Pursuant to F.R.C.P. 41(a)(1)(A)(i) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure,
the case involving plaintiffs William and Lynda Beierwaltes and a Marble Head of a Bull (ca 500-460 BCE) filed with the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York has been voluntarily dismissed with prejudice.
Copies of the public domain records on this case, including this Notice of Voluntary Dismissal written on October 11, 2017, can be found in the case review files on ARCA's website here.
On October 12, 2017, the Department of State notified UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova of the U.S. decision to withdraw from the organization and to seek to establish a permanent observer mission to UNESCO. This decision was not taken lightly, and reflects U.S. concerns with mounting arrears at UNESCO, the need for fundamental reform in the organization, and continuing anti-Israel bias at UNESCO.
The United States indicated to the Director General its desire to remain engaged with UNESCO as a non-member observer state in order to contribute U.S. views, perspectives and expertise on some of the important issues undertaken by the organization, including the protection of world heritage, advocating for press freedoms, and promoting scientific collaboration and education.
Pursuant to Article II(6) of the UNESCO Constitution, U.S. withdrawal will take effect on December 31, 2018. The United States will remain a full member of UNESCO until that time.
After receiving official notification by the United States Secretary of State, Mr Rex Tillerson, as UNESCO Director-General, I wish to express profound regret at the decision of the United States of America to withdraw from UNESCO.
Universality is critical to UNESCO’s mission to strengthen international peace and security in the face of hatred and violence, to defend human rights and dignity.
In 2011, when payment of membership contributions was suspended at the 36th session of the UNESCO General Conference, I said I was convinced UNESCO had never mattered as much for the United States, or the United States for UNESCO.
This is all the more true today, when the rise of violent extremism and terrorism calls for new long-term responses for peace and security, to counter racism and antisemitism, to fight ignorance and discrimination.
I believe UNESCO’s work to advance literacy and quality education is shared by the American people.
I believe UNESCO’s action to harness new technologies to enhance learning is shared by the American people.
I believe UNESCO’s action to enhance scientific cooperation, for ocean sustainability, is shared by the American people.
I believe UNESCO’s action to promote freedom of expression, to defend the safety of journalists, is shared by the American people.
I believe UNESCO’s action to empower girls and women as change-makers, as peacebuilders, is shared by the American people.
I believe UNESCO’s action to bolster societies facing emergencies, disasters and conflicts is shared by the American people.
Despite the withholding of funding, since 2011, we have deepened the partnership between the United States and UNESCO, which has never been so meaningful.
Together, we have worked to protect humanity’s shared cultural heritage in the face of terrorist attacks and to prevent violent extremism through education and media literacy.
Together, we worked with the late Samuel Pisar, Honorary Ambassador and Special Envoy for Holocaust Education, to promote education for remembrance of the Holocaust across the world as the means to fight antisemitism and genocide today, including with, amongst others, the UNESCO Chair for Genocide Education at the University of Southern California and the UNESCO Chair on Literacy and Learning at the University of Pennsylvania.
Together, we work with the OSCE to produce new tools for educators against all forms of antisemitism, as we have done to fight anti-Muslim racism in schools.
Together, we launched the Global Partnership for Girls’ and Women’s Education in 2011.
Together, with the American academic community, including 17 UNESCO University Chairs, we have worked to advance literacy, to promote sciences for sustainability, to teach respect for all in schools.
This partnership has been embodied in our interaction with the United States Geological Survey, with the US Army Corps of Engineers, with United States professional societies, to advance research for the sustainable management of water resources, agriculture.
It has been embodied in the celebration of World Press Freedom Day in Washington D.C in 2011, with the National Endowment for Democracy.
It has been embodied in our cooperation with major private sector companies, with Microsoft, Cisco, Procter & Gamble, Intel, to retain girls in school, to nurture technologies for quality learning.
It has been embodied in the promotion of International Jazz Day, including at the White House in 2016, to celebrate human rights and cultural diversity on the basis of tolerance and respect.
It has been embodied in 23 World Heritage sites, reflecting the universal value of the cultural heritage of the United States, in 30 Biosphere Reserves, embodying the country’s vast and rich biodiversity, in 6 Creative Cities, as a source of innovation and job creation.
The partnership between UNESCO and the United States has been deep, because it has drawn on shared values.
The American poet, diplomat and Librarian of Congress, Archibald MacLeish penned the lines that open UNESCO’s 1945 Constitution: “Since wars begin in the minds of men, it is in the minds of men that the defences of peace must be constructed.” This vision has never been more relevant.
The United States helped inspire the 1972 UNESCO World Heritage Convention.
In 2002, one year after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the late Russell Train, former Head of the US Environmental Protection Agency and founder of the World Wildlife Fund, who did so much to launch the World Heritage Convention, said: “At this time in history, as the fabric of human society seems increasingly under attack by forces that deny the very existence of a shared heritage, forces that strike at the very heart of our sense of community, I am convinced that World Heritage holds out a contrary and positive vision of human society and our human future.”
UNESCO’s work is key to strengthen the bonds of humanity’s common heritage in the face of forces of hatred and division.
The Statue of Liberty is a World Heritage site because it is a defining symbol of the United States of America, and also because of what it says for people across the world.
Independence Hall, where the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution were signed, is a World Heritage site, because its message speaks to policy-makers and activists across the globe.
Yosemite, Yellowstone and the Grand Canyon are World Heritage sites, because they are marvels for everyone, in all countries.
This is not just about World Heritage.
UNESCO in itself holds out this “positive vision of human society.”
At the time when the fight against violent extremism calls for renewed investment in education, in dialogue among cultures to prevent hatred, it is deeply regrettable that the United States should withdraw from the United Nations agency leading these issues.
At the time when conflicts continue to tear apart societies across the world, it is deeply regrettable for the United States to withdraw from the United Nations agency promoting education for peace and protecting culture under attack.
This is why I regret the withdrawal of the United States.
This is a loss to UNESCO.
This is a loss to the United Nations family.
This is a loss for multilateralism.
UNESCO’s task is not over, and we will continue taking it forward, to build a 21st century that is more just, peaceful, equitable, and, for this, UNESCO needs the leadership of all States.
UNESCO will continue to work for the universality of this Organization, for the values we share, for the objectives we hold in common, to strengthen a more effective multilateral order and a more peaceful, more just world.
Thirteen Roman-era marble columns, two pedestals, a funerary stele, architectural capitals, amphorae and vases have reportedly been recovered by Italian authorities from INSIDE a private residence in the Santa Teresa area of Anzio, approximately 50 km from Rome.
Given their large size, many of the objects have been temporarily transported to the Museum Villa Adele at Anzio where the larger of them remain outside the museum near its entrance.
No indications, in initial public reports, state when this seizure occurred or in whose private villa the ancient objects were initially sequestered. The large size of the artifacts, which required heavy transport vehicles to deposit them at the entrance of the museum, leave more questions unanswered than answered. how could objects this large be stolen and transported inside a private home without raising any alarm bells along the way?
“After having been presented with incontrovertible evidence that the bull’s head was stolen from Lebanon, the Beierwaltes believed it was in everyone’s best interest to withdraw their claim to the bull’s head and allow its repatriation to Lebanon.”
This decision was taken after the State of New York's 68-page Application for Turnover went into painstaking detail on how this plundered antiquity made its way illicitly to the United States. That document can be read here.
In a letter to the Honorable Daniel P. FitzGerald with the Supreme Court of New York County, Assistant District Attorney Matthew Bogdanos writes that the Beierwaltes have signed a stipulation consenting to the Court’s release of the Bull’s Head to the Lebanese Republic pursuant to N.Y. Penal Law §450.10 on the disposal of stolen property and the N.Y. Criminal Procedure Law §690.55 on search warrants and the disposition of seized property.
According to a New York Times article, Assistant District Attorney Matthew Bogdanos and researchers which have supported his case spotted another potentially looted antiquity, also from Lebanon. This object, a marble torso of a calf bearer, was identified in a photograph taken inside the Beierwalteses’ home for the June 1998 special issue of of House & Garden magazine.
The photos for this magazine are included in publicly filed documents with the New York District Attorney case and can be read here.
According to an article by Colin Moynihan for the New York Times, Attorney Bogdanos has stated that this object too may have been plundered from Lebanon prior to it being acquired by William and Lynda Beierwaltes. The article goes on to specify that the Beierwalteses then sold this object on to New York collector Michael H. Steinhardt, in 2015.
The DA's office has stated it has obtained a warrant to seize this object from Mr. Steinhardt.
Organised by: ETH Zurich and University of Geneva, with a support of the Swiss National Science Foundation and the Swiss Commission for UNESCO, Bern
Organizing committee:
Dr. Irka Hajdas, Prof. Hans Arno Synal, Laboratory of Ion Beam Physics ETHZ
Prof. Eric Huysecom and Dr. Anne Mayor Laboratory Archaeology and Population in Africa, University of Geneva,
Prof. Marc-André Renold Art-Law Centre, University of Geneva
Date: 16-17 November 2017
Location: ETH Zürich
Rämistrasse 101
8092 Zürich, Switzerland
Workshop Fees: CHF 50.00
Invited speakers (see preliminary program (PDF, 120 KB)) will introduce the problems around the antiquities and illicit art trade. Presentations will be made by representatives of AMS laboratories sharing their experiences and practice in dating antiquities. Allied professionals will explore the market for conflict antiquities and fake conflict antiquities as well as scientific and criminological approaches to looking at ways to combat the illicit trade in antiquities.
For further information the organizers can be contacted here.
Today, Italy’s Guardia di Finanza unit in Foggia announced the recovery of a large stash of antiquities, antique weaponry and religious art and relics.
Image Credit: Guardia di Finanza
In two separate raids between Cerignola and the provincial capital of Foggia GdF officers have recovered 350 archaeological objects including votive statues, two volute craters decorated with moulded Medusa head handles, an impressive quantity of gnathia vases, attic pottery, painted plates, pouring vessels, and ancient jewelry decorated with gold, stone and bronze elements.
Image Credit: Guardia di Finanza
According to the superintendence who evaluated the finds, some of the ancient objects likely plundered from a Roman or Samnite tomb, possibly that of a soldier.
In addition to the antiquities officers recovered a canvas painting taken a few years back from the rural church of Palazzo d'Ascoli in the countryside of Ascoli Satriano, in the province of Foggia and what appears to be slipper, attached with a note proclaiming it belonged to the Blessed Pope Innocent XI (1611-1689).
Image Credit: Guardia di Finanza
Also recovered were a group of antique firearms dating back to 1600 -1800, as well as modern weaponry.
Image Credit: Guardia di Finanza
Two individuals, a 48-year old from Orta Nova and a 61 year old from Cerignola have been taken into custody by the financial police of the provincial command of Foggia charged with illegal possession of weapons, stolen goods and violations of the rules on the protection of cultural heritage. The latter individual, an attorney, has been released for the present time.
In August 2012 Hurriyet Daily News highlighted a report produced by Turkey's Culture and Tourism Ministry that examined more than 5,000 artworks in the country's State Art and Sculpture Museum in Ankara. In that report, the ministry identified that it was unable to account for more than 200 artworks from the museum and that several of the pieces apparently missing had subsequently been replaced with poor quality reproductions to disguise their removal.
Some of the works stolen included artwork by highly valued Turkish artists such as Şevket Dağ, Şefik Bursalu, Zühtü Müridoğlu, Hikmet Ona, and "Hoca" Ali Rıza.
State Art and Sculpture Museum in Ankara
When the news of the theft went public, experts and common citizens alike complained that the museum, like many in many countries, did not have an adequate inventory system in place to track and account for artworks moving in and out of the museum and the museum's storage areas. This vulnerability, it was partially reasoned, worked in the thieves favor.
A subsequent investigation into the scandal brought 18 individuals in for questioning and three individuals were formally charged and sentenced to prison for their involvement in the affair.
Cross checks conducted during this investigation revealed that some of the artwork originally listed as missing had instead been loaned out by the museum to government officials to decorate various governmental ministries and unauthorized buildings without proper documentation to account for their transfer. Adjusting the loss number for artworks later identified off-site, the total number of objects was reduced to 180, and until this week, only sixty-four have been recovered.
Recovered "Hoca" Ali Rıza drawing I
Yesterday, two drawings by Turkish painter and art teacher "Hoca" Ali Rıza, were seized by Turkish security forces from an art gallery in Istanbul with one individual being taken into custody for questioning. A artist from the late Ottoman era, Riza is primarily known for his Impressionist landscapes which captured Turkish neighborhoods and architectural elements. 13 of his sketches are known to have been stolen and exchanged with forged replicas.
Image Left: Pierre-Auguste Renoir self Portrait Image Right: Stolen "Portrait d'une jeune fille blonde" Image Credit: La Gazette Drouot
Painting: Portrait d'une Jeune Fille Blonde Artist: Pierre-Auguste Renoir Medium: oil on canvas with dimensions of 14 cm by 12.2 cm Identifying items: AR initials in the top left of the painting. Frame labeling: Chaussegros (Vichy), and a canvas numbering "022" Stolen: September 30, 2017
Location of Theft:l'Hôtel des Ventes de Saint-Germain-en-Laye (Yvelines)
The thief purportedly unhooked the painting and left the premises without being seen. Value details can be seen in the screen capture from the auctioneers website above.
After many impassioned arguments for the reinstatement of London's Art and Antiques squad London's mayor, Sadiq Khan, has confirmed that the deactivation of the New Scotland Yard unit has been solely temporary. The squad's three officers, Detective Constables Philip Clare, Sophie Hayes and Ray Swan had been seconded to other duties temporarily as the result of unprecedented demands on law enforcement in the wake of the Grenfell Tower fire tragedy.
Later this month, a newly appointed permanent unit head, Detective Sergeant Rob Upham, will take up the post vacated by DS Claire Hutcheon who retired from the Art and Antiques unit last March.
The Art and Antiques Squad of the New Scotland Yard is a specialised police responsible for the investigation of art and heritage crime in London. The unit is situated within the section for Economic and Specialist Crime in the Metropolitan Police Service and is responsible for the London Stolen Art Database, a police register which stores information and images of 54,000 items of stolen property.
Westfries Museum director Ad Geerdink in Kiev, standing next to
the recovered painting "Lady World". Image Credit: Westfries Museum
It was a Sunday night in October 1999 when a group of masked men entered the villa of the 84 year old lady in Bilthoven. The fragile woman was smashed against a radiator and guarded, while other robbers emptied the walls and took seven masterpieces within fifteen minutes. The brutal robbery had an enormous impact on her, one of which she would never recover. It was only in 2012 when one of the paintings was offered at Christie’s and recognized by the auction house staff. The fences were arrested and four more paintings were recovered, together with several types of drugs. For the owner, the recovery came too late. She had died several months before.
This tragic history is one of thirty stories of art thefts in the Netherlands that together make up the unique exhibition Plunder, Art Theft in the Netherlands, opening October 15th in the Westfries Museum in Hoorn. For the first time, art crime is the subject of an exhibition in the Netherlands, instead of the art works themselves.
In April 2016, four paintings were recovered in the Ukraine and a fifth was later voluntarily returned by its new owner. In September that year, they were returned to the museum, some in very bad condition requiring extensive restoration. The fifteen other paintings and silverware still remain missing.
Through this exhibit the museum aims to highlight the phenomenon of art theft in all its facets. From the motives of perpetrators to the suffering of victims. Thirty objects are used to demonstrate this. The singular thing each object has in common is the fact that they each were stolen in the Netherlands during the last few decades. Every item tells its own story and together they provide a fascinating look into the world of art and antiquities crime.
Even for someone familiar with art crime, the enormous diversity of the objects stolen is striking. Examples of works of art stolen from museums are supplemented with art stolen from private residences, art dealers and even a whole truck of art and antiquities destined for an art fair. One artist was robbed many times with a total loss of 27 bronze statues, another lost 37 of his paintings in one single theft. The motives of the thieves are less diverse, and show the ugly reality of art theft. In the end it usually comes down to money, even when the modus operandi may differ.
Theft for ransom, stolen art as collateral for criminals, theft in order to sell the works at auction or to dealers, and even theft to order from a dealer are all present in one remarkable exhibition. The latter case is especially interesting as this type of theft is often suspected but rarely proven.
In preparing this article, I spoke with the museum about the purpose of this exhibition, in their museum that was, and still is, a victim of art crime itself. Ad Geerdink, the director or the Westfries Museum, explains:
We want to achieve more awareness and public outrage about this topic. But also to ensure that owners of art and antiquities are more conscious of what they themselves can do themselves to prevent thefts. Or, in the unfortunate case a theft nevertheless happens, to ensure they have adequate documentation for police agencies and registers of stolen art. For that reason, we decided to organise a workshop around the exhibition, in collaboration with Donatus Insurance and Kerkmagazine (Church Magazine), for administrators of religious heritage.
Documentation, or the lack of it, is a recurring theme around art thefts. When asked about the lessons one can learn from this exhibit and art theft in general, Martin Finkelnberg also stresses the importance of documentation. Finkelnberg is head of the Art and Antique Crime Unit, National Criminal Intelligence Division of the National Police of the Netherlands.
The takeaway to learn here is that everything of value is vulnerable and thus a potential target for criminals. To guard against that it's very important to document every valuable object as without documentation recovery after a theft is almost impossible. Everybody already understands that to recover from an automobile theft, the owner cannot merely state “it was a green car of a German brand”. Why then do individuals assume that one can do this with an artwork. How effective can police officers be if the only thing they have to go on is “it was old, multicolored and painted on wood”?
Dick Drent, associate director with Sosecure and owner of Omnirisk, a risk management firm, also points to the need for improved and more comprehensive protection of cultural heritage. As an international protective intelligence expert on the security of cultural heritage, I spoke with him in Amsterdam about this upcoming exhibition and he had this to add:
It is a very special exhibition about a topic shrouded by sensation and even romance. But wouldn’t it be great if there would never be a sequel. Instead we should have an exhibit about the successful protection of cultural heritage, by preventing these awful raids through pro-active security. I already have a title: “The Netherlands - 30 years without art theft. Utopia or challenge?”. But above all, let’s not wait for another 30 years for this exhibit…
The exhibition ‘Plunder, Art Theft in the Netherlands’ will open on October 15, 2017 and run through February 12, 2018 at the Westfries Museum, Roode Steen 1, Hoorn (The Netherlands). ARCA’s CEO Lynda Albertson will be speaking at the official opening of the exhibition, together with the Secretary of Culture of the Netherlands.
By Edgar Tijhuis
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Check out this video of the restoration work process on the Westfries Museum paintings recovered in the Ukraine.
Aboutaams,Art Crime Case File,illicit antiquities,Lebanon,Lynda and William Beierwaltes,Michael Steinhardt,Phoenix Ancient Art,repatriation,Robin Symes
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Aboutaams,Art Crime Case File,illicit antiquities,Lebanon,Lynda and William Beierwaltes,Michael Steinhardt,Phoenix Ancient Art,repatriation,Robin Symes
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