November 2, 2000
CONTENTS:
- Query: motion sensors
- U.S. Protects Nicaragua's Pre-Columbian Archaeological Materials
- WAR SEA GRAVES PILLAGED
- LIVING OFF THE DEAD: TOMB LOOTER EXPOSED
- Court upholds $60 sale of art resold for $1 million
- Eight more are named in auction-house lawsuit
- Antique dealer sues over painting's value
- Phillips: A Third Bidder for Auction World Heft
(The historical tug of war
between Sotheby's and Christie's has turned into an expensive three-way fight
and their catalogs seem bloated with second-rate paintings)
From: Preparator preparator@AllentownArtMuseum.org
Subject: motion sensors
Dear Sir or Madam,
I am in search of a small motion sensor which will alert our guards when a patron is too close to a work of art. The ideal sensor would have to have a narrow detection range, about 1.5 ft in front of the art, be battery operated (9V) and have a non-disruptive alarm or chime. I discovered one device which is essentially an invisible wall, which when broken sets off and alarm. However, this device is has too steep a price tag. If you know of any inexpensive devices of this sort I would greatly appreciate the info.
Thanks for your help!
Jennifer O'Neil
Preparator/Asst Mngr of Building Operations
Allentown Art Museum
Allentown, PA
From: "Gardiner, Bonnie" bgardine@pd.state.gov
Subject: U.S. Protects Nicaragua's Pre-Columbian Archaeological Materials
U.S. Protects Nicaragua's Pre-Columbian Archaeological Materials
U.S. import restrictions on Pre-Columbian archaeological materials from 8000 B.C. to 1550 A.D. went into effect October 26, 2000, following the conclusion of an exchange of diplomatic notes between the governments of the United States and Nicaragua on October 20. On June 16, 1999, the two countries had signed an Agreement providing the import restrictions that required ratification by Nicaragua's national legislature and approval by its president. This is the third such agreement in the region; together with earlier U.S. agreements with Guatemala and El Salvador, it will foster the regional cooperation so critical to reducing pillage of non-renewable cultural heritage.
Artifacts subject to restriction include categories of Pre-Columbian archaeological materials from 8000 B.C. to 1550 A.D. including, but not limited to, ceramic polychrome vessels, ceramic seals, beads and spindle whorls; stone statues, vessels grinding stones, petroglyphs, mace heads, small greenstone objects, jewelry, chipped stone tools, gold decorative ornaments, and pierced shell beads. Further description is provided in the Federal Register notice. An illustrated list is available on the International Cultural Property Protection web site:
http://exchanges.state.gov/education/culprop
The restricted objects may enter the United States if accompanied by an export permit issued by the Government of Nicaragua or documentation that the items left Nicaragua prior to October 26, 2000, the publication date of notice in the Federal Register.
Bonnie Magness-Gardiner
Consulting Archaeologist
Cultural Property Advisory Committee
U.S. Department of State
(202) 619-5323
bgardine@pd.state.gov
http://exchanges.state.gov/education/culprop
WAR SEA GRAVES PILLAGED
HEARTLESS divers are looting the underwater graves of up to 5,000 British soldiers. They are raiding the sites off the Normandy beaches where the men died before reaching land on D-Day. Helmets, guns, shell cases, jeeps and even a tank have been plundered. Last night war graves campaigner and TGWU secretary Chris Kaufman demanded "international agreements" to stop "this wild west under the waves." He said: "We should prevent this underwater plundering of our treasured memories of bravery. "Just because these graves are under the sea doesn't make them any less valuable to us."
The site - off the beaches codenamed Utah and Omaha - is unprotected because it has never been declared an area of war graves. It is currently being surveyed by underwater archaeologists led by American expert Brett Phaneuf. He said that identifying wreckage may provide information to relatives of men listed as missing in action. The Mirror is campaigning to halt pay cuts for 77 gardeners who tend war graves in Europe.
http://www.ic24.net/mgn/THE_MIRROR/NEWS/P15S1.html
LIVING OFF THE DEAD: TOMB LOOTER EXPOSED
Scandal of the D-Day scrapman who cashes in on sea graves of Britain's war heroes A FRENCH scrap dealer bragged last night how he has spent 30 years living off the plundered sea graves of D-Day soldiers. Jacques Lemonchois, 46, has plucked so many relics from the Normandy shores there are hardly any left. He either sells them for scrap or as mementoes. But speaking just 10 days before Remembrance Day, he defiantly declared: "To say they should all be preserved is romantic nonsense.
full story:
http://www.ic24.net/mgn/THE_MIRROR/NEWS/P4S3.html
Court upholds $60 sale of art resold for $1 million
PHOENIX, Arizona (AP) -- A woman's estate "was a victim of its own folly" and is not entitled to invalidate its $60 sale of two paintings which the buyers resold at auction for $1 million, an appeals court ruled.
A Court of Appeals panel on Tuesday upheld a Superior Court ruling in November 1998 in favor of the Tucson couple who bought the paintings from the estate of Martha Nelson in 1996.
Estate representatives were unaware that the paintings sold to Carl and Anne Rice were by Martin Johnson Heade, a noted 19th-century artist. Christie's auction house in New York sold the paintings -- "Magnolia Blossoms" and "Cherokee Roses" -- for $1,072,000. The Rices got $911,780.
The estate sought to overturn the sale, arguing that it was based upon a mutual mistake regarding the paintings' value.
The appeals court said the estate representatives "had ample opportunity to discover what it was selling and failed to do so" and acted only after learning of the paintings' true worth.
Lawyers for the estate were not immediately available to comment on whether they would appeal.
Eight more are named in auction-house lawsuit
By Kathryn Kranhold
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
Nov. 1 - Eight additional former and current officials at Sotheby's Holdings Inc. and Christie's International PLC have been accused of participating in the alleged price-fixing scheme involving the two auction houses.
THE EIGHT DEFENDANTS are named in an amended lawsuit by individuals who claim that Sotheby's and Christie's colluded on prices and defrauded them in sales and purchases made overseas. The amended complaint, filed Monday in federal court in New York, is in a proceeding separate from the class-action suit brought on behalf of U.S. buyers and sellers, which was settled last month for $512 million and still requires the approval of U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan. According to people involved in the case, the names of the new defendants appeared in key documents provided by both Sotheby's and Christie's to attorneys representing the buyers and sellers who filed the lawsuits. The latest complaint doesn't specify the roles of the individual defendants. It states that they as a group conspired to set buyers' premiums from late 1992 until at least Feb. 7, 2000, and "conspired to fix" sellers' commissions starting in early 1995.
full story:
http://www.msnbc.com/news/483892.asp?cp1=1
Antique dealer sues over painting's value
SANDUSKY, Ohio (AP) -- When an antique dealer sold a painting of a dog to a New York art dealer for $7,500, he thought he had made a good deal. In a lawsuit filed Monday in Erie County Common Pleas Court, Ronald Showalter claims the painting was worth considerably more.
Showalter's lawsuit contends that art dealer William Secord, of New York's William Secord Gallery, did not tell him about the painting's true worth. The painting and subject of the lawsuit is ``Retriever and Woodcock'' by 19th Century English painter Sir Edwin Landseer.
A few months after buying the painting from Showalter, Secord sold it though Christie's Auction House in New York. The painting sold on Dec. 3, 1998 for $140,000, according to both the lawsuit and Christie's.
A Christie's spokeswoman said Wednesday the auction house had expected the painting to go for between $50,000 and $70,000. She said the identity of the buyer could not be disclosed.
The William Secord Gallery specializes in art and collectibles showing dogs. Secord was unavailable for comment Wednesday. A member of his staff said he was not there.
The Showalter lawsuit seeks a jury trial and compensation as determined by the jury, Showalter's lawyer, Daniel McGookey, said Wednesday. He said Secord is entitled to a ``reasonable profit'' from the painting's sale.
Showalter told The Morning Journal of Lorain he noticed the realistic painting when he saw it for sale at a business about three years ago. Although he declined to reveal what he paid for the painting, Showalter said it was not much less than what he sold it for to Secord.
According to the lawsuit, Showalter, in late 1997 or early 1998, contacted Secord to have him identify the artist of the unsigned painting, establish its value and then buy the painting for a fair price.
Secord had reason to know that the painting was an original Landseer, the lawsuit contends.
During the 1840s, Landseer was painted for the Royal Family, according to information about ``Retriever and Woodcock'' published in Christie's auction catalog.
Phillips: A Third Bidder for Auction World Heft
By CAROL VOGEL
As the Justice Department investigation into Sotheby's and Christie's unfolds, the world's largest auction houses are proceeding as if it is business as usual, gathering all the best Impressionist, modern and contemporary art they can for important auctions planned over the next two weeks. But the historical tug-of-war between Sotheby's and Christie's has turned into an expensive three- way fight.
Both Sotheby's and Christie's have their share of exceptional works, but their catalogs of Impressionist and modern art seem bloated with second-rate paintings, drawings and sculptures that carry high estimates. The explanation is simple. Since LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton bought Phillips, the London-based auction house a year ago, it has been going after property at any cost, dipping into LVMH's deep pockets to become a major player.
full story:
http://www.nytimes.com/2000/11/01/arts/01AUCT.html