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March 4, 2011

Friday, March 04, 2011 - , No comments

Videos of Marc Masurovsky of the Cultural Plunder Database Speaking in Florida on the unfinished work of returning Nazi-looted art to the rightful owners some 65 years after the war

Marc Masurovsky
Last year I had the privilege to volunteer on the U. S. Holocaust Museum's Cultural Plunder Database of Nazi-looted art out of the Jeu de Paume in Paris.  My mentor, Marc Mazurovsky, the Project Director, recently spoke passionately and unapologetically in Florida at the Jewish Art Museum here on this video about the lack of transparency in the art market about the re-sale of art stolen from private collections.  After the devastation of millions of lives and households during the 12-year reign of the Nazis, the Allies became too distracted with the Cold War to continue prosecution of war criminals and to complete restitution of property and art to the surviving victims.  However, today, art works have been reappearing on the secondary market with total disregard for their status as stolen property.  In the second video here, Mr. Masurovsky discusses the U. S. government's failure to compensate Japanese-Americans interned in camps from 1941 to 1945 in their own country and stripped of cultural and real property.  "There is not a federal policy of restitution of looted cultural property... to safeguard the rights of Holocaust survivors [who have become American citizens]," Masurovsky says.  "There are no fiscal consequences for dabbling in looted cultural property. No one will lose their tax-exempt status if caught doing so."

He later says, "Restitution, or justice for the victim, has been left to lawyers and judges, history has taken a back seat to the rule of law, a bit like taking a square peg and shoving it into a round hole: not practical, not efficient, but there we are."

To be fair, justice has been done in a small number of instances, Masurovsky says, after years of battle against "hardened defendants" whether they be wealthy individuals, museums, or governments:

"Holocaust survivors are dying in growing numbers every day, their children and grandchildren are not intimately connected to their issues, for obvious reasons, sometimes they know, most times they don't.  Those who seem to be riding out the storm well and even better are the dealers, the collectors, the museums, and the institutions that buy, sell, trade, display, harbor these works and objects which really are three-dimensional reminders of past genocide and ethnocides. In at least 90% of these cases, the crime of plunder pays off very well with handsome returns on the investment."

He encouraged his audience (and now our readers): "If you do own or buy or receive works of objects produced before the early 1940s, you have the same duty to ask the same questions as if you were buying a car: who owned it before? is it kosher? do you have good title? was it ever stolen?"

Listen to the videos now for a compelling and passionate argument for returning stolen art to its rightful owners and the steps we can all take to participate.

March 3, 2011

Thursday, March 03, 2011 - 1 comment

The Journal of Art Crime, Spring 2009: A Summary Review

Cover Design by Urska Charney

The first issue of The Journal of Art Crime was published by the Association for Research into Crimes against Art (ARCA) and edited by Noah Charney in the Spring of 2009.

In his Letter from the Editor, Noah Charney writes:
"Inside, readers will find interdisciplinary articles from both academics and professionals, related to art crime, its history, and its repercussions. Relevant fields include criminology, law, art history, history, sociology, policing, security, archaeology, conservation, and more. There are few topical venues in which scholars can publish on the inherently interdisciplinary and international subject of art crime. Little empirical data has been available to scholars, leading few to turn their professional attentions to the phenomenon. The result is that there is relatively little material published on art crime, and still less that might be considered scholarly. ARCA seeks to encourage new scholarship in the study of art crime, by both encouraging young academics and students to focus on the subject, and to bring together established academics and professionals, bridging the gap between theoretical study and experience in the field. The salient question is: how can the academic study of contemporary and historical art crime help to protect and recovery art today?"
Academic articles include Virginia Curry on "United States v. Steven George Cooperman"; Howard Spiegler on "Surviving War & Peace: The Long Road to Recovering the Malevich Paintings"; Ann Shaftel on "Thangka Painting Techniques: Traditional, Contemporary, & Instantly 'Old'"; Erik Nemeth on "Plunderer & Protector of Cultural Property: Security-Intelligence Services Shape Strategic Value of Art".

Columns include Donn Zaretsky's Art Law & Policy; David Gill's Context Matters; Stevan Layne's Art Security; and Noah Charney's Lessons from the History of Art Crime.

Editorial essays include Jonathan Lopez on "7/8th Underwater -- Art Fraud"; Julia Williams on "Museums De-Accessioning Collections"; Colonel Giovanni Pastore on "Defending Art -- Excerpt from ARCA's book 'Art & Crime'"; Shima Ebrahimi on "Art Theft: The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum Heist & An Investigation into Title and Statute of Limitations".

Reviews include David Gill on "Cuno's 'Who Owns Antiquity?' and Waxman's 'Loot'"; Andrea Wood on "Dolnick's 'The Forger's Spell' and Lopez' 'The Man Who Made Vermeers'"; Virginia Curry on "Connor's 'The Art of the Heist' & Boser's 'The Gardner Heist'"; David Gill on "Nostoi Exhibition in Rome"; Andrea Wood on "'The Rape of Europa' PBS Documentary"; Susan Summerfield Hammerman's Annotated Literature Review of "Rare Book, Map, and Archive Crime Bibliography"; and Mark Durney's Annotated Literature Review of "Looting & The Illicit Trade in Antiquities".

Other articles include an interview with Vernon Rapley; a Q&A with Lord Colin Renfrew; and Noah Charney on "Top Ten Must-See Artworks in The Netherlands".

To subscribe to The Journal of Art Crime, please go to ARCA's website section "Publications" here.

March 2, 2011

Wednesday, March 02, 2011 - No comments

Announcing the Death of Journalist Marilyn Henry

A friend of ARCA’s has lost a friend and a colleague.

This morning we received an email from Marc Masurovsky, co-founder of the Holocaust Art Restitution Project (HARP) and Project Director of the database “Cultural Plunder by the ERR: Database of Art Objects at the Jeu de Paume”:
Dear colleagues: 
I regret to announce the passing of one of the most extraordinary journalists of the Jewish community who stood for the rights of Holocaust survivors throughout her active and dynamic existence. Her name: Marilyn Henry. 
She will be always remembered for her relentlessness, her tenacity, her love of all things Jewish, and, most importantly, for her sincere attachment to the truth, regardless of where the chips may fall. Among other things, she is the author of a critical history of the Claims Conference. She was on the verge of completing a major work on art restitution. Marilyn Henry died yesterday evening at 9:28pm at her home near Teaneck, NJ. I've lost a great friend and survivors have lost an advocate.
Mr. Masurovsky included a few links to samples of her writings for the Jerusalem Post that we would also like to pass on to our readers:

http://www.jpost.com/Opinion/Columnists/Article.aspx?id=194271
http://www.jpost.com/Opinion/Columnists/Article.aspx?id=190774
http://www.jpost.com/Opinion/Columnists/Article.aspx?id=186287
http://www.jpost.com/Opinion/Columnists/Article.aspx?id=182475
We at ARCA extend our condolences to the communities, family and friends of Marilyn Henry.

Wednesday, March 02, 2011 - No comments

The Journal of Art Crime, Fall 2009: A Summary Review

The second issue of The Journal of Art Crime, published in the Fall of 2009 by the Association for Research into Crimes against Art (ARCA) and edited by Noah Charney, features academic articles, editorial essays, and reviews.

Academic articles include Graham Ospreay's "Issues in Identification and the Authenticity of Artist's Signatures"; Liz Losch's "Hebborn's 'Van Dyck': Authenticity and Authorship in the Forgery of an Old Master Drawing"; Bojan Dobovsek, Noah Charney, and Sasa Vucko on "Art Crime Archives"; Judge Arthur Tompkins' "A Permanent International Art Crime Tribunal?"; Stepahnie Goldfarb's "Lessons in Looting"; and John Yates "Vinlandsaga: The Mystery of the Yale Vinland Map".

Regular columns include Noah Charney's Lessons from the History of Art Crime ("Ten Cost-Effective Steps to Improve Security at Your Museum"); David Gill's Context Matters ("Looting in the Balkans"); Donn Zaretsky's Art Law and Policy ("Holocaust Era Cases Reviewed"); and Colonel Giovanni Pastore's Cultural Heritage ("Protection of the Concept and Profiles".

Editorial essays include Mark Durney on "Understanding the Motivations Behind Art Crime and the Effects of an Institution's Response"; Abiodun Johnson Eniyandunni on "Cultural Artifacts in Nigeria"; Judith Harris on "Financing Terror"; and Catherine Schofield Sezgin on "Turkish Archaeological Sites and the Trade of Illegal Antiquities".

Reviews include David Gill on "Whose Culture? The Promise of Museums and the Debate Over Antiquities"; Douglas L. Yearwood on "The Lost Chalice: The Epic Hunt for a Priceless Masterpiece"; James Charney on "The Monuments Men: Allied Heroes, Nazi Thieves and the Greatest Treasure Hunt in History"; John Kleberg on "Provenance"; and Emily Blyze and Kate Panella on ARCA's War Looting Literature Review.

Other items include Noah Charney's The Art We Must Protect ("Top Ten Must-See Works of Art in Madrid"); Mark Durney's profile of Chris Marinello, Executive Director and General Counsel of the Art Loss Register; Mark Durney's Q&A with Charley Hill; and the 2009 ARCA Award Winners.

If you would like to subscribe to this journal, please go to ARCA's website here. Thank you for your support in advance.

Cover Illustration by Urska Charney.

March 1, 2011

Tuesday, March 01, 2011 - No comments

The Journal of Art Crime, Spring 2010: A Summary Review


The third issue of The Journal of Art Crime, the first peer-reviewed academic journal on the interdisciplinary study of art crime edited by Noah Charney and published by ARCA, was published in the Spring of 2010. Based upon last month's success of highlighting articles in the fourth issue of The Journal of Art Crime, we're taking the time to backtrack to highlight the contents of the first three issues.


In his Letter from the Editor, Noah Charney highlights the second article from a new member of our prestigious staff of regular columnists: Colonel Giovanni Pastore, until recently the Vice-Commandant of the Carabinieri Division for the Protection of Cultural Heritage:
"Pastore, a founding trustee of ARCA, is one of the world's most decorated and respected art officers. His work has been particularly instrumental in encouraging international cooperation between police forces, and building a bridge between academia and law enforcement -- both fundamental goals of ARCA. Pastore's column appears in Italian and in English translation, to further emphasize the internationality of ARCA (with seats in Italy and the United States) and of art crime itself."
"We are also proud to introduce another new regular columnist, Ton Cremers. Cremers is an expert on museum safety and security and is the founder of the Museum Security Network, which assembles press releases on art crime and museum security worldwide for dissemination to members of the art and art security worlds. We are honored to include Cremers in this and future issues of the journal."
Academic articles include "Collecting Histories and the Market for Classical Antiquiteis" by David W. J. Gill; "Responding to Art Vandalism in British Museums and Galleries: a Survey of the Situation" by Helen E. Scott; "The Getty Kouros Mystery" by Miranda Vitello; "Copy versus Forgery: The Difficulty in Determining Motive with Regards to Modern Iconography and Icon Collections" by Riikka Köngäs; "Faking History: How Provenance Forgery is Conning the Art World" by Olivia Sladen; and "The Looting of the Iraq Museums: An Examination of Efforts to Protect Universal Cultural Property" by Simmy Swinder.

Some of our regular columns include Ton Cremer's "Security & Safety Reflections, Oxygen Reduction in Museums, Libraries, and Archives"; David Gill's "Context Matters: Italy and the US, Reviewing Cultural Property Agreements"; Colonel Giovanni Pastore's "Cultural Heritage, The Defense of Underwater Archaeological Heritage"; Noah Charney's "Lessons from the History of Art Crime, Did the Nazis Steal the Mona Lisa?"; and Donn Zaretsky's "Art Law and Policy.

Editorial Essays include John Kleberg on "What's in a Number?" and "University Treasures"; Judith Harris on "After 40 Years, Revelations about the Lost Caravaggio"; and David W. J. Gill on "The Returns to Italy from North America: An Overview."

Book reviews include "Nazi Plunder: Great Treasure Stories of World War II"; "America and the Return of Nazi Contraband: The Recovery of Europe's Cultural Treasures"; "Criminology and Archaeology: Studies in Looted Antiquities"; "The Restitution of Cultural Assets"; and four French books on Rose Valland.

Noah Charney reviews the exhibit "Caravaggio at The Quirinale" Exhibition at the Scuderie del Quirinale in Rome.

Other articles include Noah Charney's "The Art We Must Protect: Top Ten Must-See Artworks in the USA"; Mark Durney's profile of Ton Cremers and "Q&A with ICE's Cultural Property, Art and Antiquities Program Head of the Northeast, Special Agent Bonnie Goldblatt"; and the 2010 ARCA Award Winners.

You may subscribe to The Journal of Art Crime here.

February 28, 2011

Monday, February 28, 2011 - No comments

Polish newspaper Rzeczpospolita reports World War II looted painting "Girl with a Dove" by Antoine Pesne has been located in Moscow

by Catherine Schofield Sezgin, editor

Journalist Luke Zalesiński in the Polish daily newspaper, Rzeczpospolita, reports online today here that the National Museum in Poznan has found one of it's World War II looted paintings in Moscow but may have to buy it back before it is returned to Poland. (You can also find another blog, Poland.pl, that relayed this information in English here).

Antoine Pesne, a court painter of King Frederick II of Prussia, created "Girl with a Dove" in 1754. The National Museum of Poznan purchased it from a private collector. In 1943, the Germans ordered the evacuation of the museum and sent art to eastern Germany where they were later taken by the Red Army. Only a portion of the collection was returned after the war.

Piotr Michalowski, director of the National Museum in Poznan, has identified the painting with photographs made before the war and reports that the painting has suffered some damage. Negotiations by the Ministry of Culture for the return of the painting have been ongoing since last summer.

Polish museums and private collectors lost about 70 percent of material heritage such as paintings by Raphael, Brueghel, Van Dyck, Malczewski, Kossak, and Gierymski, according to the cultural ministry. "Today it is difficult to determine what proportion of stolen cultural property returned to the country as a result of post-war restitution share," according to article (as translated from Polish to English). The Ministry of Culture's stolen art database has 60,000 records, but "but often one entry refers to several items that were listed once under the same inventory number."

Poland's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, according to the article, has a team trying to recovery cultural property and searches major auction houses for images of stolen art. The article cites two examples: The National Museum in Warsaw recovered "Adrieana Brouwer's "The peasants in the tavern" when it was put up for sale at Christie's in London in the late 1990s, according to the article. By the time the museum identified the painting, it had been sold to a London art dealer who had sold it to someone in France. The London art dealer, Johnny van Haeften, repurchased the painting and returned it to Warsaw. Alexander Gierymski's painting, "Jewish and oranges", was found in a Germany auction house last year and negotiations are ongoing for its return.

"Good faith" laws protecting the purchasers of art from claims of stolen property in many countries create barriers for the return of looted art.

Photo: "Girl with a Dove" image from the National Museum of Poznan.

Monday, February 28, 2011 - ,,, No comments

Art Theft Anniversary: Three Picassos Stolen from Grandaughter in Paris

by Catherine Schofield Sezgin, Editor

Four years ago on February 27, 2007, Pablo Picasso's granddaughter reported the early morning theft of two Picasso paintings worth 50 million euros from her Paris apartment. At about 4 a.m., two paintings had been removed from the Left Bank apartment of art historian Diana Widmaier-Picasso on rue du Grenelle in the 7th Arrondisement. "Maya and the Doll" (Maya a la poupee), is a 1938 portrait of her mother, Maya Widmaier, the daughter of Picasso and Marie-Therese Walter, the artist's companion from 1924-1944. "Portrait of Jacqueline" was painted by PIcasso in 1961 the year he married his second wife, Jacqueline Roque. The theft also included a lead pencil drawing and collage on paper, "Marie Therese at 21 years".

Widmaier and her mother were awoken by a noise, went downstairs, and having noticed nothing, returned to bed. They noticed the missing paintings later that morning. Thieves had neutralized the alarm and had either used the code or the keys to enter the second floor apartment. One painting had been sliced from its frame and another had been removed from the wall although newspaper reports differ as to what happened to each painting.

Pablo Picasso, who died at 91 years of age of a heart attack in 1973, is one of the world's most popular artists. His 1905 "Garcon a la pipe" sold for $104.2 million at Sotheby's in 2004. After Picasso's death, his heirs divided up his paintings.

The Organized Crime Unit of Paris police investigated the theft. In 1976, one of France's largest art thefts, involved the robbery of 118 paintings, drawings, and other Picasso works from a museum in Avignon. Picasso works were stolen from Zurich in 1994; from London in 1997; Rio de Janeiro; and the Pompidou Centre museum in Paris. In 1989, 12 Picasso paintings were taken from the Cannes home of Marino Picasso, another of the artist's granddaughters, and later recovered.

In August, within six months of the theft, Paris police had recovered the two paintings and arrested three people for the robbery which they had had under surveillance for more than a month when a suspect took the rolled-up paintings to a potential buyer.

Photos: "Portrait of Jacqueline" and "Maya and the Doll"

February 27, 2011

Sunday, February 27, 2011 - ,,,,, No comments

The Journal of Art Crime: Judge Arthur Tompkins Reviews "The Taste of Angels" and "Art Plunder: The Fate of Works of Art in War and Unrest"



In the fourth issue of The Journal of Art Crime, Judge Arthur Tompkins reviews "The Taste of Angels" (First American Edition; Little Brown and Company, Boston, 1948) by Francis Henry Taylor and "Art Plunder: The Fate of Works of Art in War and Unrest" (John Day, New York, 1961) by Wilhelm Treue and translated by Basil Creighton.

Although both of these books are out of print, they can be found from second-hand internet-based booksellers, and are valuable sources for any student of art crime, writes Judge Tompkins.

In "The Taste of Angels", a former director of New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art surveys the history of art collecting across a wide variety of settings, including the Pharaohs in Egypt, through the Hellenic and Roman Civilizations,the Italy of the Renaissance,the Medicis and the Papacy, and on to the fall of Napoleon.

Wilhelm Treue's small (250 pages) work is an illuminating precursor to the modern study of art crime. According to Judge Tompkins, "it is probably the earliest work of serious scholarship that sets out to encompass, in a coherent form, the long history of art crimes committed during times of war."

Judge Arthur Tompkins has been a District Court Judge in New Zealand for 11 years, having been appointed in 1997. He gained his Bachelor's degree in Law from Canterbury University, in Christchurch, New Zealand, in 1983, and subsequently graduated Masters in Law, with First Class Honors, from Cambridge University, England, in 1984. He has taught the Law of Evidence, and presented at numerous conferences and workshops on a variety of topics, including art crime, expert evidence, the intersect between law and science in courtroom, and forensic DNA, in New Zealand, China, England, Ireland, France, and Italy. He is an Honorary Member of Interpol's DNA Monitoring Expert Group, and an elected Fellow of the Cambridge Commonwealth Trust. He teaches "Art in War" at ARCA's Postgraduate Program in International Art Crime and Cultural Heritage Protection in Amelia each summer.

To seek out this piece, and many others, consider a subscription to the Journal of Art Crime—the first peer-reviewed academic journal covering art and heritage crime. ARCA publishes two volumes annually in the Spring and Fall. Individual, Institutional, electronic and printed versions are all available, with subscriptions as low as 30 Euros. All proceeds go to ARCA's nonprofit research and education initiatives. Please see the publications page for more information.

February 26, 2011

Saturday, February 26, 2011 - , No comments

Amelia, Umbria: "Ciao Ciao" to Giampiero Novelli

by Catherine Schofield Sezgin, Editor

One of the reasons I miss Amelia has nothing to do with pizza, gelato or art crime: Giampiero Novelli. Since my first walk through the open shops of the medieval center of Amelia, I would greet the man standing in front of the shoe store. He had a friendly smile and a quick cheerful "Ciao Ciao" which he accompanied with a wave. After seeing him sell tickets to the wine tasting festival, helping out at the dining room of Punto Divino (and sometimes in the kitchen), and organizing the medieval festivities in August, I understood that not much happens in Amelia without Giampiero, his wife Paola, and his brother-in-law Luciano Rossi (proprietor of Punto Divino) and Luciano's wife Manuela.

Giampiero's English is better than my Italian, but I asked his niece, Francesca Rossi, our correspondent in Amelia, to pass on a few questions to her uncle.
ARCA blog: Giampiero, how long have you lived in Amelia and are you happy living in this historic town?

Giampiero: I'm living in Amelia since 60 years ago...which means since I was born! And I'm really happy to live in here!

ARCA blog: You have a fantastic selection of shoes for men, women and children. What is it like to be a small businessman in Amelia right now?

Giampiero: Even if we're going through a difficult period, this is still a job full of satisfaction and also, after 30 years doing that, there is also an affection and a devotion to the shoe business that is stronger than everything.

ARCA blog: As I've told our readers, you don't just operate a shoe store. You are involved in just as many activities as the mayor of the town. Have you thought of going into politics or do all your activities keep you too busy?

Giampero: Absolutely not! I like to be involved in volunteering roles to make a better Amelia and to improve the hospitality here but I'm really not interested in being a politician. (After pausing to think, he continued) See, in this moment I am both Prior of my "contrada" and President of the traders' association in town and you know what? Actually it's sort of like being in politics because you have to deal with all the institutions and politicians in town and obviously this give you a certain influence in making decisions.

ARCA blog: Giampiero, many of our readers are learning about Amelia for the first time through our art crime blog. What would you advise someone about visiting Amelia for the first time?

Giampiero: Well...I would suggest a visit to our Museum and obviously Germanico; the Ancient Walls; the S. Magno Monastery with its unique organ; the Cathedral; the Roman Cisterne; the Theatre; and none the less, take your time for a gastronomic itinerary to taste our food and wine specialties!

Editor's note: A contrada is a district, or a ward, of a medieval Italian city. Historical Amelia is divided into five contrade.

Saturday, February 26, 2011 - ,,,,,, No comments

The Journal of Art Crime: Noah Charney Reviews "A Real Van Gogh: How the Art World Struggles with Truth"

In the fourth issue of The Journal of Art Crime, Noah Charney reviews Henk Tromp's book, "A Real Van Gogh: How the Art World Struggles with Truth" (Amsterdam University Press 2010).
"The art world wants to be trick," Noah Charney writes. "That is certainly the conclusion one comes away with after reading A Real Van Gogh, Henk Tromp's thoroughly researched, highly readable, fascinating new book, which uses the history of van Gogh authenticity and forgery debates to discuss what happens in the art world when someone cries wolf. It's not a pretty picture for the expert who deigns to proclaim a work inauthentic."
To seek out this piece, and many others, consider a subscription to the Journal of Art Crime—the first peer-reviewed academic journal covering art and heritage crime. ARCA publishes two volumes annually in the Spring and Fall. Individual, Institutional, electronic and printed versions are all available, with subscriptions as low as 30 Euros. All proceeds go to ARCA's nonprofit research and education initiatives. Please see the publications page for more information.

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