Lifelike statue of Adolf Hitler kneeling in prayer shakes up Dutch art scene
Thu Sep 5,10:59 AM ET
ROTTERDAM, Netherlands - A lifelike statue of Adolf Hitler kneeling in prayer opened a wave of criticism in the Netherlands Thursday, a day before the Italian piece goes on exhibit in a city once destroyed by Nazi bombs.
The sculpture "Him" by Maurizio Cattelan will go on display at the Boijmans van Beuningen museum in Rotterdam on Friday and can be viewed by the public until Nov. 3. Rotterdam's leading official for culture, alderman Stefan Hulman, was upset when he heard about the exhibit and phoned the director of the museum to complain, said city spokeswoman Josien Gorkink. "He finds it tasteless to confront people with their war past in a city like Rotterdam where it could be upsetting to some people," Gorkink said. Rotterdam was flattened by German bombing during World War II and had to be rebuilt. It won't be the first time Cattelan's work has shocked the public.
The "La Nona Ora" ("The Ninth Hour"), a sculpture of Pope John Paul ( news - web sites) II crumpled under a black meteorite, was harshly debated before being sold at Christie's last year for dlrs 886,000. The Hitler piece stands just a meter (three feet) high and is made of polyester, resin and finished with wax. In a strikingly realistic portrayal, the Nazi leader is seen with his hands clasped at his waist looking up. The statue stands alone in a vast gallery hall. The museum said the statue fits into the Italian Grotesque art genre and that Cattelan intended to bring the viewer face-to-face with "the personification of evil." "By confronting this loaded theme with irony, the historic and ethical importance of this extremely dark period of our existence becomes clearer," the museum said in a statement. "It is particularly important to display this type of work now in a time of fear."
The piece, crafted in 2000, was previously exhibited in Sweden and Italy http://story.news.yahoo.com/
Nazi death march museum firebombed in worst attack on a Holocaust memorial in a decade
Fri Sep 6, 9:19 AM ET
BERLIN - German authorities have posted a 10,000 euro (dollar) reward for clues leading to an arrest in the worst anti-Semitic attack on a Holocaust memorial in a decade, the fireboming of a museum honoring the victims of a Nazi death march. The attack destroyed the main exhibition of the death march museum in the Belower Woods, which detailed how the Nazis drove concentration camp inmates deeper into Germany as the Soviet Army advanced at the end of World War II. Guards discovered the fire early Thursday. Outside the museum, vandals painted a big red swastika and two SS symbols on a memorial, and an anti-Semitic slogan one meter high and six meters long (three feet high and 18 feet long) along the base of a large memorial column. More than 45,000 prisoners were forced to march from Ravensbrueck and Sachsenhausen, both in Brandenburg state, were gathered in the Belower Woods near Wittstock, 100 kilometers (65 miles) northwest of Berlin, where 700-800 died of exhaustion and hunger within a few days. The area had not seen such a serious attack on a Holocaust site since 1992, when neo-Nazis burned the rebuilt prisoner barracks inside the Sachsenhausen concentration camp outside Berlin.
The attack came as a new study by researchers at Berlin's Free University and the University of Leipzig showed anti-Semitism is increasing in Germany, with more than a quarter of respondents telling researchers they believe Jewish influence is too great. According to the survey, which polled 1,001 people in east Germany and 1,050 in the west in April, some 28 percent overall believe that Jewish influence is too great, while 32 percent said they partially agreed. Researchers found that higher numbers of people in the former West Germany had such feelings. In 1994, 7 percent of eastern respondents agreed with the statement, compared to 14 percent today. In the west, 17 percent said Jewish influence was too great in 1994 compared to 31 percent today. The survey, which had a margin of error of less than 2 percent, also found a rise in acceptance of the Nazi era, with 17 percent agreeing that "without the extermination of the Jews, Hitler today would be seen as a great statesman." http://story.news.yahoo.com/
Art theft victim (?) mum on losses
By Jesse Bogan and Ihosvani Rodriguez Express-News Staff Writers
A San Antonio art collector who had more than $700,000 in artwork stolen from his home Monday is refusing to provide the names of what was taken. Dr. Richard Garcia declined comment Tuesday, except to say he's not ready to list what was stolen.
Not even police have been told, Garcia said.
"He would like his art back, but obviously he would like his privacy," said his attorney, Tom Cowen. "Any more publicity could encourage another incident." Cowen and Garcia brushed aside comments by art experts who say naming the stolen works could help prevent their sale to an unsuspecting collector. Police department spokesman Richard Solis said property crimes is handling the case. "The burglary may be the largest theft in recent history," said one detective. No new details were provided.
Garcia said Monday he was asleep upstairs when the burglary occurred, and didn't hear anything. A maid who lives in a basement apartment said she heard footsteps upstairs at about 4 a.m., but thought it was the doctor walking around. The theft, which included a $500,000 painting by Frida Kahlo and works by Picasso and Matisse, was discovered at about 10:30 a.m. Monday, police said. Garcia told police his house's alarm system was set, but it failed to go off. None of the works were insured, he said. Security One, Garcia's security provider, would not comment Tuesday. In March of last year, investigators with the Kendall County Sheriff's office confiscated 12 religious statues and paintings from Garcia's private collection as they pursued an art theft case out of Comfort. Authorities also found that Garcia had several items that had been stolen from Missions Concepción and San Juan, including an 18th-century Virgin that was a gift from Spain, authorities said. Garcia said he paid $20,000 for the items to 27-year-old Julio Garcia, who said he bought them from Juan Rodriguez, an undocumented immigrant.
The two Garcias are not related.
The doctor said he never sensed a possible connection between the religious antiquities he bought from Julio Garcia and news accounts about the items stolen from the missions. Garcia returned the items belonging to the archdiocese, and filed a lawsuit seeking the return of the other items. That battle ended in July, when the parties settled out of court. "Basically, we all agreed to let him (Garcia) keep one of the statues so that we can all go on with our lives," said Houston-based attorney Lewis Dickson, who represented the antique dealer. Meanwhile, friends and acquaintances of the doctor were sympathetic Tuesday. "There was nothing but Picassos, Fridas — it was just breathtaking," said Ana Montoya, owner of AnArte Gallery, who attended a recent party at the Garcia home. "I feel saddened for him." jbogan@express-news.net
Staff Writer Deborah Martin contributed to this report. http://news.mysanantonio.com/
Ethiopian officials in Italy to seek return of ancient obelisk
ROME
Ethiopian officials seeking the return of an ancient obelisk looted by Italian fascist forces in 1937 were in Rome on Monday to determine when and how the monument will be repatriated. The 160-ton, 24-meter (nine-foot) obelisk, originally a Yemenite funerary monument dating back to the third century BC, stands today in front of the Rome headquarters of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). The government of Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said in July it would begin the process of returning the obelisk. But the Italian government has dragged its feet amid comments from some officials that the monument would be better protected in Rome. Ethiopian officials said the team – led by Jara Hailemariam, head of the African nation's cultural conservation and research department – wanted to discuss exactly when and how it would be returned. The Italian foreign ministry said the Ethiopian authorities also wanted to be involved in work to restore the obelisk, which was seriously damaged during a violent lightning storm on May 29. The obelisk was one of six built at Axum, near Ethiopia's northern the border with Eritrea, which was at its peak in the fourth century AD.
Looted by troops of the fascist dictator Benito Mussolini when they occupied Ethiopia from 1936 to 1941, it was originally to have been returned by the Italian government within 18 months of Italy signing the September 1947 peace treaty with the United Nations, which officially ended World War II. For more than a year, the Ethiopian government has readied the original site for its return, with scaffolding in place to protect the obelisk and road repairs completed to ensure a smooth journey once it reaches the country.
In July this year, Italy again pledged to return the Axum obelisk but set no date for its repatriation. http://www.metimes.com/
Obelisk To Be Broken Up for Return to Ethiopia
VOA News 6 Sep 2002 10:02 UTC
The ancient obelisk of Axum, which was brought to Italy after Fascist dictator Benito Mussolini's 1937 invasion of Ethiopia, stands upright in downtown Rome Experts in Italy say an ancient monument must be broken into three pieces, before it can be returned to Ethiopia. The announcement was made Thursday in Rome, where Italian officials are preparing to return the artifact known as the Axum obelisk, which was taken from Ethiopia by Italian soldiers in 1937. Ethiopian and Italian engineers have been working together to figure out how to move the 24-meter column that is estimated to weigh between 150 and 200 tons. The obelist now stands in central Rome near the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization. The 1,700-year-old obelisk was broken into pieces for its journey from Ethiopia to Italy, and technicians say it will be re-broken along some of the same lines for the trip home.
The two countries have been arguing over the obelisk for years. Italy agreed to return it, but has yet to set a date. http://www.voanews.com/ The Art Newspaper.com
This week's top stories:
CHINA MOVES TO PRIVATISE THE ART TRADE
HONG KONG. A draft law which circulated at this year’s National People’s Congress (NPC) at the end of April proposed legalising private trade in antiquities for the first time since Communist “liberation” in 1949. http://www.theartnewspaper.com/news/article.asp?idart=9979
THE £3 MILLION WASTED OPPORTUNITY
When the invitation arrived to join the selection panel for a Diana memorial fountain in Hyde Park, I reacted warily. I recalled the ghastliness of The Queen Mother’s Gates in Hyde Park, and shuddered. Would the committee be confronted by an orgy of similar monstrosities, and feel obliged to inflict another excruciating nightmare on London’s largest expanse of green space? http://www.theartnewspaper.com/news/article.asp?idart=9977
NOT ENOUGH ART, TOO MUCH POLITICAL CORRECTNESS
If the three curators of this year’s “Manifesta” in Frankfurt travelled around 36 European countries over a whole year and came up with such thin results, then one must either query their competence or conclude that they only sought out the artists and works they already had in mind. The curators’ ideology had taken the place of an ideology of Avant-gardes. http://www.theartnewspaper.com/news/article.asp?idart=9976
ENGLAND’S MUSEUMS GET DECENT FUNDING ALLOCATION
LONDON. Later this month the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) will be announcing financial allocations for England’s museums, including the beleaguered British Museum. The sum set aside for new assistance for the regional museums should also be revealed. This follows the Chancellor of the Exchequer’s Spending Review in July, which represented good news for the arts. http://www.theartnewspaper.com/news/article.asp?idart=9975
ART FOR TAX WORKS
LONDON. For the first time, a report has been published on the Acceptance in Lieu (AIL) scheme, which enables UK public collections to acquire works of art and archives in settlement of inheritance tax. http://www.theartnewspaper.com/news/article.asp?idart=9974
“I NEVER REFUSE TO SEE A NEW ARTIST”
NEW YORK. One of the most opinionated, amusing and trenchant figures on the entire contemporary art horizon, Ivan C. Karp has been dealing in art for almost half a century, starting work with the legendary Richard Bellamy at Hansa in 1956. In 1959 Mr Karp was hired by the famous gallery owner, Leo Castelli at $100 a week. http://www.theartnewspaper.com/news/article.asp?idart=9972
WHY DID HE DO THAT?
Margaret Livingstone’s book, Vision and art: the biology of seeing, examines the mechanisms of the process of seeing from her particular vantage point as a professor of neurobiology at Harvard Medical School. Her main points of reference are in the fields of anatomy and physiology, and visual perception. Her special interest lies in how the eye and the brain use colour and luminance information, and her general interests include dyslexia and various types of visual processing. http://www.theartnewspaper.com/news/article.asp?idart=9970 Anna Somers Cocks, Editor
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