A foolproof new system for identifying contemporary paintings
PARIS. Researchers have been trying to find an incontestable way of identifying any work of art, generally a mark which would be unique to that painting. The main difficulty is that works of art cannot be permanently marked without damaging them. Now the French company JMH Industries has launched a foolproof identification method, using coded inserts specific to each piece. Its “Insert system” is a process carried out without any physical link to the painting. An X- ray is made of the canvas, which reveals the chemical characteristics of the painting by exposing the different atomic densities of the materials from which it is constructed. So while a painting can be copied, it is completely impossible to copy the X-ray image identically. Although this process can capture the unique fingerprint of a painting, as yet it has no legal status. A second identifying characteristic is necessary: this consists of an insert cut from a metallic ribbon marked with a digital code. This insert is the “identity card” of the painting: it contains a number which is unique to that painting, as well as other information such as the name of a specialist or a gallery. The method is not intended as a substitute for the traditional certificate by an expert or custom’s official. It simply adds irrefutable proof to what the certificate claims; a guarantee that the certificate and the painting are indeed connected. When the certificate is issued, a scale photograph of a detail of the painting is taken. An insert containing details of the painting is included in the photograph and placed on the canvas, on the exact spot from which it is reproduced. The X-ray taken at that point reveals the structure of the painting as well as the metallic insert contained in the photograph, providing irrefutable proof of the identity of the painting. o Information Insert System, BP 14, 28250 Sorel-Moussel, tel +33 (0)2 37 41 74 74 http://www.theartnewspaper.com/
Germany to Spend 100 Mln Euro on Flooded Art Sites
Tue Aug 27,11:04 AM ET
DRESDEN, Germany (Reuters) - The German government will allocate 100 million euros ($97.47 million) across the country to restore cultural sites ravaged by this month's floods, the federal culture minister said on Tuesday.
"In times of great emotional shock, culture plays an important role," Julian Nida-Ruemelin told journalists in the baroque eastern city of Dresden, where the lower floors of famous art galleries were evacuated two weeks ago. Most of the funds would arrive at the start of next year, Nida-Ruemelin said, although five million euros are to be provided immediately. Dresden is still rebuilding its historic monuments after the four decades of communist austerity that followed the city's destruction by Allied bombers in World War II. The floods set back those efforts by years, officials said. A spokesman at the German culture ministry said about 80 percent of the federal money would go to Saxony, especially Dresden.
"One must act quickly because some cellars are still under water and the buildings must be dried out, and that requires money," the spokesman said. "We have already given three million euros and the German Culture Foundation has given two million," he said. "This will cover the first immediate measures, but then one must think of the long-term reconstruction needs." The floods in Germany caused billions of euros in damage, with many homes ruined and infrastructure washed away. Museum workers, police and firemen raced into the vaults of Dresden's 18th-century Zwinger Palace near the rising River Elbe to carry priceless Renaissance paintings to higher ground. Similar rescue efforts saved art in other museums. Many buildings need new air conditioning and electrical systems in their flooded basements and are seeking new storage facilities. http://story.news.yahoo.com/ From Codart List ( http://www.codart.nl )
subject: Flood damage in Dessau and Wörlitz
The following report on the flooding in Dessau and Wörlitz just came in from Wolfgang Savelsberg.
The catastrophe began on Tuesday the 13th of August, when the fire department warned the Kulturstiftung Dessau Wörlitz to expect extraordinarily high water in the Mulde River within a day and in the Elbe a day after that. The situation was especially threatening to Dessau, which lies at the juncture of those two flooded rivers. We decided to start our own salvage operation in the Luisium. On Tuesday afternoon, working into the night, we brought all the furniture, paintings etc. from the cellar and the parterre to the first floor. On Wednesday we moved on to the Gotisches Haus and Schloss Wörlitz, emptying them entirely with a large group of people. Even the doors were dismantled and we thought of doing the same with the parquet floors. Schloss Mosigkau and Schloss Oranienbaum were not in danger. Although the Bauhaus, the Meisterhäuser and the Georgium were at great risk because of their locations, they too were spared flooding. As far as the main buildings themselves go, we had lots of luck. Water flowed into the cellars of the Luisium and Schloss Großkühnau, but only technical equipment was destroyed. Worse damage occurred in the gardens of the Luisium and the Wörlitzer Anlagen, and some buildings on and near the walls were destroyed. The damage is estimated at about 10 million euros, which will be hard to raise, since our financial situation before the floods was already disastrous.
Fortunately, none of my colleagues or myself suffered much harm in our homes, although some parts of Dessau and some villages near Wörlitz are till today covered by a meter and a half of water.
In Wörlitz and its garden and most parts of Dessau the 200-year-old walls were able to withstand the water, but only because thousands of people (included myself) worked day and night for several days on end to strengthen them. We were also lucky because on those days we had no rain in these days and because we had three days to prepare the walls before the water came from Dresden and Prague.