Subject: Goudstikker Painting Restituted--Press Release sent on behalf of Lawrence M. Kaye, Esq.
Date sent: Fri, 1 Nov 2002 14:24:37 -0500
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
SOLE HEIR OF JACQUES GOUDSTIKKER
RECOVERS PAINTING BY ANTHONY VAN DYCK ENTITLED MARIA MAGDALENA
New York (October 23, 2002) -- Marei von Saher, the sole living heir of Jacques Goudstikker, the foremost collector and dealer of Old Masters in pre-World War II Holland, announced today the restitution to her of a painting entitled "Maria Magdalena" by Anthony van Dyck.
The painting is part of an extensive collection of art that was owned by Goudstikker but looted by the Nazis shortly after they occupied the Netherlands in 1940. Jacques Goudstikker, his wife and his only son fled the Netherlands in May 1940, when the Nazi troops invaded. Goudstikker was forced to leave behind his business and 1,400 art works, escaping only with his personal effects. Reichmarshall Hermann Göring subsequently took the best of the collection back to Germany with him; the van Dyck painting was among these.
Marei von Saher is presently seeking to recover the paintings that disappeared from the Goudstikker collection during the war. Earlier this year, the London based Art Loss Register discovered that the van Dyck painting was scheduled to be included in the "Old Masters" auction at Van Ham Fine Art Auctions of Cologne on April 13, 2002 and alerted Mrs. von Saher. The van Dyck painting, after being identified as a lost Goudstikker painting by the Art Loss Register, was removed from the auction by Van Ham. With the assistance of Van Ham, discussions between the Goudstikker family's representatives and the consignor of the van Dyck painting, a private collector, who has asked to remain anonymous, were initiated. As a result, the consignor and the Goudstikker family were able to reach an agreement pursuant to which the painting was restituted to the Goudstikker family.
Marei von Saher said "It is encouraging to know that Van Ham, like other major auction houses, is taking steps to ensure that artwork with questionable Holocaust provenance is not offered for sale prior to notifying the original owners. The painting will be offered for sale at Van Ham's upcoming Fall auction. This will be the first time in more than sixty years that a major painting from the famous Goudstikker Collection is offered for sale at public auction and will provide additional resources to assist my family in its ongoing efforts to locate and restitute the lost paintings of Jacques Goudstikker."
Lawrence M. Kaye of Herrick, Feinstein LLP, the Goudstikker family's U.S. attorney stated: "It is heartening that museums and collectors throughout the world have become more sensitive to Holocaust claims and have begun to do 'the right thing'. It is my hope that the return of this painting from the Goudstikker Collection will increase international awareness of the family's efforts to recover the Goudstikker Collection and lead to additional returns by people of goodwill who find themselves in possession of other works from the collection."
# # #
For more information about this release, please contact:
Lawrence M. Kaye, Esq. Herrick, Feinstein LLP 212-592-1410 email: lkaye@herrick.com
Elgin Marbles letter for sale
A letter that could fuel the long-running international dispute over the ownership of the Elgin Marbles is to be sold at auction for an estimated £1,000. The handwritten note will be sold at Dominic Winter Auctions in Wiltshire on 6 November and is thought likely to spark interest among both sides in the argument between the UK and Greek authorities.
The letter was written in 1811 by the British Ambassador to Constantinople (Istanbul), Robert Adair, and addressed to Thomas Bruce, the seventh Earl of Elgin. It suggested the earl had no right to buy the 5th Century marbles. The sculptures, which originally adorned the front of the Parthenon temple in Athens were taken by the earl to England in 1811, and are now housed at London's British Museum.
Greece wants them returned for the 2004 Olympics Dominic Winter's valuer Chris Albury said the letter was a significant find but that its contents could be open to historical interpretation. "What is clear is the content of the letter fuels the campaign for the restitution of the Marbles from the British Museum to Athens. "As far as we have been able to ascertain it is a unique document. It is likely to be seized upon by both sides of the argument," he said. The marbles date from between 447 and 432 BC and depict the most formal religious ceremonies of ancient Athens - the Panathenaea procession. The Earl of Elgin was given permission to work on the marbles' protection in 1801. Greece was still under Ottoman (Turkish) control and the sculptures' fate was considered in jeopardy.
Pollution
The UK and Greek authorities have been arguing over whether the marbles should be returned to Greece since then. The campaign Parthenon 2004, backed by more than 90 UK MPs and public figures, is calling for the marbles to be returned to Athens in time for the next Olympic Games. The Greek authorities are building a specially designed display "case" for the marbles on top of a £29m museum to show the frieze in its original situation. And those calling for their return to Athens have included high-profile figures. Lord Byron wrote a poem, The Curse of Minerva attacking Elgin's "looting" of the marbles and more recently Hillary Clinton has been asked for their return. Supporters of the lobby to keep the marbles in the UK say housing them in the British Museum has saved them from deterioration caused by pollution in Greece.
BBC
Cypriot Land Mines;
Military, Polical and Archaeological
Hershel Shanks
We couldn't get to the fifth-century B.C. tomb at Pyla, said to be one of the finest of the period, because minefields were being cleared that day and the road was closed. Pyla, on the Mediterranean island of Cyprus, lies near the border between the Republic of Cyprus in the south and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), which occupies the northern third of the island. According to Giorgos Georgiou, the archaeologist from the Cyprus Department of Antiquities who had been assigned to us that day, the decision to clear the minefield was a result of a recent rapprochement between the two sides.
( ++++++++++++++++++++++++++)
Many archaeological sites on the island, including Salamis and Enkomi, as well as the later painted churches in the north (there are many more in the south), are badly in need of conservation and restoration. The TRNC has neither the money nor the expertise. They need and want help. But the TRNC is unrecognized. UNESCO, for example, will not process an application from the TRNC, explaining that UNESCO deals only with "a state authority."
A paradox: Everyone agrees that the work should and must be done. The sites include many that the Greek Cypriots are especially devoted to. It is not that they love the sites in northern Cyprus less, but that they hate the TRNC more. So the sites continue to deteriorate. The excavation reports remain unwritten. And the status quo will almost surely continue—unless Greece and Turkey someday go to war over Cyprus.
full story: http://www.bib-arch.org/bswb_AO/bswbao0506f1.html
Subject: Art Object Identification by Number
From: sokeeffe@gcr.com Date sent: Fri, 1 Nov 2002 09:31:25 -0500
When I was working with the Getty Museum on worldwide uniform art object identification standards a few years ago there was a proposal to have an object ID for each art object to help locate lost or stolen art. Do you know whether the any museum/auction/gallery community/country accepted and/or instituted a "bar code" type of object identification. To date I have not seen any works of art with this information but, I was wondering if there was some universal standard or database that the art community was using. If you can tell me where to go to find out this information that would be helpful too.
Sheila O'Keeffe GeneralCologne Reinsurance Property Facultative (212) 341-8031 sokeeffe@gcr.com
From: Sharon Flescher
Subject: Re. the Art Gallery of Ontario's letter about the Hermitage Museum
Re: The Art Gallery of Ontario's Letter about the Hermitage Museum
I thought it might be helpful to elaborate on Matthew Teitelbaum's letter to MSN (October 27th) discussing the difference between the "nationalization" of art works by Russia after the Bolshevik Revolution and the confiscation of artworks by the Nazis.
Mr. Teitelbaum was apparently responding to a journalist's criticism of a loan exhibition at the Art Gallery of Ontario of works from the Hermitage in Russia. American law, as well as British law and that of other countries has, indeed, upheld the distinction that Mr. Teitelbaum makes. Under what is called the "Act of State Doctrine," an ownership lawsuit/claim in the U.S. will not even go forward (whatever its other merits) if the claim concerns objects confiscated by a foreign government when:
1) that government is recognized by the United States at the time of the lawsuit, and
2) the confiscation of the property (art) took place within the foreign sovereign's own territorial boundaries.
The effect of the Act of State Doctrine is that we enforce and recognize acts of foreign sovereign governments even if those same acts wouldn't be valid in our own country. We make a legal distinction between these sovereign acts and pillage, theft, and plunder, such as that of the Nazis (who in any case are not now "recognized" by the U.S.).
The various confiscations/ nationalizations of art work by the Russian government took place in 1917/18 and also in 1921 and 1923. Much of the art work then went to the Hermitage and Pushkin Museums. Around 1930, strapped for cash, the Russian government sold some of these works. Over the years, several lawsuits have been initiated by heirs to the great Russian collections against the Western owners who acquired the works sold by Russia, or against museums in the West when works were lent by Russia for exhibition. With only one exception that I know of (in Holland), none of these suits has been successful. The most famous case in the U.S. was Stroganoff- Scherbatoff v. Weldon; Stroganoff-Scherbatoff v. Wrightsman in 1976. In that case, the heirs to the aristocratic Stroganoff family were claiming 2 works that had once been in their family's collection, had been confiscated by the Russian government, were later sold off, and were now in two prominent New York collections. The U.S. court ruled that the Act of State Doctrine barred the suit even from going forward. In 1954, heirs to one of the great Russian collections sued in French court to have the Fench government "hold on to" works that originally belonged to their family while they pressed their ownership claim.
The works (Picassos) were on loan from the Russian museums to an exhibition in Paris. But the family's request was denied, essentially for the same "Act of State" reason. There have been similar claims in England, with similar results.
I hope this helps.
Sharon Flescher (Dr.) Executive Director, IFAR
Return of amulet puts pressure on British Museum
By Andrew Heavens in Addis Ababa 02 November 2002
A sacred amulet is due to be returned to Ethiopia today, 135 years after a British soldier ripped it from the neck of the country's Emperor during a battle.
An anonymous British man has agreed to hand over the artefact which was taken at the siege of Magdala in 1868. The return will step up pressure on the British Museum and other institutions which still hold hundreds of illuminated manuscripts, crowns and religious objects seized at the same time. It is also the latest in a line of controversies over the repatriation of foreign treasures from Britain, including Nigeria's Benin Bronzes and the Elgin Marbles. Academics and historians at Addis Ababa University yesterday hailed the handover as a significant victory for the country's century-old campaign for the return of the Magdala plunder. Dr Richard Pankhurst, the son of the suffragette Sylvia Pankhurst and a leading expert in Ethiopian history, said: "This is an incredibly significant event. It highlights the fact that all the loot has to be returned and will be returned. "We see this as a matter of justice. Supposing British or Americans went about looting monasteries, churches or palaces today. The whole world would be outraged." British troops invaded Ethiopia in December 1867 to free a number of diplomats and missionaries imprisoned by Emperor Theodore II following a dispute with the UK government. The British forces, led by Sir Robert Napier, marched to the Emperor's mountain fortress at Magdala, north of the modern-day capital Addis Ababa. The soldiers used their superior firepower to defeat Theodore's troops in a decisive battle. The Emperor committed suicide by firing a pistol into his mouth as the army stormed the base and freed the captives. Journalists traveling with the force described how soldiers started looting the fort and a nearby church. Many surrounded the emperor's body, tearing off pieces of his robe and hair.
Professor Pankhurst said nothing was known of the amulet until the anonymous donor contacted him earlier this year. A note attached to the artefact said that Henry Bailey, a sapper with the Royal Engineers from Notting Hill, was one of the first in to Magdala and took amulet from the Emperor's neck. "This is what makes it particularly exciting," he added. "Emperor Theodore's clothes were lost, his possessions were lost, but at least the amulet which was round his neck has been preserved. He was a great man, a man of vision" The amulet is thought to be the only remaining personal possession of the Emperor who has become revered for his defiance against the British and for his perceived choice of death over the dishonour of surrender. The artifact takes the form of a simple leather pouch, containing a nine-inch-long slip of parchment covered in Ge'ez - an ancient language still used by the Ethiopian Orthodox Church. The donor, who asked not to be named, is understood to have acquired it from one of Sapper Bailey's descendants. He was inspired to hand it back by the example of an Edinburgh priest who earlier this year returned an altar slab also taken at Magdala. The slab or "tabot" had been donated to St John's Episcopal church by another officer on the campaign. The donor approached Dr Pankhurst, a leading member of AFROMET - the Association for the Return of the Magdala Ethiopian Treasure. Dr Pankhurst will today present it on his behalf to Addis Ababa University's Institute of Ethiopian Studies which will display it at its museum. The amulet and the altar slab are the first significant parts of the Magdala loot to be returned to Ethiopia since Queen Elizabeth visited Addis in the 1960s and handed over Emperor Theodore's royal seal.
AFROMET is now campaigning for the return of 10 other tabots kept at the British Museum and part of a ceremonial drum, captured by the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards. It is also busy drawing up a database of all the outstanding loot which is also thought to be in scores of private collections across Britain. To date, they have met substantial opposition. The Dragoon Guards have agreed discuss the issue. But the British Museum and the V&A have always maintained that their constitutions bar them from permanently disposing of any parts of their collection. Back in Addis, AFROMET is not short of allies. Veterans of Ethiopia's war with Mussolini's Fascist troops are the latest to join the battle. They have just written to the Dragoon Guards, making a direct appeal, soldier to soldier. In the letter Astageke Abate, deputy president to the Association of Ethiopian Patriots, states: "We hope that you will send Theodore's drum home. It will create a greater link between our two countries than any retention of the drum could ever achieve." http://news.independent.co.uk/
Local Library Cuffs Book Crooks
Fri Nov 1, 9:05 AM ET
Book stashers may be searching for bail as a local library cracks down on theft, Local 4's consumer investigator Ruth Spencer reports. The Lincoln Park Library has had it with people who don't return library books they borrow. The city says it's stealing, and taxpayers have to foot the bill. Failing to return a book in Lincoln Park has just become a misdemeanor, punishable by a $500 fine and/or 90 days in jail. Each month, 150 items are lost to "thieves in borrower's clothing," said Linda Baum, Lincoln Park's librarian. Don Dillard, a regular reader who doesn't like his tax dollars paying for stolen books, says the new meaningful punishment is what's really overdue. "They ought to wrap them on the knuckles," said Dillard. Lincoln Park is sending a message it's serious about getting back its books, tapes and software, said the city's mayor. The mayor claims the new law is mostly a deterrent, but those caught stealing could be put in jail. According to Baum, a sticker will soon be placed inside every book, reminding readers to either check out and return, or check into jail. http://story.news.yahoo.com/
Ossuary Damaged en Route to Canada
Fri Nov 1, 6:43 PM ET By MERITA D. ILO, Associated Press Writer
TORONTO (AP) - A limestone burial box that may be the oldest archaeological link to Jesus was badly damaged in transit from Israel to Canada, Royal Ontario Museum officials said Friday. Dan Rahimi, the museum's director of collections management, said in a telephone interview the box — called an ossuary — had wide cracks but remained whole. "The box was badly damaged, but still intact. It has not broken," Rahimi said. "It's very serious damage, but not unusual for a limestone box of this age." He said impact or vibration during the trip from Israel probably widened old cracks and caused new ones. Some of the cracks were a millimeter wide, enough to "slip a dime in," Rahimi said. The limestone box, which is scheduled to go on display Nov. 16, is inscribed in Aramaic with the words "Ya'akov (James), son of Yosef (Joseph), brother of Yeshua (Jesus)." If, as some scholars maintain, the box and the inscription are authentic, it would be the first physical artifact from the first century related to Jesus..
Israel granted a four-month export license for the ancient burial box, which belongs to a private Israeli collector. Museum officials said the owner was responsible for the object's transportation to Canada and insurance. Rahimi said the company that handled the packing and shipping was reputable, adding that antiquities such as limestone boxes always presented a risk during transport. The museum offered two proposals for treating the damage, and the owner had yet to respond, according to Rahimi. "Both proposals involve injecting adhesive into the cracks with pigment that will fill in parts of the cracks and consolidate the piece," he said. The box's inscription would fit a New Testament account that Jesus had a brother, James, and the tradition that James was the son of Joseph, husband of Jesus' mother, Mary. However, the names James, Joseph and Jesus were common in the first century, and it is possible the inscription refers to someone other than Jesus of Nazareth.
The existence of the ossuary was announced last month in the United States by the Biblical Archaeology Review. The magazine said two scientists from Israel's Geological Survey also examined the ossuary and determined it was from the first century and the inscription had not been tampered with. Edward Keall, the Royal Ontario Museum's director of Near Eastern and Asian civilizations, called the box "a tangible artifact from a period rather pivotal in the history of our civilizations." He said that although it almost certainly dates from the time of Jesus, it may never be definitively established whether the ossuary once contained the bones of James, Bishop of Jerusalem and believed by some to be the brother of Jesus. "It's something very contentious," said Keall. "As I like to say, it won't stand up in a court of law, so in the end, it's a spiritual thing, an act of faith."
Worried about art-rich Florence, Berlusconi raises possibility government will give orders to cancel anti-globalization meeting there next week
Wed Oct 30,10:13 AM ET
ROME - Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi said his government will decide on Thursday whether anti-globalization protesters will be allowed to gather next week in Florence, where worry has been mounting that the city's art treasures might be wrecked if demonstrations turn violent.
Determined to spare Florence the devastation Genoa suffered last year in riots during a G-8 summit, Italy had already said it will reintroduce border controls with European countries for the Nov. 6-10 meeting, which is expected to draw about 100,000 young people from all over Europe. But as the date approaches, pressure has been growing among some of Berlusconi's conservative forces to either cancel the gathering or order it moved to some place without world- renowned museums, churches and art treasures.
The premier, talking with reporters in Rome Wednesday, said the matter would be decided when his Cabinet meets the next day. On Tuesday, Berlusconi called the decision by Florence's mayor to host the gathering "risky" and indicated that he was in favor of canceling the event because "devastation surely will be wrought by some participants."
He said his government would be blamed if violence erupted. The Art Newspaper.com
This week's top stories:
IRAQ’S HISTORY IS OUR HISTORY TOO
NEW YORK. Collectors, curators, lawyers and art patrons, are urging the US government to take historic sites in Iraq into account as the military map out possible scenarios for attack and occupation. Specialists concerned about potential threats to the thousands of archaeological sites scattered throughout Iraq are supplying maps and other information to the Defense Department. http://www.theartnewspaper.com/news/article.asp?idart=10250
$20 MILLION FINE FOR SOTHEBY’S ON ANTITRUST CHARGES
BRUSSELS. The European Commission fined the auction house Sotheby’s a hefty €20.4 million ($20.1 million; £12 million) for price-fixing and anti-competitive practices on 30 October. Christie’s was not fined. http://www.theartnewspaper.com/news/article.asp?idart=10235
GETTY BUYS NORTHUMBERLAND RAPHAEL - MET NETS LORENZETTI
NEW YORK. The J. Paul Getty Museum has quietly purchased Raphael’s Madonna of the Pinks from the Trustees of the 10th Duke of Northumberland Wills Trust for a price just under $50 million. Although ones first thought is that this was a consolation prize of sorts after the Getty failed to acquire Rubens’ Massacre of the Innocents, the Getty had been in negotiations for the Raphael for nearly a year – before the Rubens had been rediscovered. http://www.theartnewspaper.com/news/article.asp?idart=10234
ASHMOLEAN NAZI LOOT CLAIM
OXFORD. A Nazi loot claim has been made against the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford over a German painting from the 1490s, Mair von Landshut’s “Portrait of a young woman holding a flower”. http://www.theartnewspaper.com/news/article.asp?idart=10233
THE PETIT PALAIS REBORN
PARIS. With a budget of €68 million ($66.7 million), the Beaux-Arts Petit Palais in Paris is gradually being remodelled by architects Chaix & Morel into a sleek modern museum. The first task, to strip out all the sub-divisions and layers that had been added, is now complete and the second phase, of remodelling, is soon to begin. When it is finished, at the end of 2004, the museum will finally be worthy of the display of the immense collections of the Ville de Paris. http://www.theartnewspaper.com/news/article.asp?idart=10232
THAT BLINKING BRIDGE TRIUMPHS AGAIN
The message of Charlie Luxton’s hour-long feature, Not just bricks and mortar, for Channel 4’s The Art Show, was: “Good architecture is more and more about research, analysis and understanding people, rather than about fashion and beauty.” Most buildings erected by property developers are for profit: “Practically everything about them is crap.” http://www.theartnewspaper.com/news/article.asp?idart=10231
“THIS IS NO WAY TO TREAT A MAJOR NATIONAL INSTITUTION”
"It remains the greatest museum in the world” is Sir David Wilson’s confident conclusion to his history of the British Museum. The run-up to the museum’s 250th anniversary in 2003 is not a moment for false modesty and the angle of vision in this book is that of an insider looking out. http://www.theartnewspaper.com/news/article.asp?idart=10230