Stolen Art Watch, Henry Moore Sculpture Exists, Update !!!

Mystery of the stolen Moore bronze solved

http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2009/may/17/henry-moore-sculpture-theft-reclining-figure

Sculpture worth £3m was melted down and then sold off as scrap for just £1,500, say police

Mark Townsend and Caroline Davies

The Observer, Sunday 17 May 2009

One of the most audacious British art thefts, the disappearance of a two-tonne Henry Moore sculpture worth £3m, has been solved by police, who believe that the internationally revered Reclining Figure sculpture was melted down and sold for no more than £1,500.

The bronze sculpture was stolen from the 72-acre estate of the Henry Moore Foundation in Much Hadham, Hertfordshire, in December 2005. The theft baffled art and crime experts and sparked a global hunt for the culprits.

Police feared at first that it had been stolen to order, but investigations suggest it was taken by a group of travellers from Essex and that the metal may have ended up feeding China's growing demand for electrical components.

Detective chief inspector Jon Humphries, of Hertfordshire police, said it is believed the figure was "irreparably damaged" shortly after being taken away on a flat-bed lorry.

Inquiries indicate that the statue was moved through a Dagenham scrap dealer in December 2005 and on to another Essex scrapyard. Shortly afterwards it was shipped abroad, possibly to Rotterdam and then further east, circumventing an order to Interpol to monitor all ports for the distinctive figure.

Humphries said estimates suggested that the sculpture, three metres long and two metres high, may have made just £1,500 as scrap metal, a value that equates to just a few hundred pounds in current market prices. The Henry Moore Foundation is believed to have offered £10,000 for its safe return.

Humphries, who led the investigation, said: "We have evidence and information suggesting it was cut up on the night, then taken to a location where it was irreparably damaged before it was shipped abroad. In my mind we've managed to kill off the mystery as much as is possible."

Charles Hill, a former head of Scotland Yard's art and antiques squad and now a private art detective, added that he had been told by the notorious art thief Jimmy Johnson, whose family carried out a string of robberies at stately homes in 2005 and 2006, that a well-known group of travellers was behind the theft. Johnson alleged that the metal had been shipped to Rotterdam, then possibly to China.

Richard Calvocoressi, director of the Henry Moore Foundation, said the theft remained a "source of great regret" and that "considerable efforts" had been made to find the sculpture. Moore, who died in 1986, was renowned for his monumental, rounded reclining figures.

"Security measures have been considerably increased since the work was taken," added Calvocoressi.

The latest developments come amid a huge rise in thefts of public sculptures, up by more than 500 % in the past three years, according to Ian Leith, deputy chairman of the Public Monuments and Sculpture Association (PMSA). Police and art experts believe that although some are taken for scrap, others are targeted by black market collectors. Leith believes there is clearly an illegal art collector market, with thefts occurring on average once a month. "It is not purely due to the bronze," he said.

He added that because of the lack of an audit, local authorities and arts bodies were incapable of providing accurate information on stolen pieces. "How do we know what public art exists if we do not record what is there? There is literally a national gallery of art out there," said Leith.

The PMSA is attempting to create an online database of pieces in public places, but is hampered by a lack of funds.

Art Hostage comments:

The Henry Moore sculpture still exists and the allegation it has been melted down is pure bullshit of the highest order.

Yes, it was cut up on the night it was stolen and yes it was initially sold for scrap value.

But then the more manageable Four pieces have been stored away in three separate locations.

If all the pieces were to be reunited they could be welded back together quite easily.

However, this whole thing came about as a result of Police and Insurers refusing to allow Charlie Hill and Jimmy Johnson to recover the sculpture.

Two days after the theft Charlie Hill heard from Jimmy Johnson that the sculpture could be bought for a little bit above scrap.

Charlie Hill tried in vain to see if he could collect the £100,000 reward offered but was told he and Jimmy Johnson would be arrested if they recovered the stolen Henry Moore bronze without arrest of the thieves or the handlers.

However, don't be surprised to see another story soon about how this sculpture re-appears out of the ground.

The four pieces are held at three separate locations and will be handed back separately.

Four pieces of bronze with a £25,000 reward on each piece and you really believe the buyer melted them down, please, give me a break !!!

-

Update:

-

It is worth noting the Flatbed Mercedes truck with a HIAB crane attached, used to steal the Henry Moore bronze sculpture, was stolen specifically for that purpose.

-

However, the Flatbed Mercedes truck was worth £2,000 and the HIAB crane attached was worth £1,000, on the black market.

-

So, why bother to steal a Mercedes Flatbed truck that could be sold on the black market for £3,000, then go and steal the Henry Moore sculpture, only to abandon the Mercedes flatbed truck and sell the Henry Moore sculpture for £1500.

-

Something Rotten in the State of Den-Mark me thinks !!!!!!!!

Stolen Art Watch, Brazil Stolen Art, Debt Paid, Art Returned !!

Art Thieves Return Stolen Paintings in Brazil

http://www.laht.com/article.asp?ArticleId=334643&CategoryId=14090

SAO PAULO – The artworks stolen over the weekend from a private collection in Sao Paulo have been returned, Brazilian police said on Wednesday.

The paintings by Brazilian artists Candido Portinari, Tarsila do Amaral and Orlando Teruz were stolen on Sunday by a group of heavily armed men.

Portinari’s “O Cangaceiro” and “Retrato de Maria,” Do Amaral’s “Figura em Azul” (1923) and Teruz’s “Crucificaçao de Jesus” were left by the railroad tracks near the offices of the TV Record network, police said.

The television network’s security guards were told by an anonymous caller exactly where the paintings had been left and immediately notified police.

The paintings, which are worth some $1.4 million, will be examined by an expert to make sure they are authentic.

Police found a bag next to the paintings that contained jewelry that was also stolen Sunday from the residence of a hotel industry executive.

A group of about 20 heavily armed men wearing police uniforms pulled off the heist in Sao Paulo, police said.

A man appeared at the front door of the property bearing Mother’s Day flowers for the owner, and the other armed men then ran inside and subdued the seven people in the house.

The thieves, who were in the house for 90 minutes, took the paintings, cash, jewelry and other valuables.

The paintings do not appear to have been damaged, police superintendent Mario Palumbo Junior said.

In January 2008, police recovered “Portrait of Suzanne Bloch” by Picasso and “Coffee Laborer” by Brazilian Candido Portinari, which had been stolen from the Sao Paulo Museu de Arte.

Six months later, four artworks were stolen from the Pinacoteca state art gallery in Sao Paulo.

The artworks, which included the 1933 Picasso engraving “Minotaur, Fountain and Women,” were all recovered within two months.

The Picasso etching was found abandoned beside a highway on the west side of Sao Paulo, Brazil’s largest city. EFE

Art Hostage comments:

Apparently there was money owed by the victims in this case and now this debt will be paid back the stolen art has been returned.

A family dispute gone too far.

Stolen Art Watch, Pink Panthers Named !

Pink Panther 'members' caught

http://www.news24.com/News24/World/News/0,,2-10-1462_2515899,00.html

Paris - Two alleged members of the Pink Panther gang of international jewel thieves have been arrested in Paris on suspicion of carrying out armed smash-and-grab raids on stores in Monaco, Switzerland and Germany.

Two Serbs, 36-year-old Nicolai Ivanovic and 38-year-old Zoran Kostic, were arrested on Monday at their discreet hotel in the Pigalle entertainment district of Paris, according to police and judicial officials.

They are being held for carrying false identity documents but are expected to face charges under arrest warrants linking them to a spectacular series of crimes in Mediterranean resorts and Alpine tax havens, they said.

Police described them as "big fish" in the Pink Panthers, a nickname given by British detectives to a network of Balkan robbers blamed for the theft of goods worth €110m in the past decade.

"Everywhere, it's the same tactics, typical of the 'Pinks'," said a French police officer, speaking on condition of anonymity. "They're lightning fast hold-ups: daring, but carefully planned down to smallest detail.

"They're experts in covering their tracks after making their getaway, sending their booty by a variety of international means of delivery, and changing their own transport at will," he explained.

The Serbs were picked up after several days of surveillance following a tip-off to detectives of Paris's anti-organised crime squad.

They are suspected of carrying out raids in the Mediterranean millionaires' playground of Monte Carlo and the chic French Channel resort of Le Touquet, as well as in Germany and the Swiss cities of Lausanne and Geneva.

International officers also hope that the pair can shed light on robberies carried out as far afield as the United States, Japan and the United Arab Emirates, where the Panthers carried out a spectacular heist.

-

Art Hostage comments:

-

Will Dragan Mikic and Jelly be next ?

-

Where will Dragan Mikic and Jelly strike next ?-

-

Were the two arrested Pink panthers sacrificed because they were too hot to handle ??

-

Apparently, Kostic and Ivanovic were out of control and several people lay dead in the wake of these Pink Panther Gang members activities.

Stolen Art Watch, Pink Panthers Arrested Paris, Jelly and Maybe Dragan Mikic ????

Art Hostage has just been told Radovan Jelusic was one of the two Pink Panther gang members arrested yesterday in Paris.

Art Hostage is waiting for confirmation that Dragan Mikic is the other Pink Panther gang leader arrested yesterday in Paris.

Interpol tracked these two via Lausanne Switzerland where they had robbed a jewellers on May 5th escaping with 3 million euros worth of jewels.

The two boarded a train for Paris and were kept under surveillance for several days before the arrests yesterday May 12th 2009.

The stolen jewels had been posted via international transport and authorities are trying to track the haul.

More coming in...................................

Stolen Art Watch, Double Dutch Art Theft !

Thieves steal 6 landscape paintings from Dutch museum, the country's 2nd art heist this month

By Associated Press
3:15 AM PDT, May 12, 2009

http://www.ktla.com/news/nationworld/sns-ap-eu-netherlands-art-theft,0,5472169.story

AMSTERDAM (AP) — City officials say art thieves broke into a museum in a small Dutch town and stole six 17th- and 19th-century Dutch landscapes.

City spokesman Mark de Kok says three of the stolen paintings were river scenes by Jan van Goyen, a Rembrandt contemporary. The others were a 17th century painting by Pieter de Neyn and 19th-century pieces by Willem Roelofs and Adrianus van Everdingen.

De Kok said two more paintings were damaged at the museum in Ijsselstein when the thieves dropped them as they escaped. He said the burglary took place at 3 a.m. Monday when thieves broke through an emergency door with an iron bar.

Police are reviewing security cameras that may have captured the burglary.

It was the second art heist this month in the Netherlands.

Art Hostage comments:

I must admit I saw this coming, not the specific museum, but talk has been a cluster of planned art thefts in Holland and Belgium.

Speaking to a contact, close to the European art crime scene, it is not surprising as those involved now work on the principal of once bitten twice shy.

The reasons for these art thefts and the destination of the stolen artworks are filtering through.

-

Interesting to note these art works were part of an exhibition and were not part of the permanent collection at this small museum. Thieves waited until the works were gathered and then struck.

-

Coming soon the biggest art theft of 2009, or so I am told.

No specific details yet.

to be continued..............................

-

List of stolen Dutch riverscenes:

Stolen paintings belonging to the ICN collection:

Jan van Goyen: A city with two towers on a river, 1634

Jan van Goyen: Walled city on a river, 1646

Jan van Goyen: The Pellkussenpoort the Vecht Utrecht, 1656

Pieter de Neyn: Farm on the Water, ca 1630

From the collection of the Centraal Museum Utrecht is stolen:

Willem Roelofs: Landscape with cows, c. 1885

Adrianus van Everdingen: meadows, c. 1880

Two paintings from the ICN collection are damaged:

Salomon Jacobsz.van Ruysdael: River View with passengers in a coach

Salomon Rombouts: River View of farmhouse

Stolen Art Watch, Brazil Art Theft, Overkill or What !!!

Gang of Twenty Steal valuable paintings by Brazilian artists from a house in Sao Paulo

http://www.el-nacional.com/www/site/p_contenido.php?q=nodo/80747/Entretenimiento/Roban-valiosos-cuadros-de-pintores-brasile%C3%B1os-en-una-casa-de-Sao-Paulo-

The stolen paintings are Cangaceiro and O Retrato de Maria, works by Candido Portinari, and Figure in Blue, by Tarsila do Amaral, who had no insurance

May 10 2009.

A group of twenty heavily armed men raided a home today in Sao Paulo and three valuable paintings stolen from Brazilian painter Candido Portinari and Tarsila do Amaral, informed police sources.

The stolen paintings are "Cangaceiro O" and "Portrait of Maria", works by Candido Portinari, and "Figure in Blue" by Tarsila do Amaral, who had no insurance.

The police said that two men were in the house with a bouquet of flowers, which were supposed to be delivered to the owner of Mother's Day, being held today in Brazil.

When they were allowed entry, did the rest of the group, which yielded easily to the seven people who were in residence.

The attackers remained in the house for an hour and a half, time to pay the fabrics, as well as money, jewelry and other valuables.

The police said that it has no clues about the perpetrators of the robbery, although it is suspected that people who knew what they could find at home.

Art Hostage comments:

They don't do things by half in Brazil.

Twenty armed men, twenty !!!

Notice the ruse about Mothers day ?

More to follow.......................

Stolen Art Watch, De Lempicka's Going Scheringa Dutch ??

LOT 24 Top photo

PROPERTY FROM THE COLLECTION OF WOLFGANG JOOP
TAMARA DE LEMPICKA
1898 - 1980
PORTRAIT DE MARJORIE FERRY

4,000,000—6,000,000 USD
Lot Sold. Hammer Price with Buyer's Premium: 4,898,500 USD

MEASUREMENTS

measurements
39 3/8 by 25 5/8 in.

alternate measurements
100 by 65 cm

DESCRIPTION

Painted in 1932.

Signed Lempicka (lower left)

Oil on canvas

PROVENANCE

Marjorie Ferry, Paris (acquired from the artist in 1932, thence by descent and sold: Sotheby's, New York, November 9, 1995, lot 250)

Acquired at the above sale by the present owner

EXHIBITED

Paris, Salon des Tuileries, 1932, no. 1196

Paris, Atelier de la rue Méchain, Exposition personnelle, 1932

Paris, Galerie du Cygne, 1934

Paris, Galerie du Luxembourg, Tamara de Lempicka de 1925 à 1935, 1972, no. 47, illustrated in the catalogue

Munich, Kunsthalle der Hypo-Kulturstiftung, Der kühle Blick: Realismus der Zwanzigerjahre in Europa und Amerika, 2001, illustrated in color in the catalogue

London, Royal Academy of Arts & Vienna, Kunstforum Wien, Tamara de Lempicka: Art Deco Icon, 2004-05, no. 47, illustrated in color in the catalogue

Tokyo, Metropolitan Museum of Art; Fukuoka Kyushu, Municipal Museum of Art & Osaka, Santory Museum Tenpozen, Art Deco 1910-1939, 2005

Boulogne-Billancourt, Musée des Années 30, Tamara de Lempicka, 2006, illustrated in color in the catalogue

Milan, Palazzo Reale, Tamara de Lempicka, 2006-07, no. 39, illustrated in color in the catalogue

Vigo, Fundación Caixa Galicia, Tamara de Lempicka, 2007

LITERATURE AND REFERENCES

Tamara de Lempicka, Annotated Photographic Album, Archives Lempicka, Houston, 1923-33, no. 46

Pierre Berthelot, "Les expositions (dans son atelier, rue Méchain)," Beaux-Arts, Paris, no. 5, May 25, 1932, p. 20

G.C., "Tamara de Lempicka," Cose, no. 92, March, 1933, illustrated

Marc Vaux, Lempicka Collection, Musée National d'Art Moderne, Paris, 1972, no. 46

Giancarlo Marmori, Tamara de Lempicka, Milan, 1977, illustrated in color p. 101

Giancarlo Marmori, Tamara de Lempicka, The major works of Tamara de Lempicka 1925 to 1935, Milan, 1978, illustrated p. 49

Germain Bazin & Hiroyuki Itsuki, Tamara de Lempicka, Tokyo, 1980, no. 56, illustrated in color

Baroness Kizette de Lempicka-Foxhall & Charles Phillips, Passion by design, The art and times of Tamara de Lempicka, New York, 1987, illustrated in color p. 109

Ellen Thormann, Tamara de Lempicka, Kunstkritik und Künstlerinnen in Paris, Berlin, 1993, no. 55, illustrated

Gilles Néret, Tamara de Lempicka 1898-1980, Cologne, 1993, illustrated in color p. 57

Gioia Mori, Tamara de Lempicka, Parigi 1920-1938, Florence, 1994, no. 93, illustrated in color p. 192

Alain Blondel, Tamara de Lempicka, Catalogue Raisonné 1921-1979, Lausanne, 1999, no. B.166, illustrated in color p. 261

Patrick Bade, Tamara de Lempicka, New York, 2006, illustrated in color p. 193

CATALOGUE NOTE

Painted in 1932, this sultry portrait exemplifies the sleek and sexy aesthetic that defined Lempicka's art. The model is the English-born Marjorie Ferry, a cabaret singer living in Paris, whose financier husband commissioned this portrait at the beginning of the Great Depression. Lempicka transforms Ferry here into a modern-day goddess, cloaked in marble-crisp drapery in front of a Doric column. Although loosely tied to the geometric aesthetic of Cubism and the proportionality of neo-Classicism, Lempicka's painting, characterized by its razor-sharp draftsmanship, theatric lighting and sensual modelling, was unlike that of any artist of her day. Her most striking portraits, including Portrait of Marjorie Ferry, have come to personify the age of Art Deco.

In Portrait de Marjorie Ferry, every curve of the figure's flesh is rendered with imperceptible brushstrokes. Her skin appears to be incandescent as if she is bathed in silver moonlight, and her hair glows with a metallic sheen. Lempicka was receptive to the influence of her colleagues in Weimar Germany, and she readily incorporated the hyper-realism of Neue Sachlichkeit into her own work. But it was her love of the precision and classicism of the Italian Renaissance that had the most profound impact on her compositions. Lempicka frequently acknowledged her indebtedness to the Italian Old Masters and how their style profoundly impacted her art: "I discovered Italy when I was a youngster and my grandmother took me away from the cold climate of Poland, where I was born and lived, to take me to the sunny cities of Florence, Rome, Naples, Venice and Milan. It was under her attentive guidance that my eyes took in the treasures of the Italian old masters, from the Quattrocento, the Renaissance" (quoted in Alain Blondel, Tamara de Lempicka, Lausanne, 1999, p. 22).

While much has been written about Lempicka's reverence for the old masters, equally important to her as an artist were the aesthetic forces of her era, the most influential of which was the American film industry. Lempicka was enthralled with the mystique of Hollywood, eventually moving there in the 1940s with her second husband, Baron Kuffner. She invited film crews to her studio in Paris, where she staged grand entrances and posed for pictures with all the theatricality and panache of a silent film star. One oft-repeated anecdote is that Lempicka was thrilled to be mistaken once for the film actress Greta Garbo. The artist was enamored by this type of modern glamour, and it is no accident that the models in her portraits often resemble film icons from the early days of Hollywood. This platinum bombshell, trailing her bejeweled fingers along a balustrade as she casts a knowing glance over her bare shoulder, calls to mind such 1930s silver-screen legends like Garbo or Carole Lombard. As Patrick Bade explains in his monograph on the artist, "There is no doubt that de Lempicka herself was profoundly influenced by the burgeoning art form of the cinema. In the 1920s as she formed her style, the great Hollywood studios of M.G.M., Paramount, Columbia, Universal and R.K.O. began what has been termed the gold age of Hollywood and their domination of world entertainment. The French and German film industries also enjoyed a golden age of creativity, turning out many of the twentieth century's finest films in these years. The ubiquity of movies began to influence the way people looked and behaved. De Lempicka's female subjects with their heavy makeup, perfectly coiffed hair and their theatrical poses and facial expressions full of artifical pathos could have stepped out of the silver screen" (P. Bade, op. cit., p. 92).

LOT 25 second photo

TAMARA DE LEMPICKA
1898 - 1980
ARLETTE BOUCARD AUX ARUMS

800,000—1,200,000 USD
Lot Sold. Hammer Price with Buyer's Premium: 1,482,500 USD

MEASUREMENTS

measurements
36 by 21 7/8 in.

alternate measurements
91.5 by 55.5 cm

DESCRIPTION

Painted in 1931.

Signed T. de Lempicka (lower left)

Oil on panel

PROVENANCE

Private Collection, France (sold: Sotheby's, New York, November 12, 1988, lot 406)

Private Collection (acquired at the above sale)

Barry Friedman Ltd., New York (by 1994)

Acquired from the above by the present owner

EXHIBITED

Paris, Galerie du Luxembourg, Tamara de Lempicka de 1925 à 1935, 1972, no. 42, illustrated p. 57 (titled Portrait d'Arlette Boucard)

Tokyo & Osaka, Seibu Galleries, Tamara de Lempicka, 1981

Zürich, Walter Haas, Art Déco, le Style Moderne, 1981, no. 1

London, Royal Academy of Arts & Vienna, Kunstforum Wien, Tamara de Lempicka: Art Deco Icon, 2004-05, no. 43, illustrated in color in the catalogue

Boulogne-Billancourt, Musée des Années 30, Tamara de Lempicka, 2006, illustrated in color in the catalogue

Milan, Palazzo Reale, Tamara de Lempicka, 2006-07, no. 38, illustrated in color in the catalogue

Vigo, Fundación Caixa Galicia, Tamara de Lempicka, 2007

LITERATURE AND REFERENCES

Tamara de Lempicka, Annotated Photographic Album, Archives Lempicka, Houston, 1923-33, no. 76

G.C., "Tamara de Lempicka," Cose, no. 92, March 1933, illustrated

Marc Vaux, Lempicka Collection, Musée National d'Art Moderne, Paris, 1972, no. 76

Giancarlo Marmori, Tamara de Lempicka, The major works of Tamara de Lempicka 1925 to 1935, Milan, 1978, illustrated p. 38 (titled Portrait d'Arlette Boucard)

Françoise Gilot, "Tamara de Lempicka, mystérieuse et connue," Vogue, Paris, September 1980, illustrated

Germain Bazin & Hiroyuki Itsuki, Tamara de Lempicka, Tokyo, 1980, no. 50, illustrated in color (as dating from 1930)

Ellen Thormann, Tamara de Lempicka, Kunstkritik und Künstlerinnen in Paris, Berlin, 1993, no. 70

Gioia Mori, Tamara de Lempicka, Parigi 1920-1938, Florence, 1994, no. 71, illustrated in color p. 170 (as dating from 1930)

Alain Blondel, Tamara de Lempicka, Catalogue Raisonné 1921-1979, Lausanne, 1999, no. B.154, illustrated in color p. 247

Patrick Bade, Tamara de Lempicka, New York, 2006, illustrated in color p. 187

CATALOGUE NOTE

Lempicka's dynamic still life from 1931 features a portrait of Arlette Boucard, a young woman the artist portrayed as an adolescent in 1928. Arlette was the daughter of Pierre Boucard, a renowned physician and one of the artist's most important patrons. For this new composition, Lempicka pairs a photograph of the girl with a bouquet of arums or calla lilies, a dual symbol of purity and seduction and an allusion to Arlette's passage from the innocence of youth to the worldliness of womanhood. Similar to the suggestive flower compositions that Georgia O'Keefe completed around the same time, Lempicka's flowers are an overt reference to the blossoming sexuality of the femme fatale in the photograph.

In his monograph on the artist, Patrick Bade has written the following analysis of this captivating picture: "The almost monochromatic Arlette Boucard with arums is a still life that displays several characteristic features of De Lempicka's art, such as her love of transparent and reflective surfaces and the highly eroticized forms of the lilies that reach up to the top edge of the canvas much as the spiralling figures do in her female portraits" (P. Bade, op. cit., p. 186).

LOT 26 third photo

PROPERTY FROM THE COLLECTION OF WOLFGANG JOOP
TAMARA DE LEMPICKA
1898 - 1980
PORTRAIT DE LA DUCHESSE DE LA SALLE

4,000,000—6,000,000 USD
Lot Sold. Hammer Price with Buyer's Premium: 4,450,500 USD

MEASUREMENTS

measurements
63 3/4 by 38 1/4 in.

alternate measurements
162 by 97 cm

DESCRIPTION

Painted in 1925.

Signed T. de Lempicka (upper right)

Oil on canvas

PROVENANCE

Private Collection, France (by 1967)

Galerie du Luxembourg, Paris (by 1988)

Barry Friedman, Ltd., New York (by 1988)

Acquired from the above in 1991

EXHIBITED

Milan, Bottega di Poesia, Tamara de Lempicka, 1925, no. 15, illustrated in the catalogue

Paris, Salon d'Automne, 1926, no. 1446

Paris, Galerie du Luxembourg, Tamara de Lempicka de 1925 à 1935, 1972, no. 9, illustrated in the catalogue

Paris, Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris 1925, 1976-77, no. 146

Berlin, Nationalgalerie, Tendenzen der Zwanziger Jahre, 1977, no. 101

London, Hayward Gallery, Neue Sachlichkeit and German Realism of the Twenties, 1978-79, no. 181

Paris, Musée des Arts Décoratifs, La famille des portraits, 1980

Tokyo & Osaka, Seibu Galleries, Tamara de Lempicka, 1981

Berlin, Neuer Berliner Kunstverein, Androgyn, 1986, no. 8

Mexico, Museo Nacional de Arte, Tamara de Lempicka, 1989

Montréal, Musée des Beaux-Arts, Les années 20, l'âge des métropoles, 1991, no. 360

Montréal, Musée des Beaux-Arts, Tamara de Lempicka, 1994

Rome, Accademia di Francia, Villa Medici, Tamara de Lempicka, Tra eleganza e trasgressione, 1994, no. 10, illustrated in color in the catalogue

Munich, Kunsthalle der Hypo-Kulturstiftung, Der kühle Blick: Realismus der Zwanzigerjahre in Europa und Amerika, 2001, illustrated in color in the catalogue

London, Royal Academy of Arts & Bilbao, Guggenheim Museum, Paris: Capital of the Arts, 1900-1968, 2002, no. 66, illustrated in color in the catalogue

London, Royal Academy of Arts & Vienna, Kunstforum Wien, Tamara de Lempicka: Art Deco Icon, 2004-05, no. 17, illustrated in color in the catalogue

Boulogne-Billancourt, Musée des Années 30, Tamara de Lempicka, 2006, illustrated in color in the catalogue

Milan, Palazzo Reale, Tamara de Lempicka, 2006-07, no. 18, illustrated in color in the catalogue

Vigo, Fundación Caixa Galicia, Tamara de Lempicka, 2007

Madrid, Fundación Mapfre, Amazonas del Arte Nuevo, 2008

LITERATURE AND REFERENCES

Tamara de Lempicka, Annotated Photographic Album, Archives Lempicka, Houston, 1923-33, no. 37

Pietro Torriano, "Tamara de Lempicka," Emporium, vol. LXII, no. 372, Bergamo, December, 1925, illustrated p. 402

Die Dame, Berlin, February, 1927, illustrated p. 32

Die Wochenschau, Essen, June 17, 1927, illustrated

Didier de Sceaux, "Un peintre: Tamara de Lempicka," Le Forum, Paris, July 12, 1927, illustrated

"Recent Paintings by Tamara de Lempicka," Vanity Fair, New York, February, 1927, illustrated p. 47

Marc Vaux, Lempicka Collection, Musée National d'Art Moderne, Paris, 1972, no. 37

Giancarlo Marmori, Tamara de Lempicka, Milan, 1977, illustrated in color p. 53

Giancarlo Marmori, Tamara de Lempicka, The major works of Tamara de Lempicka 1925 to 1935, Milan, 1978, illustrated in color p. 17

Germain Bazin & Hiroyuki Itsuki, Tamara de Lempicka, Tokyo, 1980, no. 11, illustrated in color

Alberto Arbasino, "Tamara in Hollywood," F.M.R., no. 18, February-March, 1986, illustrated on the cover

Michel Frizot, Le Passé Composé - Les 6 x 13 de J.-H. Lartigue, P.U.F., Paris, 1987

Wolfgang Joop, "Tamara de Lempicka, Träume von Mythen und Moden," Pan, Burda GmbH, Offenburg, May, 1987, illustrated p. 10

Baroness Kizette de Lempicka-Foxhall & Charles Phillips, Passion by design, The art and times of Tamara de Lempicka, New York, 1987, illustrated in color p. 51

Jean Clair, Les années 20 - L'âge des métropoles, Montreal, 1991, no. 360, illustrated p. 565

Ellen Thormann, Tamara de Lempicka, Kunstkritik und Künstlerinnen in Paris, Berlin, 1993, no. 55, illustrated in color on the cover

Gilles Néret, Tamara de Lempicka 1898-1980, Cologne, 1993, illustrated in color p. 10

Gioia Mori, Tamara de Lempicka, Parigi 1920-1938, Florence, 1994, no. 26, illustrated in color p. 125

Alain Blondel, Tamara de Lempicka, Catalogue Raisonné 1921-1979, Lausanne, 1999, no. B.72, illustrated in color p. 149

Kerstin Stremmel & Uta Grosenick, Realism, Germany, 2004, illustrated in color p. 63

Patrick Bade, Tamara de Lempicka, New York, 2006, illustrated in color p. 143

CATALOGUE NOTE

Tamara de Lempicka's lustrous Portrait de la Duchesse de la Salle exemplifies the sleek aesthetic of the Roaring Twenties. Sexy, bold and ultra-stylized in its presentation, this picture and her other important pictures from the 1920s celebrate the strength and power of the modern woman. Lempicka, who was born in Poland and spent the rest of her life cultivating a glamorous international persona, came to Paris after fleeing Russia in 1918. She began exhibiting her work in the Paris salons in 1922, and through her exposure to avant-garde art, she derived a distinct style of painting that was unlike most of her male contemporaries. Impressed by the Cubists and their deconstruction of form, she applied similar techniques in her paintings. This spectacular portrait from 1925 makes particular reference to Cubism, with its highly-geometricized cityscape backdrop, but also pushes the limits of portraiture in this daring portrayal of the Duchesse.

The modeling of the figure and Lempicka's staging of the scene call to mind Bronzino's Mannerist portraits of nobility. But with this monumental oil Lempicka set new standards for the genre portraiture in the early 20th century, portraying her female subject with an air of grandeur that was normally afforded to men. According to Patrick Bade, "The portrait of the Duchesse de La Salle is one of the grandest that De Lempicka ever painted. The full length format and the traditional props of the curtain and the classical column invite comparisons with courtly and aristocratic portraits of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, though the 'cubified,' nocturnal cityscape illuminated by electric lights in the background, the bobbed hair style of the Duchesse and her daringly masculine garb update the picture unmistakably to the twentieth century" (P. Bade, op. cit., p. 142).

The fashionable woman in this picture is the Greek-born Marika, Duchesse de la Salle de Rochemaure. The Duchesse earned her title by marriage in 1905, ultimately divorcing her husband and retaining a handsome alimony. She was notoriously extravagant in her spending, and she lavished her money on several women artists of her day, including Lempicka and the British painter Marlow Moss. According to Alain Blondel, the Duchesse lost her wealth in the 1930s, and retreated with her daughter Romana to an Alpine village where she lived modestly until her death in 1973. In this portrait, however, Lempicka captures the Duchesse at the height of her flamboyance, smartly dressed in riding attire and striking a swaggering pose on a red carpet.

Alain Blondel provides the following stylistic analysis of this portrait in the Catalogue raisonné: "This portrait underscores this horsewoman's domineering effect by planting her on a staircase carpeted in red. The setting, constituted by a column and a theatrically imposing drape, seems more like an entranceway into a nightclub or any other night spot than the hallway of a ducal residence. The yellow windows of the lopsided houses throw light onto the winding roads, in a fashion reminiscent of films by Murnau" (A. Blondel, op. cit., p. 149).

Lempicka must have been intrigued by the androgynous appeal of this dashing young woman, whose portrait in some ways resembles the one that Lempicka later painted of her husband Baron Kuffner in 1928. In several publicity photographs that Lempicka staged in her home, it is this portrait of the Duchesse, and not that of her husband, that hangs suggestively above her bed. In fact, Portrait de la Duchesse de la Salle has become synonymous with Lempicka's art and style. This portrait has been featured in nearly every major exhibition of the artist's work, and is emblematic of the power and sophistication of her art.

LOT 27 bottom photo

PROPERTY FROM THE COLLECTION OF WOLFGANG JOOP
TAMARA DE LEMPICKA
1898 - 1980
PORTRAIT DE MADEMOISELLE POUM RACHOU

1,800,000—2,500,000 USD
Lot Sold. Hammer Price with Buyer's Premium: 2,994,500 USD

MEASUREMENTS

measurements
36 1/4 by 18 1/4 in.

alternate measurements
92 by 46.5 cm

DESCRIPTION

Painted in 1933.

Oil on canvas

PROVENANCE

Mr. Louis Rachou & Mme Girault de Coursac (née Mademoiselle Poum Rachou), Paris (acquired from the artist)

Galerie Bailly, Paris (acquired from the above and sold: Sotheby's, New York, May 14, 1992, lot 274)

Acquired at the above sale by the present owner

EXHIBITED

Paris, Salon des Tuileries, 1934, no. 1203

Rome, Accademia di Francia, Villa Medici, Tamara de Lempicka, Tra eleganza e trasgressione, 1994, no. 16, illustrated in color in the catalogue (titled Girl with teddy bear and dating from 1934)

Montréal, Musée des Beaux-Arts, Tamara de Lempicka, 1994

London, Royal Academy of Arts & Vienna, Kunstforum Wien, Tamara de Lempicka: Art Deco Icon, 2004-05, no. 51, illustrated in color in the catalogue

Milan, Palazzo Reale, Tamara de Lempicka, 2006-07, no. 43, illustrated in color in the catalogue

LITERATURE AND REFERENCES

Tamara de Lempicka, Annotated Photographic Album, Archives Lempicka, Houston, 1923-33, no. 16

Marc Vaux, Lempicka Collection, Musée National d'Art Moderne, Paris, 1972, no. 16

Gioia Mori, Tamara de Lempicka, Parigi 1920-1938, Florence, 1994, no. 107, illustrated in color p. 206 (as dating from 1934)

Alain Blondel, Tamara de Lempicka, Catalogue Raisonné 1921-1979, Lausanne, 1999, no. B.175, illustrated in color p. 270

Patrick Bade, Tamara de Lempicka, New York, 2006, illustrated in color p. 83

CATALOGUE NOTE

Lempicka's Portrait of Mademoiselle Poum Rachou is one of her most recognizably Cubist-inspired compositions, calling to mind the 1920s Le Petit déjeuner series of Fernand Léger. One can readily see the geometric basis of the composition, especially the cylindrical limbs of the stuffed bear and the repetitive spirals of the little girl's ringlets. Lempicka also invests the composition with a distinct sense of motion, positioning the girl in mid-step and billowing her dress as if it is blown by a gust of wind from the left.

According to Alain Blondel, the present work was inspired by a portrait that Lempicka completed of her daughter Kizette in 1922. In this more modern interpretation of the subject, the girl is much more stylized, with a metallicized appearance typical of Lempicka's Art Deco portraits. As Blondel notes, "in a 1922 portrait of her daughter, Lempicka had Kizette hold a most complacent teddy bear. Here, the stuffed toy is endowed with overly bright eyes, as if ready to rebel" (Alain Blondel, op. cit., p. 270).

-

Art Hostage comments:

-

Wonder which ones will re-appear at the Dutch Scheringa museum robbed last week ??

-

Did the publicity about the theft of an important De Limpicka in Holland cause these pictures to realise a higher price, especially during the current economic times ????

-

The value of the stolen De Limpicka has doubled from the $2.5 million paid to a value, after this sale, of about $5-6 million, more if it were to bought from a dealer, considerably more !!!

-

Wonder if the Underworld price has gone up ???

Stolen Art Watch, Dutch Art Theft, Replacement on the Way !!!!

Wolfgang Joop Will Sell Vampish Lempicka Portraits at Sotheby’s


http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601088&sid=afgJN16TugQQ

May 4 (Bloomberg) -- Wolfgang Joop, the German fashion designer, will sell 10 paintings by the Art Deco artist Tamara de Lempicka, with a total top estimate of $18.6 million, at a Sotheby’s New York auction this week.

Among the works on offer in the May 5 and 6 sale are a portrait of Duchesse de la Salle in a manly suit, and one of Marjorie Ferry, draped in white cloth like a Greek statue. Both paintings have top estimates of $6 million. Joop, 64, said by e- mail that he has decided to stop collecting and instead wants to concentrate on creating his own art.

“In my 2003 autobiographical novel ‘Im Wolfspelz,’ I have my main character Wolf in his New York penthouse being asked by a Tamara de Lempicka picture, ‘Why did you buy me instead of painting me?’” Joop said in an e-mailed answer to written questions. “Now as an artist, I am investing the money I earn in my own art. My collecting years are behind me.”

Sotheby’s described Joop’s Lempickas as “the finest group of paintings by the artist ever to appear at auction.” Joop said he isn’t concerned about the timing of the sale, which comes as Sotheby’s and its rival Christie’s International cut jobs. Contemporary-art prices have dropped 30 to 50 percent during the past six months in the worst recession since World War II, according to dealers.

‘Already Proven’

“In crisis times, only what is already proven can survive,” Joop said. “A Damien Hirst auction like the one in the fall of 2008 would certainly not be as successful” if it took place now, he said. Hirst’s two-day “Beautiful Inside My Head Forever” sale in London raised 111.5 million pounds ($163 million). “If I were a new collector with a big budget, I would buy Tamara.”

Lempicka was born in 1898 to a family of Polish-Russian aristocrats. She married a Warsaw lawyer with no money, and together they fled from the Bolsheviks in 1918 to Paris.

There she led a decadent lifestyle and gained a reputation as a portrait artist. She moved to the U.S. before World War II with her second husband and became the favorite artist of the Hollywood stars. Her paintings often feature strong, glamorous, modern women -- some are vampish and erotic. Lempicka collectors include Madonna, Jack Nicholson and Barbra Streisand. Joop said Madonna owns “Andromeda,” an image of a naked woman in chains.

Strong Women

“Tamara was beautiful, strong, sexually ambivalent as well as an individualist, which attracts me,” he said. “When I design clothes, it is for this type. And the women who surround me and influence me are a little bit Tamara: pale complexions, red lips, bold expressions.”

Joop presented the first collection under his Wunderkind label in Berlin in 2004. The brand now sells in over 100 stores around the world. Wunderkind opened two boutiques in Germany and its first international shop in London last year.

The Lempicka paintings hung in Joop’s New York penthouse, though they were often away from home, on loan to museums around the world, the designer said. He began collecting them in 1978 and bought the last one in 2003.

“I whisked away the first picture, ‘Dans l’Opera,’ from under Andy Warhol’s nose,” he said. “He was a notorious penny pincher, though very rich compared with me back then.”

The 1941 portrait of a woman with flower-adorned red curls and an expansive decolletage has an estimated top price of $400,000. The lowest-priced item is “Portrait d’Evelyne P.” which Sotheby’s expects to fetch between $80,000 and $120,000.

Joop’s own art will go on display at the Kunsthalle Rostock on May 10. According to the museum’s Web site, the show includes a textile installation in several parts that will be presented to the public for the first time. Joop said he is working on “large-format tapestry pictures.”

Sotheby’s will offer four of Joop’s Lempickas on May 5 and six the following day at the New York auction.

“Every separation is painful,” Joop said. “Tamara is my soulmate and it was love at first sight. From 1978 to 2009, we lived together for a while.”

To contact the writer on the story: Catherine Hickley at chickley@bloomberg.net.

-

Art Hostage Comments;

-

Has anyone alerted Dirk Scheringa and his wife to this sale ??

-

If so, then expect them to purchase at least one De Lempicka which can be used as a replacement until the return of the De Lempicka, La Musicienne, stolen last week from the Scheringa Museum for Realism in the North Holland town Spanbroek, which houses the Scheringa Art Collection.

Stolen Art Watch, Dutch Art Robbery See's Dali Melt Into The Underworld, Update !!!!

Armed robbers steal paintings from Dutch museum

Associated Press - May 1, 2009 12:43 PM ET

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) - Dutch police say armed robbers have stolen two paintings from a museum, including a work by surrealist Salvador Dali.

Police say several masked men threatened a guard at the Scheringa Museum for Realism in Spanbroek with a gun Friday before making off with two paintings. Nobody was injured.

The museum said in a statement the robbers took "Adolescence," a 1941 gouache by Dali and "La Muscienne," an oil painting from 1929 by Polish-born art deco painter Tamara de Lempicka.

The paintings' value was not released but the museum say they are among the top works in its collection.

The Dali painting was 45 by 30 centimeters (18 x 12 inches) and the De Lempicka was 116 by 73 centimeters (46 x 29 inches).

Art Hostage Comments:

Memo to Michel Van Rijn, Hang fire, they haven't offered a reward yet !!!

Rob Meeson, I hope these two paintings were not stolen to use as a bargaining chip !!!

However, now they have been swiped, a Dutch auction could be on the cards !!!

Balkan Bandits switch from Jewels to Paintings as Museums provide soft target, we'll see !!!!!

In case you are wondering, the Dali is secondary to the De Lempicka, which is something of an iconic work and worth millions, 3-5, if it was for sale on the open legit market.

-

The three innocent looking viewers in the top photo are working for Fagin Van Rijn !!!!!

-

Update !!

-

The Dali was bought at the Tefaf Maastricht Art and Antiques fair and the De Lempicka was bought for $3 million including buyers premium in 2002, which was the first De Lempicka to be displayed in a Dutch Museum.

-

Lot 31, "La Musicienne," is a major work by Tamara de Lempicka, a leading woman Art Deco artist. The 45 5/8-by-28 ¾-inch oil on canvas was painted in 1928 and had an estimate of $1,000,000 to $1,500,000. It sold for $2,649,500 considerably above the artist's previous auction record of $1,982,500 at the Impressionist & Modern Art Part One Sotheby's 7 PM, May 8, 2002.
-

The Art Deco De Lempicka is a favourite with the Jet set, back in 1929 and also today.

-

Barbara Streisand, Jack Nicholson or Madonna could be the likely punter''s as they seem to have a passion for De Lempicka.

-

more to follow.............................

Stolen Art Watch, Beware The Ides of March !!

Woman is tied up in £2m robbery
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/somerset/7962080.stm

Fifteen works of art were among property worth £2m that was stolen when three masked men forced their way into a house in Somerset.

A 47-year-old woman was tied up by the gang in the raid and was not found until 1600 GMT the following day.

The robbery happened at a home close to Redlynch, near Bruton, on Friday, a police spokesman said.

He added that the woman suffered bruising and was left "extremely shaken and distressed".

The robbers took 15 paintings, which included Endymion by George Frederic Watts and Apple Blossom by George Clausen.

They also stole some antiques, a safe containing jewellery and a green Mercedes 220.

Det Insp Jim Bigger said: "The size of the some of the items, and amount of property, stolen would suggest that a van or some other fairly sizeable vehicle would have been used."

£90,000 seized from jailed Bushey crook

Police officers seized more than £90,000 yesterday from a jailed crook and drug dealer.

Leslie Churchill, 58, of Cooks Mead, was jailed for six-and-a-half years in January for handling stolen artworks and dealing Class A drugs.

When officers raided his home they discovered not only three historic paintings but nearly £36,000 and 65,000 Euros in cash Officers appealing to St Albans Crown Court convinced a judge to order the seizure of the loot under the Misuse of Drugs Act.

Two of the paintings, identified as works John Thomas Serres (1821) and Frances Cotes' (1764) have been returned the national art collection and Somerset House.

Stolen Art Watch, Lowry Lord Maurice Taylor, Jailed for a Carpet, (Three years) !!

A LORD convicted of knowingly selling a fake LS Lowry-style painting has been jailed for three years.
-
Lord Maurice Taylor, aged 61, of Kermincham, near Congleton, was found guilty of six charges of fraud at Chester Crown Court earlier this month.
-
The charges related to a Lowry-style mill street scene painting. He was cleared of one charge of forging an invoice relating to the painting.
-
The lord, who bought his title of Lord Windsor Taylor for £1,000 off the internet, made several hundred thousand pounds and tricked Bonham's auctioneers into believing the painting was genuine.
-
He was sentenced today at Chester Crown Court.

Stolen Art Watch, Versace, Dr No, We Will Never Dr No !!

Painting in Versace sale was 'stolen'

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/painting-in-versace-sale-was-stolen-1647359.html

When the list of items offered in the sale catalogue for tonight's auction of the late designer Gianni Versace's possessions was announced, Lot 72 was billed as the star item.

A "newly-discovered" 18th century masterpiece by the German neoclassical artist Johann Zoffany, it was described by Sotheby's experts as "rare", "important" and "exciting".

But, last night, embarrassed organisers withdrew the item from the auction, amid fears it was stolen. The portrait of Major George Maule was one of 550 pieces of furniture and works of art from Versace's Lake Como Villa up for sale.

However, following the publicity, it is understood that descendants of Major Maule contacted the authorities claiming that the painting had been stolen 30 years ago – 15 years before Versace, who it is said did not realise the work was by a celebrated artist, bought it. The relatives telephoned the Art Loss Register, which identifies stolen works, which in turn alerted Sotheby's and itagreed to withdraw it.

A spokeswoman for the Art Loss Register confirmed it was investigating the suggestion that the painting was stolen. A spokesman for Sotheby's simply said: "Lot 72 has been withdrawn with the full agreement of Sotheby's consignor."

The total worth of the items on sale was expected to exceed £2m and the Zoffany painting was considered the centrepiece of the sale.

Zoffany, a favourite of George III, completed the portrait in 1783. The painting had a guide price of £40,000-60,000 but organisers hoped it would fetch more.

Art Hostage comments:

Strange, how every so often stolen art comes to light when a celebrity or public figure dies and their estate is auctioned.

Of course they never knew the art was stolen and they are just mere victims of a dishonest art trade. Enough firewalls to protect integrity.

Or could, the buying of stolen art be something "Deliciously Dishonest" for mega wealthy people to get their rocks off ??

Stolen Art Watch, Lowry Robber, Minimum Five Years Jail !!

Thug jailed for Lowry raid
http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/s/1102883_thug_jailed_for_lowry_raid
March 17, 2009

A RUTHLESS thug who did not have "the wit" to carry out a £1.7 million raid on an LS Lowry art dealer was jailed indefinitely.

Violent Casey Miller, a career criminal was simply a 'useful piece of muscle' hired by the gang to terrify Ivan Aird, 43, and his family during the raid, Manchester Crown Court was told.

An iron pumping body builder who took steroids to add to his bulk, Miller, 23, pretended to be a postman so Mr Aird's wife, Louise, 42, opened the door carrying their two-year-old daughter Sabrina, at the family home in Cheadle, Cheshire.

Miller, who has a 'shocking record for violence' burst in holding a 10in knife to her face. The family were threatened they would be killed by Miller while three gang members scoured the property taking the 'cream' of Mr Aird's collection of LS Lowry treasures.

These included Tanker Entering The Tyne, and The Viaduct, worth £700,000 alone.

Today Miller, who is already serving a four-year sentence for grievous bodily harm, was given an indeterminate prison sentence for public protection.

It means he will stay in jail until the parole board thinks he is no longer a risk to the public and must serve a minimum of five years and one month before he can be considered for release.

Ruthless

Jailing Miller, Judge Andrew Gilbart QC, Recorder of Manchester, described the defendant as a 'ruthless' criminal - but did not have 'the wit' to plan the job alone.

"This was a well planned, brutally executed robbery," he said.

"I do not think you planned the raid, you had a keen interest in body building and were using illegally obtained steroids.

"You have been hired as a useful piece of muscle terrify the householders.

"It was a ruthlessly planned, professional crime in which property valued at £1.7 million was taken.

"They will never be available for anyone else to enjoy, apart form your gang's criminal customers.

"That is a loss to the wider public and especially a loss to this region."

Miller, who has 28 previous convictions for violence and robbery, told police he, 'didn't know Lowry from Adam' and denied involvement, but was convicted by a jury following a trial at Manchester Crown Court last month.

Despite his conviction he has still not told police who hired the gang - or where the paintings are now.

The three other robbers and the mastermind behind the raid are still at large - as are £1.7 million of Lowry's artworks.

Detectives believe the buyer of the stolen paintings, possibly an unscrupulous art dealer, paid the gang to carry out the robbery - then backed out because of the publicity surrounding the raid.

Miller was only arrested because Mrs Aird caught sight of his face during the robbery.

Hours after the raid on May 3, 2007, she provided an e-fit to police with an "exceptionally good likeness".

The case was featured on BBC TV's Crimewatch - and police got a tip-off the man they wanted was Miller.

He was arrested and Mrs Aird picked him out at an identity parade.

Ordeal

Mr's Aird told the court the raid was a 'horrifying and degrading ordeal' in which she feared for the life of her family.

Mr Aird had known LS Lowry as a boy and the artist was a friend of the family.

He became a leading specialist in Lowry's work's and ran a business, Grove Fine Art, from the house.

Although he advertised on the internet, he did not publicise his home address as his home was effectively a gallery.

Detectives suspect whoever put the robbery gang together may have posed as a buyer and decided the Aird's were a soft target.

Mr and Mrs Aird sat in the public gallery today as Miller was jailed.

Outside court, Mr Aird said: "God knows where the paintings are now. It is impossible to say. I just think it has been done to order."

DC Chris Barnes, of Greater Manchester Police, said a £70,000 reward was still on offer for information on the raid.

He added: "It is an ongoing investigation. There are three other dangerous criminals out there and these paintings are national art treasures.

"It was a line of inquiry they were stolen to order and because of the publicity the buyer backed out.

"I personally think they are still in existence. I don't think they have been destroyed. Somebody knows where they are. "Everybody in the art world knows these paintings have been stolen... unless there is an unscrupulous art dealer out there who wants them on his walls."

-

Art Hostage comments:

-

Ivan Aird sails very close to the wind and seems to have gotten away with it up until now.

-

After this terrible robbery Ivan Aird claimed over £800,000 from the insurance company for his lost Lowry paintings.

-

However, those Lowry paintings are alleged to be fraudulent copies and Ivan Aird turned a nightmare for his family into a profitable enterprise.

-
To see Ivan Aird interviewed leaves one with the opinion Ivan Aird is a limp-wristed, effeminate, weakling, or is that just an act ??

-

Stolen Art Watch, Scream just a Bad Memory as Norwegian Police "Quickly" Recover Stolen Cranach !!

Police recover painting by German 15th-century master

http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/259570,police-recover-painting-by-german-15th-century-master.html

Oslo - Norwegian police Thursday continued investigations of a painting by German master Lucas Cranach The Elder, that was recovered on Wednesday after its theft over the weekend. The painting, worth at least 15 million kroner (2.1 million dollars), was stolen over the weekend from Larvik Church, some 105 kilometres southwest of Oslo.

Investigators were trying to secure possible DNA traces from the painting.

Police on Wednesday evening announced the recovery of the painting, hours after they said they had arrested a 51-year-old man on suspicion of involvement in the theft.

Police believe several people were involved in the theft of the painting, titled Let The Children Come To Me.

A Norwegian insurance company Tuesday posted a reward worth 500,000 kroner for information securing the safe return of the over 400-year-old painting.

However, detective Jorn Lier Horst told Norwegian news agency NTB that no reward would be paid since the recovery was the result "of good police work."

Church council chairman Ludvig Levinsen told local media that the congregation was extremely relieved that the painting was recovered so quickly.

The theft has sparked a debate on the need to improve security of valuable art in churches and other public buildings.

Cranach (1472-1553) was a German Renaissance painter who made several portraits of German theologian and church reformer Martin Luther. He also illustrated the Bible that Luther translated into German.

Art Hostage comments:

The Norwegian police reacted quickly having the nasty experience of the Scream thefts as a historical backdrop.

This quick recovery shows by collating information and utilising all resources stolen art can be recovered quite quickly after the initial theft.

If the first month goes by without any firm leads then a cat and mouse game commences, because it is within the first month the stolen art gets passed around before going deep into the Underworld. Then normally within the first year enquires are made as what is on offer for the return of the stolen art.

Stolen Art Watch, FBI Bronco Busters !!

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/localnews/content/local_news/epaper/2009/03/06/0306rbart.html -
Stolen Artwork Recovered With Help From FBI

-

RIVIERA BEACH — Police say they found two stolen sculptures worth nearly $4 million Thursday.

The two statues - a $3 million piece called "The Bronco Buster" by Frederic Remington and a $675,000 sculpture called "The Falling Man" by Auguste Rodin - were stolen from a Singer Island condo in the Tiara condominium building in 2006, according to a Riviera Beach police report.

The owner tried to find the thief on his own and just reported the crime to police on Feb. 26 of this year, said city spokeswoman Rose Anne Brown.

Riviera Beach police and Federal Bureau on Investigations agents investigated the thefts until a tip led them to a home in Palm Beach Gardens, Brown said. There they found both statues. The statues have been taken into police custody.

The home where the statues were found and its occupants were not identified by police. Nobody has been arrested, but Brown said police are still investigating and charges are pending. She would not disclose what the owners of the home told police about how they obtained the multi-million-dollar artwork.

Rodin was a French sculptor who died in 1917 and is most widely known for his "Thinking Man" sculpture. Remington was an American painter and sculptor who died in 1909 and is best known for his artwork on the American West.

Police detain men suspected of Zrzavý, Spála art theft

http://praguemonitor.com/2009/03/10/police-detain-men-suspected-zrzav%C3%BD-sp%C3%A1la-art-theft

Hradec Kralove, East Bohemia, March 9 (CTK) - The police have arrested two men suspected of the theft of valuable works by Czech painters Jan Zrzavy and Vaclav Spala from the museum in Novy Bydzov, east Bohemia, last November, and secured the paintings, police told journalists Monday.

One of the men was stealing on the spot, the other one allegedly organised the theft.

The police have also found four out of six stolen books, 18 out of 23 historical coins and most of jewels stolen.

Zrzavy (1890-1977) and Spala (1885-1946) are among the most prominent Czech modern painters.

Detectives did not rule out the possibility that some objects have already ended up abroad.

The two men, both of them unemployed with a criminal record, face up to 12 years in prison, if found guilty. They have been taken into custody.

Pavel Hochman, deputy head of the regional state attorney's office in Hradec Kralove, said if the total value of the objects stolen exceeded five million crowns, the perpetrators may face up to 15 yeas in prison, if found guilty.

Theft of valuable works of art is relatively rare in east Bohemia.

In 2003 thieves stole six paintings by Josef Capek (1887-1945) from the museum in Male Svatonovice, causing a damage of 6.5 million crowns. The thieves were caught and sent to prison for 8.5 to nine years in 2005.

Stolen Art Watch, Lowry Fake, Lord Windsor Guilty, Ivan Aird next, Hopefully !!

Conman guilty of Lowry fraud

http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/s/1100664_conman_guilty_of_lowry_fraud

A CONMAN who duped an art dealer into buying a fake LS Lowry painting for £330,000 has been convicted of fraud.

Lord Maurice Taylor, who bought his title on the internet for £1,000, convinced four art experts that the 'Mill Street Scene' was an original oil painting by the Manchester artist.

He told Bonhams Auctioneers he had been given the painting by an industrialist in the late 1960s in payment for a debt.

After examining the painting they valued it at about £400,000.

Art dealer David Smith, managing director of Neptune Fine Arts, which specialises in Lowry, was also convinced of its authenticity and agreed to buy the painting for £330,000 at a meeting with Taylor in The Ritz hotel in London in 2007.

Fake

He later learned the 'Mill Street Scene' was a well known fake on the Manchester art scene and phoned the police.

Taylor, 60, had bought the painting, a depiction of a snowy northern industrial landscape with characteristic 'matchstick' figures, for £7,500 just three years before from another Manchester art dealer.

He then invented the story about its origin to fool the art world into believing it had provenance.

Taylor, who lives in a mansion near Congleton, Cheshire, was found guilty of six counts of fraud after a two-week trial at Chester Crown Court.

He was cleared of one count of doctoring a receipt.

Judge Roger Dutton said : "You have been revealed . . . as a fraud, a cheat and a thoroughly dishonest man.

"You will have to be dealt with for a whole series of very serious frauds from which you have benefited very substantially indeed.

"You have gained several hundreds of thousands of pounds out of your deception."

Prison

Judge Dutton said Taylor could expect to receive a 'substantial' prison sentence when he returned for sentencing on March 20, after pre-sentence reports had been compiled by the probation service.

He said: "There is a lot about your background I simply don't understand and I would like some help from the probation service because to my mind you are a bit of an enigma."

Taylor, who drives a Range Rover with the registration plate CLA55Y sometimes calls himself Lord Windsor. He bought his title on the internet, complete with an eight-square inch estate in Devon, in 2000 after making money through a cloth business.

The 'Mill Street Scene', complete with forged LS Lowry signature, was examined by two experts from Bonhams, the third largest auctioneers in the world, and two specialist art dealers.

They all believed it was genuine, and Bonhams gave Taylor a note allowing him to insure it for £600,000. That valuation, along with the painting and Taylor's story about being given the painting by Manchester industrialist Eddie Rossenfeld, convinced Mr Smith it was real, the court was told.

But, crucially, meetings to allow experts from The Lowry Centre at Salford Quays to examine the work were cancelled on three occasions.

Evolved

Former head of galleries at The Lowry, Lindsay Brooks, told the court the painting was not a Lowry. She said by 1964, the date on the canvas, Lowry's style had evolved and questioned the red lampposts, the lack of fluidity in the middle distance and muddy skies.

Taylor had bought the painting from dealer Martin Heaps, through another dealer and friend Ivan Aird, whose father framed Lowry paintings.

Mr Heaps confirmed to the court he sold the work as an 'After Lowry'.

Taylor, who has an art collection at his home, maintained he believed the painting was genuine but admitted telling 'little white lies' about its history.

It was possibly painted in the 1960s by another Manchester artist, Arthur Delany, who was influenced by Lowry and was known to produce paintings in his style and sign them LS Lowry.

Art Hostage comments:

Comments to follow...................

Stolen Art Watch, Lowry Terror Raid, Miller Guilty !!

Guilty: £1.7m Lowry robber

A MAN has been found guilty of leading a vicious robbery at the home of an art dealer in which Lowry masterpieces worth up to £1.7million were taken.

A jury found Casey Miller guilty after two hours of deliberations at Manchester Crown Court. Miller, 23, of Constable Walk, Denton, had denied robbery.

The Lowry artworks - which included £700,000-valued The Viaduct and Tanker Entering The Tyne, valued at £600,000 - have never been recovered.

Adjourning the case for sentence on March 17, Judge Andrew Gilbart, the Recorder of Manchester, told the defendant: "A substantial prison sentence is inevitable for such a serious offence."

The judge thanked the jury and told them: "I only hope that those wonderful paintings are rediscovered for the benefit of everyone."

Some 14 works of art were stolen from a house in Cheadle by a gang of four robbers armed with a chef's knife.

Miller, posing as a postman, bundled Louise Aird, who was holding her two-year-old daughter Sabrina, to the ground.

Louise's husband, art dealer Ivan Aird, came downstairs, had his hands tied behind his back and was also threatened with the knife before the walls were stripped and paintings and drawings, many of them originals by L S Lowry, were taken away.

-
Art Hostage comments:

-

Police have until , March 17th to convince Casey Miller to hand back the stolen art for a lesser sentence.
-

What can Police offer ?

-
Does Casey Miller still have control of the stolen paintings ???

Stolen Art Watch, Lowry Terror Trial, Most Wanted Arrested !!

Couple's £1.7m art raid terror
John Scheerhout
February 17, 2009

http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/s/1097216_couples_17m_art_raid_terror

KNIFE-wielding robbers threatened to kill an art dealer and his wife during an audacious raid for paintings by LS Lowry worth up to £1.7m, a court heard.

Louise Aird thought it was the postman when she answered the door at her Cheadle home. But she was bundled to the ground as she was holding her baby and was threatened by a man with a knife, a jury at Manchester Crown Court was told on Tuesday.

Her husband, art dealer Ivan Aird, was tied up while a gang of robbers stripped art works from the walls and fled, the court heard.

Michael Leeming, prosecuting, said: "The evidence in this case suggests that this was not a spur of the moment, random offence but an audacious and carefully thought out pre-planned robbery."

Casey Miller, 23, of Constable Walk, Denton, denies robbery.

Mr Leeming, opening the case for the Crown, said: "On the morning of Thursday, May 3, 2007, a carefully planned and executed robbery took place at the home of Mr and Mrs Ivan Aird, near Cheadle.

"Original works of art by the artist LS Lowry, art memorabilia and other art works by other artists, valued at between £1.3m and £1.7m were stolen."

Louise Aird was feeding her daughter when the door bell rang. Mrs Aird could see a man standing at the front door wearing a long sleeved fluorescent orange jacket and black woolly hat and she assumed it was the postman.

But he bundled her into the hallway, pointing a large-bladed kitchen knife towards her face.

The Crown says the postman was this defendant, Casey Miller, said Mr Leeming.

He was shouting at Mrs Aird `get down or I will kill you. Who else is here? Don't look at me.'

Her screaming awoke her husband who came downstairs to be confronted by three or four other men who tied him up, and put him on the floor with a knife pointing at his face.

'Most wanted burglar' Peter Sonny Martin O’Halloran arrested

-

http://www.wandsworthguardian.co.uk/news/4118576._Most_wanted_burglar__arrested/

Police arrested one of the country’s most wanted suspected burglars, who is now being grilled about a series of break-ins across Surrey.

Peter Sonny Martin O’Halloran, 34, was arrested by Surrey Police Cross-Border Investigation Team officers at a hotel in Wandsworth on Monday, and subsequently charged with seven offences, including an attempted burglary in Princes Drive, Leatherhead, in 2007 and a burglary in Sandown Avenue, Esher on 30 December 2007.

For nearly two years, O’Halloran had been wanted on recall to prison for breaching release conditions, and also to be questioned about residential burglaries across southern and central England.

He appeared on Crimestoppers’ Most Wanted website and also featured on the BBC’s Crimewatch programme.

In December 2008, Surrey Police’s Cross-Border Investigation Team joined the hunt for O’Halloran, working with Gloucestershire Constabulary, which led the investigation to track him down.

Acting Detective Inspector Dan Volle said: “Criminals pay no regard to county boundaries, so we’re equally ready to step outside our borders and target them.

“To this end, we’ve embedded five intelligence officers in neighbouring forces and, as we’ve shown this week, we’re willing and able to work with forces that are even further afield.

“The arrest and charging of Peter O’Halloran should send a clear message to criminals that they cannot evade the police by moving around the country.

“Through Operation Shield, we will continue to target travelling offenders who blight our local communities in Surrey and those elsewhere.”

Detective Sergeant Dave Doherty, of Gloucestershire Constabulary, added: “This arrest was an example of the excellent cooperation which exists between police forces, and should serve as further evidence of our ability to work together to investigate cross-border offences, as well as our determination to bring suspects to justice.”

O’Halloran appeared at Cheltenham Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday, charged with burglaries in Gloucestershire, Surrey, Suffolk, Oxfordshire and Cambridgeshire, the attempted burglary in Leatherhead and a Proceeds of Crime Act offence in Suffolk.

He was remanded in custody, where he will be questioned further in relation to other suspected offences and is scheduled to appear at Cheltenham Magistrates’ Court on Friday, February 13.

Art Hostage comments:

-

Interesting way Police discovered Mr O'Halloran at this hotel.

-

The raising of the reward from £1,000 to £10,000 tempted someone, details to follow, who said what and have they collected the £10,000 reward !!!

Stolen Art Watch, Blanchard/Syberg Gang Hits Cash Jackpot !!

$100K reward offered in armoured car theft

A security company has offered up to $100,000 in reward money for those who can help determine what happened to the "significant amount of money" quietly stolen from an armoured truck parked outside a Richmond Hill, Ont. bank earlier this week.

Two armed guards, working for Garda Armoured Car Services, stopped outside an RBC Royal Bank on Yonge Street, just south of King Road, at about 10:30 p.m. Thursday.

That's when they went inside to make a deposit to the automated teller machines.

When the guards came back out, the back door of the armoured truck was open and police say they then discovered that "a significant amount of money" was missing.

While no one will confirm the exact amount of missing money, some unconfirmed reports have suggested several million dollars could be involved.

York Regional Police say they are not sure how many suspects were involved in the heist, nor have they found any witnesses to the crime.

"We feel that (the vehicle) was electronically opened while the guards were inside the bank," Det. Sgt. John Sheldon told reporters on Friday.

The device could have been a sophisticated version of the same technology that drivers use to open their own cars, he said.

"A lot of expertise was used and put into this well-orchestrated crime."

Garda has said it is co-operating with police and has announced the reward "for information leading to the recovery of the stolen funds and conviction of those responsible."

If more than one person provides relevant information, the reward money will be split among the contributing parties, Garda spokesperson Joe Gavaghan told ctvtoronto.ca in an e-mail.

Anyone with information about the crime is asked to call York Regional Police at 1-866-876-5423, ext. 7241, or to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.

Art Hostage comments:

Interesting case.

First of all members of the Blanchard/Syberg gang used an electronic device to open the armoured trucks back door. Reports the guards left it open are false.

Second, information about the Garda trucks was provided by an inside source, who's relation is connected to the Blanchard/Syberg gang.

So, look no further than Danny Blanchard, Aaron Syberg, Dale Fedoruk, old Carl Bales and don't forget Lynette Tien.

Case solved, next please !!!

Stolen Art Watch, Aldsworth House Robbery Pair Guilty !!

Burglars threaten to pull out fingernails of retired Army major aged 75

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/lawandorder/4538324/Burglars-threaten-to-pull-out-fingernails-of-retired-Army-major-aged-75.html

A retired Army major aged 75 was threatened with having his fingernails pulled with pliers by burglars until he gave the keys to a safe at his country home


Tom Williams fought the masked raiders until eventually being overpowered at his estate near Chichester, West Sussex, which he shares with his wife, Sarah.

The gang, who were jailed yesterday having targeted up to ten other country house burglaries across Sussex and the south of England, stole £400,000 worth of antiques and heirlooms, including medals, swords and firearms.

Speaking after the court case, Mr Williams, whose ancestors include an admiral, a general, and a great, great grandfather who served in Nelson's Navy, said: "Once I had been tied up I was very keen on not giving them the information they wanted.

"However, when they said they would do my fingernails with pliers I started to revise my opinion."

The raiders were captured by police as they dropped off the haul with a crooked antiques dealer.

Two of them, Wolfgang Schmelz, 58, and Christopher Doughty, 48, were jailed yesterday for 17 years at Hove Crown Court.

The dealer, Phillip Capewell, received a five year sentence at an earlier trial for handling stolen goods.

It can also be revealed that a deliberate attempt to "nobble" jurors was made during an original trial, in 2007, in which the jury failed to reach a verdict. A man wearing a balaclava and ski goggles approached two jurors as they queued outside a sandwich bar in Hove during a lunch break and handed them a flyer telling them to find the robbers not guilty.

The court heard how the burglars broke into Aldsworth House late at night in June 2006 and attacked Mr Williams with a cosh.

The couple were then tied up with gaffer tape and a bag and a fleece were pulled over the couple's heads. The trio spent the next six hours looting the couple's home.

They took family heirlooms from five generations of military service going back to 1790 in Mr Williams' - including General Charles Williams and Admiral Hugh Williams.

Speaking outside court yesterday, Mr Williams said: "I really did not want to give in but I did not really have much option. I was fairly heavily overpowered.

"I had been hit a couple of times and knocked down on to the floor and kicked a couple of times.

"They were fairly criminally efficient and had got my watch off and slipped my wife's engagement ring off her finger without us realising it."

Mrs Williams said that she feared for her husband's life as he fought the burglars.

He added: "We are determined not to be broken by what happened and want to get on with our lives."

-

Video interview with the victims here, scroll down: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/sussex/7873023.stm