November 24, 2000
CONTENTS:
- Theft Rijksmuseum Amsterdam
- 'Fakes' on sale in Jakarta
- Burglar wants reward to return his haul
- The Art Newspaper.com http://www.theartnewspaper.com This week's top stories
Theft Rijksmuseum Amsterdam
Two small statues and an 18th century timepiece have been stolen in the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Any specifics are not available at the moment.
'Fakes' on sale in Jakarta
By Richard Galpin in Jakarta Art experts in Indonesia are up in arms about an exhibition and auction of paintings being held in the capital, Jakarta. The exhibition organisers say it includes long lost works by celebrated artists such as Van Gogh, Picasso, Renoir and Chagal and Pissarro. But one well-known critic said he believed 99% of the works being exhibited were fakes. There are over one hundred paintings on show. They come from the private collection of an Indonesian businessman. Found in Indonesia Apparently he hunted the length and breadth of the country for the past 20 years in search of these masterpieces, which he bought in good faith.
Degas? an Indonesian woman takes a closer look A painting by Van Gogh was apparently found recently in a plantation in Java and is valued at up to four million dollars. To justify their claim, the organisers say thousands of European artists visited Indonesia during the long period of Dutch colonial rule. They also say there were a number of major exhibitions last century, when some paintings were sold. Half of this remarkable collection is now due to be auctioned off, potentially for millions of dollars. 'Scandal' But art experts have slammed the exhibition. One described it as the biggest scandal in the recent history of Indonesian art. A security guard watches over the 'masterpieces' Another told the BBC after going around the exhibition that he believed almost all the paintings were fakes, and bad ones at that. He said the exhibition was an insult and would tarnish Indonesia's reputation. He called for the auction to be cancelled immediately. Although clearly embarrassed by the criticism, the organisers remain defiant. One told the BBC 'the show must go on'.
Photographs:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/asia-pacific/newsid_1038000/1038647.stm
Burglar wants reward to return his haul
A burglar who stole a ceramic cat possibly made by Picasso claims "he's been robbed" because he can not claim the $10,000 (£7,000) reward for its return. The thief, calling himself Mr Green and Donovan Hughes, told a newspaper in Key West, Florida, he has been conned out of the money. He sent pictures of the cat to the paper and to the Hemingway Museum, from where it was stolen, and said he wanted to claim the reward. Police, however, say he is merely demanding a ransom, reports the Miami Herald, http://www.herald.com/ Museum director Michael Morawski said: "The museum is not going to pay someone to extort our facility. If someone were to call us and say they stole the article, our policy is not to work with them. "The reward was set up to motivate people who may have seen something to step forward to get this recovered." The bungling thief's plans began to go wrong when he first took the cat. He grabbed it but, because it was glued to a table, one leg broke off and was left behind. "I had 'sold' it already for $30,000 (£21,000)," before the heist, he said. "It still has value now, it's just going to be more difficult. I'd be out of town now if this cat didn't have three legs." There is, however, some doubt about the authenticity of the cat because a group of artisans were known to be producing fake Picasso pieces in the 1940s. The attention- seeking thief, who told the paper he would like to be "the new supervillain", also claims to have been behind three major art and jewellery heists.
The Art Newspaper.com
http://www.theartnewspaper.com
This week's top stories: (abbreviated)
THIRD HIGHEST FLOODS IN VENICE SINCE 1900
LONDON. On 6 November, Venice suffered its third worst flood since 1900. Ninety-three percent of the city was flooded, as the waters, driven by a fierce south wind, rose to 144cm (56 ins) above mean sea level. This was close enough to the worst recorded flood (in 1966, when the waters reached 200cm), to spur the mayor, Paolo Costa, into appealing for government to build the long delayed mobile barriers between the Adriatic and the lagoon.
http://www.theartnewspaper.com/news/article.asp?idart=3951
"THE BARRIERS FOR VENICE ARE INDISPENSABLE"
VENICE. It is thirty years since Roberto Frassetto started working on how to protect Venice from the waters. He has been certain of what should be the solution for almost as long, but has grown weary of talking about it in Venice, where the whole issue has become bogged down in scepticism, suspicion and short term politicking.
http://www.theartnewspaper.com/news/article.asp?idart=3950
BAD-DEBT ART RETURNS FROM JAPAN
NEW YORK. The market for American art has seen explosive growth over the last few seasons, and reached an astounding high last year when Sotheby's racked up $67 million at its December sale. So all eyes are on its auction this week, in particular because it includes in a separate catalogue a rare group of 20 works by the highly sought-after American Realist Andrew Wyeth.
http://www.theartnewspaper.com/news/article.asp?idart=3930
THE ART MAO DIDN'T WANT YOU TO SEE
SHANGHAI. China has one of the world's oldest traditions of erotic art and literature, rivalling Japan's. However, since "Liberation" it has remained almost invisible-even more surprising given the Scandinavian-style sexual freedom exercised by young people (and a pervasive sex industry).
http://www.theartnewspaper.com/news/article.asp?idart=3910