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Showing posts with label Spring 2015 issue. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Spring 2015 issue. Show all posts

July 23, 2015

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Book Review: Catherine Schofield Sezgin on "The Napoleon of Crime: The Life and Times of Adam Worth" by Ben Macintyre

Catherine Schofield Sezgin reviews "The Napoleon of Crime: The Life and Times of Adam Worth" by Ben Macintyre in the Spring 2015 issue of The Journal of Art Crime, edited by Noah Charney (with Marc Balcells and Christos Tsirogiannis) and published by ARCA:

Ben Macintyre’s 1997 book, The Napoleon of Crime: The Life and Times of Adam Worth is written by the journalist who pro- duced Agent Zigzag: A True Story of Nazi Espionage, Love, and Betrayal, an empathetic view of a triple agent during World War II. In the preface, Macintyre explains that he found the story of Worth in the archives of the Pinkerton Detective Agency in Los Angeles by chance when he saw a 1902 “fragment of a newsprint” from the Sunday Oregonian in Portland that claimed “Adam Worth, Greatest Thief of Modern Times; Stole $3,000,000.”

Macintyre explains: 
The detectives, I soon learned, had hunted Worth across the world for decades with dogged perseverance, and the result was a wealth of documentation: six complete chronological folders, tied together with string and bulging with photographs, letters, newspaper articles, and hundreds of memos by the Pinkerton detectives, each one written in meticulous copperplate and relating a tale even more intriguing and peculiar than the nameless Sunday Oregonian writer had implied.
For Adam Worth, it transpired, was for more than simply a talented crook. A professional charlatan, he was that most feared of Victorian bogeymen: the double man, the charming rascal, the respectable and civilized Dr. Jekyll by day whose villainy emerged only under cover of night. Worth made a myth of his own life, building a thick smokescreen of wealth and possessions to cover a multitude of crimes that had started with picking pockets and desertion and later expanded to include safecracking on an industrial scale, international forgery, jewel theft, and highway robbery. The Worth dossiers revealed a vivid rogues’ gallery of crooks, aristocrats, con men, molls, mobsters, and policeman, all revolving around this singular man. In minute detail the detectives described his criminal network, radi- ating out of Paris and London and stretching from Jamaica to South Africa, from America to Turkey. 
Catherine Schofield Sezgin is editor of the blog for the Association of Research into Crimes against Art (ARCA) and a 2009 graduate of its certificate program in International Art Crime. 

Here's a link to ARCA's website about access to The Journal of Art Crime.

July 21, 2015

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Book Review: Marc Balcells on "Cultural Heritage Ethics: Between Theory and Practice", Edited by Constantine Sandis

Marc Balcells reviews "Cultural Heritage Ethics: Between Theory and Practice, Edited by Constantine Sandis" in the Spring 2015 issue of The Journal of Art Crime, edited by Noah Charney (with Marc Balcells and Christos Tsirogiannis) and published by ARCA:

Sadly, a book of cultural heritage ethics is always necessary, it seems. But with the recent events going on in several zones of the globe, an edited collection of essays like this becomes more and more essential and a remainder of both the fragility of cultural heritage and the bestiality that can be inflicted upon it. Thus, departing from a methodology based mostly on case studies, the book has been written by experts coming from different sectors in the field, ranging from academia to lawyers, or from activists to journalists. A complete, detailed list of contributors includes Constantine Sandis, James Fox, Benjamin Ramn, Nira Wickramasinghe, William St Clair, Sudeshna Guha, Geoffrey Scarre, Sir John Boardman, ARCA’s professor Tom Flynn, Sir Mark Jones, Michael F. Brown, Geoffrey Belcher and Marie Cornu.

The book is structured in very marked and clearly distinct blocks. The first one deals with meaning and memory. Sandis’ chapter mostly delineates the field of cultural heritage ethics and raises the very interesting question of whether we can talk about a unified account of what we consider cultural heritage and cultural heritage ethics or not. James Fox, in Chapter Two, and using as a case study the prohibition by FIFA of wearing poppies on English football uniforms in a match against Spain, writes about potent political symbols. Chapter Three, written by Benjamin Ramm, deals with the attacks to- wards the values of shared culture, and how, in this context, the concept of heritage acquires a new meaning. This is, by far, the most theoretical chapter of the whole book.
Marc Balcells is the Associate Editor of The Journal of Art Crime. A Spanish criminologist, he holds degrees in Law, Criminology and Human Sciences, and masters both in Criminal Law, and the ARCA Postgraduate Certificate Program in Art Crime and Cultural Heritage Protection. A Fulbright scholar, he is currently completing his PhD in Criminal Justice at The Graduate Center, CUNY. His research revolves around criminological aspects of archaeological looting, though he has also written about other forms of art crime. He has taught both Criminal Law and Criminology courses as an associate at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona and the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (Spain) and is a Graduate Teaching Fellow in the Political Science department at John Jay College. He is also a criminal defense attorney whose practice is located in Barcelona.

Here's a link to ARCA's website about access to The Journal of Art Crime.

July 20, 2015

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Editorial Essay: Francesca Coccolo on "New Archaeological Discoveries and Cultural Ventures beyond War Threats: A Model of Excellence Stemming from Iraqi-Italian Cooperation" in the Spring 2015 issue of The Journal of Art Crime

In an editorial essay, Francesca Coccolo writes on "New Archaeological Discoveries and Cultural Ventures beyond War Threats: A Model of Excellence Stemming from Iraqi-Italian Cooperation" in the Spring 2015 issue of The Journal of Art Crime, edited by Noah Charney (with Marc Balcells and Christos Tsirogiannis) and published by ARCA:
The Italian Archaeological Mission to Assyria – Land of Nineveh Regional Project, one among four Italian projects concerning Iraqi cultural heritage, operates in the Northern Region of Iraqi Kurdistan – Governorate of Dohuk, few kilometres north from the Mosul dam and the ISIS occupied territories.1 The first significant achievements by the above mission, directed by the Associate Professor of Near Eastern Archaeology and Art History from the University of Udine Daniele Morandi Bonacossi, were presented last October at the University of Udine and last December during two international conferences held respectively in Turin and Florence, in the presence of both Iraqi and Kurdish governmental representatives.2 
Following a proposal from UNESCO, The Land of Nineveh Project has been carried out since 2012 by the University of Udine in cooperation with the General Directorate of Antiquities of Dohuk and Erbil (KRG – Ministry of Municipalities and Tourism), the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation (MAECI) and the Institute for Technology Applied to Cultural Heritage of the Italian National Research Council (CNR). The ambitious Mission of the Project is made up of three closely intertwined approaches integrating scientific research, protection and enhancement of the cultural heritage of Iraqi Kurdistan and professional training for local archaeologists. 
Consistently with the framework of a high-level cooperation established between the Iraqi and the Italian governments, the Rector of the University of Udine, Alberto Felice de Toni, underlined that the archaeological permit granted by the Central Authorities of Baghdad to the Archaeological Mission from Udine is one of the broadest ever to be obtained by a foreign mission operating on Iraqi territory. ...
Francesca Coccolo is a Ca’ Foscari University of Venice graduate student. Her research interests space from national and international law on cultural property to protection of artworks and antiquities during armed conflicts as well as illicit traffic in the art market. While attending her MA program she was granted an internship experience at Soprintendenza Speciale per il Patrimonio Storico, Artistico ed Etnoantropologico e per il Polo Museale della Città di Venezia (2012). She contributed also to the setting-up project of the 55. International Art Exhibition in the role of assistant registrar at Fondazione la Biennale di Venezia (2013). In her upcoming thesis project she examines the evolution over centuries of international law regulating cultural restitution after armed conflicts with a special focus on the international regulations and practices which affected the restitution to Italy of the artworks displaced immediately before and during WWII. In June and December 2014 she attended the Fourth and Fifth Provenance Research Training Program (PRTP) workshops held respectively in Athens and Rome by the European Shoah Legacy Istitute (ESLI). In December 2014 she also had the opportunity to attend an international conference in Florence on the Italian contribution for the preservation and enhancement of the Iraqi cultural heritage and to focus her enquiry on the activity of Italian archaeological teams operating in the autonomous Kurdish region.
  
Here's a link to ARCA's website about access to The Journal of Art Crime.

July 19, 2015

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Editorial Essay: Toby Bull's perspective in "The Grape War of China: Wine Fraud and How Science is Fighting Back" in the Spring 2015 issue of The Journal of Art Crime

In the editorial essay "The Grape War of China: Wine Fraud and How Science is Fighting Back" Hong Kong police officer Toby Bull presents his perspective in the Spring 2015 issue of The Journal of Art Crime, edited by Noah Charney (with Marc Balcells and Christos Tsirogiannis) and published by ARCA:

There has been wine made from grapes – as opposed to grain - in China for thousands of years (Kjellgren, 2004). Indeed, Wang Renxiang (1993) considers it to be at the very heart of China’s culture and identity. Vine cultivation goes as far back as the Zhou dynasty (ca. 1100-256 BC), where indigenous vines within the royal gardens were said to have existed. The first documented account of Western viticulture coming into contact with the Middle Kingdom is found in a First Century BC history book, Shiji, where an emperor’s envoy sent to the lands west of what is now the Sino-Uzbekistan border area, saw “grapes that were used to make wine...the oldest was kept several decades without getting spoilt” (cited in Kjellgren, 2004). The envoy, duly impressed, returned with some cuttings and, not long afterwards, Chinese vineyards from a Eurasian grape varietal were established, eventually producing wine fit for the imperial palate (Kjellgren, 2004). And so wine became associated with the rich and high-born: a luxurious and desirous product, and with it, perhaps, the earliest recorded case of a “wine crime” occurring in ancient China.


Li Hua (2002) mentions an official bestowing a gift of (grape) wine - the equivalent of 20 liters – in order to achieve a high position and win favor at court. Hua refers to this as “the first time an office was bought with wine” – a neat symmetry to the modern-day practice referred to in China as “Elegant Bribery:” the art of bribing officials with gifts, normally of art or expensive Grand-Crus. China’s recent anti-graft measures, a decree by the current president, are seeing some changes to this method, although the Chinese still buy wine, lots of it, both for gift-giving and personal consumption, but are now spending less (Luo, 2014). Thus, whilst the West can look to the writings of Pliny the Elder from 1st century Rome for early references to the relationship between the wine trade and the shenanigans sometimes associated with it, so too can China look to its past, for the concept is not a new one.
Toby J. A. Bull was born in England and educated at the famous Rugby School. He holds three academic degrees, including a BA (Hons) in ‘Fine Arts Valuation’ and a MSc in ‘Risk, Crisis & Disaster Management’. He continued his studies in the arts by becoming a qualified art authenticator, studying at the Centre for Cultural Material Conservation and graduating from the University of Melbourne, Australia. He has extensive knowledge in forensic art authentication methods, as well as in the more theoretical and academic studies surrounding art fraud. His main interests include the topic of fakes and forgeries of Chinese ceramics and the problems of smuggled illicit antiquities emanating out of China. He has subsequently seen his work on this subject published in “Art & Crime: Exploring the Dark Side of the Art Market” (Praeger, 2009), as well as in “Cultural Property Crime” (Brill, 2014). Since 1993, he has worked for the Hong Kong Police Force. His expertise in the field of art crime have allowed him to be an advisor, as well as an Honorary Professor to the “Association for the Research into Crimes Against Art” (ARCA) for their postgraduate certificate program on “Art Crime and Cultural Heritage Protection.” He has lectured extensively to the art trade and beyond on topics surrounding ‘Art Crime’ to the likes of Sotheby’s Institute of Art, Christie’s Education, The World Congress of Forensics and at Asia Art in London, as well as to ARCA's ‘Art Crime & Cultural Heritage Protection Conference’ held annually in Italy. He recently Chaired the Forensic DNA panel at the 2014 World Gene Convention where he presented a paper on synthetic DNA security coding and its application to the art and fine wine markets in helping to combat fakes. Seeing the disparity between public and private involvement in the field of art crime and its associated spin-offs, Toby founded TrackArt in 2011– Hong Kong’s first Art Risk Consultancy. Toby is a Member of The Worshipful Company of Art Scholars.

Here's a link to ARCA's website about access to The Journal of Art Crime.

June 8, 2015

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Spring 2015 Issue, The Journal of Art Crime: New issue examines archaeological looting and art theft

The Spring 2015 issue of The Journal of Art Crime edited by Noah Charney, founder of ARCA, includes articles, reviews, and columns on the interdisciplinary field on the subject of art theft, authentication, fakes and forgeries, and looted antiquities. Here's the table of contents for the latest issue of this bi-annual publication:

ACADEMIC ARTICLES

The Multifarious Nature of Art Forgery in France: 
Four Case Studies of Belle Époque Fakes and Forgeries
by Carolyn EmBree and David A. Scott

Rekindling the Flame:
The Role of Hawaii’s Museums in Resurrecting Hawaiian Identity
by Suzette D. Scotti 

Analyzing Criminality in the Market for Ancient Near Eastern Art
by Ryan Casey

Damaging the Archaeological Record: The Lenborough Hoard
by David Gill

“But We Didn’t Steal It:”
Collectors’ Justifications for Purchasing Looted Antiquities
by Erin L. Thompson

REGULAR COLUMNS

Lessons from the History of Art Crime
“Napoleon: Emperor of Art Theft”
by Noah Charney

Context Matters
“From Palmyra to Mayfair: The Movement of Antiquities from Syria and Northern Iraq”
by David Gill

Nekyia
“Duplicates and the Antiquities Market”
by Christos Tsirogiannis

EDITORIAL ESSAYS

The Grape War of China: Wine Fraud and How Science is Fighting Back
by Toby Bull

New Archaeological Discoveries and Cultural Ventures beyond War Threats:
A Model of Excellence Stemming from Iraqi-Italian Cooperation
by Francesca Coccolo

REVIEWS

Cultural Heritage Ethics: Between Theory and Practice 
Edited by Constantine Sandis
Reviewed by Marc Balcells

America and the Return of Nazi Contraband: The Recovery of Europe’s Cultural Treasures
Written by Michael J Kurtz
Reviewed by Kirsten Hower

The Napoleon of Crime: The Life and Times of Adam Worth
Written by Ben Macintyre
Reviewed by Catherine Schofield Sezgin

EXTRAS

ARCA 2015 Award Winners

JAC Essay Collection

Acknowledgements

Contributor Biographies

Design and layout is by Urska Charney.

This link to ARCA publications provides information about subscribing to the issues of The Journal of Art Crime.

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