Reward Offered in Rembrandt Theft

re: Security clips for paintings on display

Concerning the security of framed paintings on display: Another solution is to install two additional D-ring strap hangers upside down near the bottom of the frame. The metal strap should be long enough to bend back to the wall. Hang the painting, pull the D-rings down, and secure with finish washers and screws. Usually the strap can be hidden behind the frame. Otherwise it can be painted to match the wall.
Smaller items in thin wooden frames are difficult to secure. Security is limited by the holding strength of screws in the back of the frame, and there is not much wood to screw into. Small brass hanging plates available at most hardware stores can be used instead of the D-ring hanger.
Light Impressions of Rochester, NY lists security hanging systems for wood or metal frames in its catalog. The system (hardware) works well and is not visible when installed. A small slotted steel plate is mounted to the back of the frame. A T-shaped wood screw is afixed into the wall so that the T head lines up with the slot when the frame is hung. A special wrench turns the T so it no longer lines up with the slot, locking the bottom of the frame to the wall. The system is pricey at $5.50 each.
Jon Speck
Exhibition Designer
Bridwell Library

Re: Security clips for paintings on display

Nazi-looted art returned to heirs

A well-known Cubist painting by Fernand Leger was looted by the Nazis from a Jewish art dealer and will be returned to his rightful heirs, national museum authorities said Wednesday. But officials can't yet determine which of two brothers the painting belonged to. Leger's 1914 "Woman in Red and Green" was listed on a Nazi document recently unearthed in German archives as having been looted from the Paris gallery of Paul Rosenberg in 1941. But other documents show that until 1935, the Leger belonged to Paul's brother, Leonce. Both brothers survived the war and died later. Museum officials say they don't know how the Leger came to be in Paul's gallery where the Nazis found it. "The Nazi document is definite proof of looting, which means the painting will be returned to its rightful heirs," said Francoise Cachin. "The question is: who are they?" Paul and Leonce Rosenberg were both art dealers, but ran totally separate businesses. Leonce specialized in Cubist art. Cachin said the Rosenberg heirs have been informed of the discovery, and that a joint settlement is expected. Paul Rosenberg fled Paris in May 1940, leaving behind 111 works in his Paris gallery and a vast collection of Impressionist and modern works hidden at his estate in Floirac. Leonce, less successful than his brother, remained in Paris where he declared himself to authorities as Jewish. He died in 1947. Allied forces found the painting among a cache of works in Germany belonging to a German dealer. It was returned to France in 1948. The painting currently is on loan from the Georges Pompidou Center to the newly opened Jewish Museum of Art and Culture.

Thailand to send priceless Cambodia artefacts home

BANGKOK, Feb 10 (Reuters) - Thailand's Fine Arts Department said on Wednesday it aims to return artefacts looted from Cambodia's ancient temples. Department director-general Nikom Musigakama told a news conference the priceless collection included 117 stone carvings from the Angkor-era Banteay Chamar temple seized when Thai police intercepted a truck near the Cambodian border last month. ``We would like to send them back as soon as possible, but we have to wait for the courts to consider the case. At the moment this is under police consideration,'' he said. Krit Kraichitti, director-general of the treaty division of Thailand's Foreign Ministry, said the case would be treated as a priority as it was a matter of international importance. But he conceded it could take months to resolve. Cambodian and Thai officials said last month the carvings were hacked off the walls of the 800-year-old temple about 350 km (200 miles) northwest of the Cambodian capital Phnom Penh at the request of Thai dealers. The haul was impounded in Thailand's Prachin Buri province. Nikom said a further seven pieces were being kept at Bangkok museums and the town of Phimai, while pending court proceedings. These included a stone inscription from Banteay Chamar attributed to the ancient Khmer King Jayavarman VII. ``This piece is highly significant in the history of Cambodia and the rest of Southeast Asia,'' he said. Nikom said the piece was in a group of five items that inspectors from his department had seized in Bangkok's antiques-market district along the Chaopraya River last month. Three of the pieces were proven genuine. Nikom said both Thailand and Cambodia lacked resources to effectively combat artefacts looting and blamed collectors in Europe and the United States for creating demand. Chuch Phoeurn, Cambodia's undersecretary of state for culture, told Reuters last month that the return of the artefacts relied on Thai authorities but thefts had to be stopped by Cambodia's military commanders. Commanders of the Cambodian and Thai armed forces General Ke Kim Yan and General Mongkon Ampornpisit have agreed on Wednesday to work together to stamp out cross-border crime.
Copyright 1999 Reuters Limited.

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