By Jeremy McDermott in Bogota Customs agents in Colombia have confiscated a veritable treasure trove of artwork which a Colombian national was trying to smuggle out of the country.
The 12 paintings seized are an art dealer's dream.
Among them are works by Claude Monet, Salvador Dali and El Greco.
The paintings belong to a Colombian living in the United States. He tried to get them out of the country but to get round any customs problems, he put false seals on the paintings bearing the stamp of the Colombian Ministry of Culture, which would be needed for any legal export of artwork.
Not fooled
But one customs agent was not fooled and called the attorney-general's office to investigate.
The seals were proven to be false but it was ruled no crime had yet been committed so the matter was passed back to the customs official, who racked his brains and decided to check whether the paintings had been registered by the owner when he brought them into the country.
There was no paperwork or declaration, so the paintings were legally contraband and therefore liable to be confiscated.
Which the customs officer promptly did, handing them over to a grateful nation.
The paintings, worth an estimated $7m, have now been placed in the national museum in Bogota, whilst curators decide where and how to display them. http://news.bbc.co.uk/
From: "hwchang" Subject:
cleaning textiles after fire
Date sent: Sun, 29 Jul 2001 15:19:43 +0800
Fire broke out in a local ethnographic museum recently. We are seeking information on how to clean textiles that have been damaged by heavy smoke. Could you kindly give us advice or suggestions on how to approach the recovery of textiles after fire? Thank you very much.
Hsiang-wen Chang National Palace Museum Taipei, Taiwan annchang12@hotmail.com