This month's stolen alerts and rewards, in a magazine packed with professional advice and information on the latest issues facing the international art trade
NEWS
Invaluable's latest recoveries, including the life size bronze statue of Hebe, snatched from outside a Birmingham police station. Christmas bonuses for UK burglars expected to top £48m as the crime season begins; UNESCO safe havens for Afghan cultural heritage; Manhattan placed on list of 'endangered' heritage sites; Greeks build museum for Parthenon marbles
VIEWS
Preservation or profiteering? Sarah Jane Checkland writes on the moral dilemma that faces those genuinely concerned about the fate of Afghan Cultural heritage
Auctioneering and morality
Legal specialist Milton Silverman examines the legal position of an auction house when a saleroom bidder defaults on payment
FEATURES
Sensory overload Sensor alarms. John Leaver explains what is on offer and advises on the best buys for museum and domestic use
Spanish Art Squad
David Fanning reveals the many successes of the celebrated Grupo di Patrimonio Historico and the challenges of international police operations
Silver simulacra
Alice Beckett visits the 'Black Collection' of the Goldsmith's Company in London and tells the tale of the 'Tom Keating of the silver world'
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Art auction price-fixing trial has final arguments
By Paul Thomasch
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Lawyers delivered closing arguments Monday in the conspiracy trial of A. Alfred Taubman, leaving the jury to decide if the former chairman of Sotheby's teamed up with his counterpart at Christie's to fix commissions in the art auction world. U.S. District Judge George Daniels scheduled jury deliberations to start Tuesday in the case involving charges of price fixing between the world's two largest auction houses. In his closing argument at a federal courthouse in Manhattan, Assistant U.S. Attorney John Greene said Taubman, 76, ``had the motive, capacity, and opportunity to conspire to fix auction rates.'' Taubman, who is still the largest shareholder in Sotheby's , could face up to three years in prison if convicted of joining with former Christie's Chairman Anthony Tennant to cheat art sellers out of millions of dollars by raising the commissions the auction houses charged over a five-year period. Tennant could not be extradited from England for the case. ``The fix was in,'' Greene told the packed courtroom Monday. During the three-week trial, the prosecution's case centered on two key witnesses -- Diana ``Dede'' Brooks, the former chief executive of Sotheby's, and Christopher Davidge, the former chief executive of Christie's. Once considered the most powerful woman in the art industry, Brooks testified that Taubman ordered her to collude with Christie's Davidge to charge customers the same commission to sell their art. Brooks also told the court that Taubman said she would ''look good in stripes'' about the time government investigators began closing in on the alleged price-fixing scheme.
BID TO DISCREDIT PROSECUTION WITNESS
Taubman's lawyers countered by trying to discredit Brooks, who pleaded guilty to a conspiracy charge last year and cooperated in the case against her former boss in hopes of avoiding a three-year prison sentence. ``This whole case comes down to whether you believe Ms. Brooks beyond a reasonable doubt,'' Taubman attorney Robert Fiske said in his closing argument. ``She is an admitted liar with a powerful motive -- the motive to stay out of jail.'' Taubman's lawyers have charged that Brooks was the true head of the auction house and bullied her out-of-touch boss, who sometimes fell asleep at board meetings and spent more time concentrating on the social side of the art world than the business side, according to witnesses. ``Mr. Taubman made his money by being an innovator. He wasn't a financial man,'' said Fiske. Now, he added, ``Alfred Taubman is Dede Brooks' get out of jail free card.'' The trial, which began on Nov. 8, concluded a four-year government investigation into the businesses of two auction houses with roots dating back to the 18th century.
Whitney Museum Announces Layoffs
Updated: Sat, Dec 01 4:31 PM EST
NEW YORK (AP) - The Whitney Museum of American Art says a dramatic post-Sept. 11 drop-off in tourists has forced it to cut staff and exhibitions to save about $1 million. The 70-year-old facility will trim 14 workers from its 210-person staff and cut back on its scheduled roster of 2002 exhibitions. The Whitney is the second major New York museum to layoff staff since the terrorist attacks. Last month, the Guggenheim Museum announced it was cutting exhibitions and 80 people, about 20 percent of its staff, to save money. In the weeks after the attacks, attendance at the Whitney was about 9,000 per week, down from last year's average of 12,500. In recent weeks, attendance is up but paid admissions are down. The increase in visitors was likely the result of an influx of museum members, students and other guests eligible for a discount from the usual $10 admission, Whitney director Maxwell Anderson said. The 40 percent drop in paid admissions was largely due to a drop in tourists, he said. About half the Whitney's paid admissions are non-New Yorkers. There is hope of a rebound during the holiday season, but museum officials decided to act now. "We are not waiting around to find out," Anderson said. "That is what this decision is all about." Date sent: Thu, 29 Nov 001 13:00:47 -0700 From: "Rob Layne" reassurance@qwest.net To: reassurance@qwest.net Send reply to: reassurance@qwest.net Subject:
IFCPP News
The International Foundation for Cultural Property Protection (IFCPP) announces the schedule for its Fourth Annual Conference, Seminar, Exhibits & Certification Program at Le Meridien Hotel in downtown Dallas, Texas - November 8-12, 2002 (hosted by the newly formed IFCPP Dallas Chapter and the Crow Collection of Asian Art). The 2002 conference will feature general session presentations by prominent experts in emergency preparedness, system design and specification, fire protection, facility management, violence prevention, human resources, collections protection, guard force management, training, customer service, special events management, and much more. The conference will also offer the complete CIPM certification course. IFCPP is currently the only organization offering national certification for Cultural Property Protection Managers (CIPM), Protection Specialists (CIPS - security officers), Protection Technicians (CIPT), and new in 2002, Protection Instructors (CIPI). Additional breakout sessions will offer specific information for museums, libraries, zoos, aquariums, historic sites, botanic gardens, schools, universities, national/state parks, and other public facilities. The Call for Papers for the 2002 Annual Conference is now available. Please contact us now for a program proposal form.
Additional conference information will appear shortly, with online registration and special event registration. In addition to local attractions and cultural events, attendees will be hosted at a special dinner by PSTN, the Private Security Television Network.
Some of the 2002 program features:
"Emergency Response Planning for Small Institutions" "Professional Security - Image and Performance on a Limited Budget" "How to Protect during Renovation, Expansion, Construction" "Reasonable Protection from Chemical/Biological Threats" "Fire - Still our Greatest Threat???"
At this year's Annual Conference, Seminar and Exhibits recently held at Keystone Resort, Colorado, 40+ new protection managers completed training, examination, and official certification as Certified Institutional Protection Managers (CIPM). At a regional event hosted by the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City in October, 72 security officers trained, tested, and were certified as Certified Institutional Protection Specialists (CIPS). These cultural property protection professionals join a growing corps of nearly 500 men and women dedicated to the improvement and growth of our profession through education, training, and exchange of information.
IFCPP Chapters are now being formed throughout the country. For information on a chapter in your area, contact Rob@IFCPP.com. Information about protection programs for special interest groups is also available at IFCPP headquarters, or through Committee Chairs:
Museums - Herb Lottier, CPP, CIPM - Philadelphia Museum of Art - HLottier@philamuseum.org Libraries - Eileen Brady, CIPM - Washington State University - Brady@WSU.edu Zoos/Aquariums - Tim Donaldson, CIPM - Colorado Ocean Journey - Tdonaldson@oceanjourney.org Schools/Universities - Steve Huntsberry, CIPM - Evergreen College - HuntsJS@evergreen.edu Education - Ross Guthrie, CIPM - Minnapolis Institute of Art - rguthrie@artsmia.org
For additional information, please contact: Rob Layne, CIPM - Executive Director IFCPP 1285 Hudson Street Denver, CO 80220 (303) 322-9667 rob@ifcpp.com www.ifcpp.com From: Alan Calmes alan.calmes@nara.gov Subject:
Conference on disasters
Lessons Learned in Emergencies: Not Your Ordinary Disaster Conference 17th Annual National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) Preservation Conference National Archives at College Park 8601 Adelphi Road College Park, MD March 21, 2002
The National Archives and Records Administration's Annual Preservation Conferences cover topics on the creation, use, exhibition, care-and-handling, conservation, duplication, and long-term storage of information on paper, film, tape, and disk.
The 2002 conference will bring together archivists, librarians, and conservators to discuss the practical aspects of disaster prevention and mitigation.
Topics:
* practical, experience-based examples of how emergency situations are handled in archives, libraries, and museums to mitigate against disaster and confusion
* recovery of non-paper records, such as artifacts, film, audio-video tape, and electronic media
* how to minimize the damage to papers, bound volumes, books tapes, films, etc. during building renovation
* changes in fire suppression technology
* what we have learned from fire tests
* how to keep track of hastily removed materials
Luanda - A tribal mask dating from the 16th century has been stolen from a museum in Dundo, in the northeastern Angolan province of Lunda-Norte, Angolan cultural services told AFP on Monday. Known as the "Mwana Pwo" (young woman), the mask represented a key figure in rituals practised during popular festivals by the Lunda-Cokwe ethnic group, part of the former Lunda empire. The Lunda empire was the dominant political and military power in the region covering the southern-central part of what is now the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), western Zambia, and northern Angola from the early 17th century until the 19th century. The theft of rare works of art is becoming more and more frequent in Angola. Six Lunda-Cokwe statues stolen last year from the museum of anthropology in Luanda have not been recovered. On Saturday, an official at the only museum in the Angolan enclave of Cabinda, which is surrounded by the Congo and the DRC, reported that a series of rare works of art and tape recordings containing the results of anthropological and linguistic research, had been stolen. - Sapa-AFP http://news.24.com/
Third Time Legal for Art Thief
OSLO (Reuters) - A Norwegian who stole two Edvard Munch paintings has finally got his hands on another work by the Norwegian master -- at auction. Paal Enger, who triggered international headlines when he used a ladder to climb into Norway's National Gallery and grab ''The Scream'' in 1994, bought an unsigned Munch lithograph at an auction in Oslo for 29,000 Norwegian crowns ($3,231) on Tuesday. ``A fabulous day. To win the bid for a genuine Munch was just wonderful,'' Enger told newspaper Dagbladet on Wednesday. In 1996, Enger was jailed for over six years for stealing ``The Scream,'' but was released around a year and a half ago. As well as ``The Scream,'' Munch's 1893 symbolist masterpiece which shows a waif-like figure under a red sky, Enger stole ''Vampire,'' showing a long-haired woman vampire bending over a man's neck, in 1988. Both paintings were later recovered. By coincidence, Enger bumped into the former head of security at the National Gallery, Roy Jamessen. ``Congratulations! It's great that you've actually bought a Munch painting -- much better than stealing one,'' Jamessen told Enger. http://dailynews.yahoo.com/
The Art Newspaper.com http://www.theartnewspaper.com
This week's top stories:
NEW GERMAN LAW IS BAD NEWS FOR VICTIMS OF NAZI LOOTING
BERLIN. Parliament passed what is probably the biggest reform of the German Civil Code in its 100-year-old history, the bill to “modernise the Law of Obligations”. This includes a firming up of the statute of limitations: while previously it was left to the discretion of the courts whether to apply the 30-year limit to claims on property, now it is mandatory. http://www.theartnewspaper.com/news/article.asp?idart=8314
INDICTED ANTIQUITIES DEALER ARGUES EGYPTIAN LAW IS AMBIGUOUS
NEW YORK. The United States is arguing that its indictment of Fred Schultz for conspiring to receive stolen Egyptian antiquities should be allowed to go forward, saying that Egyptian law is clear enough to put “a person of ordinary intelligence” on notice that Egypt owns all antiquities discovered after 1983. In federal district court here, Mr Schultz is seeking to dismiss the action, saying that a US criminal indictment cannot be based on a foreign law declaring ownership of antiquities. http://www.theartnewspaper.com/news/article.asp?idart=8313
BETTER MANAGEMENT, GREATER ACCESSIBILITY
ROME. The Italian minister of culture writes to The Art Newspaper about what he aims to achieve by his proposed law to allow private enterprise take over the running of Italy’s State museums. http://www.theartnewspaper.com/news/article.asp?idart=8312
WARRIOR KINGS OF THE EAST COME TO PARIS
PARIS. The Scythians, the ancient nomad warriors whose territories correspond to the current areas of Ukraine, did not build cities and had no oral culture. The only monuments they left are the funerary mounds that hold the tombs of their kings and many of the pieces that were discovered in these mounds are now on show in the Grand Palais. http://www.theartnewspaper.com/news/article.asp?idart=8311
SIR DENIS MAHON DISCOVERS A NEW LATE CARRACCI
ROME. More than three centuries after its disappearance, a late work by Annibale Carracci has been recently identified by Sir Denis Mahon and is the centrepiece of a small, but exquisite, exhibition (until 3 February) in Palazzo Clementino, inside the Capitoline Museums. http://www.theartnewspaper.com/news/article.asp?idart=8310
ARTISTS FOR THE ENVIRONMENT
LONDON. One of the downsides of artistic success is being bombarded with requests to donate works to the ever multiplying plethora of charity auctions. However, there is no indication of charity-fatigue in the formidable line-up of major pieces donated by some of the art world’s most important international figures to Art Action, an auction in aid of the Environmental Justice Foundation (EJF) which takes place at Sotheby’s in London on 5 December. http://www.theartnewspaper.com/news/article.asp?idart=8293
IMPERIAL WAR MUSEUM GETS £2 MILLION FOR CABINET WAR ROOMS DEVELOPMENT
LONDON. The Cabinet War Rooms in Whitehall have been given a £2 million grant by The National Heritage Memorial Fund to restore the rooms where Winston Churchill sheltered during World War II. The rooms are in the sub-basement of what is now the Treasury; in the years since the war they have had a variety of uses, from photographic storage to aikaido practice. http://www.theartnewspaper.com/news/article.asp?idart=8292
TAHITIAN PAINTED BY REYNOLDS SMASHES WORLD RECORD
LONDON. Sir Joshua Reynolds’s “Portrait of Omai”, who was a Tahitian brought back to London and introduced to polite society by Sir Joseph Banks, defied all expectations when it sold for £10.34 million at Sotheby’s on 29 November. http://www.theartnewspaper.com/news/article.asp?idart=8291
UNESCO LISTS MASTERPIECES OF ORAL AND INTANGIBLE HERITAGE
PARIS. Ancient language, song, dance and performance cannot be kept alive by being put in a showcase or tended by curators, so the United Nations has published a list to highlight their fragility. http://www.theartnewspaper.com/news/article.asp?idart=8290
GILBERT AND GEORGE TAPE PRIME EVIDENCE IN CRIME
LONDON. The body of a small woman was discovered in a suitcase near to the A64 dual carriageway in Yorkshire. A limited edition adhesive tape, designed by the two artists Gilbert and George, had been used to bind and gag the woman. The police are appealing to any of the 1,500 people who have purchased the tape to assist them with their enquiries by telephoning +44 (0)1904 618 618. http://www.theartnewspaper.com/news/article.asp?idart=8251
SOTHEBY’S ANNOUNCES $41.3 MILLION LOSS
NEW YORK. As Sotheby’s former chairman and majority shareholder A.Alfred Taubman continues his desperate fight to stay out of jail in the price-fixing case, the troubled auction house has announced a third quarter loss of $41.3 million, with a 12% drop in sales. http://www.theartnewspaper.com/news/article.asp?idart=8250