September 12, 2000, part II

"Sotheby's...Can't deal with them, Can't deal without them"

Sotheby's : escaping the noose

The most powerful institution in today's Art Market is not to be ignored. Actively dealing or collecting includes buying and selling through Sotheby's. You can't avoid them. One knows that means dealing through an institution which sold knowingly among other things Holocaust Art, stolen and/or smuggled antiquities and works of art of doubtful authenticity. Recently exposed as being involved on a large scale in price fixing, Sotheby's can never be sent to prison for it. If 'Sotheby's' the entity was instead an individual, many of today's players in the art market would not like to be seen in such company. But it's a faceless institution. So, we put our conscious to sleep and carry on. The people behind the auction house and those who work inside it cannot be individually held to account. This is the conclusion reached by the press and the art world at large. Or - are they guilty and can they be blamed? Somewhere along the line - somebody had to be responsible. But then what? The old phrase "Dass haben wir nicht gewuscht" still works. Occasionally Sotheby's have been held accountable for their actions. Which only occasionally resulted in sacrificing one or two of their so-called 'experts'.
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Peter Watson gave them the coup de grace by exposing their knowledge of knowingly dealing in stolen and smuggled antiquities. So, it seemed. The art world was holding it's breath. Sotheby's was already on the barricades reaching out to every possible influential contact in and outside of the art world. And there were many, and it worked. Some experts were 'sacrificed' and slowly - even this devastating event started fading away. The art world could breath again.
Sotheby's once more escaped the noose. It would be naive to say that such an institution should be closed down. They also have proven through the years to be capable of doing incredibly positive things.
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Michel Van Rijn and Sotheby's - The Death of a Love Affair

My own love affair with Sotheby's started turning sour in 1979. I had two leading art galleries in Tokyo, was part of the' in' crowd and mixed with the movers and the shakers who were welcome at the Sotheby's premises any time, any office. Of course the nerve centre was London, that time with the legendary Peter Wilson on the helm. We were the wild bunch holding the entrance codes of the offices of the experts one dealt with. We could move freely behind the facade open to the public. Works of art which were a little questionable were sold by private treaty. Everything worked perfectly. Your position with Sotheby's as a valuable dealer grew day by day, as one shared the same secrets. Money was flowing in and fidelity was not to be questioned. Weren't we lovers?
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Revenge : The Avar Treasure
A provenance was born.
The Lure of Treasure Never Die
Sweet Revenge is like Good Wine

Read complete report at:

http://ARTnewsroom.com/ArtNewsHeadlines-09/VanRijn.html

From: "Gillian Bradbury" gillian@traceit4u.com
To: securma@museum-security.org
Subject:

Request for Inclusion on your site as a service in relation to stolen Antiques

Date sent: Tue, 12 Sep 2000 16:34:22 +0100
My name is Gillian Bradbury. I represent a newly formed internet service called http://www.traceit4u.com
a private organisation based in Hertfordshire, England.
The concept for our site was borne out of the knowledge that only a fraction of the stolen/recovered property held in police stores in the United Kingdom is reunited with its lawful owner. The site was developed with the assistance of a number of retired Police Officers and has distinct properties that include links into every Police Force Internet site in the British Isles as well as other crime related services such as Victim support, Neighbourhood Watch, and Crimestoppers. The site displays 62 main property categories with numerous sub-categories for the Police and General Public to display images of their identifiable lost/stolen or stolen/ recovered property from valuable antiques to items of nominal value for others to view.
Many thanks
Kind regards
Gillian Bradbury

Traceit4u.com.Ltd

SEVEN VALUABLE COLONIAL PAINTINGS STOLEN FROM BOLIVIAN CHURCH

Story Filed: Tuesday, September 05, 2000 6:45 PM EST
La Paz, Sep 05, 2000 (EFE via COMTEX) -- Seven valuable colonial paintings and two silver objects were stolen from the Laja church, 35 kilometers west of La Paz, the Education Ministry reported Tuesday.
Education Minister Tito Hoz said that the robbery took place on Aug 31. He attributed it to international art theft rings. The Laja church, in the province of La Paz, is the country's most frequently robbed temple.
According to Hoz, the oil paintings stolen by the as yet unidentified thieves include "Virgin of Carmel," "Baby Jesus with St. John as a Boy," "Virgin of Mercy and Saints," "Our Lady of Sorrows," and the "Coronation of the Virgin."
The thieves also made away with a silver exhibition pedestal and tabernacle plate and a portable silver step ladder/stool. The church was also robbed in 1969 and 1974 and none of the stolen pieces were ever recovered.
The rural churches of La Paz, Oruro and Potosi, in that order, are the most frequently robbed, with more than 90 percent of the robberies. According to Hoz, this is due to the poverty of the people, emigration and neglect of the churches.
Less than 20 percent of Bolivia's national treasures have been catalogued, and most of these temples lack inventories due to lack of funds and trained personnel, Hoz said.
So far this year, a total of nine thefts have been reported, including Laja. EFE

Police probe alleged theft of rare violin

Associated Press, 09/02/00
BOSTON -- Boston police are investigating the apparent theft of a $2 million violin from an unlocked hall closet in a city apartment.
The owner, 26-year-old Dohoon Rhee, called police Thursday to report that his rare, centuries-old Stradivarius was taken from the closet sometime in the last three months, police said.
Rhee told police he had last seen the violin in May, but had been out of the country for more than a month and when he returned, it was gone.
Police spokesman Tom Sexton said police have not authenticated whether the stolen instrument was in fact a Stradivarius, or that Rhee was the owner. The case is under investigation.
"It's an unusual report," Sexton said. "It's not an everyday occurrence that someone claims to have a $2 million musical instrument missing."
The owner's roommate was home while he was away, but did not report any break-ins, police said. The company that manages the building, however, had been showing the apartment in the city's Allston neighborhood to prospective tenants.
The violin has wear marks on both sides and the bow is broken. Both were kept in a brown case, police said.
Scholars estimate that Antonius Stradivarius made only 1,116 violins in his lifetime 250 years ago. The violins, famous for their brilliant tone and power, are extremely rare. Thousands of fake Stradivari have been crafted over the years.
Attempts to reach Rhee for comment Saturday were unsuccessful. A phone listing for Rhee was disconnected.