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September 25, 1999

Re: Show Controversy

What has been done with the image of the Virgin defaced has not produced "fine art" but what has been called "sick stuff" by Rudolph Giuliani. Mr. Giuliani I agree, very few artists can take controversial and/or sexually charged subject matter and make it fine art. It takes brains and talent to do such a thing in a way that has aesthetic and psychological meaning documenting a place in time not only for us today but for future generations. What I suggest is that we recognize quality art and not fall prey to what certain groups want which is to focus on meaningless trash by even mentioning the names or titles. There are motivations outside of art here taking place, there is a larger force at play, that is money. It takes museum and gallery directors, publications and collectors to make this sick sort of thing happen, they hold responsibility. What is truly "sick" is the dollar value of the publicity generated by the controversy. What has been produced is work that is capitalizing on the "art" of publicity (we who are involved in the art world have seen this all before.) It is the same story as Christ in a jar with urine.
Art is to educate, enlighten, motivate, excite, create beauty. . .even in ugliness, in essence make us think. This work in question does none of the above.
james linza
publisher and editor
thegentry.com

N.Y. legislator wants tougher law on stolen art

ALBANY, N.Y. (Reuters) - A senior New York state legislator, responding to a court ruling blocking prosecutors from seizing paintings allegedly stolen by the Nazis, proposed changing the law to let the state intercede in such cases. The U.S. Attorney's Office and the U.S. Customs Service issued a warrant Wednesday for the $2 million ``Portrait of Wally'' by Austrian expressionist painter Egan Schiele, thwarting a ruling Tuesday by New York state's highest court allowing the painting's return to Vienna. Federal prosecutors said they found probable cause that it was stolen property under Austrian law and illegally imported to the United States. The work was on loan to the Museum of Modern Art in New York from the Leopold Foundation in Vienna and was put on display in 1997 with 148 other Schiele works. ``New York state should not be in the business of protecting those who profited from the Holocaust at the expense of Nazi victims,'' said State Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, who was joined Thursday by Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau in proposing the change in the law. Technically, the ruling by the New York state Appeals Court applied New York's so-called exemption from seizure law to the art while it was under criminal investigation. Under that law, artwork is protected from seizure while on display in New York. Previously, that law was applied only in civil cases, Morgenthau said. Morgenthau had issued a subpoena for the paintings as part of his probe into whether they were confiscated from Jewish families and placed in the Leopold Foundation. Henri Bondi of Princeton, New Jersey, and Rita Reif of New York, say their families, who were persecuted in the Holocaust, are the rightful owners of the painting as well as another Schiele painting entitled ``Dead City III.'' They had asked prosecutors to block the return of the works to Austria until ownership was resolved. Sheldon and Morgenthau said that under the law they proposed Thursday, any ambiguity would be removed and allow New York prosecutors to conduct investigations and to intercede. ``Repercussions of the Holocaust, all of its pain and suffering continue to be felt even today,'' Silver said in a statement. ``This case is another example of how those already victimized by the Nazis are being victimized again. We must remain vigilant in our efforts to return to their rightful owners those material possessions lost during this tragic period of history,'' he said.
Reuters/Variety

N.Y. Mayor Freezes Museum's Funds

By BETH GARDINER Associated Press Writer
NEW YORK (AP) - Mayor Rudolph Giuliani has frozen $7 million in city funding for one of the city's largest art museums over an exhibit that includes a dung-splattered painting of the Virgin Mary and pig halves in formaldehyde. Giuliani described as ``sick'' the show scheduled to open Oct. 2 at the Brooklyn Museum of Art, and said work that offends religious sensibilities doesn't deserve public money. The city money amounts to nearly one-third of the museum's budget. He also objected Thursday to the museum's plan to require children under 17 to be accompanied to the show by an adult, and one of his deputies suggested the museum buy its city-leased building if it doesn't like his position. ``I don't approve closing down access to a museum that's paid for by the taxpayers,'' Giuliani said. ``What about the First Amendment rights of the children ... who aren't allowed to go in?'' Critics said the mayor's position comes dangerously close to censorship. The show, ``Sensation: Young British Artists From the Saatchi Collection,'' has been advertised for several weeks, and the city has several representatives on the museum's board. Asked why he waited to take action, Giuliani said he hadn't been made aware of the exhibit until recently. The exhibit includes a painting of the Virgin Mary splattered with elephant dung, two pig halves floating in formaldehyde and a 13-foot high rendering of a notorious British child killer. Museum director Arnold Lehman said the items are meaningful. ``Contemporary art has always been provocative, it's been challenging,'' he said. ``That's what art of our time is about.'' He defended the decision to restrict children's entry. ``We think we're acting quite appropriately, giving parents the discretion to choose for their children,'' Lehman said.

Art Thief Gets Nearly 17 Years

AUCKLAND, New Zealand (AP) - A shotgun-wielding thief who stole an oil painting by French master James Tissot by cutting it crudely from its frame and then vanishing into traffic on a motorbike was sentenced Friday to nearly 17 years in jail. The French Impressionist painting ``Still on Top,'' worth $1.04 million, was stolen from the city's main gallery in August 1998 by 48-year-old Anthony Sannd, also known as Ricardo Genovese. Sannd was arrested eight days later after making demands for $260,000 from the Auckland Art Gallery. Police tracked the calls and found the Tissot painting, badly damaged and with pieces missing, stashed under a bed in a house which Sannd had rented south of the city. The painting, one of the most important in the gallery's collection, remains damaged, with repair and restoration work yet to begin. Gallery director Chris Sains said today the painting ``can never be fully restored to its former glory.'' Sannd was also jailed on charges connected to the armed robberies of a security van and a bank branch, two other charges of theft and three firearms charges. His sentence on all charges was 16 years and nine months.

2 Rockwell Paintings Returned To Owners

FBI Still On Trail Of 3 Missing Paintings

MINNEAPOLIS, Posted 6:15 p.m. September 23, 1999 -- After 21 years, two Norman Rockwell paintings were returned to their owners Thursday afternoon by the FBI.

The two works, "Lickin' Good Bath" and "She's My Baby" (pictured at right), were among seven stolen in 1978 from a show at Elayne Galleries in suburban St. Louis Park. In December, a man walked into a Philadelphia art gallery and asked to have the paintings appraised and possibly sold. George Turak, the Philadelphia gallery's owner, realized that the works, worth an estimated $175,000 altogether, had been stolen, and contacted authorities. The man who returned the paintings said he received them as payment for a loan and has not been charged, the FBI said. "Lickin' Good Bath" (pictured at left) was returned to the Brown & Bigelow Co. of St. Paul. The painting shows a dog licking the face of a boy who's bathing. It was used in a company calendar in 1954. "Rockwell painted for our company for about 30 years, and it's wonderful to have the original artwork back," said Phil Jungwirth, Brown & Bigelow senior vice-president. "It's part of our heritage." "She's My Baby" was returned to an unidentified private collector. The watercolor, which appeared on the cover of a 1927 Saturday Evening Post, features a boy painting a heart on the back of a girl's coat. Two other works were returned to Elayne Gallery recently. The FBI said they are still trying to recover the remaining three works, which are believed to be in Brazil.
http://www.wcco.com/news/stories/news-990923-181814.html

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