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May 22, 2011

Sunday, May 22, 2011 - , No comments

City of Paris Spends 8 million Euros to Revamp Museum Security One Year After the Theft at Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris

by Catherine Schofield Sezgin, ARCA Blog Editor-in-Chief

The walls to the left held the stolen paintings  from the Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris./Photo by CR Sezgin.
This morning the Museum Security Network sent an email alert about the 8 million euro revamping of the security for the 14 museums under the jurisdiction of the city of Paris.  The article in le Parisian is in French but with my new language crutch, Google Translate, I learned that since the theft from the Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, when a thief, or thieves, cut the lock and opened a not so secure window to steal five paintings valued at about 100 million euros, that the city has undertaken to reexamine the security at its museums.  The three security guards on duty at the time of the break-in apparently hadn't heard any alarms because the warning system had been offline, waiting many weeks for an apparently crucial part.  On my three visits to the museum I never considered the building so vast that this explanation made sense to me and as now no one has published an account that explains clearly how someone entered the building without any guard on patrol seeing them.  I have a nice photo here showing that if you stand on the stairs you have a clear view of the access to the walls that had supported the stolen paintings.

Le Parisien reports that the city of Paris began a reorganization program this year to strengthen supervision of security staff and to continue improvements in securing the museums through next year, including better communication about malfunctioning alarm systems.  It appears that the museum theft did strengthen the will to fund better security at the museums.

Fixed barred windows at Petit Palais
This past March, before I revisited the 'scene of the crime,' I did visit the Petit Palais, another city museum, where I found beautiful paintings by Cézanne, Gustave Courbet, and even a lower floor of vases from antiquity.  On a Sunday morning the museum was quiet with few visible security guards.  However, I noted that the permanent barred windows likely discouraged theft.  The Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris has accordion wrought iron shutters securing its long windows.  In addition, the Petit Palais, instead of backing up against the Seine, is around the corner from a police station.

We'll follow this week with more information about the stolen paintings.  Meanwhile, you can read my fanciful guess about how the theft was committed here on the ARCA Blog.

May 21, 2011

Saturday, May 21, 2011 - No comments

ARCA 2011 Student Ariel Lavia Kern Attracted to ARCA's Interdisciplinary approach

Ariel Kern at the Egyptian Temple of Dendur at The Met
ARCA Blog: Ariel, what is your academic background and how did you come to commit to a summer in Umbria studying art crime?
ALK: I recently graduated from NYU’s Gallatin School of Individualized Study where I developed a major in Art and Social History, Law, and Literature. Through college I interned and worked in various fields, including a small museum, a library, an archeological dig, a law firm, and an auction house. 
A professor of mine told me about ARCA when I was starting to consider what I wanted to do after graduation. I soon realized that the ARCA Postgraduate program was perfect for me. I am comfortable with the interdisciplinary approach to learning I used as an undergraduate, and this program is the only way I could truly combine all of my interests to find the right career path for me.
ARCA Blog: The program culminates in the writing of a publishable article. What area of art crime or cultural protection would you like to research?
ALK: I am interested in researching the social motivations behind those who are involved with art crime. While there are obvious financial reasons, the social reasons are more obscure and not easily quantifiable. It is really an exploration of social perceptions and how those involved with the illicit end of the art world can use that to justify their actions. By understanding that we can begin to figure out ways of changing the ideas the wider public holds and cut down the justifications criminals use.
ARCA Blog: Do you have a current fascination with an artist or period of art?
ALK: It’s difficult to pick a specific artist or period, but I have always been interested in the decorative or practical arts like architecture, clothing and furniture. I originally realized I wanted to work in the art world when I first saw the medieval armor wing at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. I was very young at the time, but my interests have not changed drastically since then.
ARCA Blog: Have you traveled or lived in Italy and what would you like to do there when you are not attending lectures?
ALK: I have not been to Italy before, so I am very excited to see all of the cities and sites that I have been reading about for years. With all of the running around, I would also like to immerse myself in the slower Italian lifestyle, so balancing my travel-bug with my wish to experience the culture will be interesting, to say the least.

May 20, 2011

Friday, May 20, 2011 - ,,,, No comments

Part Two: Alain Lacoursière, the Mercedes-Benz Commercial Video, and Madonna and the Yarnwinder

by Catherine Schofield Sezgin, ARCA Blog Editor-in-Chief

Recently Alain Lacoursière’s favorite suspect for the unsolved 1972 theft of the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts sent the retired police officer a link to a Mercedes-Benz commercial video that fictionalizes the theft of a brief case from a bank vault. At the end of a high speed chase involving a very sleek German sedan, the brief case is delivered to a third party who later open to show that the contents of the brief case is a painting. The newscaster in the video reports under the headline: “Stolen Da Vinci Re-Emerges”:
The Paris National Art Collection was handed over a long-lost masterpiece by Leonardo Da Vinci today. The Da Vinci piece was being hidden for years by backers of the mafia in a safe deposit box. The FBI estimates the value of the Madonna of the Yarnwinder at approximately 70 million euros.
“The Madonna of the Yarnwinder is the subject of several oil paintings after a lost original by Leonardo da Vinci “(Wikipedia.org).

The Lansdowne Madonna
A copy of this painting, known as The Lansdowne Madonna, by the workshop of Leonardo da Vinci is in a private collection in New York. It was likely completed by another artist in da Vinci’s studio after another painting of the same subject. (Universal Leonardo)

Another version of this painting, The Madonna of the Yarnwinder (Duke of Buccleuch), and considered to have been painted under Leonardo, was stolen from the Duke of Buccleuch’s home in Scotland in 2003. Two men posing as tourists during a public tour of Drumlanrig Castle overpowered a female staff member and carried the painting out the window. The painting was valued at 30 million pounds.

Madonna with Yarnwinder
 (Duke of Buccleuch)
The painting was recovered four years later – but a month after the death of the 84-year-old Duke -- when police raided a meeting at a respectable law office in Glasgow who claimed to be an innocent third-party. The solicitors were eventually cleared of extortion. The painting is reportedly on display at the National Gallery of Scotland in Edinburgh however the website for the institution does not show the painting in either its permanent collection or as a loan.

The original is lost, but how do the experts describe these two ‘copies’? I found an interesting source here. Martin Kemp wrote about the paintings in 1992 (Leonardo da Vinci and the Mystery of the Madonna of the Yarnwinder (exhibition catalogue, Edinburgh: National Galleries of Scotland):
How much of the Buccleuch copy was painted by Leonardo was a matter of scholarly debate until recently. Scientific studies indicate that in addition to the work's underdrawing (with its pentimenti or small changes), the genius was most likely responsible for its overall design, the figures and the skillfully rendered rocky foreground. The landscape is uncharacteristic of Leonardo; it was probably painted a bit later by another artist, perhaps a workshop assistant. The flesh tones of Mary's face were executed using Leonardo's typical sfumato or smoky technique. A second brighter copy of The Madonna of the Yarnwinder belongs to a private collector.

May 19, 2011

Thursday, May 19, 2011 - ,, No comments

Part One: Suspected art thief uses the Internet to tease retired art crime investigator Alain Lacoursière about the location of the paintings stolen from the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts in 1972

Rembrandt's Evening Landscape stolen
 from the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts in 1972
by Catherine Schofield Sezgin, ARCA Blog Editor-in-Chief

Alain Lacoursière, retired art crime police officer in Montreal, recently received a link to a video from a suspect involved in the 1972 theft of the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts that Lacoursière has perused for more than a decade./Alain Lacoursière, sergent détective responsable des crimes relatifs aux oeuvres d’art à Montréal, a récemment reçu un lien vers une vidéo produite par Mercedes Benz qui semble fermer les yeux sur un vol de banque. La vidéo a été envoyée par un suspect du vol de1972 au Musée des beaux-arts de Montréal que Lacoursière a pourchassé pendant plus d'un décennie.


The video, an advertisement for Mercedes Benz that appears to condone bank robbery, contains gorgeous scenes of Hong Kong but I won't spoil the ending today.  Tomorrow I'll add my comments and more information about Canada's largest art theft.


You can read more about the 1972 theft of the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts here.

Thursday, May 19, 2011 - No comments

ARCA 2011 Student Riley Meghan Kraft on Her Passions for Archaeology and Conservation -- and Her Hopes for Traveling Throughout Italy This Summer

ARCA Blog: What is your academic background and how did you come to commit to a summer in Umbria studying art crime?

Riley Meghan Kraft
August 2008, I came to Texas A&M University to study my passion for archaeology. May 2011, I graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Anthropology and minors in Classical Studies and Geology. Many of my interests, academics, and career goals have always been geared towards the field of archaeology, and during this past year at school I have discovered my increasing interest in conservation. While researching my options for what to do after my undergraduate career I came across the ARCA website and decided that an education in art crime studies would be beneficial for a future career in recovering and preserving ancient art and artifacts. Since the ARCA program is held only once a year in the summer, and my other choices require a much longer time commitment, I decided that going to ARCA now was the best move. Also, I figured some time abroad would give me the recharge I need to tackle what comes next in life.

ARCA Blog: The program culminates in the writing of a publishable article. What area of art crime or cultural protection would you like to research?
Riley Meghan Kraft: While I do love learning about art history and criminology, my greatest interest from the ARCA program is learning about investigation, security, and the art and antiquities trade. Since I know so little about these subjects, I believe I will spend most of my efforts trying to understand them through research.
ARCA Blog: Have you traveled or lived in Italy and what would you like to do there when you are not attending lectures?
Riley Meghan Kraft: In June 2008, I spent a week in Rome and visited Pompeii. As an aspiring archaeologist it was a dream come true! However, after these past few years studying Roman history, language, literature, and culture I realized how much I missed when I was there. When I’m not attending lectures in Amelia, I’d like to travel through as much of Italy as I can; seeing the art and architecture, learning the history, meeting the people, exploring the land, and experiencing the life.

May 18, 2011

Wednesday, May 18, 2011 - ,,,,, No comments

Journalist Jason Felch, co-author of "Chasing Aphrodite", reports for the Los Angeles Times from Sicily about the Unveiling of the Venus of Morgantina at its New Smaller Museum in Sicily ... and information about the Venus Italy Returned to Libya Years Ago

Aphrodite (Venus of Morgantina)/AP
by Catherine Schofield Sezgin,
ARCA Blog Editor-in-Chief

LA Times reporter Jason Felch, co-author of Chasing Aphrodite, write's in today's newspaper ("Getty officials on hand for Aphrodite statue's unveiling in Sicily") about the opening reception for the 5th century BC Venus from Morgantina to a room with a capacity of 150 people at the Aidone Archaeological Museum in Sicily.

Francesco Rutelli
In addition to two officials from the J. Paul Getty Museum, the ceremony was attended by Francesco Rutelli, Italy's former culture minister and former mayor of Rome (who spoke eloquently at ARCA's art crime conference in 2009); Italy's new culture minister, Giancarlo Galan; and possibly some of the very people who sold some of the various objects that the Getty had to return. Felch writes:
Among the citizens who turned out were several former "clandestini," the Sicilian term for looters, local officials said. For decades, looting has been a source of income for residents in one of the most impoverished corners of Italy's poorest region.
Aphrodite will join a collection of "Morgantina" silver previously returned to the museum.

The Getty Museum has paid more than $18 million for Aphrodite more than 20 years ago and agreed to return the statue in exchange for "long-loans" or Italian objects, Sharon Waxman wrote in her 2008 book, Loot: The Battle over the Stolen Treasures of the Ancient World.

You may find other examples of objects returned to countries of origin at the UNESCO website ("Recent examples of successful operations of cultural property restitutions in the world"), including the return in 2007 of a Venus statue from Italy to Libya (also see "Italy to Return Ancient Statue to Libya"). Of course this leads to another question about the safety of archaeology in Libya during the civil unrest and subsequent violent conflict but this morning I did not find any status report earlier than March ("Libya's 'extraordinary' archaeology under threat").  For now you may view the website of the National Museum in Tripoli here.

Wednesday, May 18, 2011 - No comments

ARCA 2011 Student Kaitlin Murphy on Venice, Italian culture, gelato and people-watching

Kaitlin Murphy
ARCA Blog: What is your academic background and how did you come to commit to a summer in Umbria studying art crime?
Kaitlin Murphy: My undergraduate degree is in Art and Art History from Colgate University. During my junior year, I spent a semester abroad studying in Venice, Italy. It was here that I developed a passion for not only the subject matter, but for the Italian culture as a whole. Being surrounded by “floating buildings,” I chose to focus my attention on architectural history for my thesis and continued my education after working for a couple of years to begin a masters program in Architecture at Boston Architectural College. After taking a direct hit from the housing and economy collapse, I took a teaching position at a high school where I taught art and art history. I was able to write my own curriculum and followed my curiosities in art crimes as part of the art history survey course. One of my students came across ARCA and as I checked it out, discovered the postgraduate program. The combination of art history, culture, art crimes, and Italy made committing to a summer in Umbria a no brainer for me.
ARCA Blog: Do you have a current fascination with an artist or period of art?
Kaitlin Murphy: Currently, I love Renaissance art as a time period in world history for the architecture and paintings and in many cases, the combination of the two. I appreciate the thoughtfulness of art in situ because it connects visually with architecture like a conversation. I appreciate the balance and architecture specifically of Andrea Palladio and laugh when I see his influence in American civic and residential architecture. As a bookend to renaissance art, I like to study ancient art as a source or foundation for the evolution of what we have become. It is amazing to see true originality and the “aha!” moment of the discovery of new techniques and materials frozen in the art like a photo.
ARCA Blog: Have you traveled or lived in Italy and what would you like to do there when you are not attending lectures?
Kaitlin Murphy: I lived in Venice (right by Piazza San Marco) in the fall of 2003 as part of my undergrad art history curriculum and have been back two more times since then as a tourist. I have been an amateur tour guide in Rome for my family and friends and a beach goer along the coast. My favorite thing to do in Italy is to sit, enjoy some gelato or local wine, and people-watch. While on the subject of food, I would like to learn a few tricks of the trade and expand my pallet to include some new recipes with fresh and local ingredients. To be able to explore a few towns off the beaten tourist path is also a very attractive use of my down time. My husband (Ryan) will be joining me later in the program and this will be his first visit to Italy so the pressure will be on to know the good places to eat, see, and travel.
ARCA Blog: Amelia has many venues for playing live music. Are you a musician?
Kaitlin Murphy: I am not a musician, but I thoroughly enjoy live music and look forward to these opportunities!

May 17, 2011

Tuesday, May 17, 2011 - No comments

ARCA 2011 Student Margaret Wade on Sculpture, The Third Reich and Art, and the 'Unregulated Aspect of the Art World'

Plaster cast self-portrait by Margaret Wade
 from her first art show
ARCA Blog: What is your academic background and how did you come to commit to a summer in Umbria studying art crime?
Margaret Wade: I began studying the theory and psychology of Art (specifically Sculpture) at a small, liberal arts school in Amherst, MA. This is how I came across my second major- The Third Reich. Hitler, an artist, understood that to truly destroy a culture, among other things, he must eliminate the very threads that unite a society- its expression. At my second school, Mount Holyoke, I dove into Art History in the Third Reich and Art Studio. It was here I realized that I cannot fix the past, but I can contribute to the future. All the Nazi looted art work deserves to be to returned to its rightful owner. Plus, when I grow up, I want to be Indiana Jones. 
I am also interested in the idea of containment and preservation. How do you encapsulate the moment, memory and effect of art? Databasing and cataloguing art will help with my second path- I am creating a "museum" out of the house I grew up in. Located in Birmingham, AL, I plan to share with my community a purple house with snakes and chairs on the ceiling, and its contemporary art.
ARCA Blog: Do you have a current fascination with an artist or period of art?
Margaret Wade: Any piece of art with a pulse will strike my interest. Historically, I enjoy Dadaism and Surrealism because of the boundaries Duchamp pushed the art world. As of right this moment in time, Street art gets my heart racing. I love the unregulated aspect of the art world. As an artist, I am constantly seeking out new areas of expression. Who owns art anyway?
ARCA Blog: Have you traveled or lived in Italy and what would you like to do there when you are not attending lectures?
Margaret Wade: In 2007, I had the pleasure of working with the Peggy Guggenheim Museum in Venice for three months. I got to experience the art world in ways an artist or art historian is not privy to. I believe to be truly passionate about an area of work, you must experience it all. Working in a museum, you come to understand the affect art has on its visitors- vandalism, utter amazement, disgust, indifference. It is this reason I plan to pursue, Why in the world would you steal an piece of art work? It is just an object -- an object that causes people to react in so many different way that I just want to know WHY. If I ever stop questioning and searching for answers, consider me dead!
ARCA Blog: Amelia has many venues for playing live music. Are you a musician?
Margaret Wade: HA! Absolutely not, I cannot carry a tune, but I can dance for hours HOURS on end. In fact, Karaoke is one of my biggest fears. That said, I appreciate all aspects of art- even the ones that highlight my flaws! I enjoy experiencing new sensations and getting lost in music. Life is a priviledge but art is a right!

May 15, 2011

Sunday, May 15, 2011 - No comments

"Introduction to Bella Amelia": A Post from the First Student of the ARCA Class 2011 to Settle in Umbria

South east side of Amelia's wall
Editor's Note: James Alex Bond, ARCA Class of 2011, arrived a month before the commencement of the program in Amelia. ARCA Blog asked him to contribute a post about his impressions.

by James Alex Bond, Amelia Correspondent

Amelia’s geography is just stunning. It sits on the northern end of a ridge that runs north and south with the north end of the ridge approximately 1,000 feet higher than the southern end. Every direction except south is a 60-80 degree slope downhill to the valley floor below where the Rio Grande River flows on the north and east side. I would guess that less than 3,000 people live within the walls of Amelia with the other 9,000 living in the surrounding hillsides.

Amelia is shaped like a big egg with its small end at the south where virtually all traffic enters and exits through Porta Romana which is faced by Piazza XXI Setembre directly outside the wall. There are three other Portas, two on the east side and one in the north west corner but Porta Romana is the commercial Porta to the city. During the day there is always a traffic jam at Porta Romana because it is barely the width of a car. Entering and exiting vehicular traffic alternate while intrepid pedestrians turn sideways and slip in and out, or wait for a break in the traffic flow when there is confusion as to who has the right of way. It is all very civilized and I have yet to hear anyone honk their horn. It is a small city where everyone knows everyone. The one show stopper is a Mother with a perambulator going through the Porta. Talk about tiger Moms, Italian Moms can stop a car with just a stare!

From the small end of the egg at Porta Romana, via della Republica heads north uphill into the city until it reaches the highest point in town where the Torre Civica (tower) is located in Piazza Lojali. Near the Piazza (open square) there is a small grassy area with a walkway around the edge for the magnificent views to the north, east, and south. From there you can see the other mountain ranges that rise up behind the cultivated hills surrounding Amelia.

There are eight Piazza’s in Amelia. They contain statuary, fountains, and space for parking. The balance of the town is roads, pathways, or buildings. The wall surrounding the town is fairly intact and still has guard towers built into it. I have tried to do a walk around the city just outside the wall but found that, at least on the east and north side, it was impossible because of the steepness and lack of a trail. The other day I did find a trail on the south east side that I followed out to a rocky promontory where I could watch the sunset. The picture I have included is of the wall on the south east side. I did not follow the trail past the promontory but suspect it connects to the road I had followed previously around the east and north side. That is my adventure for next week, to circumnavigate the city below the wall.

Visually the city is a blend of gray and brown, with red tile roofs and copper gutters. The piazza’s are a blend of greens, reds, and yellows depending on the plantings. Many people have gardens where you can see trellises with climbing vines and flowers. Outside the walls on the surrounding hillsides it is completely different with olive and wine orchards and cultivated fields interspersed with copses of woods and green pasture land.

One of my favorite things to do here is sit in my garden, close my eyes, and focus on what I hear. Birds singing predominate, with soft wind sounds in the trees as a background. Then hourly and on the quarter hour the domo bells ring. Three times this morning a unique two bell melody was played for about a minute from the domo, calling the faithful. I think this melodic bell ringing happens every Sunday. It is such a beautiful change from the perfect recorded bells played from the campanile and carillon bell towers in the US. The first two times the melody was the same. The third time it was different and the bell pullers got off rhythm. In my mind I could almost see them as they realized their rhythm was off and communicated either visually or verbally about what to do to correct it. Soon they did and in the end it seemed to me they improvised, and, like good jazz musicians, finished winners. The talent it takes to take two bells and play a unique melody reminds me of the Blue Man Group with their ability to percuss about anything and make it sound pleasing. Eighty feet below my wall I can hear the sounds of traffic on the road to Tearny.

Favala, my contact for the school, said she had slowly come to see the different areas of the world as either masculine or feminine after taking a trip to Israel and Palestine. The desert is masculine she said. “You have to be tough to survive. You just don’t go out for a walk in the desert. You make a plan, take supplies, and prepare yourself for hardships.” Italy she said is different “because it is feminine.” And so I have found it to be; soft, graceful, forgiving, fecund, and welcoming. You do not have to make a plan in Amelia you just have to be present.

May 14, 2011

Saturday, May 14, 2011 - ,,, 1 comment

ARCA 2011 Student Katherine Luer on Art History, Museum Security, Matisse, and Traveling in Italy

Katherine Luer inside one of the towers
of the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona.
ARCA Blog: What is your academic background and how did you come to commit to a summer in Umbria studying art crime?
Katherine Luer: I am just about to graduate from Georgetown University with my BA in Art History and minors in both Italian and Spanish. I've been interested in entering the field of art crime for several years now, and when I heard about the ARCA program about a year ago I knew it was exactly what I wanted to do after I graduated.
ARCA Blog: The program culminates in the writing of a publishable article. What area of art crime or cultural protection would you like to research?
Katherine Luer: I've worked as a security guard at a museum here in Washington and thus am highly interested in museum security. That being said, I someday hope to work with the FBI's Art Crime Team and so the history of such groups inside law enforcement (Scotland Yard, the carabinieri, etc) interests me as well.
ARCA Blog: Do you have a current fascination with an artist or period of art?
Katherine Luer: My great love has always been Matisse, but lately I've been enjoying the work of Modigliani, Munch and Klee as well. Any early modern work fascinates me.
ARCA Blog: Have you traveled or lived in Italy and what would you like to do there when you are not attending lectures?
Katherine Luer: I've traveled extensively all around the country and lived in the small town of Fiesole for several months. Regardless, I'd like to travel more, particularly in the south, and look forward to showing the other students some of my favorite towns!

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