http://museum-security.org/
securma@xs4all.nl
(security guards accused yesterday of breaking the nose of a Spanish tourist who refused to let them search his bag.)
NEW YORK -- (AP) --
The Museum of Modern Art has turned down pleas from two Jewish families to hold onto two paintings in a traveling exhibit while they press claims that the artworks were lost to Nazi wartime plundering. The families want the works kept in New York until their claims can be evaluated by the U.S. government and possibly the courts. But the museum says it is legally obligated to ship the paintings by the late Austrian Expressionist Egon Schiele to their next destination, an exhibition in Barcelona, Spain. The paintings were shown at the Modern through Sunday on loan from the Leopold Foundation, which is financed by the Austrian government. Rita Reif, who contributes columns on art to The New York Times, told the newspaper that she and her family claim ownership of one of the paintings, ``Dead City,'' as heirs to Fritz Gruenbaum, a Jewish collector who died at the Dachau concentration camp in 1940. The other painting, ``Portrait of Wally,'' is being claimed by the family of Lea Bondi Jaray, a Jewish art dealer who was pressed by a Nazi art dealer to leave the work behind when she fled Vienna for London in 1938. In letters to both families, the museum said it would ship the paintings on Thursday or shortly after. The families asked the State Department to help them secure a bond for the value of the two paintings, to force the Leopold Foundation to return them to the United States after their Barcelona showing. Reif told the Times she and her family are seeking a meeting with museum director Glenn D. Lowry. A museum official said Lowry was not immediately available for comment Monday morning.
(Published Tuesday, January 6, 1998, in the Miami Herald )
By Associated Press, 01/06/98
NEW YORK - The Museum of Modern Art, saying it is not a legal arbiter, is refusing to referee a dispute between an Austrian art foundation and two families who contend they are the rightful owners of a pair of paintings allegedly stolen by the Nazis during World War II. The families had wanted the museum to keep the paintings in its possession until the issue of ownership can be decided. The museum, however, is proceeding with plans to ship the artworks to Barcelona for an exhibit there. ''We are obviously very sensitive to the individuals, assuming their claims are true,'' museum director Glenn D. Lowry said yesterday. ''But the claimants are asking the Museum of Modern Art to act as a court of law and that is a completely inappropriate position for the museum to take.'' The paintings were loaned to the MOMA by the Vienna-based Leopold Foundation for a three-month exhibit, ''Egon Schiele: The Leopold Collection,'' which ended Sunday. The two works by the late Austrian artist are valued in the millions of dollars, said Klaus Schroder, director of the Leopold Foundation. The two families were notified by MOMA that the paintings would be shipped to Spain on Thursday or shortly thereafter for an exhibit later this year. In letters faxed to both families last Saturday, MOMA suggested that ''the intervening period should afford you ample time to take such actions as you deem appropriate to protect your interests.'' Rita Reif, a contributing columnist for The New York Times, said one of the works, titled ''Dead City,'' belonged to a relative, Fritz Gruenbaum, a Jewish collector who died at Dachau in 1940. The other painting, ''Portrait of Wally,'' allegedly belonged to Lea Bondi Jaray, a Jewish Viennese art dealer who was pressed by a Nazi art dealer to leave the work behind when she fled to London in 1938. A relative, Henry Bondi of Princeton, N.J., is claiming rightful ownership. Schroder said the Leopold Foundation has legally owned the works for decades, but said he has asked the World Jewish Congress's recently formed Commission for Art Recovery to investigate. ''The foundation wants to find out the truth,'' said Constance Lowenthal, the commission's incoming director.
This story ran on page A06 of the Boston Globe on 01/06/98. c Copyright 1998 Globe Newspaper Company.
08:22 p.m Jan 06, 1998 Eastern
PHILADELPHIA, Jan 6 (Reuters) - A maintenance man smuggled up to $3 million in historical artifacts, including an abolitionist's rifle and general's sword, out of a Philadelphia museum before his employers became suspicious, the FBI said on Tuesday. The Historical Society of Pennsylvania contacted authorities last November to report the disappearance of five items, including a ceremonial sword once worn by Meade, the Union general credited with winning the Civil War battle of Gettysburg in 1863. Federal investigators traced the relics to an electrical contractor with an interest in Civil War artifacts. And when agents knocked on his door, they found more than 200 items, including the sword and a rifle 19th century abolitionist John Brown used during an attack on Harper's Ferry aimed at starting a slave rebellion before the war. ``Many of these pieces, which are spectacular to see, also have tremendous historical significance,'' said FBI special agent Linda Vizi, who estimated their total value at $2 million to $3 million. The FBI said the electrician, George Csizmazia, 56, of Rutledge, Pennsylvania, had been buying stolen artifacts from the Historical Society for about 10 years. The agency said his source was identified as Ernest Medford, 48, of Trainer, Pennsylvania, a museum maintenance man for 20 years. ``It's very, very sad. The person charged was very trusted. We considered him to be a friend,'' said Tita Cherrier, a spokeswoman for the Historical Society. Authorities said the pair met 10 years ago while Csizmazia worked as a contractor at the historical society. When Medford learned of Csizmazia's interest in Civil War relics, he allegedly began stealing relics from the museum. The cache recovered from Csizmazia's home also included a gold box once owned by Alexander Hamilton and a ring containing a lock of hair from George Washington. The FBI is still searching for artifacts that were not recovered from Csizmazia's home. Historical Society officials said the thefts occurred while the museum was still struggling with an antiquated inventory system. The Society has taken steps to automate its procedures and improve security.
Copyright 1997 Reuters Limited.
FROM CHRISTOPHER FOLLETT IN COPENHAGEN
VANDALS sawed the head off the Little Mermaid on the Danish capital's waterfront early yesterday, the second decapitation of Copenhagen's landmark in 35 years. The bronze statue was found headless after an anonymous telephone call to a television cameraman. Divers sent into the harbour waters at daylight failed to find the mermaid's missing head, which police said had been severed at the neck by a saw or grinding machine. The statue, a much-loved symbol of Denmark, is based on a fairytale by the 19th-century Danish author Hans Christian Andersen and visited by an estimated half a million tourists every year. According to his tale, the Little Mermaid is the Sea King's daughter, half human and half fish. She is destined to wait on her rock for 300 years before entering the world of humans and gaining the possibility of life after death. Copenhagen's best-known monument has gazed wistfully over the harbour mouth since being erected in 1913. During her long vigil, the Little Mermaid - the work of sculptor Edvard Eriksen, a disciple of Rodin - has suffered many humiliations at the hands of vandals. In 1964 her head was cut off, she lost an arm 20 years later, and she has periodically been doused in paint and covered in graffiti. Jorgen Nash, the maverick Danish artist who claimed responsibility for the 1964 beheading in recently published memoirs, denied any involvement in the latest attack when contacted by Danish radio at his Swedish country home. Copenhagen City Council has the original plaster cast of the Little Mermaid, so it can be repaired before the summer tourist season begins.
(ConsDisList)
From: Jim Moss
On Friday Jan 2, a broken pipe cause damage to some artifacts in the Higgins Armory Museum. "The museum is one of the few institutions in the Western Hemisphere dedicated to the collection of arms, armor, and related artifacts. The most significant loss was damage to the basement storage area that housed the museums study collection. The thousands of priceless artifacts stored there were often used for research. Many of the artifacts are beginning to rust. Kent Russell, the museum's executive director, said that it appeared that about 20% of the collection was affected by the flooding..." (per Boston Globe Article 1/4/98) The Higgins Armory Museum is located at 100 Barber Ave. in Worcester, MA. 978-853-6015
Perhaps there are some disaster recovery specialists in metals that
could lend a hand.
Jim
(Museum-L) From: George Bailey
Subject:
Yesterday, Bill Galvini wrote:
>For a study of the problems of handling, disarming, and storing
>potentially explosive artifacts such as cannon balls, hand grenades,
>bullets, or even larger items of military ordnance, the curatorial
>staff at the Naval Undersea Museum in Keyport, Washington, would
>appreciate hearing from museums which have experience, either good or
>bad, with these items.
We often come across live munitions at the Australian War Memorial. We
have a good working relationship with the Australian Army and Australian
Federal Police Bomb Squad, and we refer any live bombs, cannon balls, flares,
etc to them for disarming. They can usually give us back the undamage casings
etc, after the explosive has been removed. We usually disarm centre-fire
bullets (up to 0.5" cal) ourselves with a Kinetic Bullet Puller or, in the
case of bullets that have corroded to the extent that the shells have been
perforated, we dissolve the propellant in acetone. The bullet primers are
either soaked in acetone or detonated by firing in the appropriate firearm
after the propellant has been removed. Rimfire 0.22" cal bullets we
usually dismantle by hand and then treat with acetone. Live munitions should be
stored in a cool, dry, vibration free place, away from flammable items, and
should be clearly labelled as to their danger. You should also be aware that
some firearms are dangerous, even without live ammunition. In 1995 the
Singleton Infantry Museum had an accident with a PIAT (Projector, Infantry,
Anti-Tank) Projector. A person was handling the PIAT without a projectile in
it, when he pulled the trigger. The weapon was in the cocked position, and the
release of the spring mechanism and firing pin cut off 2 of his fingers!
George Bailey
Objects Conservator
Australian War Memorial
Treloar Centre for Conservation
4 Callan St, Mitchell, A.C.T. 2911
Australia
Phone: +61 6 241 6122
fax: +61 6 241 7998
email: george.bailey@awm.gov.au
By Stephen Kurkjian, Globe Staff, 01/07/98
Four months ago, Myles J. Connor Jr. was transported from a federal prison in Pennsylvania to a holding cell in Rhode Island to participate in negotiations with federal officials for the return of valuable artwork stolen from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston. The transfer heightened speculation that the 1990 art theft - the largest in history - might soon be solved, but now Connor is about to be sent back to Pennsylvania, according to his lawyer and others. ''I have been informed that the US attorney's office [in Boston] has made arrangements to send him back to Pennsylvania,'' Martin K. Leppo of Randolph, Connor's lawyer, said last night. Negotiations with the office of US attorney Donald K. Stern ''stopped'' before Christmas, Leppo said, when federal authorities were unwilling to provide Connor and his associate, William P. Youngworth III, with total immunity from prosecution in the theft, possession, or return of the artwork. Connor and Youngworth rejected a limited-immunity offer from federal authorities that would have protected them from being prosecuted for any act they committed facilitating the artwork's return. Leppo said yesterday that while he has dropped out of the negotiations, others continue to talk with Gardner officials on behalf of Connor and Youngworth. A museum official declined comment last night. However, in recent weeks, other Gardner executives have said that they had abandoned hope that Connor and Youngworth might be able to broker the art's return. A friend, who spoke to Connor by phone yesterday afternoon, said Connor expected to be taken by federal marshals in the next 24 hours. ''Negotiations are basically at a stalemate,'' the friend said Connor told him. Along with last month's announcement by federal authorities that dismissed the authenticity of paint chips allegedly from the two Rembrandts stolen, Connor's return to the federal prison in McKean, Pa., reduces hope that he and Youngworth will facilitate the return of the artwork. Beginning in late summer, Youngworth told reporters that he and Connor could broker the return of the 13 pieces of art, stolen from the Gardner on March 18, 1990, if federal authorities granted them concessions on their legal problems - and the $5 million reward money offered by the Gardner for return of the artwork. In several interviews with the Boston Herald, Youngworth said he wanted federal authorities to recommend commutation of Connor's federal prison term - he is serving the final two years of a 10-year sentence for transportation of stolen artwork - and to persuade the Norfolk County district attorney's office to drop or at least delay his own trial on unrelated state charges. Youngworth was later convicted on one of the charges and is serving a two- to three-year prison sentence. The negotiations, which appeared ready to begin in earnest when Connor was transported from McKean to the Wyatt Detention Center in Central Falls, R.I., in late August, never materialized. In early September, Stern said that he was unwilling to negotiate until Youngworth and Connor provided ''specific'' and ''concrete'' evidence that they had access to the art.
This story ran on page B08 of the Boston Globe on 01/07/98.
Copyright 1998 Globe Newspaper Company.
( SECURITY guards accused yesterday of breaking the nose of a Spanish tourist who refused to let them search his bag.)
By Susannah Herbert in Paris
SECURITY guards at the Louvre museum were accused yesterday of breaking the
nose of a Spanish tourist who refused to let them search his bag. Then, when
Ignacio Ordorica attempted to file a complaint at the local police station, he
found police had already typed out a "first-person" account of the
incident in which he "admitted" hitting the guards and then crashing
into a bench. According to the Liberation newspaper, Mr Ordorica was "most
astonished" to see this document because he had not yet given a statement.
He refused to sign it. Yesterday, Les Halles police station said the document
had disappeared. A spokesman for the Carrousel du Louvre, the museum shopping
mall where the incident took place, said Mr Ordorica had been "very
angry" but denied responsibility for any injuries. "We had to contact
the police. Of course he wasn't hit," said Christine Lebon, the
Carrousel's director. But Mr Ordorica told Liberation he was on his way to the
Tuileries gardens when he found himself by mistake in a Metro station
passageway giving directly on to the Louvre's underground entrance. With a
crowd pressing behind him, Mr Ordorica was stopped by a security man in a red
jacket who asked him to open his bag. "I asked him what was going on. He
pointed at the bag. So I asked him if he was a cop," said Mr Ordorica, 46,
who speaks very little French. When a Spanish-speaking guard explained what was
going on, Mr Ordorica replied that he was a free citizen of the world and only
a warrant would persuade him to open his bag. Reinforcements were called and Mr
Ordorica was pushed against the wall. "It's possible that one of the
guards insulted my family and I called him a fascist," he admitted.
Another guard called him a "pimp", provoking Mr Ordorica to further
flights of eloquence. After refusing to step aside into a nearby room, Mr
Ordorica was seized by the guards in a scuffle which led to the fracture of his
nose. Witnesses in the queue said the chief guard was responsible. "There
were about six of them. I saw the blow, the blood spilling to the ground,"
said one witness, identified only as Christiane, who was also struck in the
fracas. Yesterday, the Louvre museum refused to comment on the incident. Mr
Ordorica has contacted a lawyer and intends to sue.
(Electronic Telegraph)
Agenda
Midwinter Meeting
Saturday, 10 January 1998
8:00-1O:00 PM
Marriott, Mardi Gras B
I. Call to Order
II. Introductions
III. Minutes of Last Meeting
IV. Announcements
V. Reports.
A. Incidents of Theft (Heather Lloyd)
B. LSO Listserv (Susan Allen)
C. Security Workshop for 1998 Preconference (Wilkie & Katherine Reagan)
VI. Old Business
A. State Laws Project
VII. New Business
A. "Guidelines for Security" Revision
VIII. Other Business
IX. Adjournment
--
Everett C. Wilkie, Jr.
490 Stamford Drive, #201
Newark, DE 19711
Home: 302-737-1470
Cell: 302-383-3601
"Chicken Catchitore"
--Menu item
Date: Tue, 06 Jan 1998 08:41:21 -0500
From: Joy Jackson
To: securma@xs4all.nl
Subject:
There is an organization called Risk & Insurance Management Society - it specializes in exactly what it says & issues regular publications, has an annual convention & offers courses in risk management, loss prevention & loss funding. The Insurance Institute of Canada offers courses in technical insurance topics for which you receive an 'Associateship'. After that, you can take 10 university level courses which can include the RIMS courses listed above, plus 7 business school courses to achieve a 'Fellowship'. Neither of these are exactly what you are looking for - ie: they are not specifically for art / museum concerns - however they are related & may be of some interest to subscribers of this newsletter. Both can be found through the internet.
>>> "MSN" 01/02/98 11:27am >>>
(Museum-L)
From: Leslie Rankin-Conger
Organization: Brazoria County Historical Museum
Subject:
David Driscoll wrote:
>
> For a possible session at next year's Midwest Museums Conference
> annual meeting, I would like to hear from anyone with experience
> using any kind of prison labor (community service, work release,
> adults, juveniles, etc.) in museum operations. I am curious about
> how extensive the practice currently is, what applications it is
> notably effective or ineffective at, and whether--given current
> trends in both museum funding and in the costs of correctional
> systems--prison labor may become more common in the years ahead.
> Please reply either directly or through the list.
Since 1993, the Brazoria County Historical Museum has enlisted the aid of community service workers. Thus, far, our experience with the program has been quite positive. We have adult community service workers assigned to our office on a regular daily schedule. In addition, we bring in community service workers who are available from 7:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m., off the bank, so to speak. We must be at the Probation Department at 7:00 a.m. to request them, then walk them to the museum. Most recently, we have also begun accepting older teenagers from the juvenile probation department. When probation assigns a new community service worker to our office, they send me paperwork stating the number of hours due to the Museum and a brief description of the offense. I hold a preliminary meeting with each new person, introduce him/her to the staff, give them a tour of the building and outline the types of jobs they will do. These vary, from placing mailing labels on bulk material to cleaning documents from the 1830's. Then, a work schedule is set. They are told that they are to behave as though they are employed. If they cannot make it to work, they are to contact the Museum and let us know what's going on. Most community service workers abide by this. Those who don't do not remain very long (in short, they are fired and must go back to their supervisors where they will be assigned elsewhere). Our community service volunteers work primarily under the direction of the the Curator. Those workers with computer skills are trained to enter catalog worksheets into the Museum's collection database. I teach others the proper cleaning processes for historic documents, how to complete catalog worksheets and assist with inventories. Under Curatorial supervision, workers are presently helping with a hands on inventory of the photograph collection. I train them to read a printout organized by catalog number which they then use to search the files to insure that we have at least one copy of each photograph. Those volunteers who have been here awhile and show a strong commitment toward completing their hours, are asked to work at special Museum functions. Most recently two of them served as "tree watchers" for Christmas on the Square. This community event brought more than 3,000 people into our building in a three hour period. When preparing for an exhibit, we use the 7:00 - 9:00 a.m. community service volunteers extensively. Because the number of workers and the available jobs skills on any given day fluctuate, these workers perform most of our heavy manual labor. For example, BASF, in celebration of the Museum building's 100th anniversary, donated new carpeting to the Museum. They also donated the installation cost. We, however, had to remove the existing carpeting. Every morning for several weeks, the community service workers pulled carpeting out of our downstairs exhibit areas, offices, kitchen and auditorium. In one office, they removed a partition which increased some office space, and removed some false flooring. After the old carpeting was out, they washed the walls, prepared them for new plaster and painted the walls and ceilings. Without this source of free labor, we would not have gotten the building in shape for it's 100th anniversary. Our assigned workers also help with exhibit installation. They are trained how to dry mount photographs and labels, affix Velcro to the them and put them where they need to go for installation. Those who can use a table saw, cut the substrate for the pictures and labels. This year we launched our Austin Town historic re-enactment festival. We leased a portion of prison pasture land for the site. The prison officials then assigned teams of trustees to help prepare the site. They trimmed trees, cut dead trees for firewood, mowed the site (seven acres) at least three times, built a palisade out of pine trees, hog and cattle pens, and corn crib, also out of donated pine trees. They also dismantled and hauled everything off after the two day festival ended. It might be noted here, that unlike the "chain gang" operations mentioned by one other respondent, no firearms were carried by the prisoners' supervisors during any of this operation. About the only thing observed out of the ordinary was their immediate search for cigarette butts when one of us unsympathetically smoked in front of them, then discarded the butts where they might be found. The guards essentially ignored them, explaining that the inmates would collect enough to dry and reassemble into a smoke-able (or saleable) cigarette. In Texas smoking is banned in the prisons but the guards are often sympathetic to the prisoners plight and look the other way. One cigarette is worth about $20. We also turned to the Adult Probation Department for festival assistance. They served as parking attendants, directed traffic, picked up trash, etc. They were people who were serving weekend jail sentences. Instead of going to the jail, they helped us. As you can see, the program has been very successful for the Museum. If a community service worker doesn't work out, I contact the probation department and they are removed from our office. So far this year, community service volunteers have put in 2,000 hours. I can only note that without this program, we would have to take valuable staff time away from other projects to perform routine tasks. As for the security concerns: we feel that by screening the in-house volunteers (as distinct from those working such things as festivals), we dramatically reduce the possibility of theft or molestation (no one convicted of a sexual offense is allowed). Most of those assigned to us are serving probation on a D.W.I., controlled substance, or check-writing offense. The Adult Probation Office is careful to send those that would not present a problem. As for the prison inmates: they are always under the watchful eyes of their supervisors and are trustees to begin with. They are seldom in the public view. So far as we can see, they present no security problems for us.
Leslie Rankin-Conger
Curator
Brazoria County Historical Museum
Angleton, Texas