December 9, 1999

Nazi link cancels art sale

ONE of cubism's most significant paintings has been withdrawn from a Sotheby's sale in London on suspicion that it was looted by the Nazis from a Jewish family, writes Peter Watson. The painting - Bouteille, verre et journal - by Juan Gris, a friend of Picasso, is part of a collection of 18 paintings sent from Germany to London in the 1930s. Its withdrawal, without conclusive evidence that it was taken by the Nazis, has alarmed the art world. The Gris was listed in the 1932 catalogue of the Whitechapel gallery in London, months before Hitler came to power. It said Dr Ismar Littman, of Breslau, was "compelled . . . to sell his entire collection" but neither his descendants nor Sotheby's has been able to discover what forced him. After the Nazis came to power, the modern art Littman collected was declared degenerate. The banks foreclosed and he shot himself, dying a year later. Nobody knows what happened to the painting between 1933 and 1941, when it was sold to Erich Mendelsohn, another Jewish exile in London. Sotheby's will not disclose the identity of the seller.
(Times of London)

From: Don Maitz donmaitz@kudos.net
Subject:

Stolen Fantasy Paintings

Dear Tom Cremers,
My name is Don Maitz, my wife's name is Janny Wurts. I was speaking to Pamela Scoville-Barnett at a convention and she said I should contact your organization and mention her name to you. She e-mailed me that I should contact you at this site. In 1995 my wife and I had 23 fantasy paintings stolen from a Federal Express truck in downtown Baltimore. We registered these works with IFAR (International Fine Art Registry). We have all these stolen paintings on a web site
http://www.paravia.com
We would appreciate it if it were possible to create a link to your site. The statute of limitations for prosecution expires soon so we would welcome any help you might provide. My e-mail address is: donmaitz@kudos.net
- Thank you.
Sincerely yours,
Don Maitz

Spare bedroom yields hoard of art treasures

BY TRUDY HARRIS
A SECRET hoard of important paintings worth more than GBP.300,000 has been discovered in the spare bedroom of a semi-detached house near Doncaster, South Yorkshire. The paintings, including one by the 18th-century French artist, François Boucher, and worth GBP.70,000 were found by relatives of the collector, who died suddenly this autumn. His widow and children, who have insisted on anonymity, never questioned why the middle-aged joiner always kept the spare room door locked, refused to allow anyone else inside and possessed the only key. After his death, they opened the "forbidden room", to be confronted by 100 paintings in stacks up to 15 deep. A path had been left to allow access to a desk and shelves filed with art reference books. The family called in specialists from Phillips auctioneers, who identified the paintings as valuable works from the 16th to 18th centuries. Sandwiched between two less significant pictures was the oil sketch by Boucher. It was his preliminary work for The Nativity, a star exhibit at the Musée de Beaux-Arts in Lyons. The sketch was last seen publicly in the 18th century. It is thought that the secret collector picked up the Boucher sketch from a local auction or flea market. It was then squirrelled away in the state that he bought it - coated with a protective layer of dirt, which preserved it in perfect condition. Silas Currie, from Phillips's Retford office, who was the first outsider to see the collection, said: "It was an astonishing sight. We found an extensive library and reams of carefully made notes. There were also files of letters showing the collector had carefully researched the paintings." The collection will be auctioned at Phillips in London on December 13 and 14.
(Times of London)

From: Stacey Abarbanel sabarbanel@getty.edu
Subject:

Emergency plans

Given the recent spate of hurricanes, earthquakes, and other natural disasters worldwide, the Getty Conservation Institute's new book entitled Building an Emergency Plan: A Guide for Museums and Other Cultural Institutions is particularly timely. Please visit our Web site at http://www.getty.edu/publications/titles/emerg/ for a complete description of this valuable workbook.
Stacey Ravel Abarbanel
Getty Trust Publications
sabarbanel@getty.edu
310-440-6486

From: Kmurszewsk@aol.com
Subject:

Water Mist

I am searching for information on Water Mist Systems. The article on the MSN website seems to be from approximately 1995 when it was in the testing phase. I am looking for real experiences using this particular Fire Suppression System. I would ask that only those of you who are currently using this system or those consultants who have knowledge with or have recieved feedback to respond. We are looking to use this system in collections vaults and the warehouse. In which contain, paper storage, book and manuscript storage, prehistoric and historic artifacts.
Thank you
Kevin Murszewski
Rochester Museum & Science Center
Rochester NY, USA

Subject:

Art Crimes

Dear Sir or Madam,
My name is Tracy Flail and I'm the Assistant Art Director at Art & Antiques magazine. You were referred to me by Martha Flach at the World Monuments Fund.
In the March issue of Art & Antiques, we are running a story on the Top Art Crimes of the Century (written by William Spain), and I was wondering if there were any photographs or transparencies we might be able to use of the Picasso, Dali, Miro and Klee which were destroyed by the Nazis in July 1943. I am also looking for Raphael's "Portrait of a Young Man, " which was stolen from the Czartoryski collection in Krakow, looted antiquities from Afghanistan, and any transparencies of destroyed mosques in Sarajevo. Please contact me either by e-mail or by phone. My number is 770-955-5656. Thank you very much for your time.
Sincerely,
Tracy Flail
Art & Antiques