Joy at $10m violin gift in land of beer and cricket

The Sydney Morning Herald

Clara Iaccarino Arts Writer
January 31, 2007


IT IS one of the finest instruments in the world, but Richard Tognetti has admitted he is a little cautious playing a violin worth $10 million.

"Rather than my best, it can bring out my worst," the Australian Chamber Orchestra's artistic director said yesterday. "I'm in awe of it, but it's rapidly becoming part of me."

The Carrodus, a violin made in 1743 by Giuseppe Guarneri del Gesu, is a gift to Tognetti and the ACO from an Australian benefactor who does not want to be named. One of only 100 made by del Gesu, it has been described as "one of the four or five finest of the finest" violins in the world, by the respected London dealer Charles Beare.

"It's so special," said Tognetti. "Apart from the fact that it sounds so beautiful, it hasn't been played since 1953. [The sound] is darker and richer. The weeping violin suits my style."

The world's best violins were made in northern Italy in the 18th century and Antonio Stradivari and del Gesu were the kings of the violin-making world. Del Gesu was the "maker of choice" for some of the greatest virtuosi of the 19th and 20th centuries including Nicolo Paganini.

Tognetti would not reveal the identity of the benefactor, but let it slip that he was a prominent businessman.

"He wants the focus to be on the violin and music, not him," he said. "Australia is not used to spending money on art. To put it into perspective it's one quarter of a Monet, or a decent-sized mansion in Vaucluse."

Before he acquired the Carrodus, named after John Carrodus, a leading English violinist of the Victorian era, Tognetti played on a 1759 J.B Guadagnini violin valued at $1.2 million. He never dreamed he would play on a del Gesu. "It has regal majesty," he said.

Tognetti never lets the violin out of his sight and keeps it in a safe when he's not playing it. He does not think it will be stolen - "it's essentially priceless" - but the risk of damage means he treats it with extreme respect.

Tognetti is full of praise for the investment the unnamed benefactor has made in cultivating Australian culture.

"It's an example of the European style of philanthropy," he said. "It's all too rare in this country of beer and cricket."

Art Hostage comments:

A good news story, something quite touching about it.
I wonder if the Violin is Tax Deductable ?

Historically, British Police are the Cream of British Society, "They are White, Thick, and Rise to the Top" !!

Who Let the Cat Out of the Bag ???????

The media have been mistaken as to the painting stolen from Bourton-on-the-Water in Gloucestershire. Last week, I wrote about the theft of a Joseph Farquharson from a private residence. I posted an image of the painting, but I posted the wrong painting because The Herald incorrectly stated the name of the painting. I received a kind email from Grizelda Graham, daughter of the 89 year-old theft victim. She wrote , "We don't know why the media have entitled our stolen painting 'sunlight and shade' - the title on the back of my painting is 'where snow the pastures sheets.' It is very beautiful, and we are keen to publicise its theft widely in the hope that someone will spot it and return it to us." This is the image of the stolen painting she gave me.

Hopefully the media will correct their mistake soon, and continue to publish the theft. I suggested she contact the Art Loss Register in her attempts to get the painting back.

http://illicit-cultural-property.blogspot.com/

Art Hostage comments:

Way to go Derek, good story, glad you have put the record straight.

Only problem is the Police are using a classic tactic about revealing the wrong title and image for the picture and allowing the thieves to think they have got a picture that will pass through the trade because the one listed is incorrect.

Before you revealed all, Police were hoping the picture may turn up because of the deliberate mistake.

Now the thieves/Handlers are aware of the correct listing the painting will go further underground, unless a dealer bought the picture thinking he could make a fast buck, or a dealer has paid good money for a previously unlisted picture and perhaps this dealer may want to hand it back.

However, to smoke out the current person in possession of 'where snow the pastures sheets.'

Grizelda Graham should consider offering a reward and then can get authorities to waive conditions, the dealer may come forward with the painting.

Furthermore, as outlined below in previous articles the strict conditions of paying a reward make it impossible for the money ever to be paid in reality, the 2002 proceeds of crime act prevents rewards being paid.

Until then Grizelda Graham, I am sorry to say, "Don't hold your breath"

The British Police are the Cream of British Society, they are mostly:

"White, Thick, and rise to the top."

Keystone Cops Plead With Criminal For Return of Stolen Art !!

Hopeless Dawn By Frank Bramley, above, a reflection of the Hopeless British Police !!!


If the World is a Circus, then the British Police are the Clowns !!


Dick Ellis, ex head and founder of Scotland Yards Art and Antiques Squad is incandescent with rage at the complete incompetence of both Hampshire and Sussex Police.

Detective Richard Skillan of Hampshire Police is the investigating officer into a spate of high value art robberies that have taken place in Hampshire, Southern England, in the last year or so.

Among the stolen items are a number of high value Silver items that have been traced (not recovered) by Dick Ellis to a Brighton, Sussex, Antiques Dealer.

Dick Ellis passed this information to Det Richard Skillan.


Det Richard Skillan duly contacted Sussex Police and requested permission and co-operation in executing a search warrant.

Sussex police replied that:

"We (Sussex Police) are not interested in solving art crime, and any other type of crime, committed outside of the borders of Sussex and by refusing to co-operate with Hampshire Police we can prevent art thefts in Sussex."

"Furthermore, we (Sussex Police) have made it clear to the Brighton Antiques Mafia, that as long as they do not target high value art and antiques in Sussex, we will not be bothered by their criminality elsewhere"

So, left without any help from Sussex Police, Hampshire detective Richard Skillan came up with the bright idea to take it upon himself to pay a visit to the sussex Antiques Dealers house, without a search warrant, to request his help in recovering the stolen art from Hampshire.

Detective Richard Skillan revealed all to the sussex antiques dealer and told him that is was Dick Ellis who named him.

The antiques dealer could not believe his luck, faced with the prospect of losing the high value stolen art he has accumulated he denied everything and Hampshire detective Richard Skillan left, tail between his legs, humiliated, and with the knowledge that the antiques dealer was aware of the close attention police were paying to him.

The Antiques dealer has duly moved all the high value stolen art from his homes and is now taking precautions to prevent him from being caught with stolen art and Dick Ellis has been made to look a complete fool.
The word on the street is Brighton Art criminals can act with impunity, if outside Sussex, and that's official !!

Evidence, Who needs it ??????????????

'Super-asbos' to target gangsters

Up to 30 major criminals a year could be given new civil orders restricting their involvement in organised crime, the Home Office has said.

The orders, dubbed "super-asbos", would target those suspected of drug dealing, money-laundering and human trafficking.

They form part of the government's proposed Serious Crime Bill which aims to hit the UK's "Mr Bigs" before trial.

Civil rights group Liberty has dismissed the proposed orders as "unfair and ineffective".

The Serious Crime Bill is also expected to strengthen powers to seize assets such as cash, properties and cars from criminals.

Breaching the new orders could lead to a five-year prison term.

Home Secretary John Reid called for cross-party support for the new laws.

"We are bringing in reforms to get the Mr Bigs of the organised crime world," he said.

"We hope this will have a huge impact, and we hope opposition parties will give the support necessary rather than what they have done every time we have tried to bring in strong powers to tackle crime and terrorism, which is vote against them and claim they aren't strong enough."

Analysis: Targeting Mr Bigs

This is sort of an Al Capone bill - you know, if we can't get you on one, we'll get you on another.
Former deputy chief constable of Greater Manchester Police John Stalker
But critics warned the measures would see individuals targeted without their guilt being proven.

Jago Russell, policy officer for civil rights group Liberty, said: "We used to believe in hard evidence and fair trials in this country - now we dispense rapid-fire justice as quickly as the government can develop a catchy four-letter acronym for it.

"These new orders targeted at the 'Mr Bigs' of the criminal world will likely be as unfair and ineffective as Asbos and control orders before them."

'Not the answer'

And former deputy chief constable of Greater Manchester Police John Stalker told BBC Radio 4's World at One programme that the government was going down a dangerous route.

He added: "My view is that criminals should be dealt with under the criminal law and that Asbos, super-asbos as these are being called, are not the answer to heavyweight criminals. They maybe OK for hoodies on the street but they are not for heavyweight criminals.

"This is sort of an Al Capone bill - you know, if we can't get you on one, we'll get you on another."

But Home Office Minister Vernon Coaker said the measures would be a major weapon in combating "untouchable" criminals.


CRIMINALS' RESTRICTIONS
Financial, property or business dealings
Working arrangements
People who can be associated or communicated with
Access to premises
Travel in the UK or abroad

He said: "There are people who try to stay remote from crime, who try to encourage crime but never get their hands dirty.

"We want to ensure that, while our methods are proportionate, we can get to them.

"People who believe they are beyond the law and untouchable will know that the government is on the side of the ordinary law-abiding majority."

The serious crime prevention orders would be applied for by the Crown Prosecution Service, Revenue and Customs Prosecution Office or the Serious Fraud Office.

An order could be imposed by the courts if they believed, on the balance of probability, that the suspect had acted in a way which helped or was likely to help a serious crime.

Orders would also be used if courts felt it was necessary and proportionate to prevent such criminal harm in the future.

It would be a High Court civil order that could be challenged in the Court of Appeal.


Targeting 'Mr Bigs' of serious crime

Perhaps they're not untouchable - but they are very hard to reach.

They are the serious criminals leading the gangs responsible for drug dealing, human trafficking and fraud.

They don't get their hands dirty selling crack, cocaine or heroin on street corners or driving the lorries bringing in illegal immigrants.

But they give out the orders and rake in the proceeds of the illicit activities, remaining at arms length from the crimes, thus evading prosecution.

They're the ones the Home Office is after. The roots of the crime tree, rather than the twigs at the top.

Achieving successful prosecutions against these "Mr Bigs" is a long haul.

Evidence they've made phone calls or emailed associates won't be enough to guarantee a conviction. Nor will a large stash of cash underneath the sofa, a flash car, a yacht or even a villa in Marbella.

It may point to their involvement but what's needed in a criminal trial is 99.9% proof.

That will arrive only if an insider gives information to police or if extensive surveillance of a suspect reveals something incriminating. And that's time consuming, expensive and extremely complicated.

Travel restrictions

So ministers are now trying another tack - disruption - to make life so difficult for the individuals suspected of criminality that they can't operate their illegal enterprises.

To do that, an order from the High Court will be obtained restricting their travel, communications and business dealings.

The High Court will grant the request if it's satisfied that the individual is involved in criminality on the balance of probabilities - 51% proof.

The measure is similar to an Asbo but may prove to be harder to enforce.

The suspects to be targeted will probably be able to instruct the best lawyers around and they'll rake over the details of the legislation and the court orders looking for loopholes.

They'll be able to make representations to the High Court and take their case to the Court of Appeal if they lose.

False passports

Don't rule out further appeals to the House of Lords and the European Courts, either, to query important legal principles.

Even if the courts come down against them and impose an order, it still has to be enforced, without the use of electronic tags - the government has ruled that out.

Bear in mind, these people can probably get hold of a false passport at a snap of their fingers.

Of course, as more orders are made the room for legal argument may diminish while the prospect of a five-year prison term for breaching an order will make some suspects toe the line.

But history suggests that applying civil powers to tackle organised crime is fraught with problems - look how hard it's been for the Assets Recovery Agency (ARA) to confiscate illegal earnings and property from suspects.

It's an irony that may not be lost on those responsible for tackling organised crime that the Bill proposing serious crime prevention orders also paves the way for the abolition of the ARA - its functions to be taken over by the Serious Organised Crime Agency (Soca).

Art Hostage comments:

This yet another example of the Brit govt admitting defeat in the war against organised crime.
The only way they think they can disrupt criminality is to undermine the British legal system and move to a more authoritarian model as seen in dictatorships.

The presumption of innocence has been thrown out of the window and this like many other headline grabs will falter as soon as the publicity finishes.

If the govt were to properly fund law enforcement they would be able to operate in a productive manner.
It reminds me of the little Dutch boy who put his finger in the Dyke.

The way things are going Britain will have an honest trustworthy police force who do not make deals, never pay rewards, and best of all, cannot solve any serious crime, even if fell on them.

Intelligence down 90%, solving of serious crime down drastically, criminals acting with impunity.

I wonder if lawyers went to the High court and said that it is 51% certain that Tony Blair did have involvement in the cash for questions scandal and he should be given a super ASBO to restrict him from committing further white collar crime, would the Judge agree,using the new criteria I really think the Judge would???????
So, John Reid, Tony Blair, be careful what you wish for, it may come back to haunt you and bite your arse !!No Gold Watch for Tony Blair on his retirement, just a pair of steel bracelets !!

Art Thieves beware: museum curators are after you, Only part-time !!

Thieves beware: museum curators are after you

By Lucian Harris | Posted 03 January 2007

LONDON. Faced with the prospect of dissolution, the Art and Antiques Unit of the Metropolitan Police has come up with a new idea—to recruit curators and art historians as special constables. The scheme, dubbed Art Beat, is set to start in April. This is the first time the police has attempted to recruit such specialist volunteers.

Detective Sergeant Vernon Rapley told The Art Newspaper that the scheme was devised after the Art squad was told by the Metropolitan Police Authority that it could be disbanded if it did not become 50% self-financing by 2008.

Art Beat Special Constables are being recruited from museums such as the Victoria & Albert and the British Museum, universities, insurance companies and other cultural organisations. After four weeks training in police procedure as well as specialist art squad techniques, volunteers will be sponsored by their employers to work as Special Constables for 200 hours a year or one day a fortnight. They will be uniformed and will have full police powers.

“The aim is to build bridges between the police and the art world and maintain a high visibility presence in areas with a high level of art sales,” said DS Rapley. “This could include patrolling antiques markets like Bermondsey or areas with clusters of art dealers like Kensington Church Street, Bond Street or Camden Passage, or undercover intelligence work.”

The Art and Antiquities Unit currently consists of only four full time officers. “At the moment we are not receiving as much information as we would like from the art trade,” said DS Rapley. “We have tried to recruit from areas with the kind of specialist knowledge that will benefit from our work.” So far the police have recruited archaeology and antiquities experts, and hope to have 14 constables trained by April.

Art Hostage comments:

Policing on the cheap, this is unpaid work that will do nothing to stop the lack of good quality intelligence received by Police in the last two years.

Information received from the art trade is down 90% in the last two years, the reason is the disgusting manner in which informants are treated.

A classic example of negligence by the Police.
One month before Harry Hyams was robbed last year an Antiques dealer from Cheltenham offered to provide details, via a third party, of the plans to target Harry Hyams.


This potential informant would provide times, names and how the robbery would be carried out.
Police could, and should of been lying in wait for the Hyams robbers, so when they struck, at Ramsbury Manor they would be caught red-handed.
The price for this crucial information was £100,000, to be given to a trusted third party, a lawyer, to be handed back to authorities if the sting did not prove fruitful. If successful, the Cheltenham Antiques dealer would receive the £100,000.
Police responded by saying:

"We would not sanction £100 pounds, let alone £100,000 pounds."

"We, the Police, require everything from informants, they in return get nothing from us, other than a few pounds expenses"

Within Two weeks Harry Hyams was robbed of £80 million worth of artworks.

Subsequently, via the private sector, some items were handed back, without pre-condition.
Authorities promised a convicted criminal a lighter sentence if he could facilitate the return of the Harry Hyams artworks, unfortunately this criminal did not get any support and received four years jail time.

Dismayed, the private sector involved in Art Loss Recovery is sitting on its hands, not being able to act on inside information.
For the moment all that is left is to shake one's head in disbelief.




The notion that these unpaid museum curators, civil servants, misguided antiques dealers will get any relevant information about art related crime is pure folly.

Those engaged in the panorama of art related crime will not only see these keystone cops coming, but also use these antiques dealer/Policemen to get inside information about law enforcement.

This will end in violence, corruption and tears for all concerned.

There are already enough ex-Art Squad policemen investigating art related crime in the private sector, the last thing needed is some half trained, half baked curator thinking he is Hercule Poirot, someone is going to get hurt.

I cannot wait to hear what Dick Ellis, Malcolm Kenwood, Mark Dalrymple and Charlie Hill have to say about this one.

Scotland Yard Art Squad Detective Vernon Rapley is nicknamed
"The Book-keeper" for good reason.

Art market is hotter than ever

By Deborah Brewster in New York and Peter Aspden in London

Published: December 28 2006 21:42 | Last updated: December 28 2006 21:42

When Picasso’s “Boy with a Pipe” fetched a record $104m (£53m, €79m) at a Sotheby’s New York auction in 2004, it was the talk of the town. Never before had an artwork commanded more than $100m and the deal made news outside the art world.

Two years later David Geffen, the entertainment mogul, sold almost half a billion dollars’ worth of paintings within a few months – one, Jackson Pollock’s “No.5, 1948”, for $140m – and few blinked.

The sales were merely the latest sign of a boom that has seen salerooms packed and art fairs proliferate. The year had already seen Ronald Lauder, the cosmetics heir, pay $135m for a work by Gustav Klimt, “Adele Bloch-Bauer 1”. Steve Wynn, the casino owner, agreed to sell Picasso’s “Le Reve” for $140m to Steve Cohen, a hedge fund mogul – a deal that was pulled after Mr Wynn accidentally tore a hole in the work prior to delivery.

In a fitting climax, 50,000 people descended on Miami this month for a five-day frenzy of art sales under the umbrella of the Art Basel fair. More jets were rented for the event than for the Super Bowl.

Art prices in the US rose this year by an average of 27 per cent – the steepest ever, according to Artprice.com, which tracks global auction prices. Depending on which index you consult, overall prices are either close to or above the level they reached during the peak of the last art boom in 1990. “It certainly feels like a bubble to me,” says one long-standing collector.

Michael Moses, an associate professor at New York University’s Stern School of Business, is more sanguine. “The last five years, prices have been growing faster than they have in the past 25 years. We are growing at a rate that may not be sustainable if you believe in mean reversion. However, prices are not growing as fast as they were during 1985-90, the peak of the last market boom, and that indicates that we are not at the bubble yet.”

“We may still have a year or so more to run,” says Mr Moses, who with his colleague Jianping Mei compiles the Mei Moses art index.

Many in the industry believe that the huge growth in global wealth and historically high levels of liquidity worldwide will underpin art prices for some time yet. Bill Ruprecht, chief executive of Sotheby’s, the auction house, says: “The reason people say this is different from the last boom is that in the 1980s, the market was driven by Japanese real-estate wealth. When that fell apart, the art market fell apart. Now we have Russian wealth, Chinese wealth, Japanese wealth, hedge fund wealth, entrepreneurial wealth, real-estate wealth. There is a huge concentration of wealth at the top of the economic pyramid, a bigger concentration than anyone has experienced before.”

Sotheby’s and rival Christie’s have together sold more than $7.5bn in art this year, easily surpassing the 1990 total. American buyers continue to drive the market but the new blood is from China and Russia. A man who appeared to be Russian bought a Picasso portrait for $95m at Sotheby’s this year, sparking speculation – still ongoing – as to the identity of the oligarch for whom he was acting.

Chinese contemporary art is the current hot favourite, with prices rising so rapidly that most believe this sector will be the first to fall. Hong Kong auction sales have quadrupled in the past five years, as Chinese and south Asian collectors make their presence felt. Christie’s Hong Kong art sales brought in $1.8m 20 years ago; this year the total was $364m. Ken Yeh, Christie’s deputy chairman for Asia, says: “Eventually there will be a correction but the mainland Chinese have only just started buying.”

Hedge fund managers, particularly in the US, are also big buyers. Mr Cohen a few years ago famously bought Damien Hirst’s shark encased in formaldehyde (and has asked Hirst to replace it with a new shark, as the original was deteriorating). Ken Griffin, who founded Chicago’s $12bn Citadel hedge fund, has emerged as a strong buyer of contemporary art. US museums – which, unlike their European and UK counterparts, rely on private money – have taken to recruiting hedge fund managers to their boards in the hope they will give both money and artworks.

hose who have family money also continue to spend. Alice Walton, the Wal-Mart heiress who is a big collector of American art, a few months ago offered to buy a 1875 work by Thomas Eakins for $68m before the citizens of Philadelphia rallied to keep the painting in the city. Eli Broad, the founder of builder KB Homes and a well-known collector, is setting up a museum in Los Angeles.

As prices spiral upwards, art is increasingly viewed as an asset class – a development that evokes mixed feelings. There is the usual disdain of old money for the taste of those with new money, who are perceived as favouring conceptual works. “You could sell them a plastic bowl and they would pay $10m,” sniffs one collector of American art. “They just come in and throw it around; it’s a couple of Porsches, the house in Greenwich [Connecticut] and then the artworks to go with those.”

Mr Ruprecht disagrees: “I don’t think it’s true that the new wealthy are all buying the same things. The joke is that you have to get your second Warhol by the time you are 30, but I really don’t think the taste is that unconsidered or nuanced. They are buying Old Masters, tribal works, textiles.”

Nevertheless, the rise in art prices has not been uniform. Some big names have been left behind by the boom and some genres, such as watercolours, are unfashionable. “There has been an evolution out of Old Masters and 19th-century works, and even out of American paintings,” says Mr Moses. “It is the postwar and Impressionist works that have shown the real strength.”

“Every generation sets its own rules,” says Mr Ruprecht. “The late Warhols were not appreciated 15 years ago. Certain Old Masters were relegated to back rooms because they were not the trophy names of the day. Each generation redefines what it wants.”

About half a dozen art indices have sprung up, measuring the rise in prices of sectors and artists. Art databases have contributed greatly to the transparency of the market, providing information for a fee on how often and at what price particular works have changed hands. Art funds have also been launched to invest in artworks, although few have made headway.

“Some of the hedge fund buyers think that art is an investment class. But that is an unproven thesis. Art does not produce cash flow – it has merely scarcity value, driven by cultural perceptions. That is a very different proposition from other asset classes,” says one seasoned collector.

Fears exist that increased pressure to secure a return on investment has contributed to a rise in price manipulation – although this has always been a feature of an unregulated market and most of the evidence is anecdotal. Typically, a buyer will snap up a large number of works by an artist and hoard them, then bid aggressively next time a work by the artist comes up at auction. Having driven up the price and created a feeling of scarcity, the hoarder can sell the rest at a premium.

A factor that has added spice, not to mention a steady flow of masterpieces, to the market over the past 12 months has been the controversy provoked by restitution claims. These have sought to return works looted by the Nazis from Jewish families to the heirs of the original owners.

The Nazis stored some 5m looted objects, including many valuable works of art, in more than 1,500 depots during the war, about half of which were returned by the Allies by 1950. Sotheby’s estimates that there are still more than 100,000 unclaimed works with a collective value of “anywhere between $10bn and $30bn”.

Restitution claims have accelerated in the past few years and have been responsible for some highly prized works reaching the market. A landmark was reached by Sotheby’s in London with the £11m sale of Egon Schiele’s “Krumauer Landschaft (Stadt und Fluss)” in 2003 – then a record for a restituted painting. But the impact was dwarfed by the news that four restituted Klimts belonging to the Bloch-Bauer family were to be auctioned at Christie’s New York in November.

The paintings instantly became the most significant Nazi-loot restitution cases. They had been stolen from the family in 1938 and eventually placed in Vienna’s Austrian Gallery Belvedere, but the Bloch-Bauer heirs began a protracted court battle in the US to reclaim the paintings in 2000.

The Supreme Court ruled in 2004 that US courts had jurisdiction to decide the case, but it was finally settled by an Austrian arbitration panel that ruled in favour of the Bloch-Bauers. The pre-auction estimate of $93m was smashed during a dramatic evening, with the four works raising more than $192m.

Lucian Simmons, head of restitution for Sotheby’s, says there are still important works of art missing from the second world war period but that many of the biggest cases have been settled.

“Claims grew from the 1990s, because of records becoming available in eastern Europe following the fall of the Iron Curtain and because of the ‘third-generation effect’. The first generation [of Jewish families] was pleased to come out of the war alive; the second was busy establishing itself as good Americans, Britons or whatever. Now the third generation is interested in recovering its roots and, in many cases, its missing inheritance.”

He says most cases are settled harmoniously but there are still areas of contention. In November, the Andrew Lloyd Webber Foundation withdrew from sale Picasso’s “Portrait de Angel Fernández de Soto” because of a restitution claim that was felt to have cast enough of a shadow over the picture to discourage potential buyers.

With restitution increasing, many paintings hanging in museums and in collections could come on to the market in the coming years, fuelling it still further. Says one dealer returning exhausted from Miami’s Art Basel: “I don’t see any slowdown next year. It will be a year of more, more of everything for the art world.”

Netherlands Museum Displays Nazi-Era Looted Art

J.H. Tischbein I, Friedrich II (1720-1785), Count of Hessen-Kassel (detail), third quarter of 18th century, canvas, The Netherlands Institute for Cultural Heritage (ICN), Amsterdam/Rijswijk.



AMSTERDAM, THE NETHERLANDS.-Works on display at the exhibition "Looted, But From Whom?" The exhibit of the Jewish Historical Museum in Amsterdam displays artworks that were looted from their owners during the Nazi era and have yet to be claimed. Fifty artworks that were looted in the Netherlands during World War II are now on display in Amsterdam in the hope of generating claims for stolen art currently in the custody of the Dutch government.

The exhibit of the Jewish Historical Museum in Amsterdam displays artworks that were looted from their owners during the Nazi era and have yet to be claimed. The exhibit, "Looted, but from whom?" is intended to draw public attention to the issue of Holocaust-era stolen art and facilitate the return of at least some of the few hundred works for which the original Dutch owners or heirs have not yet been found.

The exhibit was organized with the Origins Unknown Agency, established in 1998 to research and publicize the origins of the 4,700 Dutch-owned artworks that were found in Germany after World War II. The agency has a website, www.originsunknown.org, which can be searched for artworks looted in the Netherlands during World War II. Since it was established, the agency has helped in the return of more than 500 items. The museum exhibit displays the results of the agency's research. Also helping to organize the exhibit are the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science and the Netherlands Institute for Cultural Heritage.

The website of the exhibit at the Jewish Historical Museum is www.geroofdmaarvanwie.nl in Dutch and English. The exhibit is staged at the Hollandsche Schouwburg (Dutch theater), and runs through February 25, 2007.

The Claims Conference and the World Jewish Restitution Organization (WJRO) have begun a comprehensive program toward the restitution of Jewish-owned art and cultural property lost and plundered during the Holocaust. Recently, a survey was completed of U.S. museums concerning their progress in provenance research, and underway is a digitization and publication of the records of the main Nazi organization responsible for pilfering and collecting art during the Holocaust. Information regarding restitution of art, including a list of searchable databases of potentially looted art, is at www.claimscon.org/art.


LACMA Receives Thomas Eakins's Wrestlers




Thomas Eakins (United States, 1844-1916), Wrestlers, 1899, oil on canvas, 62 x 72 in., Gift of Cecile C. Bartman and The Cecile and Fred Bartman Foundation.



LOS ANGELES, CA.- LACMA announced the recent acquisition of Thomas Eakins's (1844 - 1916) large sporting painting, Wrestlers (1899). The generous gift of Mrs. Cecile C. Bartman and The Cecile and Fred Bartman Foundation, Wrestlers is one of the last major subject paintings this great American realist created.

Viewed in the trajectory of Eakins's accomplishments, from his first student studies of the figure and early rowing pictures of the 1870s to his late boxing and wrestling paintings, Wrestlers stands as a superb summation of some of the most significant themes of the artist's career.

Mrs. Bartman explained her gift, "LACMA has been a significant part of my life ever since I moved from Chicago, and the eighteen years I served as a docent were quite enjoyable. I thought it was time to give something back to this great institution."

And Michael Govan, LACMA's CEO and Wallis Annenberg Director, noted, "Wrestlers is one of the most historically significant additions to the museum's encyclopedic permanent collection, which already includes the preparatory sketch of this powerful painting. Prominently situated in the canon of American Art, Wrestlers will always hold an important place in our galleries as well."

Thomas Eakins, alongside Winslow Homer, is considered one of the two greatest realists of American painting of the nineteenth century. While Homer concentrated on rural themes, and ultimately on the relationship of humanity to nature, Eakins focused on people. He was a determined materialist, and though he was a portrait painter of great psychological depth, his primary focus was the body, the human being embodied in his or her physical reality. He was also a beloved yet controversial academic teacher, proselytizing drawing from the live model and the study of anatomy.

As such, he stands as the first American artist to base his art on the close and exacting analysis of the body, and is the fountainhead for a realist tradition which extends from him through Robert Henri and the Ashcan School to Reginald Marsh, Fairfield Porter, Philip Pearlstein, and California artist David Park. Eakins's deep conviction that the human is the central concern of painting, and that the human is composed indissolubly of mind and body, is what made him influential to his younger colleagues and later generations. Wrestlers is Eakins last completed statement on the subject and is a testament to a lifetime of teaching, painting, and struggling with the dilemmas of representing the body.

In this vein, Wrestlers is also very much a spiritual self-portrait of a frustrated artist towards the end of his career. Although the focus on two nude figures underscores Eakins's academic training, which extolled and elevated the human body in its most perfect state, the unusual composition suggests that the artist intended the painting to be much more than a literal representation of a new popular bourgeois spectator entertainment.

In Eakins's best and most modern late paintings, the artist compelled the viewer to look again and think again about what is presented. Often the general effect for the viewer of the most probing late paintings is a feeling of discomfort. This was intentional as Eakins himself was in the midst of many personal, familial, and professional problems. The unresolved issues of Wrestlers thereby become echoes of Eakins's own life.

Revealed: the unseen Goya painting of the boy who halted the Spanish Inquisition

The Goya masterpiece of the six-year-old Infante Don Luis Maria is on show in Madrid's Prado museum after centuries in private hands. Photograph: Susana Vera/Reuters


Revealed: the unseen Goya painting of the boy who halted the Spanish Inquisition


· Canvas hanging in private for 200 years is unveiled · Child subject grew up to be a famous cardinal
Giles Tremlett The Guardian


It is the portrait that everyone knew existed but few have been fortunate enough to see in the two centuries or so since it was painted.

Yesterday that painting of a cherubic-looking six-year-old member of the Spanish royal family, the Infante Don Luis Maria, was displayed to the world for the first time since Francisco de Goya put paintbrush to canvas in 1783.

But just as intriguing as the painting is the subject himself - an apparently studious little boy who would go on to become a cardinal at the age of 23 and who would put an end to that most infamous institution, the Spanish Inquisition.

Only a handful of experts and members of a family of Spanish grandees who descend from Luis's heirs had set eyes on the portrait. "It has never been loaned to any exhibition and has remained in the family's hands ever since," said a spokesman for Spain's Foundation Plaza, which has bought the picture for €10m (£6.7m).

The canvas, only slightly grubby after two centuries of hanging on the walls of the private palaces of a series of dukes, was unveiled yesterday by curators at Madrid's Prado museum.

"It is one of the masterpieces of the period," said the Prado's head of conservation, Gabriele Finaldi. "There is a certain amount of superficial dirt. Otherwise it is in an almost virgin state."

A modest clean-up, the fixing of a few scratches and replacement of a yellowing varnish would reveal the full depth and wealth of colours employed, he added.

The "new" Goya features a blond-haired boy in blue breeches and tailcoat, standing over a map of the world. He holds a piece of a puzzle map of Spain in one hand and a compass in the other.

His full name is Prince Don Luis Maria de Borbon y Vallabriga and he was a nephew of Spain's King Carlos III.

For Goya, still in his 30s, this was the first portrait of what would go on to become one of his staple subjects - the children of Spanish royalty. A second portrait, of Luis's sister Maria Teresa, was painted at the same time and now hangs in the National Gallery in Washington.

The encounter between the boy who grew up to be a cardinal and the painter who became a legend took place in 1783.

The young Goya travelled to the family estate in Avila province, where Luis's father had been sent after being expelled from the court by his brother, the king.

He spent time living with the family, as Luis's father became his first major royal patron and introduced him to the rest of Spain's nobility. Goya would go on to become court painter to several Spanish kings before turning deaf and producing, with his later paintings and etchings such as Los Caprichos, some of the most intense and troubling pictures of all time.

With his mock-adult clothes topped off by an enormous white bow in his hair, surrounded by maps, the young Luis is already being asked to show off the progressive education which was meant to prepare him for future responsibility.

Luis became the Bishop of Seville just sixteen years later, at the age of 22. He was appointed cardinal just a year after that.

Abolishing the Spanish Inquisition was just one of the achievements of a man who became closely associated with the first political movement in the world to go by the name "liberal".

He presided over a regency, backed by a liberal constitution, that fought off the invading forces of Napoleon Bonaparte. The reactionary nephew he helped place on the throne, King Fernando VII, so disapproved of his views, however, that he confiscated his dioceses and his lands.

Although the Prado museum officially said yesterday the previous owners had requested anonymity, the Spanish press named them as the Dukes of Sueca - a family of Spanish grandees who have been selling off inherited wealth for decades.

The painting has been given to the Prado for conservation work but it will soon hang in the city museum in Zaragoza, central Spain - close to the town of Goya's birth, Fuendetodos. A new museum to house Goya paintings is be built in the city as part of an international Expo that it hosts in 2008.
Backstory

Francisco de Goya was a Spanish court painter who turned gradually from portraits of royalty and nobles to subversive depictions of everything from war and the inquisition to monsters and priests. Born in 1746, he slowly gained fame as a portrait artist, thanks to a series of Spanish monarchs who became patrons. He went deaf in 1792, apparently due to the poisons contained in his paints. Obsessed by the French Revolution and philosophy, he turned out a a series of troubling aquatint etchings known as Los Caprichos

He is credited with being one of the first artists to describe the full horrors of warfare. He continues to provoke passions today, with British artists Jake and Dinos Chapman shocking the art world in 2003 by defacing a series of his Disasters of War prints.

Eakins's The Gross Clinic Secured for Philadelphia

Thomas Eakins, "The Gross Clinic".

PHILADELPHIA.- Philadelphia Mayor John F. Street announced at a press conference today that Thomas Eakins's painting, The Gross Clinic, will stay in Philadelphia forever. The philanthropic community in Philadelphia has united with a nationwide grassroots effort to enable two cultural institutions here to match the $68 million sale price of the painting.

The Annenberg Foundation is donating $10 million toward the effort. H.F. ( Gerry ) Lenfest, Joseph Neubauer and The Pew Charitable Trusts will each donate $3 million. In addition, the drive to secure the painting has resulted to date in more than 2,000 donations all over the country, including 30 states and the District of Columbia.

"Eakins' iconic painting, The Gross Clinic, is by a Philadelphian, about Philadelphians, and set in Philadelphia," said Mayor John F. Street. "It belongs in Philadelphia, just as much as the Liberty Bell and our sports teams. We extend profound thanks to the citizens of Philadelphia who made it possible to keep this important piece of our cultural heritage right here where it belongs. What a remarkable gift in this season of giving!"

The painting will be purchased jointly by the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts and the Philadelphia Museum of Art and exhibited publicly by both institutions. In the near future, the masterpiece will be on view at the Museum where it will be seen in context with Eakins and his contemporaries, and it will be shown at the Academy shortly thereafter. Wachovia Bank has agreed to provide any necessary financing.

"Walter Annenberg had great admiration for Thomas Eakins's work, and in particular, for The Gross Clinic," said Leonore Annenberg, president and chairman of the Annenberg Foundation and wife of the late Walter Annenberg. "He would have wanted the painting to stay in Philadelphia and would be so pleased that we are ensuring that it will be accessible to Philadelphians and visitors from around the world for years to come. I am thrilled to be able to carry out what I believe would have been his strong wishes."

"We deeply appreciate the efforts of Senator Specter, Governor Rendell and Mayor Street, as well as the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts and all the donors who supported this project to keep The Gross Clinic in Philadelphia," said H.F. ( Gerry ) Lenfest. "This has truly been an example of civic pride and accomplishment for the entire community. Meanwhile, the fundraising effort continues apace, because we need additional financial support."

"The grassroots campaign to keep Thomas Eakins's The Gross Clinic in Philadelphia has galvanized people across the region,"' said Hugh Long, CEO for Wachovia's MidAtlantic Banking Group. "It also demonstrates what we at Wachovia believe-that Philadelphia is not the next great city-it IS a great city. It's a city with a rich history, a wealth of cultural treasures and a legacy of medical and education innovation. But its most important asset is passionate leaders who care about this city and its future. Wachovia is proud to help these leaders achieve the goal of saving a part of the city's heritage and ensuring that people across the nation and around the world see Philadelphia as the great city it is."

The Gross Clinic is a dramatic 8' by 6' painting of Dr. Samuel D. Gross, distinguished surgeon and first chair of surgery at Thomas Jefferson University's Medical College, performing bone surgery in front of his students. Thomas Eakins, a Philadelphia native, who was for many years an instructor and a director of the Academy, painted the portrait in 1875 after studying anatomy under Dr. Gross. The announcement in Philadelphia comes after Thomas Jefferson University, owner of the painting since 1878, agreed in early November to sell the work to the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., and the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, Arkansas, for $68 million. Local art and governmental institutions were offered the opportunity to match the bid within 45 days.

Joseph Neubauer, chairman and CEO of ARAMARK Corporation, stated, "Treasures like The Gross Clinic are vital to the cultural fabric of the region. I am thrilled at the remarkable response from the community to act on this important endeavor in such a short period of time. This represents a strong commitment to building and preserving Philadelphia´s arts and heritage."

"The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, our nation's first fine arts institution, will be proud to be able to share this important painting with art lovers in Philadelphia and around the globe," said Donald R. Caldwell, Chairman of the Board of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. "Thomas Eakins was a student and teacher at the Academy, so this is poetic justice for one of America´s greatest masters."

"A city's cultural icons are central to its identity and its aspirations," said Anne d'Harnoncourt, Director of the Philadelphia Museum of Art. "If the city of Amsterdam were faced with the potential loss of Rembrandt's The Night Watch, that community too would rally. Like The Night Watch, The Gross Clinic possesses a powerful national significance rooted in its home city. Now that it will take its place in the galleries of the Museum and the Pennsylvania Academy, both of which provide such a profound context, it will become an extraordinary pilgrimage destination-the capstone of Eakins' achievement telling its remarkable story of greatness in Philadelphia, past, present and future."

"We have proven to the world that we are a 'comeback city' that will rise to every occasion," said Rebecca W. Rimel, president and CEO of The Pew Charitable Trusts. "Our region values its arts and heritage and takes pride in being excellent stewards of these works. The Pew Charitable Trusts commends Mayor Street, Wachovia Bank, the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts and the Philadelphia Museum of Art for their leadership. We thank the broad array of donors who have contributed to this remarkable effort, and we are deeply honored to be a part of this extraordinary civic collaboration to keep the painting here in Philadelphia, where it belongs."

274 art works stolen from State Art Museum found in the USA

274 art works stolen from State Art Museum found in the USA

[ 22 Dec. 2006 18:22 ]

274 art works stolen from State Art Museum in July, 1993, have been found in the USA, chief of Interpol Central Bureau in Azerbaijan Mammed Mikaylov told APA.

He said that 6 orientations on the robbery were published and sent to the Interpol member countries. The art works have been found in result of investigations with Washington, Wiesbaden and other central bureaus. All the culprits have been identified. 14 paintings have been given back to their owner-Germany Bremen Museum and more than 200 exhibits returned to the country. An international notice was issued for Aydin Ibrahimov Ali by Interpol. He came to Azerbaijan from the USA in September and gave up himself to the police. Mammed Mikayilov also noted that photos of stolen carpets from Azerbaijan Museum of History were obtained by MIA Main Investigation Department and the information about the carpets has been included to the data base of Interpol. At present, 103 stolen art works are being oriented. /APA/

Scream, Madonna, Damage Permanent !!

Stolen Munch damaged in theft, museum says


Agencies Friday December 22, 2006 Guardian Unlimited

Thieves who stole Edvard Munch's The Scream, one of the world's most famous images, may have damaged the painting so badly it cannot be completely repaired, say experts.

The painting and another Munch masterpiece, Madonna, were recovered by police in August, two years after they were stolen from Oslo's Munch Museum by masked gunmen in a brazen daylight heist on Aug. 22, 2004. Police have refused to say how they recovered the artworks, or where they had been for two years.



After an extensive study, museum experts on Friday are to give Oslo police a 200-page report which, among other things, expresses concern about moisture damage to a large part of The Scream.

"Water has been absorbed by one corner of the paper board, and there is abrasion damage on the lower part of the painting," Museum curator Ingebjoerg Ydstie told the TV-2 network late Wednesday. "We have a large swath that is very visible."

She said the museum was still assessing what to do about the damage, and whether can be fixed, but that no decision had been made.

"There are types of damage we can't do anything about," museum restoration expert Anne Milnes told TV-2. The Scream is probably the best known of Munch's emotionally charged works and was a major influence on the Expressionist movement. In four versions of the painting, a waif-like figure is apparently screaming or hearing a scream. The image has become a modern icon of human anxiety.

Museum spokeswoman Jorunn Christoffersen on Thursday said they would not comment further until after the report had been released, but referred to a summary of the resonation efforts posted on the city-owned museums Web site. That summary said experts are still trying to determine what kind of liquid caused the moisture damage in the lower left corner of the painting.

"When one has further knowledge of the chemical composition one will know whether the damage is going to be stable, or whether one may risk the development of further future damage," the statement said.

It also said there are ethical limits in the art world to how extensively a painting can be restored, and that any effort would be cautious because of the possible long term impact of modern pigments and binding agents on the painting. It was not clear how long it would take before "The Scream" could be exhibited again. Repairs to Madonna were expected to take even longer.

"The painting will be cleaned, the threads in the tears will be joined one by one and tiny, loose flakes of paint will be carefully fastened to the canvas with the help of a microscope," the statement said.

The Scream and Madonna were part of Munch's Frieze of Life series, in which sickness, death, anxiety and love are central themes. The painter died in 1944 at the age of 80.

The Fine Art of Appraisal, What's it Worth, To You and I

The Toledo Museum of Art’s ‘Children with a Cart’ by Francisco de Goya Lucientes was recovered just days after it was stolen while in transit to a New York museum.



Sometimes, attaching value can be tricky. That’s often the case with Flemish master Peter Paul Rubens, whose ‘The Crowning of Saint Catherine’ belongs to the Toledo museum. When a Rubens specialist views a painting, he may attempt to determine how much of it was done by the master and how much was done by an assistant. The Toledo piece is thought to have had substantial input by the master.






The Fine Art of Appraisal

The amount of insurance on a purloined painting raises the question:

Who and what determine when the price is right?

By TAHREE LANE
BLADE STAFF WRITER

The 1778 painting by Francisco de Goya Lucientes, owned by the Toledo Museum of Art and stolen last month while being trucked to the Guggenheim Museum in New York, was insured for about $1 million.

Several art experts outside of Toledo said the painting, Children with a Cart, although not one of the most desirable Goyas, was probably worth far more than that. But in a skyrocketing art market — especially for 20th century work — who and what determine when the price is right?

Consider a few examples:




• Connecticut hedge-fund billionaire Steven Cohen scooped up Willem de Kooning’s painting Woman III (circa 1952-53) from entertainment mogul David Geffen last month for $137.5 million. That eclipsed the highest-known previous king’s ransom of $135 million for the gold-drenched Adele Bloch-Bauer I (Gustav Klimt, 1907), acquired in June by Ronald Lauder. Heir to the Estee Lauder fortune, his passion is for Jewish-owned art that had been looted in Nazi-era Germany and Austria.A Connecticut billionaire scooped up Willem de Kooning’s painting ‘Woman III’ for $137.5 million last month.
( GAGOSIAN GALLERY )
• Also last month, a Norman Rockwell painting of father and son, Breaking Home Ties, fetched $15.4 million. It was once voted the second-most popular cover of The Saturday Evening Post, which it graced in 1954. The family who sold it had bought it in 1960 for $900, and it was long hidden behind a fake wall. The previous record for a Rockwell: $9.2 million in May.Last month, a Norman Rockwell painting, ‘Breaking Home Ties,’ fetched $15.4 million. The family who sold it had purchased it in 1960 for $900. The painting was once voted the secondmost popular cover of The Saturday Evening Post, which it graced in 1954.
( CURTIS PUBLISHING CO./SOTHEBY'S VIA BLOOMBERG NEWS )

• A few weeks ago a black crayon-on-paper drawing of a surreal bull sketched by Goya near the end of his life sold for $2.9 million — more than twice what was expected.

Two of the four 1893 paintings known as The Scream by Norwegian Edvard Munch were stolen (and recovered) in recent years. As iconic as the Mona Lisa or American Gothic, Munch’s expression of howling angst was estimated to be worth $60 million to $75 million by Norway’s oldest auction house.

• A life-sized ceramic sculpture, Michael Jackson and Bubbles (the pop star holding his chimpanzee) by American Jeff Koons, sold for $5.6 million in 1991. One of its three copies is owned by the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.A life-sized ceramic sculpture, ‘Michael Jackson and Bubbles’ (the pop star holding his chimpanzee) by American Jeff Koons, sold for $5.6 million in 1991.
( SOTHEBY'S/NEW YORK TIMES )


At its simplest, figuring out how much a piece of art is worth, especially older works, requires knowing the history of ownership (called the provenance) and its condition, quality, rareness, and size (larger is usually worth more). Recent sale prices for similar pieces by the same artist or comparable artists of the same era usually provide guidelines.

Then it’s a matter of what the market will bear: Who wants the painting and how much money do they have — significant wild cards at a time when rivers of cash are flowing like never before and billionaires (and even mere millionaires) are looking for places to park money. Some investors are “flipping” art — buying pieces, then selling them a few years later for handsome profits.

Artistic appetites
Cleveland art dealer James Corcoran suggests the rich are spending fortunes because art may seem a more stable investment than real estate. Moreover, the dollar is weak in relation to other currencies.

There’s also tremendous wealth and appetite for art in Russia, China, Dubai, and India, noted Paul Provost, director of estates and appraisals at Christie’s, the international auction house. Christie’s broke its own records during two weeks in November, raking in $866 million in art sales, including a one-night blowout of nearly a half-billion dollars in sales of modern and Impressionist pieces. The company expects to far exceed last year’s record sales of $3.2 billion.

Exactly how do buyers’ tastes change and why is 20th-century art so hot?

“I wish we knew,” said Mr. Provost, who has a doctoral degree in art history. “The one thing we can’t determine is how badly the buyers want it.”

The value of the Toledo Goya — which was recovered about 10 days after it was taken — would only be known if it were sold.

“But I don’t know that it would be that easy to find a buyer,” said longtime New York dealer Richard Feigen, adding that the greatest interest probably would be in Spain.

The painting might bring $2.5 million to $3.5 million, he guessed, adding that it’s not unusual for insurance value to be below market value because museum staff don’t expect problems to arise and often don’t pay much attention to the process.

Elin Lake-Ewald, who has appraised other Goyas, said Toledo’s Goya, which was acquired in 1959 for a purchase price the museum will not disclose, should have been insured for more than $1 million.

“That’s a disgrace. Goya’s one of the world’s great artists. I’m sure even several years ago we would have put it at at least $5 million to $7 million,” said Ms. Lake-Ewald, head of the O’Toole-Ewald Art Association Inc. in Manhattan.

Museum collections are often insured by blanket policies, but when an item is being loaned, a special policy will be written and it’s usually paid for by the borrowing institution. Staff at both the Toledo and Guggenheim museums determined the Goya’s insurance value, said Jordan Rundgren, Toledo museum spokesman. “Insurance values are determined on a case-by-case basis at the time of any loan request, after a thorough analysis of the market for the closest comparable works of art on the market at that time,” Ms. Rundgren said in an e-mail.

A constant re-evaluation
Art is continually being re-evaluated by art critics. Adding to the complexity is that over the last generation or so, the wall separating high art and popular art has gradually diminished, Ms. Lake-Ewald said.

Rockwell’s paintings are more valuable not just because of nostalgia but also because of savvy positioning, she noted. His dealers have mounted high-profile exhibits. And a Norman Rockwell Museum has been established and brings in a variety of respected artists. Appraisers also may look at exhibition history and even how often an item has been reproduced in books or mentioned in literature. “How significant is it? How large does it loom in our art consciousness?” Ms. Lake-Ewald said.

Buyer motives vary
People buy art for lots of reasons: to beat out a competitor or because the piece reminds them of a beloved person. Some buyers relish the cachet of owning a notable piece. Some buy impulsively; others rely on the advice of consultants.

“It depends on the taste of the buyer,” said Daphne Rosenzweig. “Art is an emotional thing.”

And it’s not unusual for one of an artist’s pieces to capture an exorbitant sum that might never be surpassed. “There’s always a spike,” said Ms. Rosenzweig, an appraiser and art history professor at the Ringling School of Art and Design in Sarasota, Fla.

She pointed to last month’s $17.3 million purchase of a large 1972 silkscreen by Andy Warhol of Communist Party Chairman Mao Zedong by a Chinese real estate magnate. Preauction expectations suggested $8 million to $12 million.

Price can be affected by the reputation of the sellers and the period of the artist’s life in which it was created. Sometimes, attaching value can be tricky.

Flemish master Peter Paul Rubens hired many assistants and operated a huge studio that produced more than 2,000 paintings. Consequently, when a Rubens specialist views a painting in person, he or she may attempt to determine how much of it was done by the master (perhaps the face and hands of the subjects, for example) and how much was done by an employee.

The nearly 9-foot by 6-foot Rubens owned by the Toledo museum, The Crowning of Saint Catherine, is thought to have had substantial input by the master because the nearly-identical faces of the four women portrayed are thought to have been modeled by the 16-year-old girl he married in 1630 when he was 53.

To evaluate such a piece, appraisers would begin by scrutinizing records of both ownership and restoration, said Mr. Corcoran of Corcoran Fine Arts Ltd. in Cleveland. They might examine it under a black light, request an X-ray that could be compared to X-rays of other Rubens, bring in a technician to conduct further tests, or ship the painting to a laboratory for exhaustive analysis.

He’d consult the Rubenianum, a scholarly archive in Antwerp and track down sale prices for comparably-sized Rubens. Religious subject matter would probably bring a lower price than Rubens’ secular work, Mr. Corcoran said.

Regional pieces, prices
Regional art prices are almost always based on supply and demand and tend to increase slowly.

Local auctioneer John Whalen recently sold five paintings by the late Haskins, Ohio, artist Earl North for $500 to $1,000. The work of another local artist sold well in September when about 200 people showed up for an auction of 153 glass pieces by the late Dominick Labino, Mr. Whalen said. The glass went for $300 to $9,000 each.

Longtime Toledo curator Peggy Grant has devoted recent years to exhibiting the art of her late husband, Adam Grochowski Grant, mounting shows in Indiana, Toledo, and in his native Poland. She donated three of his pieces to the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum in Germany, where he was a concentration camp prisoner during World War II. Based on recent sales, she is firm about selling his large paintings for $25,000.

The Dark Side, FBI, Followed By The Noble Side of The FBI !!

Parole board member says FBI tried to intimidate him


By DENISE LAVOIE AP Legal Affairs Writer


BOSTON— A former member of the state Parole Board said Tuesday that two FBI agents tried to intimidate him into keeping a wrongly convicted man in prison for a 1960s gangland slaying.

Former Springfield Mayor Michael Albano, who served on the board from 1982 to 1994, testified in a lawsuit filed by the families of four men who say the FBI allowed them to be framed to protect a mobster informant.

Two of those men, Joseph Salvati and Peter Limone, spent more than 30 years in prison for the murder of Edward "Teddy" Deegan before being exonerated in 2001 when the Justice Department released documents showing the FBI withheld evidence from prosecutors that could have cleared the men so the agency could protect Vincent "Jimmy" Flemmi, an informant who actually committed the crime.

Louis Greco and Henry Tameleo, who were also convicted in Deegan's killing, died in prison.

Lawyers for the men's families asked Albano if the FBI, after being contacted by the parole board as it considered petitions to commute their sentences, ever turned over evidence it had that the men were not involved in the murder of Deegan.

"No such information was provided," Albano testified.

Albano also made a brief reference in his testimony to a 1983 "unannounced visit" from former FBI Agents John Connolly, (pic top middle and left), and John Morris, (pic top right), as the board was considering a petition to commute Limone's sentence.

He was not asked to provide details of the visit during his testimony. But outside the courtroom, Albano said Connolly and Morris urged him to vote against commuting Limone's sentence and said that if he voted in favor of commuting his sentence it could hurt his career.

"They intimidated me and tried to get me to change my vote," Albano told reporters. "They said this was a bad crime ... that these defendants should remain incarcerated for the rest of their lives."

"They also said it probably would not bode well for me, if I wanted to remain in public life, that this would not be a good vote for me," he said.

Albano said he later voted with the majority of the 7-member board to commute Limone's sentence, but Gov. Michael Dukakis denied the petition.

Connolly is now serving a 10-year federal prison sentence for racketeering, obstruction of justice and other charges for protecting members of Boston's Winter Hill Gang - including fugitive gangster James "Whitey" Bulger" - from prosecution while using them as FBI mob informants.

Connolly is awaiting trial on first-degree murder and conspiracy charges for allegedly providing information to members of the gang that led to the 1982 killing of former World Jai Alai President John Callahan.

Connolly's attorney, E. Peter Mullane, said Connolly denies the meeting described by Albano ever took place.

"John Connolly never met Mr. Albano under any circumstance, never spoke to him, never met him, never had any reason to meet him," he said.

Connolly was not an FBI agent in 1968 when the four men were convicted in Deegan's murder.

"He had no reason to want him paroled or not paroled," Mullane said.

Albano said the meeting took place just as he described. "I'll stand by my testimony," he said, when told of Mullane's comments.

Charles Miller, a spokesman for the U.S. Department of Justice, said the DOJ would have no comment on Albano's remarks because of the ongoing litigation.

In their lawsuit, the families of the four men convicted in Deegan's slaying accuse the federal government of malicious prosecution, conspiracy and depriving them of companionship.

Their lawyers say the FBI allowed Joseph "The Animal" Barboza - a mob assassin and FBI informant - to frame the four men.

After Deegan was shot in the head in a Chelsea alley, informants told FBI agents that Barboza, Flemmi and three other men were responsible, according to attorneys for the four men. But the FBI had recruited Flemmi as an informant and wanted to protect him so they allowed Barboza to frame Limone, Salvati, Greco and Tameleo.

Justice Department attorney Bridget Lipscomb said during opening statements at the trial that federal authorities had no duty to share information with state prosecutors and can't be held liable for the results of a separate state investigation. She also said that the four men had attorneys who raised doubts about Barboza's testimony at their trial.


"International Art Theft" presented by FBI Special Agent Robert K. Wittman Date: January 11, 2007 Time: 5:30 pm



Location: The Morikami Museum & Japanese Gardens


Contact: World Affairs Council of the Florida Palm Beaches
Phone: 561-254-1448


International Art Theft Presented by: FBI Special Agent Robert K. Wittman

Overview
Art and cultural property crime is the world's fourth-largest category of international crime, a growing black market today generating losses of up to $6 billion annually and a problem that is garnering increased attention from the FBI. The FBI's first specially dedicated unit for art crime, was established in November 2004 to step up U.S. response capabilities after the tragic looting of the National Museum in Baghdad.

At this special evening, the World Affairs Council of the Florida Palm Beaches hosts Special Agent Wittman who will discuss the United States' renewed efforts to break up crime rings that steal and smuggle priceless works of art, loot archaeological sites and churn out forgeries, as well as some of his own experiences in his almost 18 years on the FBI's art beat.

Doors open at 5:30pm and dinner can be purchased at The Cornell Cafe prior to the discussion beginning at 6:30pm. Tickets to this event are $20 and can be reserved online by visiting www.worldaffairsflorida.org and purchased at the door. For directions to The Morikami Museum and Japanese Gardens, please click here.

Speaker's Biography
Special Agent Wittman, whose investigative work takes him around the world and often times undercover, has been responsible for the recovery of more than $150 million worth of stolen art and cultural property. Highlights include one of the original 14 copies of the Bill of Rights, a Rembrandt self-portrait, a 2,000-year-old pre-Columbian piece of body armor, five Norman Rockwell paintings, and a group of paintings, two by Spanish master Francisco Goya, from a private Madrid estate.

When he's not on an urgent case, Special Agent Wittman lectures often in an effort to teach others how to avoid becoming victims of theft or fraud. He has given presentations before such organizations as the American Association of Museums and has also represented the United States at numerous international conferences. He serves as a member of the Department of State's Cultural Antiquities Task Force in Washington. Special Agent Wittman is widely known and recognized for his expertise. In 2004, the Smithsonian Institution awarded Wittman the Robert Burke Memorial Award for Excellence in Cultural Property Protection.

Special Agent Wittman will discuss the United States' renewed efforts to break up crime rings that steal and smuggle priceless works of art, loot archaeological sites and churn out forgeries, as well as some of his own experiences in his almost 18 years on the FBI's art beat.

Art Hostage Comments:
This is just one of many reasons why Billboard Bob Wittman is "Yer man" as they say in Ireland, when it comes to recovering the stolen Vermeer.