Thirteen rare antique clocks have been stolen from a private museum in Frederiksoord, The Netherlands. These clocks constitute the most precious pieces of a 250 items collection, so it seems this burglary was very well prepared. The thief(s) managed to enter the museum by cutting one of the bars in front of a small window. March this year the Frans Hals Museum in Haarlem was burglarized, and last week the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam reported a theft.
TC
Date sent: Mon, 01 Jul 2002 17:23:02 -0700
May I ask you a question involving my research for a screenplay?
I have read many reports saying that stolen paintings, even ones by painters as famous as Cezanne, are thought to be used for money laundering. I can't figure this out yet, because I can't imagine who could possibly buy them. It seems to me that no one can hang up a stolen Cezanne in their house for fear of arrest. If such a painting is used for money laundering, who could be the buyer?
Thanks very much in advance to all for any info.
-Vik From: Jonathan Sazonoff saz@kwom.com
Subject: Re: Madrid Recovery
Dear Subscribers,
Following up on the recent Madrid recovery as for now it's only been a partial recovery. I love it when some jerk tries to sell a great stolen work of art; and gets nabbed in the process. It was a beautiful sting by the Spanish Police with cooperation from the FBI. Our congratulations to them all for a job well done.
To those on the list with an interest as to MO, it was an inside job where a security guard was associated with a small unsavory crew. That is if you consider bank robbers an unsavory crew. I guess the most important caveat to this whole story is that it serves to reminds ignorant thieves how difficult it is to sell major stolen artworks.
Reviewing several somewhat contradictory stories here's what I've got.
RECOVERED:
1. BASTIDA, JOAQUIN SOROLLA: BATH IN VALENCIA Oil, 103 x 72.5 cm. 2. BRUEGHEL, PETER: THE TEMPTATION OF ST. ANTHONY 3. DE GOYA, FRANCISCO: DONKEY'S FALL 169 x 100 cm. 4. DE HAES, CARLOS: VIEW OF THE PICOS DE EUROPA Oil, 78 x 56 cm. 5. FOUJITA: GIRL WITH HAT 6. LUCE, MAXIMILIEN: THE FACTORY Oil on canvas 7. PISSARRO, CAMILLE: ERAGNY LANDSCAPE 54 x 65 cm. 8. SOLANA, JOSE GUTIERREZ: CARNIVAL SCENE 9. ANON: WOMAN WITH SMALL BIRD IN HER HANDS 10.ANGLADA, HERMEN (Camarasa) STILL LIFE WITH FLOWERS
STILL MISSING:
1. DE GOYA, FRANCISCO: THE SWING 2. DE HAES, CARLOS: AUTUMN IN THE MOUNTAINS Oil on canvas, 57x 77 cm. 3. FOUJITA: DOLLS HOUSE 4. GRIS, JUAN: GUITAR ON A CHAIR Mixed media on canvas, 100 x 65 cm. 5. LUIGI, LOIR: L'AVENUE DU BOIS DE BOLOGNE Oil on canvas, 33 x 40.5 cm. 6. LUCAS: LANDSCAPE WITH SAILBOATS Oil on canvas 7. PRADILLA, FRANCISCO & ORTIZ: PORT OF ANZIO Oil on canvas, 40 x 85 cm. 8. BANQUET WITH ORCHESTRA
Museum workers strike to protest privatization plans for monuments
Sat Jun 29,10:16 AM ET
ROME - Museums across Italy closed their doors Saturday and workers demonstrated in front of the Colosseum to protest plans by the government to privatize some of Italy's cultural treasures. "Colosseum for Sale," and "No to privatization, yes to full-time employment" read posters mounted by union workers and preservationists around the 2,000-year-old arena. Elsewhere, museums posted notices on ticket windows warning tourists that they would be closed or have reduced hours Saturday because of the daylong strike. The conservative government of Premier Silvio Berlusconi approved a decree in April calling for the creation of two companies to manage putting state property into private hands either through concessions or by sales. The government says the move is necessary to cut costs and better manage Italy's cultural heritage, which includes villas and museums full of works they simply can't afford to display.
Preservation groups, environmentalists and other opponents have raised the alarm that even the Colosseum could fall prey to privatization and unions have opposed the move fearing jobs would be lost. The government has assured Italians that the Colosseum is not about to be spun off, but its plans inspired such fervor that Italy's president took the unusual step of attaching a letter of concern to his signature of the decree. On Saturday, one of the most vocal opponents of the plan, former culture undersecretary Vittorio Sgarbi, made an appearance at the Colosseum to bolster the workers' complaints. He resigned his post earlier this month to protest the privatization plan, although he said he would stay on at the culture ministry without a title. The government eventually removed him from the ministry altogether. http://story.news.yahoo.com/
Annual Conference International Committee for Museum Security
31 August - 7 September 2002 Brno, Prague (Czech Rep.)
ICMS - SECURITY
28th ICMS Meeting Main Theme: "Security Training".
Post Meeting Tour on 7th and 8th September : towns, castles and chateaux of western and southern, western or eastern Bohemia (Horšovský Týn, Kozel, Karlovy Vary, Plzen, Kutná Hora, Pardubice, Hradec Králové…)
Contact : PhDr. Pavla Seitlová, Secretary of ICOM CZ, Moravian Museum, Zelny trh 6, 659 Brno, Czech Republic. Tel. +420 5 42215759. Email: icom@mzm.cz or Mr Pavel Jirasek, President of ICMS: Email: jirasekp@mkcr.cz
More information available at: http://www.icom.org/icms