June 26, 2002

CONTENTS:




- Fire Extinguisher Query
- GRIEVING MOTHER'S ART THEFT ANGUISH
- Archeologists worry about looting on Indian sites during fires
- Client Security Alert From Steve Keller
- Stolen works of art worth millions found in car boot after police sting
- Spanish Police and F.B.I. Get Their Men and Stolen Art
- Depot's climate may jeopardize art (Floating soot threatens site's valuable artifacts)
- Parliament Warns Italy Over Return of Axum Obelisk
- Rare Roman objects missing after dig
- Art detectives track stolen paintings
- Al-Qaida plot to blow up Bologna church fresco

From: Jim Holley jim.holley@wadsworthatheneum.org

Subject: Fire Extinguisher Query

Date sent: Tue, 25 Jun 2002 15:25:05 -0400
The question; what portable fire extinguishers should be used on or near museum collection items, has recently surfaced again. I have heard of several published studies on the topic and would like to know if a hard copy of this research can be found. I also (at my own risk) ask for subscribers' opinions and real life experiences of this question. Please send return replies to the general mailing list so that the results may be shared.
Thank you,
James Holley,
Wadsworth Atheneum of Art.

GRIEVING MOTHER'S ART THEFT ANGUISH

09:30 - 25 June 2002
A bereaved mother has told of her heartache after thieves stole 16 paintings valued at thousands of pounds from her son's home - just two days after his funeral. Police believe that burglars stole the canvases and silverware from the Littleover home of nationally-acclaimed artist Roderick Lovesey between 8pm on Saturday and 9am on Sunday. The haul included his most prized work, a 4ft x 3ft oil of Clifton Suspension Bridge, a small oil sketch of the same view, a scene of Hastings Road in Sussex, a small 6in x 4in oil of a donkey and nine painted pot lids, which were studies in Victorian architecture Mr Lovesey, who was renowned for his paintings of ships and aircraft, died suddenly at his home in The Hollow on June 9, aged 57. An inquest has been opened into his death. His mother, Billie Lovesey (86), from Derby, who has been staying at her son's house with her sister, said: "Not only do I have the terrible tragedy of losing my son, but we have had a burglary. "They have taken many of the paintings, including a beautiful one which Rod did for me two years ago of Bristol Suspension Bridge. I cannot believe it has gone." Thieves also stole other works, including a portrait of Samuel Pepys at Osborne House, on the Isle of Wight, by an unknown artist, and two paintings by Ernest Townsend. One was of Mr Lovesey's mother as a girl, the other was of his grandfather, England cricketer Fred Tate, who played with WG Grace. Silverware taken included a Victorian silver clam-shaped shell, a silver teapot, sugar bowl and jug.
Both Mrs Lovesey and her sister were in bed at the time of the burglary and neither heard the intruders break in. Neighbour Bryan Borer (65) said: "The family have not really come to terms with Mr Lovesey's death - they had only just been to his funeral. They are in a state of woe." Detective Constable Richard Watson, of Derby police Burglary Unit, said: "This happening so close to Mr Lovesey's death and his funeral has upset the family a lot." Born and bred in Derby, Mr Lovesey started from humble beginnings, by painting for friends and selling his work in an art shop in Friar Gate, Derby. In the early 1970s, he was commissioned to paint for Princess Anne and was asked to paint a landscape as a gift for Prince Charles and Diana Spencer's wedding in 1981. Anyone who saw anything suspicious, or is offered the stolen paintings for sale, is asked to contact DC Watson at Derby Burglary Unit on 290100.
http://www.thisisderbyshire.co.uk/

Archeologists worry about looting on Indian sites during fires

Associated Press
June 23, 2002 20:15:00
OJAI, Calif. - With predictions the Southern California fire season could be among the worst, archeologists, park rangers and law enforcement, are bracing for looters who take artifacts from amid the ash. "They are stealing from everyone," archaeologist Steve Galbraith said while walking through the Sespe Wilderness north of Ojai where millennia-old tools, arrowheads and pottery have surfaced during a 23,000-acre fire in the Los Padres National Forest. "It's part of our American heritage and part of our American culture," he said of the ancient burial grounds. "It's who we are." Galbraith and fellow archaeologist Janine McFarland will spend the next few weeks in the forest to assess damage to Chumash sites, rock paintings and artifacts that may have been in the path of the fire contained June 14. Prompted by recent fires, park rangers and law enforcement are stepping up patrols and education programs to warn campers and hikers about the fines and penalties associated with pilfering. "There are no words to articulate the grief and anger," said Marcus Lopez, a member of the elders council of the Barbareno Chumash Council in Santa Barbara. "People don't understand to leave artifacts alone. It's not your property. If I find something in your house, I leave it."
Stealing Indian relics and desecrating federally protected sites are punishable by a fine of up to $250,000 and up to two years in federal prison. "Looters do take a forest fire as an opportunity to discover archaeological areas because the brush that would hide them is gone," said Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph Johns in Los Angeles, who specializes in investigating environmental crimes. "We want people to know we're going to be out looking for them." Johns said a task force of federal, state and local law enforcement officials recently began holding strategy meetings to devise new and better ways to catch looters. One plan calls for installing sensors at certain sites. "It's an issue that we take seriously because they are not just stealing from the national forest, they are destroying a page out of a history book that can never be replaced," said National Park Service Special Agent Todd Swain, whose patrol area includes Channel Islands National Park, the Mojave Desert, Arizona and Nevada. "Some are very sophisticated and they know where to go to look for stuff and they know its value." A Santa Barbara woman was convicted last year of paying a contractor to dig up an ancient Chumash village along the Santa Ynez River in Los Padres National Forest so she could move her cabin there. She is scheduled to be sentenced July 8. http://www.azcentral.com/

From: IntlArtCop@aol.com

Subject: Client Security Alert From Steve Keller

(cross posted to Museum Security Network)
This message is for both our architectural and our other clients and is part of our client alert service. It is being cross posted to the Museum Security Network due to my deep concern about the issues discussed here. We have heard from two of our architect clients that they have had serious hacking incidents recently. Hackers entered computers for two major firms and did considerable damage to the systems and data. One major firm remains "down" after several days. FTP sites appear to have been the primary target of at least on of the hacks. As you know, we do not post security system drawings to FTP sites for this very reason. (Posting to FTP sites is currently the way architectural design team members on a new museum project exchange blueprints and other documents including security system designs). No system is immune from hackers. Don't let your IT director tell you that your system is immume. I can hack any FTP site and I'm not even good at this "craft". Back up your systems regularly and don't post anything that you don't want to see made public. By all means, back up before the July 4 weekend.
Non architect clients: This is why we tell you never to put your alarm and access control systems on the building's network or to allow your access control system to be plugged into any modem except during the brief period that it is being tested by your off site service provider's diagnostic center. Update your virus protection software. Just having such software is not sufficient. You need to download the latest virus definitions as often as necessary. Remember that less critical Windows based systems such as your digital CCTV system are also subject to viruses and Trojan horses and need virus protection. Our office computers are not connected to the internet. One Macintosh computer (less subject to PC viruses which comprise the majority of viruses) which contains no confidential data is connected to the internet for email and occasional uploading and downloading of base drawings which are immediately virus scanned on both the Mac and the PC. This weekend we logged over 500 unsuccessful hacking attempts. It is the ones we don't know about that worry us. We normally get far fewer attempts typical of all cable internet access systems. We have noticed, and clients confirm, an increase in the number of unsolicited emails containing attachments that almost certainly contain viruses or similar programs intended to activate at a later date. Prior to September 11 we also noticed an increase in computer attacks. After September 11 the FBI confirmed an organized attempt to bring down U.S. business computers. It is reasonable to expect that any future attack might be preceeded by computer activity. With July 4 coming I am concerned about this current increase in activity. A good guess might be that the unsolicited emails are the beginning of a denial of service attack possibly directed at police, fire or emergency response agencies or businesses in the U.S. A warning was recently issued about foreign "students" attempting to get information on emergency response plans in major U.S. cities. In the past there were attempts to get blueprints of major buildings by posing as students writing papers. Please take appropriate steps to maintain your security until we know more of what is happening. Don't wait for warnings from the FBI. They are not even effectively reactive let alone proactive. We will be disconnecting our computer from the always-on broadband connection over the July 4 weekend so as not be be unknowingly involved in a denial of service attack on others in the event our firewall was not totally effective in preventing hackers from planting something in our system. We never keep files on any computer about any project that has been completed. Architects who keep plans for completed buildings on the computer that is connected directly or indirectly to the internet are asking for trouble and risk aiding terrorists in an attack on that building. Museum security directors should also discuss this with their in-house planning or facilities departments. Your building CAD drawings should not be stored on a server connected to the internet as most are. So what if someone is inconvenienced? Homeland security begins at this grass roots level. Museum clients who are located near July 4th festivals and major events, as many are, should take special care and implement a higher level of parcel controls on incoming parcels especially those being stored in coat rooms and parcel lockers. Exterior patrols next to the building are appropriate. Parking restrictions on parking spaces near the building should be implemented over the long holiday weekend to prevent close-in parking. While I know how unpopular this suggestion will be, I strongly recommend either not using underground parking decks under your museum during the holiday or implementing a trunk inspection of incoming vehicles. The office phones here will ring at my home much of the time over the July 4 holiday weekend for emergencies. We will be closed July 4 and 5. I'd like to hear of any incidents as soon as possible directly or via the Museum Security Network so others can be alerted.
Steve Keller
Museum Security Consultants
Ormond Beach, Florida

Stolen works of art worth millions found in car boot after police sting

Jane Walker in Madrid
Tuesday June 25, 2002
The Guardian
The contents of a car boot in a nondescript Madrid hotel car park have left Spanish investigators on the brink of cracking one of Europe's most spectacular art robberies. The 10 paintings found by police were among 19 works of art stolen during a break-in last August at the penthouse apartment of Esther Koplowitz, the Marquesa of Casa Penalver and Cardenas, and one of the world's richest women. The total value of the theft has been estimated at up to £30m. One of the most valuable works recovered on Friday was Goya's 1787 work The Swing. Also found in the car boot were The Temptation of St Anthony by Flemish master Pieter Bruegel the Elder, Landscape at Eragny by Camille Pissarro, and works by Spanish modernists Joaquin Sorrolla and Jose Solana. The Goya alone is thought to be worth £8m; another Goya stolen in the raid and valued at the same amount, The Fallen Donkey, is still missing. Ms Koplowitz was on holiday at the time of the theft. Ranked as the 490th richest person in the world with assets worth more than £800m, she is the head of one of Spain's biggest construction conglomerates. When thieves broke into her Madrid apartment, police immediately suspected that they must have received inside information. The burglar alarms had been turned off and police said the thieves had also showed a detailed knowledge of the flat. Ms Koplowitz was initially told to pay a ransom of more than £1m for the return of the paintings. However, a tap on the telephone of her private security guard, Luis Miguel del Mazo, uncovered conversations with two other men about the robbery and discussions about plans to dispose of the haul. Del Mazo, who had been on duty at her flat on the night of the theft, claimed he had been beaten up, blindfolded and tied up by masked men who stole his keys. Angel Suarez and Jose Manuel Candela, the two men caught on the wiretaps, were arrested last December along with four other suspects but were released due to lack of evidence. Police continued to follow them and intercept their phone calls, and at the end of last week undercover detectives posing as potential buyers arranged a meeting after offering 1 million euros to buy one of the works. The rendezvous, at a luxury hotel in Madrid's business district, recovered 10 of the artworks. Mr Candela was arrested in a hotel bedroom and admitted his involvement, but said that Mr Suarez, who was arrested in the hotel lobby, had nothing to do with the crime. After learning of the detentions, del Mazo gave himself up voluntarily. He admitted to police that he had given Candela detailed descriptions of the duplex apartment and talked about the priceless artworks it contained. Jesus Espigares, the Madrid police commissioner, said yesterday that their search was still continuing and that his men were investigating possible international connections. "The three men we are holding are well-known to us and have records for drug offences, bank robberies and other offences in several countries," he said.
Related articles
25.01.2002: Thieves demand £1m ransom for old masters http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,3604,638930,00.html
Useful links Interpol's list of art thefts

Spanish Police and F.B.I. Get Their Men and Stolen Art

By RALPH BLUMENTHAL
With an undercover F.B.I. agent playing the role of expert art appraiser and a hundred Spanish police officers infiltrating a Madrid hotel, a sting operation on Friday recovered 10 of 17 masterwork paintings stolen last year from the mansion of one of the world's wealthiest women, the Spanish police and the Federal Bureau of Investigation announced. The 10 works, stolen from the billionaire construction magnate and marquesa Esther Koplowitz Romero de Joseu and worth an estimated $50 million, were seized after a suspect dangled Pieter Bruegel the Elder's "Temptation of Saint Anthony" as bait for the sale of the other treasures to what Kevin P. Donovan, director of F.B.I.'s New York office, identified only as "an Eastern European criminal organization." A second suspect was arrested outside of the hotel and a third, identified as a former security guard in the plundered mansion, turned himself in later, the F.B.I. said yesterday after Spanish officials announced the recovery on Saturday. The arrests stemmed from information developed by the F.B.I., said Konrad Motyka, an F.B.I. agent in New York overseeing the case. The bureau has a squad that investigates Eurasian organized crime. "We provided the raw intelligence and came up with the scenario," he said. The F.B.I. also provided an undercover agent with enough art knowledge to pose as an authority who could authenticate the works to the prospective criminal buyers. Nine other retrieved works found later in the trunk of a Mazda included "The Swing" by Francisco Goya and "View of Eragny" by Camille Pissarro. Still missing, the F.B.I. said, were another Goya, "The Donkey's Fall," and a Cubist masterpiece, "Guitar on a Chair" by Juan Gris. The sting appeared to solve, at least in part, the biggest art heist in Europe in decades and one long suspected to be an inside job. On Aug. 8, the Madrid home of Ms. Koplowitz — one of two daughters of a Polish émigré who founded what became the largest building consortium in Spain — was invaded while she was away and the paintings were stacked in storage while construction work was going on. The guard said he was punched in the face, gagged and bound.
In December the police detained six suspects, but released them for lack of evidence.
The trail picked up again about three months ago with the information obtained by the F.B.I., Mr. Motyka said. The bureau and the Spanish police then arranged a sting. It centered on a leading Spanish organized-crime group called the Angel Suárez Flores Organization, comprised of a half-dozen core leaders and a dozen associates, which the F.B.I. said was engaged in narcotics trafficking, auto theft, robbery, gun running, fencing of stolen goods and murder. Mr. Flores, 42, and a partner, Juan Manuel Candela Sapiehia, 39, offered to show one of the paintings for sale to the undercover agent, Mr. Motyka said, but first they said they needed to see $1 million in euros, their price for the painting. They settled on seeing half a million, and the deal was set, according to Mr. Motyka. Before arriving at the hotel in Madrid on Friday, Mr. Motyka said, the suspects drove around the city, cautiously doubling back and using other tricks to shake off surveillance, like using disposable cell phones that defied eavesdropping and calling to say that they were 10 minutes away when they were actually in the hotel lobby. Then, satisfied that they were not being followed, Mr. Sapiehia waited outside while Mr. Flores went to a room where, he was told, the art expert and buyers would be waiting. Meanwhile, the Spanish police had staked out the hotel and surroundings with scores of agents posing as hotel employees, beggars and garbage collectors. The authorities declined to name the hotel because it cooperated in the operation. When Mr. Flores showed the Bruegel, he was arrested, Mr. Motyka said. Mr. Sapiehia was seized outside. Later a third suspect, Luis Miguel del Mazo López, 28, surrendered. The Spanish police said he had been the guard in the Koplowitz mansion. http://www.nytimes.com/

Depot's climate may jeopardize art

Floating soot threatens site's valuable artifacts

BY JANE BRISSETT
NEWS TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
Circulating soot and poor climate control pose such threats to the St. Louis County Historical Society's collections that it is beginning to investigate moving out of the St. Louis County Heritage and Arts Center. The 80-year-old society is doing all it can to protect its 15,000-artifact collection, storing its most valuable items outside of the building. But it needs assurance that the building, commonly known as the Depot, can provide "a stable and clean environment," said director Joanne Coombe. The Depot administration is not responding, she said. Depot Executive Director Paula Davidson, however, said she is waiting for an insurance report from the Historical Society's claim. Months ago, a collection of Eastman Johnson paintings worth $3.5 million and other valuable American Indian artifacts were transferred for safekeeping to three sites throughout Minnesota. The Lake Superior Ojibwe Gallery, where those paintings are usually on exhibit, was closed about a year ago. It's one of the most popular exhibits at the Depot, said Bryan Lean, museum operations manager. "Hey, we're into the summer season here," he said. "This is one of the key things that visitors want to see."

Right now, he can't tell them when it will reopen.

The $3.4 million for improvements that were com- pleted at the Depot last year -- a new heating, ventilation and air conditioning system as well as new windows and a new roof -- have created the problem, Coombe said. She theorizes that when the roof was installed, oil soot fly ash was knocked loose from recesses of the former train depot, and the new ventilation system absorbed and blew microscopic particles around the building. Those particles have the potential to harm items in the society's collections. The extent of damage needs to be determined by experts from the Upper Midwest Conservation Association or a comparable entity. If the items need cleaning, it must be done with special materials and supplies by specially trained people. Since last August, the Historical Society has been in the process of filing an insurance claim. The insurance money would be used for that purpose, Coombe said. A determination of loss is expected by the end of June. But it makes no sense to have that work done if the problem remains, said Bob Pearson, Historical Society attorney. Because there's been no response to that request, the organization's executive committee last week directed Coombe to begin looking for other locations. Davidson said that the system startup created no problems, and she doesn't know whether the soot is being continually redistributed or whether new material is coming in from somewhere else.

"I'm still waiting to find out exactly what the situation is," Davidson said.

The ventilation system is operating within parameters, but it needs to be fine-tuned each season. This will be its first summer in operation. She told the St. Louis County Heritage & Arts Center board of directors Monday that the Historical Society's space needs cleaning, which contractors probably should have done. Coombe said the society did that cleaning in March, April and May 2001, before the roof and window project began, at a cost of $3,500. To date, the society has spent about $13,000 to have an independent scientific testing firm determine whether damage has been done. The firm said it has. "That project has changed the climate and environment in the building," said Nick Wognum, president of the Historical Society. "We've had some severe humidity situations." St. Louis County provides $249,000 per year for the Historical Society and its six Iron Range affiliates and archives. It receives rent-free space in the Depot as do some other member organizations. http://www.duluthsuperior.com/

Parliament Warns Italy Over Return of Axum Obelisk

The Ethiopian parliament has warned that diplomatic ties with Italy could be cut in a mounting row over the ancient Axum Obelisk, which was taken from the country over 60 years ago. MPs in the federal parliament on Tuesday called for tougher action against the Italians for the return of the historic relic, plundered by Italian troops in 1935. They passed a five-point resolution demanding its immediate return and called on the international community to step up the pressure. Ahmed Hasen, chairman of the Information and Cultural Affairs Standing Committee in the parliament, condemned Italy's refusal to hand back "looted artefacts". "The international community should challenge the Italian government," he told over 380 MPs during the two-hour debate. "What we are left with is a popular move and an international effort. Only after exhausting these initiatives and efforts can we believe that we should take a stronger resolution. We may even take measures of cutting diplomatic ties," he warned. "I hope they [the Italians] give meaning and attach importance to the resolutions of this parliament." The 2,000 year-old monument was looted from the holy city of Axum on the personal orders of Italian fascist dictator Benito Mussolini and erected in Rome where it still stands. Calls for the return of the 400-tonne Obelisk have increased in the last few weeks after it was hit by lightning and damaged during a thunderstorm in the Italian capital. Hailekiros Gesese, chairman of the Foreign Affairs, Security and Defence Affairs Standing Committee, accused Italy of taking advantage of a poor country. Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi made an impassioned plea to international heads of state during the recent World Food Summit in Rome to return the treasured relic. A spokeswoman from the Italian embassy in Addis Ababa commented that the ultimate decision on the return of the obelisk lies with the government in Italy. (IRIN) http://www.addistribune.com/

Rare Roman objects missing after dig

Police are investigating the disappearance of Roman relics which were placed in storage. The finds were made during a dig in Carlisle and put in six boxes inside a council storage building. Archaeologists fear more than 150 objects may have been sold over the internet. The relics were found on the site of the Millennium Gallery beside the former fort of Luguvallium near Hadrian's Wall. Some of the coins, glassware and jewellery which originally vanished were later found in research offices, but some artefacts still cannot be found. Gerry Martin, a joint leader of the dig, told The Times: "I'm absolutely shocked. It's a huge blow for historians." A spokeswoman for Carlisle City Council said: "This matter is now under police investigation and as such details cannot be discussed until the investigation has been concluded." http://www.ananova.com/

Art detectives track stolen paintings

The Irish Examiner 25 Jun 2002
By Cormac O'Keeffe
AN international art detective agency has offered its expertise in tracking down 14 paintings worth 200,000 stolen from a south Dublin apartment. The London-based Art Lost Register (ALR) has logged the paintings on its register of stolen art. "We have a database of stolen art, so whenever something comes up for sale, we can check the register to see if it is stolen," said Jessica Volpe of ALR. The register is used by art dealers, auction houses and insurance companies throughout Europe and America. The paintings, valued at €200,000, were stolen from an apartment in Hazeldene on upmarket Angelsea Road in Ballsbridge a fortnight ago. Detectives at Donnybrook Garda Station are eager to talk to a particular man seen leaving the apartment complex in a delivery type van. Gardaí have released video footage of a blue Hiace van which was in the complex for a time that day, Saturday June 8. They describe the paintings as being of "immense sentimental value" to the owner.

The paintings include:

Ms Volpe said paintings stolen in Ireland are typically taken abroad for sale, usually to England, but also sometimes to Holland and even New York. She said stolen art was often linked to other organised crime, for example, in exchange for drugs or weapons. The paintings can also be used to raise collateral from a financial institution. ALR is also helping gardaí trying to track down two paintings, worth €3.8m, taken in a daylight robbery from Russborough House, Co Wicklow, in June 2001. The paintings, Madame Baccelli by Thomas Gainsborough and View of Florence by Bernardo Belloto, have been recovered. Anyone with information on the thefts in relation to the latest art heist can contact Donnybrook Station at 01-6669212.
The paintings can be seen on the Garda website http://www.garda.ie.

Al-Qaida plot to blow up Bologna church fresco

Philip Willan in Rome
Monday June 24, 2002
The Guardian
An Islamist terror group linked to al-Qaida is suspected of plotting to blow up Bologna's most important church to erase the offence of a 15th-century Gothic fresco showing Mohammed being tormented by devils in hell. A key alleged figure known as "Amsa the Libyan", who was arrested in Britain three weeks ago for possessing false papers, is suspected of having passed orders from al-Qaida leaders in Afghanistan and Iran to terrorist cells in Europe. The Milan daily Corriere della Sera reported that in a telephone call intercepted by police in February, one of the suspect's alleged associates discussed plans for an attack on the Church of San Petronio, which has a large fresco by Giovanni da Modena showing the founder of the Islamic religion in hell. The painter was inspired by Dante, who consigned Mohammed to the ninth circle of hell - reserved for religious schismatics - in his Divine Comedy. The fresco, held in a side-chapel, is seen by many Muslims as a symbol of Christian intransigence. Amsa was monitored as he allegedly passed instructions to al-Qaida cells in Britain, the Netherlands, Belgium and Spain. In one intercepted telephone call he apparently discussed an attack on the US embassy in Amsterdam http://www.guardian.co.uk/