amid Ferdinand Marcos’ 1986 ouster, ended up in Bautista’s hands and is part of a multibillion-dollar roster of property the Philippines claims the Marcoses acquired with the nation’s cash, prosecutors said.
But for all the art-world intricacies and Philippine politics, “at bottom, this case is really quite simple—it’s about greed and fraud,” Manhattan Assistant District Attorney Garrett Lynch told jurors in an opening statement.
The defense said Bautista believed that Imelda Marcos rightfully owned the paintings and that Bautista had authority to sell them for her. Bautista is just an intermediary who got caught up in a decades-long dispute between a nation and its former leader, attorney Susan Hoffinger said.
“That battle doesn’t belong here” in a Manhattan criminal courtroom, Hoffinger said in her opening.
After ruling the Philippines with an iron fist for two decades, Ferdinand Marcos was forced by a “people power” revolt into exile in Hawaii. He died three years later.
Philippine officials say Marcos and his associates looted the country’s treasury to amass between $5 billion and $10 billion. The nation’s Presidential Commission on Good Government has seized a number of companies, bank accounts and other assets suspected of being part of that wealth. The Marcoses denied their wealth was ill-gotten.
Unscathed
With a massive collection of shoes, Imelda Marcos became a symbol of excess. But she has emerged relatively unscathed from hundreds of legal cases against her and her late husband, and she is now a congresswoman in the Philippines.
She’s not expected to testify at Bautista’s trial.
Bautista was a foreign service officer assigned to the Philippine Mission to the United Nations and later served as Imelda Marcos’ New York-based personal secretary.
By 2009, Bautista was deep in debt. She began looking to sell four paintings the Marcoses had acquired during the presidency—including Monet’s 1899 “Le Bassin aux Nymphease,” also known as “Japanese Footbridge over the Water-Lily Pond at Giverny,” prosecutors said.
Bautista ultimately sold the water lily painting for $32 million to a Swiss buyer, Lynch said. Some proceeds went to Bautista’s relatives and associates and to debts; $15 million stayed in her bank accounts, while Imelda Marcos knew nothing of the sale, the prosecutor said.
Bautista had a 1991 “certificate of authority” from Marcos to sell the painting and receive the proceeds, the defense emphasized; prosecutors question its legitimacy. At the time, the work was not on the Philippines’ list of allegedly missing paintings, though the government now seeks its return.
Bautista’s lawyer said the aide sold the painting for Marcos but never had a chance to give her the money.

Read more: http://globalnation.inquirer.net/88049/ex-imelda-marcos-aide-on-trial-in-nyc-for-selling-monet-work#ixzz2iGgCvGBf
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Operation recovers stolen Zimbabwean works of art

The Associated Press

Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2013 | 12:09 a.m.

Officials at Zimbabwe's main art gallery say six African artifacts stolen in 2006 are back on display after a "sting" operation in Poland by FBI and CIA law enforcement agents.
National Art Gallery curator Lillian Chaonwa said Friday a suspect tried to sell the art to an unnamed American buyer who alerted U.S. authorities. She said a man convicted of the theft has since been jailed.
The artifacts included two tribal face masks and four intricately carved wooden headrests from the early 20th Century believed to have had mystical properties during sleep.
Chaonwa said African museums were being targeted by thieves knowing the value and rarity of the continent's works of art to collectors.
She had posted images of the missing works on the Internet.

Police recover historic firearms stolen from Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery

Police have recovered two firearms stolen from the Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery. Source: Mercury

TWO antique pistols stolen from the Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery have been discovered buried at a location just outside Launceston.

The search was one of eight conducted over the past seven days in relation to the theft with police using a metal detector during some of the searches.
No charges have yet been laid in relation to the recovery of the pistols.
The two revolver-style pistols dating from the 1860s were stolen on October 4. One is understood to have belonged to bushranger Martin Cash.
A 22-year-old Ravenswood man has been charged in relation to an unregistered and illegally shortened .410 shotgun recovered in one of the other searches. He will appear in the Launceston Magistrates Court at a later date.
No claim has been made in relation to the $5000 reward offered by the Launceston City Council.

Lawyer cleared over stolen Leonardo da Vinci painting drops legal claim against police

Marshall Ronald originally raised a case against both the Duke of Buccleuch and a Scottish police force seeking £4.25 million. and a Scottish police force seeking £4.25 million.

A lawyer who was struck off has dropped a legal claim against police authorities following the theft and recovery of a Leonardo da Vinci painting stolen from a castle.
But Marshall Ronald is still pursuing an action against the Duke of Buccleuch after a judge ruled it would not be fair to dismiss it at this stage in proceedings.
Mr Ronald originally raised a case against both the duke and a Scottish police force seeking £4.25 million after a judge ruled it would not be fair to dismiss it at this stage in proceedings.
He was acquitted with others of a conspiracy to extort £4.25 million for the safe return of the masterpiece at a trial at the High Court in Edinburgh in 2010.
The valuable artwork, the Madonna of the Yarnwinder, was stolen from the duke’s Drumlanrig Castle, in Dumfriesshire, in August 2003.
A covert operation eventually led to the recovery of the painting following a meeting at the offices of a Glasgow law firm on October 4 in 2007. Mr Ronald and others who had attended were detained.
Mr Ronald, of Skelmersdale, Lancashire, subsequently raised an action at the Court of Session in Edinburgh claiming that he was owed payment for the return of the painting. Lawyers acting for the duke maintained that he had not entered into any contract with Mr Ronald.
A two-day procedural debate was due to begin today with the duke’s counsel Andrew Young QC telling Lord Uist that Mr Ronald had abandoned his action against the second defender, the police.
Mr Young moved the court to dismiss the case against his client on a technical legal issue. Mr Ronald opposed the motion.
Lord Uist felt it would be unfair to dismiss and continued the case.

Six stolen post-Byzantine icons recovered by the Church

Six post-Byzantine icons stolen from churches in the north after the Turkish invasion are to be repatriated.
The icons were found at P. Von Culmer art gallery, in Augsburg, Germany, in December 2010.
They are the icons of Saint Photini of 1811, Saint Panteleimonas of 1812, Apostle Andreas of the 18th century, Apostle Markos of the 18th century, Agios Panteleimonas of 1854 and the icon of “Vaiforos” of the 18th century.
According to a press release issued by the Representation of the Church of Cyprus to the European Union there have been indications that these six icons were part of Turkish art dealer Aydin Dikmen’s Cypriot loot. Dikmen has looted dozens of churches in the Turkish occupied part of Cyprus.
After the identification of the icons, complains were lodged in cooperation with the Cypriot police authorities to the German police authorities, which confiscated them from Von Culmer.
This was followed by a successful effort for an out-of-court settlement, as the German authorities advised, and so on October 9 Bishop of Neapolis Porfyrios travelled to Munich and was handed over the six icons from German Police officer Johann Hoffmann.
German lawyer Enno Engbers contributed to efforts to repatriate the icons.

Thursday, October 03, 2013

Stolen Art Watch, Wallace Art Collection Raid Foiled, Global Art Crime Reviewed

Wallace Collection survives an attempted art robbery Laughing Cavalier by Frans Hals Targeted, They Will Be Back !!

But last week roguish suspects unknown seem to have strolled in and tried to walk off with one of the museum’s paintings. “We suspect there was an attempt to remove a painting last week,” confirms a museum spokesman. “There was no damage to either the painting or its frame. We have an efficient security regime in place, which prevented anything further from occurring.”
The collection’s range of paintings include 17th-century classics such as Frans Hals’ The Laughing Cavalier and Nicolas Poussin’s A Dance to the Music of Time, as well as two Titians, three Rubens and four Van Dycks. The spokesman said the would-be thieves had not been trying to light-finger “one of our major works but for security reasons we are not saying which one”. Laughing Cavalier

Brighton Antiques thieves targeted Washington auction house

Toovey's Auctioneers, Washington, Sussex England

Toovey’s Auctions in Washington was one of the sites raided by thieves responsible for a string of burglaries across the south.
Police say Darryl Aldridge, 48, of New Barn Road, Shoreham, orchestrated a number of burglaries at various auction houses and private homes, targeting the auction houses with upcoming sales. He researched and selected high value items which he wanted to steal using auction room websites. He would then send out his criminal associates armed with the information to commit the burglaries at the auction houses in Sussex, Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire and Kent.
In addition, whilst on police bail for the eight auction house burglaries, Aldridge himself committed three high value burglaries in private homes in Lancing and Brighton.
Following a six week trial earlier in the year Aldridge was found guilty of three house burglaries, eight auction house burglaries, and perverting the course of justice.
He was sentenced to seven years for the auction house burglaries, three years consecutive for the three dwelling burglaries and eight months consecutive for perverting the course of justice - a total of ten years and nine months.
Anthony Townsend, 50, of Upper Lewes Road, Brighton, was found guilty of the burglary organised by Aldridge at Stroud Auctions, Gloucestershire in October 2011. He received a sentence of 18 months.
Townsend had also committed a house burglary in Brighton on 26 December, 2012, while he was on court bail for the Stroud offence. He pleaded guilty to this and received a three year consecutive sentence, leading to a total sentence of four-and-a-half years.
Kelly Lambert, 40, of Lavender Hill, Shoreham, pleaded guilty to theft at Toovey’s Auctions, Washington, West Sussex, which was orchestrated by Aldridge. She was sentenced to community service.
Anthony Fortune, 55, of Park Road, Worthing, had been charged with perverting the course of justice in relation to creating fictitious invoices for Aldridge, specifically in relation to a valuable antique Klotz violin which was stolen during the burglary at Stroud Auctions, Gloucestershire, in October 2011. This violin was found at Aldridge’s home address on October 13, less than 36 hours after the burglary.
Aldridge had initially claimed that Fortune had found this violin in a skip outside a shop in Worthing and had sold it to him thus creating an invoice.
During Aldridge’s trial in February, Aldridge had admitted the violin was from Stroud Auctions and that invoices created by Fortune for the violin and other unrelated items, were in fact fictitious. As Aldridge was convicted for perverting the course of justice for this offence, Fortune’s trial was separated and delayed to 2 September in order for a fair trial to be conducted.
Anthony Fortune appeared at Hove Crown Court on Monday September 2, where he admitted to making a false instrument by means of fraud. He admitted that he had created the invoices for Aldridge and specifically for the violin and admitted that he had not in fact found the violin or sold it to Aldridge as he had originally claimed.
He said that he suspected that it had been stolen by Aldridge and that he had created the invoices to help Aldridge move the property on. Fortune was sentenced to six months imprisonment, suspended for 18 months.
A statement from the investigating officers at the Serious Organised Crime Unit and the Force Intelligence Branch are delighted at successfully taking these organised and prolific high value burglars off the streets, who were travelling throughout the South East to commit their crimes, causing much emotional and economic misery to their victims.
Aldridge is a career criminal who manipulated others to commit crime on his behalf and his imprisonment has without doubt prevented many other members of the public becoming victims of such crimes.
Detective Chief Inspector Ali Eaton said: “This was an outstanding investigation by members of the Serious and Organised Crime Unit and their professionalism and hard work was recognised with the award of a court commendation.
“With these individuals now behind bars we have significantly disrupted the groups activities and dismantled the crime group.
“We will continue to actively pursue those involved in serious and organised crime and ensure they are brought to justice.”

Danny Boyle turning Pink Panthers jewel thief documentary into a heist film

Director Danny Boyle is set to direct a film about the notorious Pink Panther jewel thieves, Variety reports. The feature film would be adapted from Smash & Grab, a recently released documentary about the gang that's said to have stolen 330 million euros (around $450 million) in jewelry since 1999. Boyle, Variety's sources say, was interested in creating a fictional take on the documentary, and his longtime producer Christian Colson is said to also be attached. Boyle's last film was Trance, also a heist movie.

According to Interpol, the Pink Panthers have committed over 300 robberies across 35 countries, pulling off heists with stunning speed and meticulous planning — one theft in Dubai was completed within a minute. Smash & Grab documents their story with a combination of security camera footage and interviews with members of the gang itself, whose possibly hundreds of members are based loosely in the Balkans. While members have been arrested and jailed, some have managed to escape, with just as much audacity.

France refuses to extradite 'Pink Panther' gang member

France on Wednesday rejected a Swiss extradition request for a suspected member of the infamous Pink Panther gang of international jewel thieves who was arrested earlier this month.
Zoran Tomovic, born in Montenegro but with French and Macedonian citizenships, had been on the run since escaping from a Swiss prison in May, where he was serving time for armed robbery.
The 47-year-old, a former member of the French Foreign Legion elite force, was detained on August 19 at his home in the southern town of Bedarrides.
A court in Nimes, not far from the town, on Wednesday ruled against sending him to Switzerland as France does not extradite its own citizens.
Tomovic is suspected of having stolen jewels in Switzerland and other countries including Germany, Austria, Monaco, Britain, Japan, France and Dubai.
The court will examine on September 25 another extradition demand by Macedonia, where he was tried and convicted in absentia in 1998 for murder, as well as his request to be released.
The Pink Panthers emerged from the conflict in the former Yugoslavia to become the most successful jewel thieves in the world.
According to Interpol, they have since 1999 snatched jewels with a value in excess of 330 million euros ($440 million) in heists that are often executed with breathtaking speed and precision.
They gained their nickname with a raid on a London branch of Graff Diamonds in 2003, in which two of them posed as wealthy would-be customers, persuading staff to open doors for them before helping themselves to diamonds worth millions.
Although one of the robbers was overpowered at the scene and another later arrested, only a fraction of the diamonds were recovered, one of them hidden in a pot of face cream.
That was reminiscent of a scene from the 1975 film "The Return of the Pink Panther" and resulted in a nickname that the gang members themselves adopted, wearing pink shirts for a subsequent raid in Zurich.

Suspected Pink Panther gets nine-year jail term

A 39-year-old man from Montenegro, believed to belong to the notorious Pink Panthers, has been sentenced by a Geneva court to nine years in jail for jewellery thefts in Geneva and Lucerne, as well as attempted robberies in Zurich.

The prosecutor had demanded a ten-year prison term for the accused, who was found guilty on Thursday on the charges of robbery, attempted robbery and theft as part of a criminal gang.

The man was arrested a few days after a heist in a Lucerne jewellery store in March 2012, when 78 watches worth CHF1.3 million ($1.4 million)) were stolen. The attack lasted less than 90 seconds, with employees being threatened with a blank pistol.

The thieves were caught in a flat 60 kilometres from Lucerne, but only one watch was recovered.

The Geneva robbery took place in 2009. Along with three accomplices – two who remain unidentified – he attacked a shop on the affluent Rue du Rhône, stealing jewellery worth CHF2.6 million. The stolen goods were never recovered.

The accused was also implicated in two attempted robberies against jewellers on Zurich’s ritzy Bahnhofstrasse in 2003 and 2008.

The judge considered the man’s implication as part of a criminal gang and the considerable damage inflicted on the two boutiques as aggravating circumstances. He was also sentenced the accused to pay the Geneva jeweller CHF10,000 compensation and CHF400,000 in damages.

High security

The trial was held under high security, with armed police surrounding and inside the court building, as well as surveillance helicopters flying over regularly. There were concerns after a number of suspected Pink Panthers made a spectacular escape from Swiss prisons.

The man’s lawyer said his client would appeal, stating that he was not given a fair trial because the court had been influenced by the security measures.

The ‘Pink Panther’ gang, named after the 1964 movie of the same name starring Peter Sellers as Inspector Clouseau, was formed after the conflict in former Yugoslavia. The gang is believed to contain some 220 members who have carried out heists in jewellery stores in Europe, the Middle East, Asia and the United States.

Interpol estimates that they have snatched valuables worth nearly $500 million (CHF455 million) since 1999.

Suspected armed robber shot dead in street 'by owner of jewellery store he had just raided at gunpoint'

Man killed as he rode away from jewellery shop in Nice on scooter
Shop owner allegedly fired several times at two men on scooter, killing one

An armed robber was shot dead today as he tried to rob a jewellers on the French Riviera.
In a raid which had all the hallmarks of one by the notorious Pink Panther gang, two men appeared on a scooter as ‘La Turquoise’, in the city of Nice, opened at 9am.
They rushed inside the store, which specialises in gold pieces and upmarket watches, and forced the owner to open a safe at gunpoint.

The busy street in Nice was cordoned off today after an armed robber was shot dead after a raid on a jewellers

The body of the man, said to be in his twenties, lies in the road covered by a sheet (left), while a detective bags a handgun (right). The jewellery shop owner is accused of shooting the man

After sweeping items into a bag, the men ran out and then made off on the scooter, but the owner of the shop gave chase.
‘There were around three shots,’ said an eye witness. ‘A young man wearing a helmet was hit by bullets and fell to the ground, while the other man sped off.

‘Stolen items were lying on the ground, next to the man who had been hit. He died very soon afterwards,’ said the source.
Police arrived within minutes of the shooting, and the jeweller – who has not been named – was arrested and taken into custody.
Other shop owners said the jeweller who appeared to fire the bullets with a handgun is around 60 years old and of previous good character.
They said his shop had been targeted by robbers as recently as last October, when stock worth around 60,000 pounds was taken, and he took security very seriously.
However, it was not clear what weapon was used in today’s shooting, with at least one witness suggesting that the robbers may have dropped a pistol.

Officers work outside the jewellers La Turquoise which was reportedly robbed shortly before the shooting

A local police spokesman confirmed that the robber, who was aged ‘around 20’, died in the incident, close to Nice railway station. It is the latest in a long series of high profile armed robberies which have plagued France in recent months.
On Monday, armed robbers escaped with up to two million pounds worth of jewellery after driving a jeep through the window of an upmarket Paris boutique.
The ram-raid happened close to the prestigious Place Vendome – one of the most fashionable squares in the French capital.
In July, a single robber brandishing a pistol stole up to 100 million pounds worth of jewels from the Carlton Hotel in Cannes, a few miles along the coast from Nice.

Forensic experts and police work at the scene where an armed robber was shot dead

Local media said the shop owner has been arrested on suspicion of murder

The Pink Panthers, a notoriously audacious criminal network which operates across the world and especially in France, is thought to have been behind many of the raids.
They are well known for arriving at jewellery stores in cars or on mopeds before making off, especially in glamorous cities like Nice and Paris.
In 2008, four gang members dressed themselves up as women before breaking into France's Harry Winston jewellers in Paris, escaping with around 60 million pounds worth of goods.
Interpol estimates that there are hundreds of members of the group, and that many are ex soldiers from Serbia. Many are fluent in numerous languages and carry false passports.

“Pink Panther” Thief Caught In Hungary

A Montenegrin citizen suspected of being a member of the gang of international jewel thieves known as the Pink Panthers, has been captured in Hungary, the Budapest office of Interpol announced on Monday.

Mystery over $2m art collection found intact three years after theft

Three years after it vanished off the walls of an exclusive inner-Sydney apartment, a $2 million art collection that includes works by Charles Blackman, David Boyd and Pro Hart has been found in mysterious circumstances, intact inside a home in the city's south-west.
The 18 art works were reported stolen along with insignificant electrical goods from the Darling Point apartment of former high flying property developer Peter O'Mara in August 2010.

Police recover artwork stolen from a Darling Point home, including Capricorn Haze by Tim Storrier. Source: Supplied

PAINTINGS stolen from the Sydney penthouse of property developer Peter O'Mara have been uncovered by police during a raid on a house in the city's southwest.

Police discovered a hoard of 18 artworks estimated to be worth more than $1.5 million.
Some of the paintings had been removed from their frames and appear to have been rolled up, including Capricorn Haze, a signature Tim Storrier work of a burning log and starry sky.
Among the 18 works recovered by police on Monday were paintings by John Perceval, Garry Shead, Arthur Streeton and Norman Lindsay. They include John Coburn's The Tree of Life, Charles Blackman's Victoria and Moonlight and Robert Dickerson's The Girl in White.
Police discovered the paintings after investigations last month relating to stolen vehicles at the premises. Three luxury cars - a Ferrari, a Range Rover and a BMW - were also recovered in the raid.
Campsie local area commander Superintendent Michael McLean said he did not believe there was a connection between the vehicles and the paintings.
The pictures had been stored in a dry area and were intact, he said. "They have been referred to experts for further examination, and we are putting in place measures to ensure they are appropriately stored," Superintendent McLean said. "They were secreted within the home, they weren't on display."
The paintings were reported stolen from Mr O'Mara's luxury apartment in Darling Point in August 2010.
At the time, Mr O'Mara said he believed the theft was planned, and that his home was robbed when thieves knew he would be overseas. He described himself as a lifelong art collector. "It's a gut feeling, but the whole thing had to be set up - I think it's been set up for a while," he told The Sunday Telegraph.
"Not many people knew the artworks were here. You can't exactly see them from the road."
In 2011, Mr O'Mara's property development firm Habitare and other companies went into receivership, reportedly owing more than $30m. Habitare was also embroiled in an intellectual property dispute with another firm over house design.
His apartment in the Elandra building at Darling Point sold last year for $4.4m after being originally listed at $7m.
Art experts said it was unlikely the stolen pictures would have come up for sale because the Australian market is so small.
"Art theft in Australia is remarkably infrequent," said Bonhams Australia chairman Mark Fraser. "It's a small marketplace, and stolen art tends to stand out very distinctly."
Mr Fraser said auction houses relied on credible provenance and databases to ensure they did not trade stolen art.
Superintendent McLean said police inquiries were continuing.
- See more at: http://www.theaustralian.com.au/arts/visual-arts/hoard-of-stolen-paintings-worth-15m-recovered-in-police-raid/story-fn9d3avm-1226731853441#sthash.92jnxbwq.dpuf

Police recover artwork stolen from a Darling Point home, including Capricorn Haze by Tim Storrier. Source: Supplied

- See more at: http://www.theaustralian.com.au/arts/visual-arts/hoard-of-stolen-paintings-worth-15m-recovered-in-police-raid/story-fn9d3avm-1226731853441#sthash.92jnxbwq.dpuf

Police recover artwork stolen from a Darling Point home, including Capricorn Haze by Tim Storrier. Source: Supplied

- See more at: http://www.theaustralian.com.au/arts/visual-arts/hoard-of-stolen-paintings-worth-15m-recovered-in-police-raid/story-fn9d3avm-1226731853441#sthash.92jnxbwq.dpuf

The haul was uncovered in its entirety in a home at Wiley Park, when police carried out a search on Monday.

Police have recovered artworks worth over $1.5 million and three luxury cars in Sydney?s south-west.

Car discovery: The stolen Ferrari whose owner is unknown. Photo: Police Media

They also seized three luxury vehicles as part of investigations into car rebirthing. Detective Superintendent Michael McLean said the art works, which also included pieces by Norman Lindsay and Arthur Streeton, were intact but weren't on display in the home.

He said it was ''quite remarkable'' to find all of the stolen goods in the one place, three years on.
''We were quite surprised that we found everything from the initial break and enter, including the electrical goods,'' Superintendent McLean. ''That in itself I suppose is very remarkable.''

Pleased: Developer Peter O'Mara. Photo: James Alcock

Mr O'Mara said it was ''great'' authorities had located his collection. Mr O'Mara said he was overseas when contacted by Fairfax media on Wednesday. He did not wish to comment further.
In the three years since his paintings were stolen, Mr O'Mara has had upheaval in his corporate and personal lives.
Superintendent McLean said police were still also talking with the owner and residents of the Wiley Park home.

Police have recovered artworks worth over $1.5 million.

Rare discovery: A painting is removed from the Wiley Park house. Photo: Police Media

Along with the Darling Point goods, they also recovered a Black Range Rover (reported stolen in 2011 from South Wentworthville), a blue BMW 325i (reported stolen in 2007 from Delahey in Victoria) and a Ferrari without identifying features. They are in different stages of repair.
Police are talking with Ferrari in a bid to identify who owns the car.
Mr O'Mara's former partner, the fashion designer Mela Purdie, said she had not had any contact with him for several years and downplayed their relationship. She said the stolen art was solely the property of Mr O'Mara, who had been collecting for 25 years.

Returning: One of the Charles Blackman paintings. Photo: Police Media

70-Pound Painting Valued At $5,000 Stolen At Venice Festival

The stolen "Sea Leopard" painting measures 74"x40" including a black satin wood frame and weighs 70 pounds. (Photo: Art By Serafin)

A local artist is wondering how someone made off with one of his paintings since it weighs 70 pounds and is more than six feet wide.
Josh Serafin, who lives in Huntington Beach, was selling his work at the Abbot Kinney Festival on Sunday, ABC 7 reports. The painting that was stolen is of a leopard shark on recycled glass. Serafin says the piece is worth $5,000.
"It's 70 pounds. This is a heavy piece. I need help hanging it. It isn't light. So it was definitely a joint effort," Serafin said.
He said he was loading two other pieces and when he went to get the shark painting, it was gone. He said it's the first time he's had anything stolen in his 12 years of exhibiting.
His tent was set up in front of FEED Body & Soul restaurant at 1239 Abbot Kinney Blvd. The restaurant has a video camera facing the street, according to ABC, but going over surveillance footage usually takes a while.
"To steal someone's art that they spent so much time on, it's just hard to believe. I mean I guess, people, it must be that they're high," Serafin said. He's hoping someone comes forward to return the painting or i.d. the thieves.
If you have any information about this crime, contact Crime Stoppers at (800) 222-TIPS.
A bigger (literally) art theft occurred earlier this year when thieves made off with a 200-pound bright pink dog statue from West Hollywood.

Halifax man gets nine years in prison for stealing artifacts, antiques

HALIFAX, Nova Scotia, Sept. 25 (UPI) -- A Canadian man who admitted Wednesday he stole about $1 million in antiques and historic artifacts will spend nine years in prison, prosecutors said.
John Mark Tillman of Halifax, Nova Scotia, pleaded guilty to 40 charges, including fraud, theft and possession, the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. reported.
Police stumbled onto the case during a routine traffic stop in July 2012. An officer spotted a historic letter from British Gen. James Wolfe and a $1,500 check in Tillman's car. Detectives traced the letter to Killam Library at Dalhousie University, where it had been reported stolen.
Tillman, it turns out, was a regular at several university museums in Atlantic Canada over the years and took advantage of loose security at the academic libraries to make off with all manner of historic documents, some of which he resold and some he kept, police said.
Two of the more valuable thefts included a first edition of Charles Darwin's seminal "Origin of Species," stolen in 2009 and sold for $31,000, and a hand-written letter from George Washington to an associate in Halifax instructing the recipient to spy on British forces.
Tillman kept the Washington letter, which was reported stolen from Dalhousie and is estimated to be worth between $50,000 and $100,000.
Both prosecutors and Tillman's attorney agreed to a nine-year prison sentence minus one year for time served since his arrest.

Thieves make off with $300,000 in works by famed Costa Rica artist

Several paintings by Costa Rican artist Rafa Fernández were among the works stolen from a home in a Saturday heist in San Pedro.

Three of the six paintings by famed Costa Rican artist Rafa Fernández stolen on Saturday, Sept. 21. In 2011, the Judicial Investigative Police investigated a rash of thefts of the coveted works. Courtesy of Judicial Investigation Police

Art thieves may be once again targeting works by one of Costa Rica’s most famous artists.
On Saturday night, thieves made off with nearly $300,000 in stolen paintings and sculptures from a private residence in San Pedro, east of the capital.
The Judicial Investigation Police (OIJ) reported on Monday evening that the thieves stole six paintings by artist Rafa Fernández and three sculptures by Holgar Villegas valued at $300,000, along with some jewelry.
According to the OIJ, the burglars deactivated the home’s alarm, entered through a pedestrian gate and broke in the front door.
This is not the first time works by Fernández have been targeted by art thieves. In 2011, the OIJ investigated a rash of thefts involving the famous Tico artist's works. The stolen works have resurfaced in innocent buyers’ homes and private art galleries, as previously reported by The Tico Times.
Some buyers may not be so innocent, however. OIJ Director Francisco Segura told The Tico Times in 2011 that some buyers likely know that their prized possessions are stolen.
The Costa Rica Country Club in Escazú, southwest of San José, hosted an exhibition of works by Fernández, 78, on Sept. 5.

The Malawi National Museum begins to recover stolen goods

Cairo, 24 September 2013, Art Media Agency (AMA).
According to an article published in The Art Newspaper, 13 objects which had been taken during looting of the Malawi National Museum have been found, following an undercover operation by Egyptian police.
The return of the objects was accompanied by the arrest of a butcher, who had attempted to sell stolen goods to an undercover policeman acting as a potential buyer. It is the first arrest to have taken place in relation to the sacking of the museum. Objects recovered so far include a statue of the god Thoth, and a group of 6 terracotta statuettes.
The thefts took place during a significant period of looting which occurred throughout August 2013, resulting in the damage and theft of at least 1,060 pieces from the museum’s collection, which comprised 1,089 works in total. 400 objects have already been returned to the museum, and UNESCO sent an on-site team to work with the institution between 11 and 16 September. Inspectors indicated that, although the building was relatively undamaged, 600 cultural goods were still missing. Minister Mohammad Ibrahim has vowed to do whatever it takes to gather information about the thefts, and has offered small rewards to those who return pieces.

Azerbaijani famous artist’s works stolen

Local law-enforcement bodies and Interpol have been informed about the fact of theft

Baku. Konul Kamilgizi – APA. Azerbaijani artist Ashraf Muradoghlu’s two famous tableaus “Tehran conference” (linen, oil paint, 107x140cm) and “Lenin in Smolny” (linen, oil paint, 130x117cm) belonging to Baku Art Center have been stolen.

Baku Creative Center told APA that the fact of theft was detected during the recent internal inspection in the funds of Baku Art Centre. The aforementioned works by Muradoghlu was purchased by Baku Art Centre in 1988: “The tableaus have been demonstrated in numerous exhibitions in Baku and abroad over these years and their reproductions have been published in catalogs and magazines. The inventory register of Baku Art Center’s funds was last carried out in 2008. At that time, the abovementioned works by Ashraf Muradoghlu were at the center”.

The Center stated that the local law-enforcement bodies and Interpol have already been informed about the theft of works. At the same time, the cultural centers of Azerbaijan and several foreign countries are also being informed about this.

Baku Creative Center asks those who have information about the stolen works are to take into account the aforementioned fact and notify the center. AZN 500 prize is assigned for every piece.

Crime syndicate ‘targeting wealthy families’

Supplied

An antique snuff box that was stolen from a wealthy Joburg family in July.

Johannesburg -

A syndicate is believed to be targeting Joburg’s wealthy families, with the Oppenheimers possibly being the latest victims.

An independent financial crimes investigator believes a major theft syndicate is operating in Gauteng, specialising in jewellery, art, and antiques.

Chad Thomas, from IRS Forensic Investigations, said this syndicate was different from the “Rolex Gang” that targeted wealthy individuals spotted at upmarket shopping centres and followed them home. Thomas suspects this syndicate recruits domestic workers employed by wealthy families.

An employee of the Oppenheimers, Edgar Rosenburg, opened a “general theft” case at Hillbrow police station on July 26. He describes himself on his LinkedIn profile as the general house manager at E Oppenheimer and Son.

Police spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Lungelo Dlamini confirmed the case was being investigated. He said a person had been arrested and taken to court, but the prosecutor declined to proceed.

The suspect was released and further investigation was continuing.

The Oppenheimer theft case was opened a day after the reported theft of rare snuff boxes valued at R15 million.

The insurer of the boxes would not say who the snuff boxes belonged to, only that it was “a wealthy family” in Joburg who did not want to be named or their suburb identified.

John Pearson, the managing director of loss adjusters John Pearson & Associates, who are investigating the theft on instruction from Lloyd’s Underwriters in London, said the 20 stolen boxes were originally used to store scented powdered tobacco and were valued at more than R15m. A R1.5m reward was being offered for their return.

The managing director of Artinsure, Gordon Massie, said

“the frequency of art theft in the last financial year was up by 43 percent.”

In the past two months, IRS Forensic Investigations received information on similar cases.

One involved the theft of jewellery from a Mrs Chetty in Pretoria, the other the theft of a jewellery heirloom from a family in Norwood. Thomas said in both cases the domestic worker was the prime suspect.

Massie said 37 gold, silver and copper coins, two military medals and four commemorative coins – all part of a larger collection – were stolen in Parkview in February. He believed the thieves most likely had a known market and a buyer for the pieces.

James Teegar, managing director at Ernest Oppenheimer and Sons, refused to comment.

Stolen antiques recovered during police raid in Hove - See more at: http://www.brightonandhovenews.org/2013/09/13/stolen-antiques-recovered-during-police-raid-in-hove/23954#sthash.nRY4hSfm.dpuf

Stolen antiques recovered during police raid in Hove

Detectives have recovered antique and unusual items during a police raid in Hove.
They have published photographs of some of the items in the hope of finding their rightful owners.
Sussex Police said: “Officers executed a warrant at a property on Kingsway in Hove on (Thursday) 29 August and found a large number of antique-type items which they believe might be stolen.
“Police are hoping someone might recognise these unique-looking items.”

Stolen property recovered in Kingsway, Hove

Detective Constable Louise Cave said: “We got a warrant for this address and found these items, some of which are very unusual.
“We are asking anyone who has had items stolen to have a look at the website and see if they recognise any of the pieces.
“We would like to return these items to their rightful owners as quickly as possible.”
Anyone who recognises the items is asked to contact Sussex Police on 101 or email contact.centre@sussex.pnn.police.uk.
All the items can be seen at http://property.sussex-police.co.uk/view/hovelawns.

- See more at: http://www.brightonandhovenews.org/2013/09/13/stolen-antiques-recovered-during-police-raid-in-hove/23954#sthash.nRY4hSfm.dpuf

Stolen antiques recovered during police raid in Hove

- See more at: http://www.brightonandhovenews.org/2013/09/13/stolen-antiques-recovered-during-police-raid-in-hove/23954#sthash.nRY4hSfm.dpuf

Art Hostage

Sunday, October 20, 2013

Stolen Art Watch, Moore The Merrier, Marinello Makes Waves As 7ft Standing Figure Goes Walkabout, Moore, Much Henry Moore

Three men hunted over theft of £3million Henry Moore statue from Stewartry estate

Christopher Marinello Art Loss Register Director Sets Up Rival Firm

Unholy €25K art heist in Limerick shocks priests

Man claims auctioned Basquiat drawing was stolen

$1 million Norman Rockwell painting goes missing in Queens

The work was about to be shipped to its new owner when workers discovered it had been pinched. The oil painting shows a fisherman in a yellow raincoat braving the drops in a rowboat as he holds a fishing pole.

'Sport,' the missing Norman Rockwell oil on canvas.

Albania: Hundreds of looted icons recovered

Five-year restoration of masterpiece to reveal art mystery

'Nazi loot' is in major National Gallery show

Antiques and Tiffany crystal stolen in Falls

Ex-Imelda Marcos aide on trial in NYC for selling Monet work

Operation recovers stolen Zimbabwean works of art

Police recover historic firearms stolen from Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery

Lawyer cleared over stolen Leonardo da Vinci painting drops legal claim against police

Six stolen post-Byzantine icons recovered by the Church

Thursday, October 03, 2013

Stolen Art Watch, Wallace Art Collection Raid Foiled, Global Art Crime Reviewed

Wallace Collection survives an attempted art robbery Laughing Cavalier by Frans Hals Targeted, They Will Be Back !!

Brighton Antiques thieves targeted Washington auction house

France refuses to extradite 'Pink Panther' gang member

Suspected Pink Panther gets nine-year jail term

High security

Suspected armed robber shot dead in street 'by owner of jewellery store he had just raided at gunpoint'

“Pink Panther” Thief Caught In Hungary

Mystery over $2m art collection found intact three years after theft

70-Pound Painting Valued At $5,000 Stolen At Venice Festival

Halifax man gets nine years in prison for stealing artifacts, antiques

Thieves make off with $300,000 in works by famed Costa Rica artist

The Malawi National Museum begins to recover stolen goods

Crime syndicate ‘targeting wealthy families’

Stolen antiques recovered during police raid in Hove

Stolen antiques recovered during police raid in Hove