February 20, 2000
CONTENTS:
- Re: MSN direction (Andrew Cranwell)
- Re: MSN direction (Robin Rogers)
- Re: MSN direction (Jack Watts)
- Israel restores ownership of Nazi-looted Pissarro
- The Bayeux Tapestry 'was made in England' ("We have taken a lot of criticism over the Elgin Marbles. It is time we redressed the balance and demand the Bayeux Tapestry come home to England")
- More than 100 Tate paintings on list of suspected Nazi loot
From: "Andrew Cranwell" arc4@ukc.ac.uk
Subject: Re: MSN direction (Steve Keller)
With regards to Mr. Keller's comments about streamlining the list, I really agree that for busy professionals extranaeous material can be annoying, especially with a focused list that has expanded to contain many diverse topics. Myself, as a student and reader of the list greatly enjoy the security information, results from crime (especially the amount of captures that seem to have occured lately), political issues and so forth. Without this list, I would not have been able to find a lot of good primary and secondary source material for my dissertation. I would like to suggest using two lists, one moderated to contain 'streamlined' information for those that require and another that contains all the information that satifys the readership of the list. As another reader pointed out, a 'crime and art theft' list would be excellent idea.
Andrew Cranwell (arc4@ukc.ac.uk)
From: riskmgmt@lava.net
Subject: Follow UP to Posts
I would like to comment on comments recently made by myself, Elisabeth Thoburn, Jennifer Barrett, Reid Bailey, and Steve Keller. Isnt it interesting the diversity of fields represented, and although everyone has a different interest ...everyone seems to be in agreement things are heading in the right direction. Everyone seems to be getting something a little different out of MSN. I guess I do even agree with Elisabeth and Jennifer on variety. But, then lets make sure there is variety. It just seemed to me MSN was heading off in a direction and leaving behind other areas. Probably a contribution issue. My fault as well. And, Elisabeth, I think you will be pleasantly surprised there are a lot of people not directly linked to Museums or security that visit and lurk about. Reid has an interesting thought on "follow up" or "results". I deal more with diasters such as theft or destruction by water and fire, or natural disaster. And/or, contingency planning, so locations have a plan to deal with diasters before they need it. I guess it seems important at the moment of the loss to report such and then to ask for help in saving what can be saved. But once that is done, the process becomes long and arduous, and the results are usually piecemeal and not so spectular. It is amazing to me how everyone seems to rally around at the moment of the loss, and there is a frenzy to report it, but when the process of recovery begins the general interest is lost. And there are times it is heartbreaking as when you are combating mold on something critical, in an environment of bureacracy that wants everything done the right way, with all the forms filled out, no matter how long it takes before you ever get to the critical item. I never thought anyone would be interested in the results. I will try and contribute in this area. And again, if you have any questions in the area of recovery, salvage, or contingency planning please ask me and I will try and contribute in these areas.
Robin Rogers
From: Jack Watts firesafe@middlebury.net
Subject: Re: FEBRUARY 18, 2000
Following a thread, here is 2 cents worth of thought on computer security for museums. Sometimes a museum's catalog is as important as its collection. And in this century, most catalogs are on computers. Much of the cultural value of artifacts is in their identification and provenance. Security and recovery are often dependent on being able to refer to an inventory to know what may be missing and how it can be identified. The integrity of a computerized catalog is more than backing-up. It is also shielding it from unauthorized alteration. I am not a curator or registrar, but I think I can sympathize with their interest in computer security.
-- Jack Watts
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John M. Watts, Jr., Ph.D., Director
Fire Safety Institute, P.O. Box 674, Middlebury, VT 05753 USA
voice/fax: (802) 462-2663 email: firesafe@middlebury.net
URL: http://middlebury.net/firesafe/
Israel restores ownership of Nazi-looted Pissarro
By Deborah Camiel
JERUSALEM (Reuters) - The Israel Museum will restore ownership of a century-old painting by Camille Pissarro to a Jewish family forced by the Nazis to sell it in 1935, the museum director said Friday. After months of investigation, the museum has recognized that Gerta Silberberg of Britain holds the legal title to Pissarro's ``Boulevard Montmartre, Spring 1897.'' However, Silberberg, sole heir of a German-Jewish businessman and art collector killed in the Holocaust, has allowed the museum to continue displaying the work. ``What's nice about the resolution is that we acknowledge (Gerta's) claim to the painting and she's allowing us to keep the painting in Jerusalem on long-term loan,'' museum director James Snyder told Reuters. He said the painting was valued at $5 million when it arrived at the Israel Museum, but declined to comment on its current value. It is one of a series of 14 views of Montmartre Boulevard in Paris by Pissarro, an Impressionist. The recovery of Jewish-owned works of art plundered during wartime has stepped up since the fall of the former Soviet Union. Germany's unification has also facilitated the ``clarification of such situations,'' Snyder said. The museum was alerted to the painting's troubled provenance by a letter last July 9 from Gerta Silberberg's attorneys who had investigated archives in the former East Germany. ``We actually knew the painting had been owned by (her late father-in-law) Max Silberberg...but only when records were opened in East Germany in 1998 did the Silberberg heirs understand the conditions under which the pictures had been sold,'' he said. ``The fact of the matter is that the Silberberg paintings were sold and the Silberbergs themselves subsequently died in the Holocaust. It's very clear these were forced sales.'' The Nazis systematically killed six million Jews in the Holocaust. Max Silberberg died in the Theresienstadt concentration camp in World War Two. Joachim and Lionel Pissarro, great-grandsons of the Jewish-French painter and experts on his art, worked with the museum to prove that the painting was one of 143 sold in a forced sale in Berlin in 1935. ``We worked quickly to clarify the history of the painting's ownership and to achieve a resolution regarding title,'' Snyder said. ``We are hopeful in a quiet way that the way we resolved this situation can be a model for other museums.''
Reuters/Variety
The Bayeux Tapestry 'was made in England'
By David Sapsted
THE Bayeux Tapestry, one France's most cherished works of art, was designed and made in England and should be returned immediately, according to a Kent historian. Alan Jeffrey, who heads a company specialising in history courses and displays, did little for the entente cordiale yesterday by insisting that the rightful home of the tapestry was his native Canterbury. He said: "There is plenty of evidence that points to the tapestry being made in our city. "We have taken a lot of criticism over the Elgin Marbles. It is time we redressed the balance and demand the Bayeux Tapestry come home to England. It is one of the most important pieces of our history, so it should come back here. Canterbury above all other cities has the most right to it." Mr Jeffrey's claim, however, prompted a swift Gallic response. "This is its home and this is where it stays," said a spokesman at the Bayeux Tapestry Museum, where the 230-foot long work hangs. The provenance and date of the embroidery have, been increasingly questioned over the years. Traditionally, it was considered to be the work of Queen Matilda, William the Conqueror's wife, and her handmaidens. But Mr Jeffrey says that both the style of the design and the eight-colour stitchwork involved mark it as Canterbury craftsmanship.
Tate paintings on list of suspected Nazi loot
By Chris Hastings and Catherine Milner
MORE than 100 paintings hanging on the walls of the Tate Gallery are to be included on a list of art objects suspected of being looted from victims of the Holocaust. A Pissarro recently returned to a Holocaust victim's family They include works by a string of great masters such as Monet, Degas and Picasso. The Telegraph has learnt that items on the list include the highly acclaimed Seine at Porte-Villez by Monet, which was bought from Wildenstein, the art dealer, in 1953. The gallery has also been forced to admit that it is unsure of the complete history of a seated nude by Picasso, which was bought in 1949 from the Galerie Pierre in Paris, and of Woman in a Tub by Degas, which was given to the Tate in 1983. The paintings are worth millions of pounds on the open market. A Jewish family in the South-East is already claiming ownership of a painting of Hampton Court by the Dutch artist Jan Griffier. The disclosure that so many paintings have gaps in their provenance is an embarrassment for the Tate's director, Sir Nicholas Serota, who has led calls for a proper audit of Britain's galleries. During the past 12 months, Britain's main galleries have been examining all works produced before 1945 and acquired since 1933, the year Hitler came to power, to see if they have a "gap" in their ownership records. Officials close to the audit say there are as many as 1,000 different art objects, not just paintings, with incomplete histories. They include hundreds of drawings and prints owned by the British Museum and the Victoria and Albert Museum. One expert close to the inquiry said: "Some very big names have been uncovered by the audit. The Nazis carried out the biggest art looting exercise in history. Hitler took a personal interest in the looting operation. Hundreds of suspect items have been uncovered by the audit. But it is important to remember that our national galleries contain tens of millions of objects." The galleries have been able to carry out a search of only a selection of items bought during the Nazi period. The treasure hunt is not only confined to paintings, although time constraints have meant that huge collections of stamps, silver, coins and firearms have not been properly examined. Local galleries included in the audit have found fewer problems, because most of their items were acquired before 1933. Experts will be keen to point out that just because a painting has an incomplete record of ownership does not mean it has been looted by the Nazis or anyone else. However, the paintings are sure to attract the attention of experts battling to restore Jewish art collections and will lead to more claims from the families of Holocaust victims. The Courtauld Institute - which has carried out its own audit - already has a claim against three of its Reubens paintings from a Dutch woman. Last week a painting by the French artist Camille Pissarro, Boulevard Montmartre: Spring, was transferred from the Jerusalem Museum in Israel to the daughter-in-law of Max Silberberg, a Jewish industrialist from Breslau who was killed in the Holocaust. Mrs Silberberg, 85, has also successfully proved ownership of a Van Gogh, which has been returned to her by the National Museum of Berlin. She currently has a claim on a Cézanne which is in St Petersburg, Russia. In Britain there is concern that a committee established by the Government to look at claims will not have enough powers to ensure proper restitution of art. Anne Webber, the joint chairman of the Commission for Looted Art in Europe, said: "It is a matter of great concern that Britain is out of step with the rest of the world and is not committed to returning these works to their rightful owners. It could mean in this case that British claimants can find justice elsewhere but not here." The results of the British survey were supposed to have been announced this month, but were delayed when some galleries failed to complete their investigations in time, because of the enormity of the task that faced them. The British Museum and the V & A together own more than 20 million items. Even those galleries that have completed on time have had to restrict which items they have looked at. Experts say that given more time they may have found thousands rather than hundreds of prints and drawings. There is also the cost of hiring researchers. It is feared that, without extra government money, the survey might never be completed. Richard Chesonff, author of the book Pack of Thieves: How Hitler in Europe Plundered the Jews, said: "After going through all this material, there isn't a single museum, gallery or auction house in the Western world, from Norway to Romania, which hasn't got Nazi looted art hanging on the walls."
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/