Louvre reopens after eight straight days of closure due to strike
The Associated Press 10/27/01 11:06 AM
PARIS (AP) -- The Louvre Museum reopened on Saturday after a strike by workers protesting the way France's shortened work week has been implemented kept it shut for eight days. Unionized workers at the museum agreed to suspend their strike at a general assembly meeting on Saturday, union leaders said. It was not clear whether the employees would return to work permanently. The union vote came after a Paris court ruled Friday that the strike at the Louvre was unauthorized and said the government could remove striking workers who had blocked entry to the museum. The museum is one of many Paris tourist sites -- including the Orsay Museum and the Arc de Triomphe -- that have been closed due to a 20-day-old strike by Culture Ministry workers. At times during strike, Louvre workers have let visitors in free as part of the protest, but it was closed for eight straight days before Saturday's opening. The Socialist government of Prime Minister Lionel Jospin introduced a new law that reduced the work week from 39 hours to 35 hours. Museum workers say they cannot take the extra time that is due to them because no one has been hired to fill the gaps.
The strike at the Louvre is a follow-up to a similar action in March. Officials at the Louvre said Thursday that it has lost $2.1 million and has turned away hundreds of thousands of visitors as a result of the two strikes. Union leaders said they are to meet with Culture Minister Catherine Tasca on Monday. http://www.nj.com/
Transport ban on Czech art
By Ray Furlong in Prague
The Czech culture minister has taken the unprecedented step of banning the transport of any state-owned works of art out of the country. The minister, Pavel Dostal, said the decision was taken to prevent the artwork being impounded due to a dispute over the Czech Republic's most popular television station, TV Nova. The Czech state is being sued for $500m (£349m) by the American billionaire, Ronald Lauder, who says it failed to protect his investment in Nova when he lost control of it to Czech entrepreneur Vladimir Zelezny in 1999. The move may endanger major exhibitions, including a long-planned show of baroque art in Paris next year that was due to tour 30 French cities.
Appeal
After winning court actions in Amsterdam, Mr Lauder had artworks owned by Mr Zelezny seized when they were exhibited in Salzburg in September. The Czech government has so far been ordered by a court in Stockholm to pay $1m (£690,000) costs to Mr Lauder but is refusing to do so pending an appeal. Ministers fear that state-owned pictures, statues and other artworks exhibited abroad could be his next target. The biggest casualty of the ban could be a season of Czech art exhibitions planned to take place in Paris and other French cities next year. The head of the Czech National Gallery, Milan Knizak, said the project was clearly under threat but supported the ban. "I don't want to place state-owned works of art at risk," he said.
'Farce'
However, organisers of the project said the measure was "absurd" given that preparations were in the final stages - a view echoed by many in the Czech media. The top-selling newspaper Mlada fronta Dnes said: "If the exhibition doesn't go ahead a grandly-conceived project promoting the Czech Republic, which the government has subsidised by over two million dollars, will end in farce." An exhibition of Czech cubist porcelain and glass, set to be held in Los Angeles next year, is among other projects under threat. Organisers complained that they will be letting their overseas partners down if it doesn't go ahead.
Court battle
The case recalls another incident from the early 1990s, when Prince Hans Adam II of Liechtenstein got an injunction to impound an oil painting which was on loan to a gallery in Germany. The picture had been confiscated from one of the Prince's family seats in southern Moravia after World War II - and he wanted it back. But after a lengthy court battle it was returned to the Czech Republic. Ronald Lauder's lawyers say they have no plans for trying to get Czech artwork seized. http://news.bbc.co.uk/
Artifact Theft and Reward
On or about the night of July 27, 2001, someone stole 21 prehistoric Native American pottery vessels, stone spear points, and replicas of painted pebbles from the Texas Archeological Research Laboratory, J.J. Pickle Research Campus Building 5, The University of Texas at Austin. Most of the pottery vessels are from prehistoric Caddo Indian sites in northeast Texas, but others are from the southwestern USA. The Texas Archeological Research Laboratory is offering a cash reward of $5000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the individual(s) who stole these objects. If you have any relevant information about this theft, please contact Chris Laureles (University of Texas Police Department) at (512) 232-9641; this can be an anonymous call. You may also report information confidentially on UTPD website, SILENT WITNESS, at http://www.utexas.edu/admin/utpd/forms/silent.html
Photos and descriptions, including dimensions, of the vessels can be viewed at our website at the following URL: http://www.utexas.edu/research/tarl/theft.html
Laura H. Nightengale Head of Collections Texas Archeological Research Laboratory The University of Texas at Austin 512-475-6853
From: Jonathan Sazonoff saz@kwom.com Subject:
Stolen African Art and Artifacts
Dear Subscribes,
A reader recently inquired: "Can you tell me if there are web sites available to search for stolen artifacts from Africa? Particularly Nigeria. Thanks!"
Well, for researching stolen Africa artifacts (Sub Saharan), the best information has been compiled by ICOM on their Red List / Liste Rouge http://www.icom.org/redlist/english/intro.html
Beyond that see prohibited works from Mali listed by the USIA: http://exchanges.state.gov/education/culprop/mlimage.html
As for resources about stolen African art (not on the web) ICOM has published "Looting in Africa" as part of their 100 Missing Object series http://www.icom.org/publications/images- big/pil2.htm
Additionally, INTERPOL's CD ROM of Stolen Works of Art (1999 edition) lists objects missing from Niger 31, Zaire 3, and Zimbabwe 1 http://www.interpol.int/Public/WorkOfArt/Partnership/ICOMRedList.asp
Next, I must remind you there is a big difference between legal export, theft, and looting. There have been several significant thefts of cultural objects from Nigeria's museums. 1987 the Jos National Museum lost nine pieces. April 1993 - November 1994 the National Museum at Ife lost some 40 bronze and terra cotta heads. The National Museum at Esise lost thirteen statues in 1993 and twenty-one more in 1995. One report states that a total of 429 objects were stolen from 33 Nigerian museums in the 1990's.*
* For a scholarly account see Culture Without Context: Issue 6, The Rape of Nok and Kwatakwashi http://www-mcdonald.arch.cam.ac.uk/IARC/cwoc/issue6/Nok-Kwatakwashi.htm
Beyond this, there are some private postings of images that suggest institutions and individuals hold looted African artifacts: Africian Repatriatian Movement: Hijacked African Treasures
In conclusion, there are some good web resources available on stolen Africanartifacts. However, let me also remind you of the nagging problem of fakes in the field of African art and antiquities. When researching items, things are not always what they appear to be. http://www.coupdefoudre.com/CurrentArticle/TerracottaForgeries.html
Hope this information is of some help.
Regards, Jonathan Sazonoff SAZ PRODUCTIONS, INC. http://www.saztv.com
Contributing US Ed. Museum Security Network http://www.museum-security.org/saz.html
From:maklarna@fmf.se Subject:
Research Questions
Dear Sir or Madam,
We are carrying out a research project that concerns an old oilpainting, probably Peter Paul Rubens or school of "PR", painted on a thin wooden panel with the measurement of 36 x 27,5 cm (47,5 x 57 cm with the gold plated frame). The motif - same theme as the painting by "PR" at the National Gallery in Ireland: "St. Peter finding the Tribute money",
What we know about the provinence is, that the painting has been sold twice in Sweden and prior to that was brought to Sweden in 1989 by a former east- german "Mr. Ditmar Kulnef", who explained that his father was involved in the transport of paintings durring in World War II and after his death a number of hidden paintings were discovered by his son. The subject of our research is one such painting.
On the back of the panel is inscribed in black ink an exlibris "LM"followd by 103 (see attached file) - probably name and inventary number from a former collection.
Have You any knowledge of this painting or the attached exlibris? Perhaps you can advise us as to where we might find information about collectorsexlibris in Germany/France/Holland?
We thank You in advance and look forward with great interest to hear from You.
Gothenburg, Sweden 18th of Okt 2001
Bjoern Bergstroem
Phone +46-31 69 00 60
(Scotland) Historic university hit by £7m blaze
Jeanette Oldham The Scotsman Online http://www.thescotsman.co.uk/index.cfm?id=118802
Thursday, 25 Oct 2001
FOR 100 years the Bower Building stood out as a proud and distinctive element of the Glasgow University skyline. Last night it was in ruins after a fire which caused £7 million of damage and destroyed works by Charles Darwin valued at more than £2 million. The blaze, which broke out on the top floor destroyed dozens of rare books and manuscripts. The books by Darwin, who is described as the most influential naturalist of the 19th century, are said to be irreplaceable. The cause of the fire is not yet known but fire officials last night confirmed they were investigating reports from students that firework noises were heard shortly before the blaze broke out at 1.30pm.
Around 40 students in the building, which housed an administration centre for the Institute of Biomedical and Life Sciences Department, were evacuated by university staff as black smoke billowed from the roof space. Seventy firefighters used aerial jets in an attempt to stop the flames spreading to a nearby science buildings on the West End campus. They also removed radioactive material from the top floor of the building. At one point a number of officers were evacuated from inside the building amid fears the weakened scructure was in danger of collapsing. Police cordoned off the building as wreckage from the top floor laboratory fell into the second floor.
Divisional fire officer Charlie McGrattan said the fire was brought under control at 5pm. He added: "The fire spread quite rapidly and because buildings like this are quite old, fires are difficult to control. "The laboratories did contain chemicals of a general nature which you would expect to find in a lab situation. "They were all safely removed within an hour of the fire starting. "There were also small amounts of radioactive material which were sealed and were safely removed to other parts of the university. "There was no danger from these and no danger of the fire spreading to other buildings."
As flames continued to spread, fanned by strong winds in the gutted ruins of the rooftop laboratory, stunned students said they were horrified by the blaze. Duncan Wilson, 20, a third year microbiology student said: "I cannot believe this has happened. "People are going in and out of there all the time to hand in course work and work in the laboratories. "It is a very busy building and it is lucky that more people were not in there at the time to hamper the evacuation. "Although there are several working laboratories there with chemicals and gas taps there is not much flammable material so I have no idea what could have caused this." Claire Wilson, 19, a first year physics student, said she watched flames engulf the building from her adjacent accommodation block. She said: "It was just so incredible to watch. We saw smoke first and then you could really see the fire take hold.
"There were flames leaping into the sky and the smoke was just everywhere. "The roof just seemed to disintegrate." Professor John Coggins, dean and director of the Institute of Biomedical and Life Sciences, whose building it was, led a hastily-called press conference while the fire was still burning. He said records belonging to at least 2,000 undergraduate students had been destroyed as well as equipment worth £3.5 million. Prof Coggins said the greatest loss was a unique collection of 19th century botany books including first editions of Darwin's work and some original manuscripts. Some of the manuscripts were considered highly valuable because they once belonged to pioneering botanist and former Glasgow University Professor Joseph Hooker, and the botanist Professor Frederick Bower, after whom the building was named.
The collection of books were housed in a library and a room known as the Marshall Room on the third floor of the building underneath the roof space. The professor added: "Some of these would have included works by Darwin but what is more irreplaceable is the loss of original manuscripts including those by Sir Joseph Hooker Professor Frederick Bower. "Although we may have duplicates of these in the university's library, it is tragic that we have lost the originals. "Many students' records may also have been lost but it is important to stress the most important ones would have been held centrally. "The disruption to undergraduates will be minimal." Glasgow University Principal Sir Graeme Davies said the Bower Building had been due to undergo a £3.5 million refurbishment programme later this year.
He added: "We have had some accidental good fortune in that it was a building we were preparing to refurbish." The three-storey building housed a post graduate research laboratory on the ground floor and several other smaller research labs. Wednesday October 24 1:41 PM ET
2 Arrested in Diana Estate Theft
LONDON (AP) - Police arrested two men Wednesday in connection with the disappearance of a $700,000 model of a sailing ship from the estate of Princess Diana. The men, aged 35 and 31, were apprehended in Chesterfield, central England, on suspicion of handling stolen goods. Their names were not released. The bejeweled model of a dhow, an Arab sailing vessel, was a wedding gift to Diana and Prince Charles from the Emir of Bahrain. Scotland Yard launched an investigation last year into the disappearance of the model ship and other royal baubles. Three people were charged earlier in the case, including Harold Brown, 48, a long-time butler to Diana, and a jeweler accused of handling stolen goods. Press reports say police were alerted when the model boat was put up for sale at a London art dealership. Police have said the items were stolen between January 1997 and November 2000. In a separate case, Paul Burrell, the butler Diana described as ``my rock,'' is accused of stealing 342 items belonging to the princess and other members of the royal family. He denies the charges. http://dailynews.yahoo.com/ From: "John@Hajicek.com" John@Hajicek.com To: Museum Security Network securma@XS4ALL.NL Subject:
Possible stolen book?
I received this suspicious email, and thought I would report it. I worry about someone so ignorant, selling something so sophisticated, for so much money, with no provenance whatsoever.
dear sir or madam,
my name is max rodriguez, my friend has a book he wants to sell to some collectors he is asking for us$1.5 millon would like you to please guide me on the REAL VALUE of the book :
the book references are the following:
1.-book name is "covarrvvias a ley" 2.-the book is published is year 1578 3.-the book is original, as as far as my friend knows there are no copys. 4.-there a two books (volume one and volume two) 5.-each volume has 1,200 pages 6.-the entire book is written in "LATIN" 7.-in the first page of the book is written"covarrvvias a ley" 8.-in the same page is written "CATHOLICAE MAIEFTATIS TYPOGHAPH" 9.-in the last page there a two signitures (we dont know of who) 10.-before the las page there is written someting about the king
as far has we know the book was authorized to be published by the order of the King Philip II of Spian and with his explisit orders there was no duplication of the book .we have surfed the web, but nothing about this book as appered. the book is genuin .my friend found the book , i dont know how it got here or where was the book before getting to my friends hands. do you think you can help me out .
thanking you, max
WORLD MUSEUM DIRECTORS OPPOSE PRIVATISATION OF ITALY’S MUSEUMS
ROME. The right wing government of Silvio Berlusconi is tabling an amendment in its next Finance Bill, to be debated in November, that would allow Italy's State museums, which include such world class institutions as the Uffizi in Florence, to be offered for privatisation on contracts of a minimum of five-years. http://www.theartnewspaper.com/news/article.asp?idart=7834
LOWER MANHATTAN LISTED
NEW YORK. While the nightly news programmes have been preoccupied with the horrifying tally of some 5000 lives lost in the World Trade Center attacks on 11 September, the damage to New York’s downtown historic district has now also been noted. http://www.theartnewspaper.com/news/article.asp?idart=7833
POST WTC: FALL-OUT ON THE MARKET
NEW YORK. Virtually every dealer in town, from high-flying contemporary galleries to decorative arts specialists, is reporting at least one deal if not multiple sales cancelled. What does the financial picture mean for the fragile art market, a commodity considered frivolous at best? Are these times radically different from every previous downturn in the financial markets, when the effect on art sales was not felt until a year or more later? Yes, says Yale School of Management economist William Goetzmann, who has made groundbreaking studies of the art market. http://www.theartnewspaper.com/news/article.asp?idart=7832
GEHRY WINS BID TO BUILD CORCORAN WING IN THE LINE OF FIRE
WASHINGTON DC. When Frank Gehry won a 1999 competition to build a new wing at the Corcoran Gallery and College of Art in Washington DC, his concept of clustered metal ribbons was seen as far too bold for Washington's drab monumentalism, given its site just a block from the White House. http://www.theartnewspaper.com/news/article.asp?idart=7831
ARGENTINIAN ECONOMIST’S COLLECTION OPENS ITS DOORS
BUENOS AIRES. A new museum of modern Latin American art housing the extensive private collection of Argentinian economist Eduardo Costantini opened its doors in Buenos Aires just 10 days after the terrorist attacks in New York and Washington and in the midst of a severe economic recession in Argentina that has lasted the better part of three years. http://www.theartnewspaper.com/news/article.asp?idart=7830
DEALERS JOIN TOGETHER IN CHARITY EVENT FOR FIRE-FIGHTING HEROES
NEW YORK. Faced with the overwhelming losses of fire-fighters and police officers in the aftermath of the World Trade Center attack, dealers in uptown Manhattan are pitching in to help on 26 October. http://www.theartnewspaper.com/news/article.asp?idart=7810
FIVE CENTURIES OF THE PORTRAIT
STOCKHOLM. The Nationalmuseum in Stockholm has assembled more than 450 paintings, sculpture and drawings for the exhibition “Face to face: portraits from five centuries” (until 7 January) that traces the development of the European portrait. http://www.theartnewspaper.com/news/article.asp?idart=7790
BRAZILIANS SHOW SOLIDARITY
NEW YORK. An 18th-century altar from Brazil was stopped from being sent to the Guggenheim Museum on 20 September by a Brazilian court injunction questioning whether it was safe to send the object to the United States after the 11 September terrorist attacks. http://www.theartnewspaper.com/news/article.asp?idart=7770
---------------
Anna Somers Cocks, Editor contact@theartnewspaper.com
The Art Newspaper 70 South Lambeth Road London SW8 1RL UK tel +44(0)207 735 3331 fax +44(0)207 735 3332 http://www.theartnewspaper.com
Cleaner dumps £5k art
By PAUL CROSBIE JAMES CLENCH and SARA NATHAN
AN art gallery cleaner binned a £5,000 work by Damien Hirst because he mistook it for RUBBISH. Emmanuel Asare spotted the pile of full ashtrays, beer bottles, cola tins, coffee cups and sweet wrappings — and thought it was leftovers from a party. Which is exactly what it was. Hirst “created” the exhibit at a launch party for a showing of his paintings.
Emmanuel said: “As soon as I clapped eyes on it I sighed because there was so much mess. “I didn’t think for a second that it was a work of art — it didn’t look much like art to me. “So I cleared it all into bin-bags and dumped it.” Bosses at the trendy Eyesto’rm Gallery in London’s West End went wild when they arrived for work and found what had happened. But luckily someone thought to look in the bin.
Staff dug out all the bits, then used photographs taken earlier to place the junk back in its rightful place. The gallery decided not to tick off the £5-an-hour cleaner, but stuck a “keep off” sign on the art instead. When told of the value of the junk, 54-year-old Emmanuel, gasped: “It’s worth £5,000? Oh my God. “I’ll make sure I’m more careful next time.” Hirst, 35, who shot to fame after pickling a sheep in formaldehyde, claimed the heap of rubbish represented his messy studio. He said of the mistake: “It’s fantastic. Very funny.” http://www.thesun.co.uk/
From: Beccasculpt@aol.com Subject:
Fire Standards
Dear Sir or Madam:
I would apperciate your assistance. We are curating a traveling exhibit of sculpture and want to make sure that we do it up to the code of general museum standards. Do you have informationon fire retardant standards for museums?
Please fax or email the infomation to me at beccasculpt@aol.com. I look forward to your reply.
Warm regards,
Rebecca Underwood The Sculpture Foundation tel 310.264.2400 fax 310.264.2403 Beveiligingsoverleg Amsterdamse Musea
The Security Commission of Museums in Amsterdam organises Talks on the topics of permanent marking of art works and electronic security methods in museums
Dear Sir/Madam,
The Security Commission of Museums in Amsterdam (BAM) is a collaboration of the Heads of Security and other museum staff in Amsterdam concerned with issues of safety. The aim of the BAM is to facilitate exchange ofknowledge concerning issues ofsafety and security in general, and by Amsterdam museums in particular. Currently BAM represents 17 member museums On Tuesday November 22 2001, two talks will be held at BAM on the topics ofpermanent marking of art works and electronic security methods in museums. 1st talk: The permanent marking of art, antiques and valuable objects using synthetic DNA and Microdot technology. Mr. Ian David Whittock, Director of IDENTIDoT will give a presentation on the security marking service of his company. It allows antiques, fine art and all other valued possessions to be permanently, but sensitively, marked with microdots and DNA solution which are both invisible to the naked eye and do not harm the object being marked. This talk (in English) is of interest to the curator, conservator, registrar, security manager and all other museum personnel concerned with the safe preservation of our cultural heritage It will be possible to raise questions and discussion after this talk.. 2nd talk: Electronic security detections in museums. Mr. Armand van Bercheycke, director of AIB Safetech BV, will give a presentation of the most commonly used electronic security detectors in museums. He will discuss the need of security detection; How to use these detectors; the pros and cons of security detection. This talk (in Dutch) is of interest to security staff and all those who wish to be informed of the most common detection methods. It will be possible to raise questions and discussion after this talk.. This first BAM-security event will be held in the Auditorium of the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam on Thursday November 22 - 2001 at 1 p.m. Each talk will last 30-45 minutes.
Participants should enrol by November 15 via: Van Gogh Museum Hoofd Beveiliging Postbus 75366 1070 AJAmsterdam or by fax: +31 (0)20 67 35 053 or by e-mail: t.hoofwijk@vangoghmuseum.nl
Ton Hoofwijk Chairman BAM