The American Association of Museums Internet Portal will be a huge step forward for two groups: for the families, it will make it immeasurably easier to determine whether the art stolen from their families has found its way into a United States museum; and for museums, it will take them far in the direction of making their holdings open to public examination. However, the article posted by MSN on October 16, 2002 gives the impression that Nazi records during the war tell the whole story of the art taken by the Nazis. Unfortunately, it is only one aspect of the Nazis' huge art theft which began in Germany years before the start of World War II . Before the war, the National Socialist government seized art from its Jewish citizens, taking it if it was left behind, or seizing it along with other property as the price of an exit visa. These works were dispersed at auction, and the German government keeps such financial records classified for 80 years. (Do the arithmetic, 1933 records become public in 2013.) They are not open to historians, but they are open to families if they can prove their ancestral connection with the collector or to someone who has the family's power of attorney. It was through such archival research that one of the heirs of Gustav and Clara Kirstein obtained the information that made it possible for the Commission for Art Recovery of the World Jewish Congress to recover art for the heirs from two German museums two years ago. www.commartrecovery.org . While the United States and its Allies performed a great service to humanity and culture by gathering all the hidden stolen art they could find in Germany and Austria and returning art to the country from which it the Nazis had taken it, of course they could not return art that had been dispersed by the Nazis before the war. Museums may find it impossible to identifying such art in their collections without the help of the families who have access to German financial archives.
Constance Lowenthal
Constance Lowenthal, Inc. (consulting) former director, Commission for Art Recovery cl@lowenthal-inc.com
P R E S S R E L E A S E FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE For information contact: Appraisers Association of America 386 Park Avenue South, Ste. 2000 New York, NY 10016 Tel. (212) 889 5404 Fax (212) 889 5503 Email: AAA1@rcn.com
THE APPRAISERS ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA'S NATIONAL CONFERENCE
The Basics of Appraising NOVEMBER 14 - 17, 2002
NEW YORK MARRIOTT MARQUIS HOTEL 1535 Broadway (at 45TH Street), New York City The Basics of Appraising will be the theme of this year's National Conference of the Appraisers Association of America. The Conference will be held at the New York Marriott Marquis Hotel, 1535 Broadway (at 45th Street) New York City, November 14 - 17, 2002.
In announcing the Conference, Sylvia Leonard Wolf, AAA, Conference Co- Chair said, "The effects of September 11th on the art market and the downturn in the economy have caused appraisers to re-evaluate the way they practice their profession. The emphasis of the conference theme of "The Basics of Appraising" will examine these issues directly and the program will concentrate on the areas appraisers find most problematic and in need of clarification."
The background for the many appraisal issues to be raised in the Conference will be established by Bruce Wolmer, Editor-in-Chief of Art & Auction who will discuss "The Changing Art Market" during the past year. Questions such as whether September 11th has had a lasting effect and the importance of the current economic downturn on current sales will be addressed in an effort to see whether any conclusions can be reached about trends to come in the next year.
Much attention will be devoted during the Conference to complex methodological issues commonly encountered by appraisers. Estate appraisals will be covered in a seminar which will look at specifics concerning IRS expectations, the ways in which estate appraisals differ from other types of appraisals, and client/appraiser relationships in settling estates.
Related to estate appraisals is the issue of blockage discounts. Many participants at past conferences requested a seminar on this topic; as a result the concept of blockage discount will be covered in a panel discussion which will examine how blockage discount is structured, its relationship to discounts applied by business valuers, and how blockage discount has been introduced in art litigation.
The number of art related law cases increases annually as the art market becomes a perceived area for investment by many collectors. Frequently lawyers will require a work product from an appraiser which may not seem to meet current methodological standards. The complexities of this issue will be covered in the seminar, "The Balancing Act: Professional Responsibilities and Legal Requirements", which will define the problems and attempt to arrive at ways to meet the many challenges presented in this area of appraising.
The concept of arriving at the appropriate value for the defined purpose of an appraisal will be examined in the seminar "The Walk Through Appraisal: Appraising the Same Object for Different Purposes." This interactive seminar will be hosted by a panel of professional appraisers: David A. Gallager, Jane H. Willis and Linda R. Safran; who will discuss how the same object can have different values depending on the purpose of the report. Sample appraisal reports will be used to illustrate how one handles specific appraisal report writing requirements.
One panel discussion will be devoted to new insurance appraisal standards which have been introduced in a research paper written by the Arts and Records Committee of the Inland Marine Underwriters Association (IMUA). Grace Thomas of Atlantic Mutual Companies who chaired the IMUA during the time the paper was formulated will host this session which will include other members of the Committee who represent several of the leading insurance underwriters of art and antiques and other types of personal property. A popular segment of past Conferences has been the many breakout sessions. This year the theme of the breakouts will be "Honing Skills: Appraising the Problem Object" Sessions will include Southwestern Art; Contemporary Art; Silver Hallmarks; Costume Jewelry; Mid 20th Century American Abstract Art; English Furniture; Glass of the Victorian, Art Nouveau and Art Deco Eras; and Contemporary Photography.
Among the speakers hosting these sessions are: Joan Caballero, appraiser; Alex J. Rosenberg past president of the Appraisers Association of America; James Mc Connaughy, vice president of S.J. Shrubsole Corp.; private dealer and appraiser, Connie Kay; Gary Snyder, Owner of Gary Snyder Fine Art; Clinton Howell, president, Clinton Howell Antiques; Malcolm MacNeil, appraiser and lecturer; Edward Lewand, appraiser; and Penelope Dixon, president, Penelope Dixon & Associates, Inc.
Prior to the Conference on Thursday, November 14, a special one-day supplemental program will be offered on "Attorneys and Appraisers: Working Together: Legal Cases." Among the topics to be covered will be: "Damage and Loss Cases;" "Donation Appraisal Cases;" "Divorce and Appraisal;" and "The Question of International Provenance on Legal Cases" which will examine recent controversial decisions in the Steinhardt case and the Frederick Schultz case.
Most sessions will be panel discussions in which appraisers and attorneys will work together to examine timely legal issues. The lessons learned from the way these cases have been resolved will undoubtedly point the way to future and expanding working relationships that appraisers and attorneys will have in the years to come. It is anticipated that attorneys attending this session will be eligible to receive CLE credit.
A limited number of rooms have been set aside at the Conference hotel, the Marriott Marquis and other hotels nearby. Since November is always a busy time in New York City, conference participants are urged to book early to avoid disappointment.
Reflecting on the program, AAA Conference co-chair, Beth G. Weingast, said, "the Committee has worked long and hard to address in the program the needs not only of appraisers but all those interested in the value of art and antiques and other collectibles. We feel this goal has been met in a program that is truly timely and compelling."
For further information contact the AAA office at (212) 889 5404 or email: AAA1@rcn.com
Version of Old Egypt Library Opens
Wed Oct 16, 6:46 PM ET By SARAH EL DEEB, Associated Press Writer
ALEXANDRIA, Egypt (AP) - Presidents and royalty gathered Wednesday as Egypt inaugurated the Bibliotheca Alexandrina, a modern version of the ancient library known for a freedom of thought and expression lacking in today's Middle East. While the new library cannot match the 500,000 scrolls said to have been housed in the Great Library of Alexandria before it burned down in the fourth century, it has a digital archive that includes 10 billion Web pages dating back to 1996. "Egypt has exerted all efforts to make the new Bibliotheca Alexandrina a civilized message in its roots, modern in its content, and international in its role and reach," President Hosni Mubarak told French President Jacques Chirac, Queen Sofia of Spain, Queen Rania of Jordan, Greek President Costis Stephanopoulos and some 300 other dignitaries seated in the Great Reading Hall. Egyptian writer Naguib Mahfouz, who won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1988 and is a member of the library's board of trustees, sent a message saying that as conflicts increase every day, the new library has "a noble human message of peace that is more important than the message of the ancient one." A special act of parliament last year guarantees the library administration independence. Freedom of expression is at a premium throughout the region where governments, including Egypt, have imposed censorship and jailed those who express unpopular ideas. Egypt is capable "historically, geographically and culturally" of providing a library dedicated to discourse, understanding and tolerance, he said. But already, the library has been at the center of controversy. A photo book in the collection showing Egyptian slum neighborhoods brought complaints that it reflected poorly on the country.
The international project, envisaged in the late 1980s, has been delayed many times. A 1990 UNESCO declaration called for international support to revive the ancient center of learning, but the Gulf War curtailed contributions. Mubarak on Wednesday used the occasion of the opening to call for an end to the bloodshed in a region where, he said, "innocents pay the price, and civilians continue to live in fear, worry, and tension." The $230 million project — which drew financial and logistical support from around the world — aspires to reflect the spirit of the ancient Bibliotheca, founded around 295 B.C. by Ptolemy I Soter, the successor of this city's founder, Alexander the Great. Scholars in the ancient library are thought to have produced the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Old Testament; edited Homer's works; and found that Helios, the sun — not Earth — was the center of our galaxy. In the modern Middle East, the spirit of scientific inquiry and the free exchange of ideas seems to be under siege. The Egyptian government has banned books and plays deemed immoral. Moustaba al-Abbadi, an Alexandria historian who inspired the library's revival, has complained Egypt has been reduced to "scientific dependency and backwardness." The library — which has a capacity for 4 million books_ now houses some 240,000 volumes, a minor collection compared to the 18 million volumes of the U.S. Library of Congress or the 12 million of the National Library of France.