The city of Lawrence says 88 years is enough: It wants its Monet back. That's Monet, the painter of "Field of Poppies, near Giverny," which was loaned to the Boston Museum of Fine Arts all those years ago along with 16 other works. But the Massachusetts museum says the down-at-the-heels community 25 miles outside Boston is just going to sell the paintings, and refuses to give them up. On Thursday, attorneys from both sides were in Suffolk Superior Court debating the fate of the artwork. "When people lend you something, you're supposed to give it back," said Richard Renehan, an attorney for the paintings' trustees, the Daniel White Fund of Lawrence. "The trustees have a right to control this art." Fund administrators say their desire to reclaim the paintings and sell them is consistent with the wishes of the art's original owner, the Rev. William Wolcott. The artwork would fetch an estimated US $5.5 million to $7.5 million at auction. In 1911, Wolcott willed the paintings to the fund to "create and gratify a public taste for fine art, particularly among the people of Lawrence." He ordered the pictures housed at the museum until a suitable gallery could be built in Lawrence, a city better known for industry than culture. Nearly a century later, such a gallery is still not in the city's plans, said Thomas F. Caffrey, president of the White Fund. And the works -- which include the Monet, two works by Camille Pissarro and paintings by American artists Hugh Bolton Jones and Alexander Lawrie -- are not benefiting the people of Lawrence, he said. In fact, only the Monet and Pissarros are on public display. The other paintings, which are much less valuable, are in basement storage. An attorney for the museum, Andrew Griesinger, said the will's language stipulates that the trustees keep the paintings, not sell them. He also said the museum's possession of the paintings is perfectly legitimate unless the trustees make alternate arrangements -- such as with nearby Merrimack College -- to house them. "According to Mr. Wolcott's will, it's clear that the paintings right now are where they are supposed to be," Griesinger said. The state attorney general's office recently ruled the museum should return the paintings, but attorneys for the state said Thursday it wasn't clear whether the art can be sold. Judge Margaret Hinkle took the case under advisement and ordered both sides to return to court next month.
Munich, 19 August 1999 (RFE/RL) -- The offer to reconstruct the Amber Room comes from Ruhrgas, based in the northwestern German city of Essen. A spokesman told RFE/RL that the $3.5-million gift is a symbol of the company's good relations with Russia. Ruhrgas has imported natural gas from Russia for more than 25 years and is the biggest west European buyer of Russian gas. The spokesman said the company wants the Amber Room returned to St. Petersburg by the year 2003 when the city marks its 300th anniversary. The coordinator of the project, Astrid Zimmermann, is now in St. Petersburg discussing the details. The spokesman said the company expects to sign the contract in St. Petersburg on September 6. The Ruhrgas gift will enable Russian craftsmen to continue work on the reconstruction of the Amber Room, which began in 1979. About 40 percent has been completed, but recently the work has slowed because of a lack of money. The Amber Room was described by art experts in the 1930s as the "most glorious work of amber art ever created." It was an entire room paneled with more than 100,000 pieces of the translucent fossilized resin, which had been carved into flowers, Prussian royal emblems and other designs. The room was a gift to Czar Peter the Great by King Frederick-William of Prussia in 1716. Peter had the room built into the royal palace near St. Petersburg. Most modern experts decline to estimate its value, but some say that today it could be worth around $300 million. The room was taken from St. Petersburg by German troops in 1941 and sent to Kaliningrad (formerly Koenigsburg), in what was then east Prussia. It disappeared in April 1945 in the heavy fighting at the end of the war and is believed to have been destroyed in a fire. German experts recently visited the workshops in St. Petersburg where the Amber Room is being reconstructed. More than 30 Russian craftsmen are engaged in cutting and decorating the amber and carefully fitting each piece into place on the panels that will form the room. Each piece is about the size of the palm of a hand. The work is being directed by Boris Igdalov. The craftsmen work from photographs taken shortly before the Second World War when the Amber Room was to have been restored. Igdalov told the western experts that every kilogram of amber provides only about 150 grams of material that can be used in the reconstruction. Most of the amber comes from the Baltic coast. The craftsmen are also replacing four mosaics of Florentine marble which the Czarina Catherine had placed in the walls of the Amber Room in 1755. They, too, are delicate works of art. One shows two couples in a garden landscape. In this case, the craftsmen are helped in their reconstruction by having one of the original mosaics as a model. It surfaced in the German city of Bremen in May 1997 when it was offered secretly for sale by a pensioner who said he had received it from his father, who was a soldier in Russia during the war. It has been certified as authentic by German experts. It is believed to have been looted after the Amber Room was dismantled by German troops in St. Petersburg in 1941. The $3.5-million Ruhrgas gift has prompted speculation that it may encourage Moscow to return some of the 200,000 German art treasures and 1.5 million valuable books taken by the Red Army to Russia at the end of the war. Last month, the Russian constitutional court declared that neither Germany nor any other country has any claim on these treasures. But Germany hopes that some of them may be returned as "gifts" in special circumstances. Ruhrgas has declined to comment on the speculation and says only that its gift is a symbol of its desire to support an internationally important cultural project.
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IN ADDITION to an excellent climate, picturesque landscapes and at least a nominal devotion to the patron saint of pets and the poor, the cities of San Francisco and Assisi also share an unfortunate tendency toward earthquakes. When the Big One hit Assisi in September of 1997, Italy suffered the worst damage to its artistic heritage since Florence was flooded in 1966. The 13th-century Basilica di San Francesco lay in ruins, with 2,000 square feet of frescoes by late Gothic masters Giotto and Cimabue in fragments on the floor of the upper church. Devotees of Francis, not satisfied with a single monument to stand as a testament to his piety and to house his remains, built two churches, one on top of the other, soon after Francis' death in 1226. The pope himself (Gregory IX) placed the first stone. Despite the destruction of the frescoes, a lot of the art -- including stained glass windows by Simone Martini, paintings by Masolino, Pietro Lorenzetti, Fra Angelico and Giovanni di Paolo -- survived. Authorities estimated the cost of repairs at $60 million and rashly promised that Mass would be celebrated again in the basilica by Christmas of 1999. The catastrophe has created an opportunity for Bay Area art lovers, or for anyone with an interest in St. Francis, founder of the Franciscan Order and, for nearly 800 years, one of Catholicism's most beloved saints. The Basilica di San Francesco quickly organized an exhibition of some 70 works of art, including paintings, sculpture, textiles, manuscripts, ecclesiastical vessels and reliquaries drawn from its 13th-century tesoro (museum) as part of an effort to raise money for rebuilding. San Francisco's California Palace of the Legion of Honor is the exhibition's second stop -- after the Metropolitan Museum in New York, which helped organize the show. A portion of admission proceeds will go to the basilica's restoration fund. Under normal circumstances, these works would never have left Assisi. Among the paintings is a set of panels from a 13th-century altarpiece depicting Christ and the Apostles. Created by an unknown Umbrian artist identified only as ``The Master of St. Francis,'' these images have a naturalism and three-dimensionality that is remarkable for the times, anticipating Renaissance innovations when more static and two-dimensional Byzantine conventions still applied. The central image depicts Christ's removal from the cross, his body bent nearly double as a kneeling figure uses hammer and tongs to remove the nails from his feet. Another early panel gives a full-length depiction of St. Francis standing with a cross and an open book, the stigmata on his hands and feet fully visible. These are the marks of Christ's wounds, which, as related by St. Bonaventure, were visited upon Francis after a night of prayer brought him a vision of the crucified Christ borne up by six wings. Other paintings that should not be missed include Fra Angelico's miniature portrait of St. Anthony of Padua (early 15th century) and il Sassetta's image of St. Christopher, from the same period. The most splendid object in the show is a chalice made by Sienese goldsmith Guccio di Mannaia and presented to the Franciscans by Pope Nicholas IV in approximately 1291. Roughly 9 inches tall, the base is richly ornamented with elaborate gold work and set with 80 tiny glass and enamel plaques depicting a range of mythical beasts, saints, apostles, angels, prophets, evangelists, and, of course, Pope Nicholas himself. Despite their small size, these images are richly detailed and present stylistic innovations that would come to dominate Sienese painting in the decades that followed. Resting on this elaborate base, the cup itself is simple and unadorned. This opposition between elaborately displayed wealth and humble simplicity recurs throughout the exhibit and is also a recurring theme in the life of Francis and in ecclesiastical history. Though he was born into a well-to-do family, the saint gave away all his possessions, embraced poverty, which he called his ``bride,'' and devoted himself to the poor. His affinity for animals is one of Francis' best-known attributes, but it has been suggested that his habit of preaching to the birds early in his career was actually a ruse. Not ordained to preach the Gospel, he spoke to animals with the intention of being heard by nearby humans. He was enormously charismatic and gained thousands of followers during his rather brief lifetime (he died at 44). He was swiftly canonized, in 1228, less than two years after his death, by which time the first part of the basilica was already completed, at great expense. What would Francis, who wore sack cloth and gave away all his possessions, have thought? Over the centuries, the basilica's art collection has been much enriched by gifts to the papacy (which owned the basilica and made it into a major pilgrimage site) by the wealthy, many of whom were seeking favors and papal dispensations. The 70 pieces on display here are a modest portion of the basilica's treasury. By a fortunate coincidence, the 1997 earthquake occurred just after the completion of a photographic record of the frescoes that were then reduced to dust. When the first shock hit, the photographer was still inside. Several large full-color photographic images of the frescoes are included here as a poignant reminder of what was lost.
Contact Catherine Maclay at cmaclay@aol.com
The Treasury of St. Francis of Assisi
Where: California Palace of the Legion of Honor
When: Tuesdays through Sundays, 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Through: Nov. 14
Admission: $8; $6 for seniors; $5 for ages 12-17
Information: (415) 863-3330 or www.thinker.org
The former director of student counseling at UCLA was convicted in federal court Friday of stealing a 19th century oil painting from the university and selling it to a New York art gallery for $200,000. Jane Crawford, who worked at the university 23 years, faces 18 to 24 months in prison when she is sentenced in November on four fraud counts. Crawford, 50, was found guilty of stealing and selling "Frost Flowers, Ipswich 1889," a landscape that hung in Murphy Hall, the campus administration building. The painting is the work of Arthur Wesley Dow, a seminal figure in the American Arts and Crafts movement who was a mentor to Georgia O'Keeffe. Dow's widow donated nine of his paintings, including "Frost Flowers," in 1928 to an association affiliated with UCLA's art department. The association was later dissolved and, according to Assistant U.S. Atty. Ranee A. Katzenstein, the paintings became the university's property by default. Crawford's lawyer, Lawrence S. Strauss, argued that no crime occurred because UCLA had no clear-cut proof that it ever owned the painting. The only proof produced by the government was an article in the Arthur Wesley Dow Assn. journal of 1928 that mentioned the gift. At that time, the school was still the southern branch of UC Berkeley. A UCLA official testified that donor records were kept in Berkeley and were probably lost or discarded over time. "Just because an institution doesn't have a formal inventory for a valuable possession, it doesn't mean an employee can walk off with it and sell it for their own benefit," prosecutor Katzenstein said after the verdict. Crawford, whom UCLA dismissed in April, did not testify or call any witnesses during the three-day jury trial in Los Angeles. According to trial testimony, the painting hung unappreciated for many years in the office of the UCLA registrar, who handed it off to a member of Crawford's staff, Craig Cunningham, in 1979. Cunningham said he placed it on a wall in his office for a time but later took it home and hung it above a mantel until 1989, when he returned it to UCLA, putting it in a storage area that doubled as an employee break room. In retrospect it was wrong to have taken the painting home, though he never made a secret about it, he said. Crawford's attorney said employees in the counseling department used the painting in the break room as a "dartboard," throwing pens and pencils at the canvas. The painting next turned up hanging in Crawford's office. Her lawyer told jurors that she believed it was a gift from Cunningham, a claim that her onetime colleague categorically denied. Cunningham also testified that he was taken aback when Crawford told him she was thinking about selling the painting. He said he told her it wasn't hers to sell. Crawford sold the painting in 1994 through an acquaintance, Ken Weaver, now deceased, to the Spanierman Gallery in New York City for $200,000. The prosecution said she tried to hide her role in the sale by having Weaver represent himself as the painting's legal owner and by arranging for the proceeds to be deposited into Weaver's checking account. Afterward, Weaver wrote checks to pay for Crawford's personal needs, including credit card debts, private school tuition for her child and an escrow deposit, the prosecution said. In 1996, Crawford and Weaver had a falling out. Weaver went to the Los Angeles Police Department, which launched an investigation. The FBI was brought into the case because it involved allegations of interstate theft. In the meantime, the gallery had restored and sold the painting to a private collector for $317,000. The gallery, which was not accused of wrongdoing, returned the purchaser's payment after learning of the investigation and surrendered the painting to the government. The gallery is now suing both UCLA and Crawford in Los Angeles federal court for $14 million and to establish its legal title to the painting. The gallery contends that UCLA failed to employ proper measures to safeguard the artwork from theft. UCLA denies the charge. The painting will remain in the FBI's custody until the civil suit is settled, Katzenstein said.
Copyright 1999 Los Angeles Times. All Rights Reserved
At age 55, Paul R ivard decided to downsize himself, and he is glad he did. The executive director of the American Textile History Museum in Lowell wanted to get back to his favorite part of working in museums. So he asked its board of trustees if he could step down and become a part-time curator instead, overseeing industrial technology exhibits and planning exhibitions. ''It turned out that being the boss was not what I enjoyed at all,'' said Rivard, who has spent much of his life working in museums. His resume includes the Mystic Seaport in Mystic, Conn., the Slater Mill Museum in Pawtucket, R.I., the Rockwell-Corning Museum in Corning, N.Y., and the Maine State Museum in Augusta. He took on the directorship of the Lowell textile museum eight years ago, and led a fund-raising drive that collected $9.6 million to help move the museum into its current quarters in 1997. The Tyngsborough resident recalls talking to a fellow curator many years ago, as he was starting his own career in Mystic, about moving up the museum hierarchy without losing touch with one's special interests. ''We both hoped we had the nerve to go back to what we love, and that's exactly what I've done,'' Rivard said. He now reports to Cyrus L ipsitt, the museum's assistant director for the last five years who is now acting director until a permanent replacement is found. ''All of us wondered if this would work, being in the building with the new director,'' Rivard said, and he insists it could not be better. ''It is a wonderful thing for me to have this change,'' he said. ''I didn't realize how stressed out and tense I was with the other job.'' Rivard is credited with drawing more than 80,000 visitors to the museum's successful ''Textiles in America'' core exhibit, as well as luring the ''Dresses for Humanity: An Exhibition of the Dresses of Diana, Princess of Wales,'' to Lowell as the museum's first exhibition. He also created a working 1950s weave shed that produces historic cloth sold in the museum shop, and a room where guides demonstrate 19th-century machines and looms.
This story ran on page 02 of the Boston Globe's Northwest Weekly on
08/22/99. c Copyright 1999 Globe Newspaper Company.