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January 14, 1999
CONTENTS:
- Re: re: Stolen to Order (elaine schlefer)
- French court tells museum to surrender Klimt
- Imran says wife will fight 'fake' charge (Daily Telegraph)
- Vatican tangle over library 'sell-off' on Net (Times of London)
- Court: Smithsonian is not federal agency
- Rare Civil War flag recovered (Spokesman Review/Spokane.net)
From: elaine schlefer eschlefer@health.nyam.org
Subject: Re: re: Stolen to Order
re: Stolen to Order
In 1977, my institution (New York Academy of Medicine) was robbed of a
tapestry that was hanging in our library. Later in the year, two men
entered our lobby and tore down a tapestry that was hanging there. In that
same time period, tapestries were stolen from the Cathedral of St. John the
Divine, and I believe from other places as well. This has always seemed to
me a case of art stolen to order. We reported the theft and attempted theft
to the NYC Police Department and to Interpol, but never heard anything more
about it.
French court tells museum to surrender Klimt
10:54 a.m. Jan 12, 1999 Eastern
STRASBOURG, France, Jan 12 (Reuters) - A French court has ordered
Strasbourg's modern art museum to return a painting by Austrian master
Gustav Klimt to a Jewish family that claims it was stolen from them by
the Nazis.
The city promptly filed an appeal and has declined to hand over ``Die
Erfuellung'' (Fulfillment), an ornate 1909 portrait of a woman in
blissful embrace with her lover.
The Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art bought the work, which
measures 120 by 193 centimetres (47 by 76 inches), in 1959 and it has
since become one of its best-known pieces.
But the court on Monday sided with children of Austrian emigre Karl
Grunwald, who said the Nazis stole the picture from him in 1940 after
annexing Strasbourg and the Alsace region.
Grunwald had moved to France in 1938, the year Hitler annexed
Austria, and brought about 50 paintings with him. They were all
confiscated and auctioned off in 1942 and 1943.
The court ruled there was enough evidence to prove that ``Die
Erfuellung'' had belonged to Grunwald, citing the fact that he had
known leading figures of the Vienna Secession group, including Klimt,
Egon Schiele and Oskar Kokoschka.
It also noted that the stamp of the firm Grunwald hired to transport
the artworks was on the back of the painting.
An association acting on behalf of the Strasbourg museum bought the
work in 1959 from the heirs of a local painter for just 500 francs
($90 at the present day exchange rate).
The court said the association, which included the then director of
Strasbourg's museums, had paid 30 times below the market value for the
work.
``The defendant (Strasbourg city)...was happy to buy the disputed
painting for a derisory price without seeking further information on
the origin or history of this work,'' the court said in a written
ruling.
Copyright 1999 Reuters Limited.
Imran says wife will fight 'fake' charge
BY CLAUDIA JOSEPH
AND ZAHID HUSSAIN
JEMIMA KHAN has been charged in Pakistan with illegally exporting
hundreds of antique tiles after the confiscation of a Christmas gift
to her mother by customs officers. Mrs Khan, who has not been arrested
and is currently in Britain, faces a six-month prison sentence and £60
fine if convicted. Yesterday her husband, Imran Khan, the former
cricketer, who formed Pakistan's Movement for Justice party, accused
the Government of political victimisation. "The case is fake," said Mr
Khan, 46. "I will file a defamation case against the customs
department, which has become a tool in the hands of the Government in
victimising political opponents." Mrs Khan, 24, daughter of the late
Sir James Goldsmith, had sent the 397 tiles to her mother in December
when they were intercepted by customs officials. She said that the
shipment, which she had bought in a market in Islamabad, was lawful
because she had a receipt stating that the tiles were less than 50
years old. Customs officials said that they had referred the tiles to
the local archaeological department which had declared that they were
"of paramount archaeological interest and belonged to the Islamic
era". They claim the tiles were originally stolen from an
archaeological site.
(Times of London)
Vatican tangle over library 'sell-off' on Net
FROM RICHARD OWEN IN ROME
THE plot reads like a modern-day The Name of the Rose. The Vatican
Library, which under generations of Popes acquired an unmatched
collection of books and manuscripts, is engulfed in scandal and
mystery. The library scandal, which has been brewing for more than a
decade, came to a head over an attempt to swell Vatican coffers by
selling the worldwide rights to images from the library's many
treasures on CD-Rom, videos, computers and the Internet. At the heart
of the affair is Fr Leonard Boyle, a genial and erudite Irish
Dominican who was head of the Vatican Library for 14 years. Fr Boyle -
who according to some insiders is as much the victim of the scandal as
its perpetrator - was dismissed last year. It has now emerged that Fr
Boyle had sold the rights to reproduce 150,000 Vatican manuscripts,
plus other works of art, to two Californians with a history of
bankruptcy. "It was like finding someone selling off St Peter's Dome,"
said Mgr Francesco Salerno, head of the Vatican's finance department.
"My hair stood on end". The Vatican librarian negotiated a contract
with Elaine Peconi, an exuberant marketing expert from California. In
1988, with Fr Boyle's backing, Mrs Peconi established a company called
Belvedere Courtyard Enterprises, with the right to market images from
the manuscripts. Under the deal, 40 per cent of the revenue went to
Mrs Peconi and her associates in California and the remainder to the
Vatican. Unknown to Fr Boyle, Mrs Peconi had been declared bankrupt in
1987, shortly before the Vatican deal was struck. Leroy Carver III, a
Californian financier and property dealer, and former owner of a
savings bank which had crashed with debts of $60 million, bought a 40
per cent stake in Belvedere Courtyard for $3 million, with the promise
of more to come. But the revenues were disappointing, and Mr Carver
fell out with Mrs Peconi, accusing her of using funds from the Vatican
sales to build a villa - a charge she denies. He withdrew from the
partnership and sued for a return of his investment - plus legal fees.
Fr Boyle nonetheless signed a second contract with Mrs Peconi valid
until 2024. At this point the Vatican stepped in and declared the
contracts with Mrs Peconi null and void. Mrs Peconi is now suing the
Vatican for breach of contract and claiming compensation for the lost
contract.
Court: Smithsonian is not federal agency
WASHINGTON - The Supreme Court Monday let stand a ruling that says the
Smithsonian Institution, which operates the government's museums in
the nation's capital, is not a federal agency and therefore need not
comply with a privacy-protecting law.
The justices, without comment, rejected an appeal by a Smithsonian
employee who says her privacy rights were violated in a disciplinary
matter.
Margaret Dong, a federal employee who works at the Smithsonian's
Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, sued the Smithsonian in 1994.
She accused museum officials of violating her rights during an
investigation of alleged misconduct.
As part of her job, Dong serves as a courier when works of art are
sent to other museums. Employees are supposed to get permission before
performing such duties.
Museum officials said Dong failed to get such permission in September
1993 before she served as a courier for a painting being shipped to a
New York City museum.
When her supervisors learned of the trip, they called museum
officials in New York without first discussing the matter with Dong.
After Dong's supervisors confronted her, she admitted taking the trip
and received a five-day suspension.
She sued the Smithsonian under the federal Privacy Act. Under the
law, federal agencies cannot gather information about someone that
might lead to negative consequences without trying to get the
information directly from that person "to the greatest extent
practicable."
A federal judge ruled that the Smithsonian violated the privacy law.
But the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia
reversed, saying the Smithsonian is not a federal agency because it
does not exercise independent authority by making rules or determining
people's rights.
In the appeal acted on Monday, Dong's lawyers said the federal
government has daily supervisory control over the Smithsonian. They
said the lower court's ruling also could mean the Smithsonian is not
covered by the Freedom of Information Act.
Justice Department lawyers urged the justices to reject Dong's
appeal, contending that the Smithsonian is a cultural institution
that does not carry out regulatory functions performed by federal
agencies.
The case is Dong vs. Smithsonian Institution, 97-1435.
By The Associated Press
Rare Civil War flag recovered
(Spokesman Review/Spokane.net)
Philadelphia _ A rare Civil War-era American flag that represented a
black regiment has been recovered with the arrest of a man authorities
say is an unscrupulous dealer who tried to sell the artifact to an
undercover FBI agent.
The flag represented the 12th Regiment Corps d'Afrique, one of the
first units composed of black soldiers in the Union army. It's been
missing for at least 22 years after being stolen from an Army museum
while en route to Fort Jackson, S.C.
Charles Wilhite of Overland Park, Kan., was arrested Monday after
meeting with the undercover agent at a hotel. He was charged with
interstate transportation of stolen property and theft of major
artwork, and faces up to 10 years in prison and a $500,000 fine if
convicted. He was free on $50,000 bail.
``The significance of the flag is that it is one of the only U.S.
Colored troop flags in existence,'' said Steven Wright, curator of
collections at The Civil War Library & Museum in Philadelphia. ``These
are unbelievably rare, and absolutely priceless historically.''
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