http://museum-security.org/
securma@xs4all.nl

April 9, 1998

with background articles:

-Who murdered the count with a candelabra as he played Bach fugues? (Jan. 18, 1997)

-Murder linked to art scandal (February 9, 1997)

- Painting at the centre of smuggling claim returned (February 8, 1997) More at: http://museum-security.org/ follow the link to 1997 reports.

- security devices opinions requested (Michael P Crimmins mpc584@world.std.com)

- Renumeration of Security/Front of House Staff (Trevor Reynolds trevor@CAERLAS.DEMON.CO.UK)

- a painful matter

- Smart System (IntlArtCop )

- Artist is jailed over theft of body parts (Daily Telegraph, Sue Clough, Courts Correspondent)

- Customs officials pluck art at border (By Diane R. Stepp, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution)

- Claims to Greek goddesses; Italy suspects smugglers got artifacts to US collector (Walter V. Robinson, Globe Staff, 04/04/98)

- Austria Confronts Its Shameful Past; Reality of Collaboration With Nazis Replaces Myth of Victimization (By William Drozdiak Washington Post Foreign Service Saturday, April 4, 1998)

- Re: a painful matter, ICOM/ICMS (antonia.kriks@munich.netsurf.de)

- 1998 NM Heritage Preservation Week Calendar of events

- Disaster recovery and natural history collections (ConsDisList: sshelton@sdnhm.org)

- Treasures of Assisi further damaged by new wave of quake (Daily Telegraph London)

- Confidentiality policy (Bill Parker parker.166@postbox.acs.ohio-state.edu)

- Russia: Germans Expect To Challenge Art Ruling (Radio Free Europe)

- Yeltsin plan to return looted art thwarted (BBC News)

- Russian war booty: the judges rule (BBC News)

- Court Tells Yeltsin to Sign Booty Art Law (Russia Today)

- Swiss defer comment on looted art until report out (Reuters )

- Yeltsin calls trophy art ruling a ``slap in face'' (Reuters)

- SUPREME COURT HEARS NEA DECENCY CASE

- Russians urged to return art (The Age Australia)

- Finally, a verdict in the case that has shocked the art world (The Age Australia)

- Bowie and Boyd "hoax" art world (BBC News)

- British joke falls flat in New York (Times of London)

G-Man's Raison d'Etre: Pilfered Art (Fox News Online)

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - Over the past few years, FBI special agent Robert K. Wittman has gone undercover to recover millions of dollars worth of stolen goods. Not drugs. Or guns. Or counterfeit cash. This G-man tracks down stolen art. Wittman is one of a trio of FBI special agents who specialize in recovering objects of cultural heritage pilfered from museums and private collections. He has recovered a number of priceless objects, ranging from Civil War-era swords and rifles stolen from a historical society to a smuggled piece of ancient Peruvian body armor worth $1.6 million. For Wittman, finding stolen art gets personal. "If you take a 2,000-year-old piece of history away from Peru, you're destroying the cultural heritage of that people," he said. "You're taking away the opportunity for them to see something beautiful their ancestors made. "It's a crime against humanity." When the Historical Society of Pennsylvania discovered several missing items last year during a computerized inventory of its 12,000 artifacts, they called the FBI. Led by Wittman, who posed as an art dealer, the FBI team uncovered more than 200 items smuggled out during a 10-year period and arrested a museum janitor and a Civil War collector in January. Included in the recovered booty was a sword presented to Union Gen. George Meade after the Battle of Gettysburg and a rifle used by abolitionist John Brown during his raid at Harpers Ferry, W.Va. The recovery of the items - each valued at between $2 million and $3 million - was a triumph for the FBI's stolen art team. "You can read all you want about history," Wittman said. "But to touch George Washington's tea caddy or hold John Brown's rifle brings it all home." Raised in Baltimore, Wittman grew up among art and memorabilia at his family's antique shop. "I was always into old stuff," he said with a smile. That appreciation carried over when he joined the FBI a decade ago and helps fuel his desire to protect the past from selfish hands. The first step is getting museums to ask for help in tracking down stolen artifacts. Institutions and museums are often reluctant to report art thefts, afraid of publicity or the stigma that might reduce donations. The FBI has been aided by what Wittman calls the "big hammer" - the 1994 federal Theft of Major Artwork statute, which gives the FBI jurisdiction over thefts from museums, public institutions and libraries. The statute provides for a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a fine for anyone convicted of stealing an item more than 100 years old and worth more than $5,000. Wittman, 42, said he gets a thrill out of finding stolen relics that his grandchildren may one day see hanging on a wall, rather than wrapped in a towel in someone's basement. But the camera-shy federal agent downplays his own efforts, saying an "investigation is an investigation whether it's a Monet or a Cadillac." Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert Goldman, who prosecutes the art cases, said Wittman gets a sense of personal satisfaction in seeing stolen items returned. "When these cases come out, he gets excited and he wants to solve them," Goldman said. "He enjoys being the good guy."
c 1998 Associated Press. All rights reserved.
c 1998, News America Digital Publishing, Inc. d/b/a Fox News Online.

Date sent: Fri, 27 Mar 1998 20:39:39 -0400
From: CIT Computer Lab User pgailitis@hotmail.com
To: securma@museum-security.org
Subject:

U.S. looting.

I am interested in all accounts and incidents of looting by American servicemen.This regrettable activity has been far more common than anyone suspects, largely due to it not being a very popular topic. By way of illustration, members of my family (a refugee non-German grandmother and child) were robbed in their home by intruding U.S. soldiers during the American occupation of Germany in 1945. I mention this to show that the Allies were no more pure than the Germans in this activity, just less organized. If they would do this to helpless civilians, what else were they capable of ?

From: Roger Wulff museplan@erols.com
Organization: Museum Services International
Subject:

The Performance of Temporary Protection Assistants as an Adjunct to The Guard Force ----

Dear Ton:
As an old museum-horse, I have some weird things in my library. One of them is a copy (probably one of the only copies - don't know if Dave Liston has one) of a Final Report/study done by Robert Lakota at the Smithsonian entitled "The Performance of Temporary Protection Assistants as an Adjunct to the Guard Force at the Hirshhorn Museum" 1975 and marked "administratively confidential." This document has a bearing on the recent discussion of students guards on the list - because these temporary assistants were half college graduates and half were seniors in college. The report was generally favorable to the function of these assistants - perhaps that's why its marked confidential - it went against the feelings of the Director of SI Guards at that time. If you are interested in the report, perhaps I could talk Dave into mailing a copy - 65 pages is too much to fax and I don't have a scanner to enter it into my computer.
Kind Regards
Roger

Sueddeutsche Zeitung, Samstag/Sonntag 28/29 Maerz 1998

Dispute about paintings

The Dutch Government refuses to give back about 150 paintings from state museums to the heirs of the Jewish art dealer Jaques Goudstikker. Aad Nuis, State Sekretary in charge of arts had a look into the demands of the heirs. The results of the investigation proof the paintings being lawfully owned by the state of The Netherlands. Before the war Goudstikker has been the biggest art dealer of The Netherlands. When in 1940 the Germans moved in he was able to flee but got killed by an accident. Employes sold the collection two months later under value to the German NS-'Reichsmarschall' Hermann Göring. After the war The Netherlands took the paintings back and integrated some of the most important paintings (amongst them objects of Rembrandt and Jan Steen) into the state museums. The descendants of Goudstikker who today live in the USA consider this being illegal. Nevertheless Aad Nuis refered to the fact that the widow of Goudstikker in 1952 disclaimed and made an agreement with the state of The Netherlands: ,One cannot change history after 50 years because one regrets a decision subsequently", he said. The heirs now will take legal steps. But two other paintings from state property shortly will be given back to private owners. It became apparent that those work of art during the ware got into wrong ownership. The legal owners laid claim on it last year.

From: "Brent,Lori & Colin Snider"
Subject:

re: use of student officers (Indianapolis Museum of Art)

It is wrong to classify all Student Officers as unreliable. To think otherwise might be grounds for discrimation on the basis of age ("kids are kids!"). As long as the Security Director/Manager has in place appropriate policies and procedures regarding attendance, job duties and responsibilities, a strong training program, and set Standards of Conduct, the Student Officer should know what is expected of him/her. To "stick" them in a gallery without ensuring that they have received adequate training along with instruction, follow-up, and Supervision is not only a disservice to the Officer, but also to the institution. It is up to Security Management to coach, mentor, and direct the Officers, no matter what his or her background is. Guess what Mr. Keller?.....I have a Liberal Arts B.A. from Indiana University. I was a student working as a Security Officer at the Indianapolis Museum of Art, and I found that the training and guidance that I received added to my perception of the institution as a whole. I feel that not only can I appreciate the artwork on display, but I also understand the importance of preserving the heritage of the institution for future generations. One of my Supervisors has a B.A. in Art History, and may I say that this individual cares more about the artwork, it's preservation and security, than anyone else at the institution, simply because she knows her responsibilities and is capable of using her educational background to our advantage.
If a Security Manager / Director is hiring people with "shit happens" shirts, or has an attitude that is not conducive to the operation (this is where Uniform and Appearance policies and Standards of Conduct policies come into place), then it is the Security Manager/Director's fault for not screening and interviewing to hire the right people for the job. Tough luck to anyone who doesn't take the time to select individuals who will be right for the team. I have no pity for them. But do not place everyone in the same basket simply because of his/her educational background or current class schedule - you may be denying a quality individual an opportunity to excel in a field many know nothing about.
Brent C. Snider, CST
Director of Protection Services
Indianapolis Museum of Art

Information of Jewel Theft (rfdavis@friend.ly.net)

Requesting information, for research purposes, on the theft of the Prince of Wales jewels from St. James Palace in February, 1995. Please contact sender at rfdavis@friend.ly.net
Thank you,
@@@
Moderator's reply:
At http://museum-security.org/ you will find a link enabling you to download all 1997 MSN messages. If you do some digging you will find several messages about this subject.
T.C.
@@@

Exhibition Loans (Rosemary Haddad)

Dear colleagues: I am working on a policy for the CCA Library regarding outgoing loans to exhibitions, and I would like to benefit from the wisdom and experience of other institutions. I would particularly like to hear from rare book libraries with resident scholars and/or busy reading rooms, and how you establish a balance between providing for your on-site users and making your collection known by participating in important exhibitions at other venues. If you have a written policy, I would appreciate receiving it via e-mail, or fax (514 939-7020), or snail mail at: Canadian Centre for Architecture, 1920, rue Baile, Montreal, Quebec, H3H 2S6, CANADA. If you have only an unwritten policy, a few informal lines via this listserv would be very helpful, as would a telephone call (514 939-7000, ext. 1374). Thank you in advance for your help. Best regards, Rosemary Haddad.

(translation: Antonia Kriks antonia.kriks@munich.netsurf.de)
Montag, 30. Maerz 1998

Schiele-paintings: Hearing again delayed ("Die Presse", Wien)

There is another delay on the dispute about the Schiele paintings from the collection Leopold which where confiscated in January in New York: The Museum of Modern Art (MoMa) again postponed a meeting with district attorney Morgenthau. On this meeting the museum was expected to deliver it's answer to the application of the district attorney. There where no reasons mentioned for the delay. According to the district attorney's office the answer of MoMa is expected but on 3rd of April. Then it will be decided as well wether the appointment for the judicial decision in April can be kept. In opinion of the museum the district attorney violated the law about Arts and Cultural Affairs by confiscating the paintings.
Copyright "Die Presse", Wien

Earthquake reveals new fresco from 15th century (Daily Telegraph London)

By Bruce Johnston in Rome
A RENAISSANCE fresco found behind a church wall just before the present series of earthquakes hit Umbria last September has now been almost totally destroyed by the seismic activity. But, in turn, it has revealed an older one hiding on a inner wall behind it, which experts say is in pristine condition. The discovery of the early 15th-century fresco of the Crucifixion with St Michael in Postignano in Umbria's lush Nera Valley was the only good news this weekend, after the 10th earthquake in sixth months. Although there was only minor damage this time, the tremor, measuring 4.7 on the Richter Scale and felt as far away as Rome and Venice, created what Franco Barbieri, the junior minister for civil protection, yesterday called a "terrible psychological impact" on the local population. Two elderly people died of heart attacks, and many others were now said to be suffering from psychological disorders caused by insecurity and homelessness as a result of thousands of tremors that have occurred since September. Many in the central part of Italy affected are now on sedatives. Dozens of schools in both regions closed to enable new structural checks to be carried out. "No one can foretell an earthquake or the length of time it will last," said Mr Barbieri yesterday. "But however bad seismic activity is, it hardly ever exceeds the force of the main quake. And if the experts have deemed a building to be safe, it means it can withstand a tremor of the same magnitiude of the original one." The continuing tremors have now shaken off 70 per cent of the original fresco at Postignano. The work, which depicts the Martyrdom of San Lorenzo with other saints, had been discovered only recently behind centuries of plaster during restoration and was deemed to be "sensational".

Subject: Re: student guards (Steve Keller: IntlArtCop@aol.com)

In a message dated 3/30/98 12:33:31 PM, you wrote:
Brent C. Snider, CST, Director of Protection Services, Indianapolis Museum of Art commented that my attitude about student guards may be discriminatory, that I may be doing a disservice to the guard and the museum, and that Guards are no less reliable that anyone else.

Please let me clarify:
1. Not hiring student guards is not discriminatory under any law of the U.S. Age is an issue over 40 years only.
2. My point is not that student guards should not be used, only that MY experience (20 years in museum security, eight working in a museum with its own art college attached and a guard force that was as high as 350 guards during major exhibits, and being a consultant to over 200 museums including many with colleges), it is my opinion that you can generally get better overall protection for your collection if you hire professional guards with maturity and life's experience.
3. You are correct that you can supervise and train student guards. You can supervise and train prisoners, too, but who has the time. Joking, Brent, don't get upset. Seriously, most museums are short on supervisors and lack a training officer and find it difficult to administer a "difficult" schedule, so student guards are not for them. No hard feelings. No discrimination. Just a fact based on my experience INCLUDING at Indiana University, I might add.
4. I HAD excellent policies and procedures in Chicago. In fact, I had the first comprehensive policy manual of any major museum and it was widely distributed and forms the basis of many museum manuals today. We even had a line item in our budget to print and distribute to other museums our manual. But nevertheless, I still had problems with student guards. While I never personally had anyone walk in with a "shit happens" T-shirt on, I can guarantee you that if I did, it would not have been one of my 60 year old guards and it would probably be someone wearing green hair and earrings in his naval. Just my prejudice, I guess.
5. If you blow off the above, then pay close attention to this: After the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum theft in Boston, I was doing some consulting for them and as a result received a lot of press inquiries. One of the things that the press was trying to do was fix blame. And one of the things they kept hitting on was the fact that the Gardner used student guards. "Why didn't they use professionals?" "Why didn't they use people with life's experience?" One reporter told me, "If they would have had some crusty old 65 year old man on duty instead of some kids, they would not have fallen for the fake cop charade". It is hard for me to argue against that. My people in Chicago had a similar incident when someone came to the door claiming to be the Secret Service needing access at 10 pm at night due to some motorcade for the President on Michigan Avenue. My Night Manager politely told them to come back with Chicago Police with them, then he called the Chicago police who dispatched someone to check out the Agents before opening the doors. They checked out and they were angry. Tough! Their job it to protect the President. Ours is to protect our art. They have their problems and we have ours. I attribute maturity and life's experience to their ability to withstand the pressure and hold firm. You can't cover every situation with a policy! 6. Someone wrote in last week saying that we have a serious job and that we need to do the best for our employers that we can by hiring the best we can afford. I wanted to comment in support of that message but didn't do so because too many of my clients might be offended. But it's true. We spare no expense in hiring the best lighting consultant or international architect or we paint and repaint the gallery many times until we get it just right. But when it comes to hiring guards, the security program becomes a convenient location to place students who need to be placed as part of the work study program or a good place to hire guards for the ill-fated CETA program. (Remember CETA. If you hired a CETA employee --hard core unemployables--the government matched the funds. I had a dozen museums who ran out and hired CETA employees because they were cheap bodies). Why doesn't security get the first string for a change? Why do we always need to hire at the lowest wage from the most inexperienced manpower pool?
If you have a small gallery with a relatively inexpensive and unimportant collection, then hire whomever you want to protect it. But if you have $50 million dollars to protect, you better think twice about turning the building over to a couple of unarmed and, I might add, untrained, students. All due respects to your training program but you don't train your people well enough to protect a $50 million collection from the type of potential assault you might face by someone determined to take it over. People are walking into museums with guns these days. I'm not looking for goons to confront them but I want someone with maturity and common sense if only to handle the aftermath.
When I went to Chicago in 1979, the guard force was 90% male and night shifts were 100% male. Previous management recruited crusty old men with drinking problems except for one guy who had only one arm (couldn't carry a radio, flashlight and keys at the saem time) and five who didn't speak ANY English (and couldn't be trained or supervised in English). I changed that by looking for a diverse group of guards. I then studied all of them to see who really served our needs best. I found that the best guard was the female, age 45 to 50 who was just returning to the workforce after raising the kids. I found that NO security experience was better in a museum than "hard" security experience such as working as a guard on a construction site. "Retired" housewives were great managers, great diplomats, and made great supervisors after a year of experience. The next group I found to be exceptional were the retired mill workers, age 60 or higher, who appreciated being spoken to politely, working in a museum with 70 degree temperture and 50 percent relative humidity where they never got dirty hands. Treat them right and they would treat you right. They were used to getting out of bed in the morning and getting to work in the snow. But I also always maintained a few tough guys. Someone had to be willing and able to engage in confrontation if needed. It was rarely--but occasionally--needed. Who made the worst guards--in my personal opinion? Students. Teachers on summer break. And college grads. For a spell there, I recruited a number of people who had higher education. Few really worked out. Few stayed long enough to make their training worthwhile. I did have a few good students and a few good teachers and a few good college educated guards. But it was the mix that made my guard force strong. Don't be offended by my opinion, Brent, but maybe we are looking at this from different perspectives. There is a place in some museums for some student guards. But they should never be the basis of a guard force--in my opinion.
Steve Keller, CPP

(Museum-L)
Organization: International Catacomb Society
Subject:

Nazi loot (Victoria Cranner: ics@SHORE.NET)

Museum list readers I need your opinions.
I'm a graduate student at Tufts university researching the issues of Nazi loot. This is a dificult question for everyone involved and I am hoping to look at ways to resolve this issue and prevent other problems from happening. I have two questions and would like to hear from as many people as possible on this issue. My first question is about resolution. What do you in the U.S. museum community think is the best way to resolve this issue with as much fairness as possible. In the broad sense, what governing body should be overseeing these issues and making decisions on who owns the art? Court System? International arbitration commitee? Some other body? In the more individual sense, are their different ways of dealing with compensation rather than taking it out of the public domain.( And how would these negotiations be handled ?) Joint ownership? Financial compensation in leu of reparation? Other ideas? My second question is how the museum community can look to the future and try to prevent museums, either willingly or unwillingy, from becoming involved in issues of stolen art? Self governing body,stronger laws.?
Any additional thoughts will be welcome. I will not use anyone's name in my paper without specific permission
Thank You
Victoria Cranner

Organization: Brazoria County Historical Museum
Subject:

Volunteers and Security ("Robert T. Handy" handy@BCHM.ORG)

Would appreciate some feedback on using volunteers to open the museum. Our current policy states that the building will be open only when at least one professional staff person is on site. The only exception is Sunday afternoons, when two volunteers are at the reception desk from 1:00 to 4:00. We are a secured facility, so the County's Security guard opens the doors and sets the alarm. The volunteers do not have the code and even the guard does not have the secondary code (if he opens at the wrong time he will receive a phone call and if he can't give the secondary code, the police are called). It has been suggested that we could keep the building open evenings if we could select some reliable, trustworthy volunteers to open, close, and monitor activities inside. Currently we do not open for evening activities unless a staff person volunteers to be here (can't pay overtime). In this mornings discussion about using volunteers, I could not come up with a rational reason reliable volunteers should be trusted any less than a staff person. In the absence of good arguments I am inclined to take another look at the policy.
Any comments?
--
Bob Handy, Director
Brazoria County Historical Museum
100 East Cedar
Angleton, Texas 77515
(409) 864-1208
(409) 864-1217 (Fax)
http://www.bchm.org

Sculptor defends taking body parts (Daily Telegraph London)

BY KATHRYN KNIGHT
A sculptor accused of stealing human remains from the Royal College of Surgeons yesterday vehemently denied having a "morbid fascination with death". Anthony-Noel Kelly told the jury at Southwark Crown Court that he found beauty in anatomy and only wanted to "demystify" death. He said he did not believe he had done anything wrong in taking the anatomical specimens because it was a natural continuation of his work. "I felt that my work was very important and these pieces would help me in my pursuit of knowledge, pursuit of life," he said. Mr Kelly, 42, took the stand at the opening of the defence case at the trial against him and Niel Lindsay, 25, a former laboratory technician. The pair deny theft from the Royal College and Mr Kelly denies one further count of handling stolen goods. Questioned by Terry Munyard, for the defence, Mr Kelly, 42, explained that as an artist working from life models he had been invited to watch and sketch operations at the RCS. "It was a chance to look at the body at my own leisure. I could literally open up one of these large trays , bring out a limb, a torso, a head and have a look, see what is underneath the skin, and that was an incredible piece of research." He took anatomical specimens home because "I felt I needed an actual part of a limb or a torso or whatever to convey this symbolic language, to convey the aesthetic pursuit."
The trial continues.

Artist defends use of human body parts (Times of London)

By Sue Clough
AN ARTIST accused of using stolen human body parts for his sculptures denied yesterday that he had "a morbid fascination with death". Anthony-Noel Kelly was responding to a question from his counsel, Terry Munyard, at Southwark Crown Court. He said that was "completely wrong", adding that his art was about the cycles of life and "de-mystifying death". Kelly described his work as very important and said he needed the human remains to explain "the pursuit of knowledge, the pursuit of life". Kelly, 42, a nephew of the Duke of Norfolk, was arrested and charged with theft after exhibiting sculptures cast from a human head and torso and other body parts taken from the Royal College of Surgeons. Mr Munyard asked if he thought he was doing anything wrong by casting the body parts. Kelly replied: "The question of wrong never came to my mind." He insisted that he had always treated the body pieces "with respect". After use, he kept them in plastic bags at his studio before burying them in a field next to his family's estate in Kent. He stored a few human remains, including slices of arm in a Tupperware box, at the home of an unwitting girlfriend. Both he and Niel Lindsay, 25, a former technician at the RCS, who also denies theft, told police they believed that the parts were outside the three-year time limit allowed for dissection under the Anatomy Act and no longer belonged to the college. Kelly, from Clapham, south London, also denies handling stolen body parts.
The case continues.

Heritage Lottery Fund chief in UKPounds:30m farewell (Daily Telegraph London)

By Giles Worsley, Architecture Correspondent
LORD Rothschild, in his last official appearance as the chairman of the Heritage Lottery Fund, announced a UKPounds:30 million boost by the fund and English Heritage for decaying historical areas. The chairman of the fund since it was launched in 1993, and the chairman of its parent body, the National Heritage Memorial Fund since 1992, Lord Rothschild steps down today to be replaced by Eric Anderson, the rector of Lincoln College, Oxford, who was Tony Blair's headmaster at Fettes College. Lord Rothschild, 61, transformed the fund into one of the most powerful heritage and regeneration bodies in the country. He has seen it grow from a seven-strong organisation giving out UKPounds:12 million a year to one giving out UKPounds:450 million annually with a staff of 142. This has not been without friction with English Heritage, whose chairman, Sir Jocelyn Stevens, has made little secret of his belief that it should have been given responsibility for lottery funds intended for the conservation of historical buildings. Yesterday, however, such tensions were put aside when Lord Rothschild and Philip Davies, English Heritage's regional director for London, standing in for Sir Jocelyn, announced the body's second joint conservation area partnership scheme, which will last for three years. The fund has put in UKPounds:24 million and English Heritage UKPounds:6 million. The grants, which will be matched by local authorities, range from UKPounds:15,000 for the village of Bedlington in Northumberland to UKPounds:1.39 million for North Tottenham in north London. The aim is to boost the economy and vitality of the areas by restoring groups of historic buildings. This is, however, the last joint conservation area scheme between the fund and English Heritage. In May the fund will announce its own townscape heritage initiative. English Heritage and the fund will continue to co-operate over their joint churches scheme, which is funded by the HLF and administered by English Heritage. Lord Rothschild, who has been heavily involved in heritage and the arts since 1985, first as the chairman of the trustees of the National Gallery and subsequently at the memorial fund and the lottery fund, said that he did not intend to take on new commitments in the field, despite invitations. He planned instead to concentrate on his family home, Waddesdon Manor in Buckinghamshire, which is owned by the National Trust. However, he said that he hoped to remain involved with Somerset House in London, one of the causes dearest to his heart.

Arts centre wins UKPounds:7.5m lottery cash (Daily Telegraph London)

THE Centre for Contemporary Arts in Glasgow yesterday received the largest single cash award ever given out by the Scottish Arts Council.
The centre has received a UKPounds:7.5 million grant to extend and redevelop its facilities in the city's Sauchiehall Street. The money was among a number of National Lottery awards totalling UKPounds:11.8 million for arts facilities and activities throughout Scotland. The Glasgow centre plans to use the award to create five performance and exhibition areas, workshop facilities, retail units and a studio flat for visiting artists. It also intends to extend the cafe, bar, bookshop and administration areas. Graham McKenzie, the centre's director, said: "We think it is going to give us the facilities where we can be second to none in Europe, and support the artist in Scotland into the next millennium." The other main beneficiary yesterday was Tramway, the arts centre owned by Glasgow City Council. Tramway plans to use its UKPounds:2.3 million award to extend its range of activities, and in particular to work more closely with local schools and communities. Liz Cameron, acting convenor of Arts and Culture, was delighted by the awards. She said: "It is a great day for Glasgow, and I have to say the Scottish Arts Council have shown their faith in what we can do, which cannot be anything but great." Magnus Linklater, chairman of the Scottish Arts Council, said it had worked closely with Glasgow City Council when deciding the awards. He said: "We are extremely pleased that the city council, which is in very difficult times, continues to support the arts." Other lottery awards included UKPounds:650,840 for a purpose-built arts centre in Westburn Avenue, in Edinburgh's Wester Hailes district, and UKPounds:181,349 to Dundee Rep's Community Drama Department. The Highland and Islands received UKPounds:172,155 which will be divided between three different projects.

Re: Lakota study ("The Performance of Temporary Protection Assistants as an Adjunct to the Guard Force at the Hirshhorn Museum"): Steve Keller IntlArtCop@aol.com

Roger:
Since the report you mention is(?) government property, perhaps you ought to discuss its public release with someone other than Dave Liston. It may be outdated but that is not for someone other than the museum's current security director to decide. If it isn't government property, I'm certain that whoever did the study with the permission of the government(?) was under some sort of obligation to keep it confidential and not distribute it. Just a thought
Steve Keller

In a message dated 3/28/98 2:32:00 AM, you wrote:
As an old museum-horse, I have some weird things in my library. One of them is a copy (probably one of the only copies - don't know if Dave Liston has one) of a Final Report/study done by Robert Lakota at the Smithsonian entitled "The Performance of Temporary Protection Assistants as an Adjunct to the Guard Force at the Hirshhorn Museum" 1975 and marked "administratively confidential." This document has a bearing on the recent discussion of students guards on the list - because these temporary assistants were half college graduates and half were seniors in college. The report was generally favorable to the function of these assistants - perhaps that's why its marked confidential - it went against the feelings of the Director of SI Guards at that time. If you are interested in the report, perhaps I could talk Dave into mailing a copy - 65 pages is too much to fax and I don't have a scanner to enter it into my computer.

missing Italian art (Teresa Prestwood writer5@hotmail.com)

I am attempting to research missing works of art. For example, I have read an outdated account stating that at the time of publication, there were still a total of 45,000 missing Italian art pieces. If you could assist me by steering me in the direction of more recent information and examples of specific works that are still missing, I would much appreciate it. Perhaps even, some of this information could be at your disposal. Thank you in advance for any assistance that you may be able to provide me.
@@@
Moderator's reply: all MSN messages are archived at: http://museum-security.org/ 1997 we did send several messages about the looting and smuggling of Italian art.
T.C.
@@@

Beijing's oldest stone statue of Buddha has been stolen from its home in a suburban village (BBC UK News)

Police in the Chinese capital, Beijing, say the city's oldest stone statue of Buddha has been stolen from its home in a suburban village. A gang wielding crowbars reportedly took the statue, which is almost 1,500 years old. An official told the BBC the theft was a sign that criminals involved in plundering China's art heritage are becoming increasingly well organised. From Beijing, the BBC's Duncan Hewitt reports: Beijing police quoted in China's daily newspaper, said the 1.65m statue of Buddha had remained safe and sound in a stone hut in a village in the city's western suburbs since the year 499 AD Last Tuesday, however, its 15th century residency was rudely interrupted when a gang armed with crowbars prized it off its stone base and dragged it away in the dead of night. A local family had reportedly looked after the statue for the last four generations. Police said they had recently warned them to improve security after the statue was opened up to the public. But an official with the Beijing Relics Protection Agency told the BBC the theft appeared to have been well planned. He said the painted statue, which dated back to the northern Wei dynasty was the oldest stone image of Buddha in Beijing, and he said that those involved in such thefts were becoming increasingly ruthless and well organised. Officials have repeatedly warned that criminal gangs with networks abroad pose a growing threat. The theft last year of a two-metre Buddha weighing 750kg from a grotto in the central city of Luoyang was evidence of their determination. The authorities are pinning their hopes on a new database, tighter controls on auctions, and improved international police co-operation, but they acknowledge that the task of protecting China's art treasures from unscrupulous collectors at home and abroad is a difficult one, and is often made more difficult by the lax attitude of local officials.

Partnership opportunities for Federally-associated collections (Sally Shelton sshelton@sdnhm.org )

Please forward or post as appropriate.
Hi! This is a first review of the abstracts or program/workshop proposals for the 1998 conference on Partnership Opportunities for Federally-Associated Collections. For more information, if you did not receive a flyer, please check the DOI web site at http://www.doi.gov/pam/futcolco.html The conference is shaping up very well and I am pleased with the caliber of proposals and abstracts to date. All we need is more! Never mind what the flyer says: spread the word that the deadline has been extended to 15 May.
Here's an overview of what has been proposed to date.
Pre-conference workshops:
Collections management for archaeology collections (invitation only)
Creating repositories for archaeology and paleontology holdings from Federal and other agencies
(co-sponsored by the San Diego Archaeological Center)
Keynote address: John Berry, DOI Assistant Secretary, Policy, Management and Budget
Plenary addresses: Jason Hall, American Association of Museums
"Relationships between Federal Agencies and Museums Serving as Repositories"
"Examples of Significant Museum-Federal Government Partnerships"
Sessions and talks:
White Mountain Apache Models for Intertribal Cooperation in NAGPRA
Preventive Conservation as a Strategy for the In-Perpetuity
Preservation of Federally-Associated Collections
The Internet, Communications Technology, and Collections: Web-based Publication and Public Communication
When is the Information Enough? When is It Not?
Development of a Consistent Framework for Quality Control and Quality
Assurance in Fish Taxonomy Associated with Faunistic and Aquatic
Community Assessment
Department of Defense Archaeological Collections (two half-day sessions)
The Internet, Communications Technology, and Collections
Biodiversity Value of Federal Collections (half-day session)
The Tennessee Valley Authority Historic Collection
Developing Exhibits from Federal Collections
US Army Ordnance Museum Restoration Project of Outdoor Ordnance Collection

The schedule right now is as follows:
Monday-Tuesday, November 16-17: Preconference workshops (open as well as agency-specific)
Sites: Mission Valley Marriott, San Diego Archeological Center, various Balboa Park sites
Wednesday-Thursday, November 18-19: Keynote address and theme sessions Site: Mission Valley Marriott
Friday: Plenary session, town hall discussion, and resolutions Site: Balboa Park Club
Stay in touch and let everyone know that the program is still open for contributions.

Cheers, Sally
Sally Y. Shelton
Director, Collections Care and Conservation
San Diego Natural History Museum, P. O. Box 1390
San Diego, CA 92112
phone (619) 232-3821, x226; FAX (619) 232-0248;
sshelton@sdnhm.org
http://www.sdnhm.org

From: "Michaele T. Haynes" mhaynes@lonestar.jpl.UTSA.EDU
Subject:

Re: Volunteers and Security

On Mon, 30 Mar 1998, Robert T. Handy wrote:
Currently we do not open for evening activities unless a staff person volunteers to be here (can't pay overtime).
Bob,
I certainly hope these 'volunteers' are exempt from wages & hours legislation. If not, they may not LEGALILY 'volunteer.' Gotta watch that sort of stuff. Best.
Michaele and David Haynes mhaynes@lonestar.utsa.edu

From: Bill Mulligan bill.mulligan@MURRAYSTATE.EDU
Subject:

Re: Volunteers and Security

At 11:23 PM 3/30/98 -0600, you wrote:
I certainly hope these 'volunteers' are exempt from wages & hours legislation. If not, they may not LEGALILY 'volunteer.' Gotta watch that sort of stuff. Best.
Yes, you always have to watch the legal details, but if the staff in question are salaried and not paid by the hour, they can work more than 40 hours without being paid extra. This may not be nice, but it is legal and very common. I suspect most on the list would think of a forty hour week as a short one. Both salaried and hourly staff can receeve compensatory time off instead of overtime for work beyond their usual amount. Also, if people truly volunteer (and this can be slippery slope, I admit) they can pretty much do what they want with their own time. Bill Mulligan

From: David Haberstich MAH0K06@SIVM.SI.EDU
Subject:

Re: Volunteers and Security

I'm no lawyer, although that has never stopped me from debating legal issues! It seems to me that it is unfair and unethical to expect an unpaid volunteer to assume responsibility for safety and security in such a situation without a regular, "official" staff member (paid or unpaid) on the premises at the same time. Depending upon the jurisdiction, I suspect that there might be some real problems of legality and liability. --David Haberstich

From: "Sara P. Kelley" spkelley@LLPPTN.PALL.ORG

Re: Volunteers and Security

Bob,
Until I started here 2 1/2 years ago, our historic house museum was only operated by volunteers. All my docents are still volunteers, and they all have keys and know how to use the security code. I keep a careful key list, and everyone has their own code, so I could keep track of who is here when (in case something ever goes wrong). I think our volunteers who *do* have access are more careful and caring than those who don't.
Sara
Sara Phinney Kelley, Historic Site Administrator
Centre County Historical Society
State College, PA
(814) 234-4779 e-mail: spkelley@llpptn.pall.org

From: "Michaele T. Haynes" mhaynes@lonestar.jpl.UTSA.EDU
Subject:

Re: Volunteers and Security

On Tue, 31 Mar 1998, Bill Mulligan wrote:
Yes, you always have to watch the legal details, but if the staff in question are salaried and not paid by the hour, they can work more than 40 hours without being paid extra. This may not be nice, but it is legal and very common. I suspect most on the list would think of a forty hour week as

Surely you are not suggesting that you can make your secretary work for 50 hours a week and pay him only for 40. If you believe this is legal, I think you are mistaken. Salaried vs. hourly has nothing to do with it. The only employees working in museums who are exempt from wages-and-hours regulations (that require compensation (in time or money) at time-and-a-half for all hours worked over 40 in a week) are those in 'bona fide executive, administrative, and professional' positions. For definitions of these terms and a whole lot more about these regulations, check the Department of Labor web page www.dol.gov/dol/asp/public/programs/handbook/minwage.htm You have to follow a few links to find what you are looking for, but it's pretty intuitive. I can't find a regulation on volunteering by non-exempt staff, but I remember a big problem several years ago after our public TV station had one of its bi-weekly fund drives. The regular staff 'volunteered' to work very long hours as a donation to the station. The Department of Labor was not amused, and, if I remember correctly, assessed a large fine. Best.
Michaele and David Haynes mhaynes@lonestar.utsa.edu

From: "Robert T. Handy" handy@BCHM.ORG
Subject:

Re: Volunteers and Security

David Haberstich wrote:
I'm no lawyer, although that has never stopped me from debating legal issues! It seems to me that it is unfair and unethical to expect an unpaid volunteer to assume responsibility for safety and security in such a situation without a regular, "official" staff member (paid or unpaid) on the premises at the same time. Depending upon the jurisdiction, I suspect that there might be some real problems of legality and liability. --David Haberstich

You have articulated what I think is that "gut" feeling I still have. I have talked to our District Attorney and he can't think of any legal reason not to use volunteers. They can be fired just like staff. They can be prosecuted for theft, just like staff. If a staff person forgets to turn something off and the building burns down what more could you do to that person than you could do to a volunteer?
Yet I still have that feeling that there's something wrong with using a volunteer in the absence of a professional staff person. Maybe that's the stuff ethics comes from.
Thanks
--
Bob Handy, Director
Brazoria County Historical Museum

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -

The United States announced plans Wednesday to hold a conference Nov. 9-12 on art, insurance and other assets looted by the Nazis from Holocaust victims.

The conference, to be held in Washington, would build on a meeting last year in London and seek broad consensus for further action in returning stolen assets to Holocaust survivors and their families, Undersecretary of State Stuart Eizenstat and Miles Lerman, chairman of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Council, said in a statement. The London conference, which focused mostly on gold looted by the Nazis, called for establishment of a fund to provide relief to needy survivors of Nazi persecution. The United States also pledged to examine other Nazi-looted assets and provide a more complete picture of the complex issues surrounding them. In their announcement, Eizenstat and Lerman said the Washington conference ``will fulfill that pledge and will deepen international research of the era, bringing together historians and other experts to share information on Nazi misappropriation of artwork, insurance policies and other assets.'' They also hoped the conference ``will act as a catalyst to help reach consensus on further action and complete the unfinished business on this issue'' by the end of the century. A seminar will be held in Washington in June to organize the agenda for the November conference. As with the London conference, the Washington meeting was expected to draw government officials from more than 40 countries, as well as historians, experts and representatives of major nongovernmental organizations, including those representing Holocaust survivors. Organizers said it would aim to strengthen the international commitment to open national archives and other records for research on Nazi-looted assets as well as share the results of already-completed scholarly work on the subject. The announced dates for the conference followed an agreement last week by Swiss banks to start negotiations with the World Jewish Congress and lawyers for class-action plaintiffs on a global settlement of claims emanating from the Holocaust. Separately, a bipartisan group in Congress introduced legislation to set up a U.S. presidential advisory commission on the collection and disposal of Holocaust-era assets in the United States from 1933 to 1945. ``It is important that we know what art, gold, jewelry, bank accounts and other valuables were taken from Holocaust victims and ended up in the United States,'' Senate Banking Committee Chairman Alfonse D'Amato said at a news conference. The New York Republican has been instrumental in pressuring Swiss banks to search records for Holocaust-era assets. Speaking for the administration, Eizenstat endorsed the creation of the commission and said it ``will further strengthen the moral authority and diplomatic credibility of the United States ... on this issue.'' The 23-member commission would include private citizens and lawmakers and officials from of federal agencies. It would submit its report and recommendations to the president and Congress by the end of 1999. Jewish leaders are seeking compensation for assets of Holocaust victims that were looted during the Second World War. Last week's agreement, which Swiss officials stressed was far from an actual settlement, averted for the time being the imposition of sanctions on Swiss banks by state and local American officials. The Clinton administration strongly opposes any boycott or sanctions move, arguing that Switzerland has made good progress on the issue and punitive action would be counterproductive.
Copyright 1998 Reuters Limited.

Tenant stole UKPounds: 1/2 m art from his flat (Times of London)

BY STEWART TENDLER, CRIME CORRESPONDENT
ARTWORKS and heirlooms worth UKPounds:500,000 have been taken from a family's London home by a well-heeled young thief who rented their flat and ransacked it. Police have begun circulating a list throughout the art world of more than 50 stolen items. They believe the thief was planning to empty the flat but fled as a cleaner arrived. Police said the victims are still recovering from the shock of losing paintings, furniture and objets d'art held for generations. They include seven paintings, an antique table, silver mounted boar tusks, elephant tusks and a medal presented by the last Tsar. Maria Dolores Swiderski, who is Spanish, and her Polish husband are still counting the missing items. They have homes in Spain and Poland and live in their South Kensington flat for six months of the year. They had put the flat up for sale for UKPounds:400,000 when a local letting agent was telephoned last month by a well-spoken young man, who gave his name as "Oliver Thorn". He said that his parents were coming from the United States for a funeral and wanted somewhere to stay for a week. The thief met the agent in the street to see the flat, which was the first property on the agent's list. Mr Thorn was in his twenties, well-groomed and well-dressed, and carried a mobile telephone. After seeing the flat, he announced that he would take it for a week. He paid UKPounds:1,500 for the letting, plus a deposit of UKPounds:1,500, and gave financial references. Because the letting was for such a short period the agent did not ask for any other references. The thief was in the flat for almost a week. The day before he was expected to leave, the cleaner rang to say that she wanted to do some work the next day, but the young man asked her not to call. She ignored him and let herself in to the third-floor flat to find various packages left ready for collection, loud music playing, the curtains closed and the bedroom doors shut. Realising something was wrong, she called the police. Detective Inspector Peter Johnstone said that he had never come across such a theft. "It was audacious. We are looking for someone who has the nerve to present themselves as a bona-fide tenant backed up by cash."

Master of all forgers (Tages Anzeiger, Zuerich, 02.04.98)

Rom, Monte Carlo, New York and now - Zuerich. Daniele Ermes Dondé, who made forged masterpieces socially acceptable, tonight opens a branch in Zuerich. by Esther Schmid "Please be quiet for another 15 seconds" Signora Dondé orders those present, "TV wants to film the Professore!" Ma certo. Professore Daniele Ermes Dondé, " honorary doctor twice " as his Polish spouse does not get tired to emphasize, strikes a pose in front of van Goghs "Bildnis von Dr. Gachet". "E bene così?" he asks and imitates the position of the portrait. Or does he come better as background of a Renoir, or should he act as one of the dancers of Degas? No problem, the collection which is presented at Beatengasse 4 also includes Manets, Monets, Modiglianis, Gauguins as well as various van Goghs " definitly my favourite artist" as the 51 years old Italian enthusiasticly exclaims. The associated area of the "Museum Business Dondé" is not quite ideal. Earlier he prefered the halls of posh hotels, in Zuerich he shares the room out with the sales department of a bridesware-shop. But if only the Dondé-Museum on Bahnhofstrasse will come into existing which will happen in one to two years (a bank is very intersted) then the outward appearance also will be allright. All paintings of the collection assembled for Zuerich are kept to formats which are compatible to flats and show well known and popular motives. A certificate with picture and signature of Dondé marks it as 'handmade single work, created by an artist who took into account the original technique." Narrow minded to remark on the measures which are not quite right and to find the motives sometimes a bit colourful. "At home on the wall the paintings will be even more beautiful" the Signora assures. After all those are "legal forgeries of artists who had an university education", authorized by owners or museums where the originals are exhibited and last not least had been handpicked by Daniele Ermes Dondé.

Shiny Art
Il professore and spouse are in the art business since 14 years. Such the high gloss brochure shows Arnold Schwarzenegger with van Gogh and Dondé, Prinz Albert von Monaco with van Gogh and Dondé, Frank Sinatra with van Gogh and Dondé and the couple Dondé on an audience with the Pope who is said to have puchaised some Monets for the Vatican. Umberto Tozzi, Toya Jackson, Sofia Loren, Roger Moore and members of the Italian high nobility as well had themselves photographed with Dondé and forgery. And yes, even Lady Di is supposed to have bought but alas, there is no picture.
The beginning of the worldwide story of success - Rome, Monte Carlo, Paris, New York, Gstaad, St. Moritz - was in Cremona, when Dondé, "who descended of a family of art dealers" insists on having discovered a forged de Chirico in his private collection. Instead to report to the police or to denounce the fraud he started a search for the forger - and from then on started to work with him. Se non è vero . . . In the meantime 40 forgers in Cremona, Verona, Venedig und Florenz legally work for lasting supplies: "Thanks to me those artists can come out of the shadows of illegality", the honorary doctor explains his engagement. He found his suppliers partly with the help of the police force of Rome who are leading an European record of forgeries. The artistic freedom of the artists is limited to the choise of the painting which the want to copy but what is taken to the "Museum Business Dondé" the Impresario himself decides alone. Impressionists, van Gogh and Monet are selling all over the world, in Italy Modigliani is selling quite a lot, in France Monet sells best, the Americans prefer huge formats whereas the clientèle in Zuerich prefers discreet, small formats and gouaches.

Forgery on order
The costs for a forgery which is certified by Dondé costs between 3000 and 8000 SF, but for that you also get the assurance the same work will not be hanging in your nighbour's living room as well. Every painting is sold just once. At least in Europe. "Into a collection for Australia or America we possibly would take it in once more. Thank god of a best seller like van Gogh's sunflower paintings the artist himself already had created different versions. But even the art lovers who cannot find anything within the current collection can be helped thanks Dondé: "On order we stock exclusive art work of each format and by every artist" the brochure promises. And with some luck and with a preference for van Gogh one is even able to purchase a genuine Dondé.
It's forged by the master himself.
Copyright © TA-Media AG

Deceased Collector Bestows Art Riches Upon National Gallery (Washington Post)

THE NETHERLANDS MY HAVE CLAIM ON VAN GOGH PAINTING.

@@@
Moderator's message:
The Dutch government in exile made up a law in 1940 that all art transactions with the German occupier were illegal and that all art that was subject of such transactions automatically became legally part of the national collection. The Van Gogh selfportrait was sold to the Germans during WW.II and hence automatically part of confiscation. There is a very good chance the Dutch government will claim the Van Gogh painting. Regarding the present USA/Austria Schiele controversy it may be expected that the American legal system will be able to cope with this problem according to the Dutch claims.
T.C.
@@@

WASHINGTON--The National Gallery of Art on Monday acquired a trove of eight early-modern European master paintings, including a self-portrait by Vincent van Gogh, from the estate of Betsey Cushing Roosevelt Whitney, who died last week at 89. The paintings also include a Toulouse-Lautrec, a Matisse, a Braque and a Dufy. "The gift contains several masterpieces of almost unique stature," said Earl A. Powell III, director of the gallery. He officially learned of the bequest Monday from Whitney's attorney. "We have great Toulouse-Lautrecs, but nothing like this. We have Matisses, wonderful Matisses, but this sort of rounds it out." Whitney, who in 1940 divorced James Roosevelt, son of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, was the widow of publisher John Hay "Jock" Whitney, a gallery trustee from 1961 to 1979. The couple's collection is considered one of the most important of 19th and 20th century art; they lent 73 works to the gallery in 1983 for a special exhibition. In 1982 Jock Whitney gave the gallery eight American and French paintings, as well as $2 million. In 1990, Betsey Whitney sold Renoir's "At the Moulin de la Galette" for $78 million, then a record price for Impressionist art. Over the years the Museum of Modern Art in New York as well as the museum at Yale University were beneficiaries of the Whitneys' generosity. The MoMA was notified Monday, according to a museum official, that Whitney left it an early self-portrait by Picasso, a Matisse, a Cezanne and a van Gogh, as well as other paintings. "Self-Portrait," the National Gallery's first van Gogh of that sort, brings its holdings of the popular master up to nine. "With this van Gogh joining the 'White Roses' that Ambassador [Pamela] Harriman gave, our presentation of the artist is one of the best," said an obviously pleased Powell. The painting, done in September 1889, will not be included in the highly anticipated retrospective of the artist that opens at the gallery in the fall. The legal paperwork usually takes awhile, Powell said. The Toulouse-Lautrec, known as "Chilperic," is a portrait of the actress Marcelle Lender, who played the Spanish bride of the French king Chilperic in a popular comic operetta.

Murder of art restorer is linked to serial killer (Daily Telegraph London April 3, 1998)

By Bruce Johnston in Rome
ITALIAN society was chilled yesterday by the news that yet another cultivated pillar of the establishment had been battered to death by a serial killer. Piero Nottiani, a 50-year-old art restorer, was found on Wednesday by his estranged wife, bludgeoned to death in his home in the Umbrian capital of Perugia. The circumstances of the death and the victim are remarkably similar to a number of others in a murder spree with a gay element. This includes the killings of an art-dealing Venetian count (see Jan 18, 1997 report below. T.C.) , a papal aide, a vicar in Milan and an American intellectual in Rome. Mr Nottiani's body was rolled up in a rug and his head crushed by a one-foot tall grey marble statuette of an ancient goddess. He was chief restorer for Umbria's state heritage department, specialising in Old Master paintings. Neighbours in the block of flats heard nothing, suggesting that Mr Nottiani knew his killer.

Who murdered the count with a candelabra as he played Bach fugues? (Jan. 18, 1997)

By Bruce Johnston
A FORMER head of Sotheby's has been found bludgeoned to death near his piano after neighbours heard him playing fugues by Bach. The body of Count Alvise di Robilant, 72, an art expert and music scholar whose ancestors included seven Venetian Doges, was found by his maid in his dressing gown in the sitting-room of his Renaissance flat in Florence. Police said the count, who was divorced, had been hit once on the forehead and three times on the back of the head with a heavy object, possibly a candelabra. Among the count's friends were Susanna Agnelli, the Fiat heiress and former cabinet minister. He belonged to the Circolo dell'Unione, one of Florence's smartest clubs, and was descended from the Mocenigo family of Venice. One of the three Venetian palazzi formerly owned by the family, Palazzo Mocenigo, on the Grand Canal, is where Lord Byron lived while writing Don Juan. Alvise's father sold all the palaces. His mother Gabriella, an authoress who is 98, now lives in Sicily. Filippo di Robilant, one of Alvise's three sons, works in Brussels with Emma Bonino, the EU Commissioner. The family also has a London branch: Carlo, Alvise's brother, is a well-known City banker, and Carlo's son, Edmondo, is a Mayfair picture dealer. Edmondo di Robilant is married to a television journalist, Maya Even. The victim lived alone on the converted top floors of the 15th-century palace of the noble Rucellai family to whom he was also related, which is divided into flats. A local report said the count, whose home was filled with paintings and objets d'art, had acquired an "undesirable neighbour" - an East European prostitute - whom he tried to have evicted. Police said he was killed at about 10.30pm on Thursday. He probably knew his attacker. He may have opened the door for him - or her, said police, "given that the wounds are compatible with a female hand" - and shown the killer inside. There was no sign of a break-in. The count was described yesterday as "one of the handsomest men in Italy" and, at 72, still attractive to women. "He was divorced from his American wife, Betty, who lives in Rome and with whom he had three sons and was on good terms," said a family friend. The friend added that the count had been having "a sentimental life with another woman, also of noble family". The couple's close circle was "completely above suspicion", the friend said. "They belonged to a sphere of people who were not only above board, but lacked the passion needed for such a crime." The count was managing director of Sotheby's in Italy, from 1980-86, leaving when it transferred to Milan.
(for more information read February 9, 1997 report below)

Murder linked to art scandal (February 9, 1997)

By Jessica Taylor in Florence
FLORENTINE police, hunting the murderer of Count Alvise Nicolis Di Robilant, have travelled to Venice to study the killing of another aristocratic art expert almost three decades ago. The secret trip to the lagoon city - and the excitable coverage of the Di Robilant murder in the media - have only strengthened most Italians' conviction that the art world is peopled by nobles who live in palaces but occasionally fall into bad company. Now, after last week's widely publicised allegations of art smuggling from Italy (read on below February 8, 1997 report. T.C.) by Sotheby's staff, the bad company that had long been assumed to exist within the demi-monde of dealers, experts and art groupies is increasingly viewed by Italians to be well established inside the international auction houses themselves. The striking similarities between the bludgeoning to death last month of Di Robilant, once a director of Sotheby's Italia, and the murder of Count Filippo Giordano delle Lanze 27 years ago have intrigued Italians. Both were blue-blooded experts on art and antiquities. Both were married, separated and living alone; both were killed in their 15th century palazzi by multiple blows from blunt objects. Both were found half-naked, one with a favourite painting at his side, the other with a favourite painting, slashed, nearby. Were it not for the decades separating the crimes, the series of coincidences would seem too much to ignore. As it is, the fact that police have chosen to reopen the Delle Lanze file is being seen more as an example of their desperation for leads than likely to produce answers to the Di Robilant killing. In the absence of a suspect, the Italian newspapers have lingered over the count's pedigree. They have portrayed him as an urbane, piano-playing, jet-setting dandy, listed his alleged female conquests and catalogued his extensive art collection. Di Robilant's sons were quick to contradict this description, describing their father as a mild-mannered man of simple tastes. Initial speculation that a spurned mistress, seeking revenge, had murdered the count was scotched by a pathologist's report which found that the blows were too deep, and had rained down from too high an angle, to have been inflicted by a woman. That opened up a whole new line of inquiry - in the media at least. Investigators were soon reported to be researching Di Robilant's male friends. The sly suggestion that he might have been bisexual was apparently borne out by the parallels with the case of Delle Lanze, whose male lover was convicted of his murder, but fled before be could be imprisoned, and has not been heard of since. While they dusted down the details of the Delle Lanze case, investigators were also believed to have used their excursion to Venice to learn more about the new acquaintances Di Robilant made during his own recent visits to the city. His last project had been editing a huge collection of 18th century letters written by a Venetian nobleman and his Anglo-Venetian lover. The manuscript, complete with Di Robilant's own account of Venetian life at the time the letters were written, was to have been handed over to the publishers at the end of this year. Di Robilant may have been a relative newcomer to social life in Venice. But he was a genuine connoisseur, completely immersed in the world of Italian art and antiquities. The country claims to house one third of the world's artistic heritage, an inheritance of which it is proud if somewhat careless. Few Italians are willing to admit that their treasures are bought and sold by dealers who are a far cry from the refined, principled image projected by Di Robilant and his kind. Art smuggling is now organised crime's third-biggest money-spinner after drugs and weapons. Corruption in the sector is rife, and suspicious deaths are not infrequent. According to Vittorio Sgarbi, the art historian and MP, "the art world is dishonest". But he put the blame firmly on Italian law which bans the export of important art works. "The law suffocates the art market in this country, so it finds an outlet elsewhere", he said. "It is hardly surprising there is a strong criminal element." According to Gen Roberto Conforti, the head of the Italian police's fine arts squad, it is "quite possible" that Di Robilant died at the hands of an art world habitué. Mr Sgarbi goes even further. "It wouldn't surprise me at all. It's very probable. Even the most legitimate art dealer works on the basis of percentages, which go to various intermediaries at various points of the sale," he said. "If the wrong intermediary is unhappy with his percentage, anything can happen."

Painting at the centre of smuggling claim returned (February 8, 1997)

By Bruce Johnston in Rome
AN Italian painting that was allegedly smuggled into Britain by a Milan-based employee of Sotheby's was returned to Italy yesterday and handed over to Carabinieri. The Carabinieri said that the smuggling allegations, made in a Channel 4 Dispatch documentary on Thursday, were at the centre of a special investigation that had been opened by magistrates in Rome. Gen Roberto Conforti, head of the Carabinieri unit that specialises in the recovery of stolen and illegally exported works of art, said the painting, Portrait of an Old Lady with a Cup, by Giuseppe Nogari, was now under lock and key. "The matter is now in the hands of investigating magistrates in Rome," Gen Conforti said, noting that the painting was "a nice 18th century picture that is typical of the period, but no museum piece". He added: "Undoubtedly, such an investigation, if necessary, may need to take a hard look at the operations of this firm in general." Sotheby's was still the subject of a storm of adverse publicity at its Mayfair headquarters yesterday but defiantly announced that its investigation was going forward "at our own pace and not at a pace which may suit anybody else".

security devices opinions requested (Michael P Crimmins mpc584@world.std.com)

I work for a start up company in Massachusetts.
We are looking into developing a remote detection automatic contact "smart" system. we are thinking of aiming at a low cost solution for area that need some monitoring but cannot afford a security force. ideally the system would have redundant sensors that would eliminate false alarms. ideally the system would also be able to modem the watch officer of the night. I would like to get some feedback from you. 1. Is there a need for a low cost system such as I have described? I have been reading on this list about thefts from historical houses and cemeteries etc. It seems to me that this would be useful. This is not an effort to sell such a system or secure funding for it. I am only asking for the opinions of people in the field.
Thank you
Mike Crimmins
Duke-River Engineering
mpc584@world.std.com
30 Ossipee Rd. Newton Massachusetts 02164-9101
PO box 9101

Forwarded by: Roger Wulff museplan@erols.com

Renumeration of Security/Front of House Staff (Trevor Reynolds trevor@CAERLAS.DEMON.CO.UK)

I am currently involved in costing up a proposal for a new museum/visitor centre and I am trying to gather some comparative data on the rates of pay etc. for front of house staff. A would be grateful for any information any of you can give me (especially those from England) The information I am looking for is as follows:
Job Title
Which of the following tasks are undertaken:
Exhibition invigilation; Ticket sales; Shop Sales; Cleaning; Recruitment to membership organisations/friends; Supervising other staff; First Aid; Site safety; opening & closing the site; giving visitors information about the exhibits; guided tours Normal Basic salary -- for a full time employee for a year (if there is a pay scale the minimum & maximum would be useful as well as the average) How many weekends are they expected to work during a year? Do they get any extra money for working at weekends? (and how much?) How many days paid holiday do they get in a year? Approximately how many staff of this type do you have at your institution? In which city/town is your institution located? And finally (if you don't mind telling me) what is the name of your institution?
If you can only provide me with only some of the above information I would still be grateful. Please respond by email.
Trevor Reynolds
From: "Ton Cremers" securma@xs4all.nl
To: "Museum Security Mailinglist" securma@xs4all.nl
Date sent: Fri, 3 Apr 1998 22:25:16 +0000
Subject:

a painful matter

Send reply to: "Museum Security Mailinglist" securma@xs4all.nl

a painful matter

The Museum Security Network, mailinglist and website has been on line now for 16 months. We have some 500 subscribers. The website receives 2500 visitors per month. In 1997 we sent over 500 pages of information. 1998 has shown a steadily growth. As you will know the MSN is a non profit endeavor totally based on private time and money. At the moment we reached the point to decide to continue and find ourselves some financial support or stop. We do not ask our subscribers for money and do not intend to do so in the future. The only help we need now is in finding a sponsor who is willing to invest some $ 5000 per year to keep us going. Recently two new computers were bought (a desktop and a notebook to keep things going while not at home or at the office) We have two ISPs (one in the USA and one in Europe). Let alone the everrrrr growing phone bill! Do send us your suggestions.
Thanks,
Ton Cremers

Smart System (IntlArtCop IntlArtCop@aol.com)

In a message dated 4/3/98 5:06:38 AM, you wrote:
We are looking into developing a remote detection automatic contact "smart" system. we are thinking of aiming at a low cost solution for area that need some monitoring but cannot afford a security force. ideally the system would have redundant sensors that would eliminate false alarms. ideally the system would also be able to modem the watch officer of the night. I would like to get some feedback from you. 1. Is there a need for a low cost system such as I have described? I have been reading on this list about thefts from historical houses and cemeteries etc. It seems to me that this would be useful. This is not an effort to sell such a system or secure funding for it. I am only asking for the opinions of people in the field.

Mike:
How does this system differ from a burglar alarm system? I need more information to reply.
Steve Keller

Artist is jailed over theft of body parts (Daily Telegraph, Sue Clough, Courts Correspondent)

Boasting about corpses led to sculptor's fall

AN "obsessed" artist, who used human body parts stolen from the Royal College of Surgeons to cast macabre sculptures, was jailed for nine months yesterday. Anthony-Noel Kelly, 42, a nephew of the Duke of Norfolk, was convicted of stealing remains including three heads, part of a brain, six arms, 10 legs and feet and sections of three torsos. Judge Geoffrey Rivlin told him: "The offence was a revolting one and an affront to every reasonable and decent concept of human behaviour." The judge said he was not sentencing Kelly for his art. "In this country we pride ourselves on free artistic expression. I sentence you for a very serious theft." Niel Lindsay, 25, a former RCS technician, was also convicted of theft and jailed for six months suspended for two years. Judge Rivlin said both had done "great harm" to the RCS and the donation of bodies. There is concern in medical circles that the activities of Kelly and Lindsay may deter would-be donors. This was the major fear of Dr Laurence Martin, HM Inspector of Anatomy, who called in police when he realised the sculptures covered in silver and gold and exhibited by Kelly at a contemporary arts fair had been cast from real human remains. A Department of Health spokesman said that 700 to 800 bodies a year were accepted by medical schools for teaching, study and research and "there is great concern that publicity about this case might cause people to reconsider". A spokesman for the RCS, an internationally renowned training centre, said: "It is essential for this vital work that the college has access to human material willingly donated by members of the public. The college has treated and continues to treat human remains with the utmost dignity and respect." Kelly never denied using the remains for his work but claimed that he had always treated them with respect. This was far from true, said the judge. The parts were manipulated into rucksacks, smuggled out of the RCS, transported across London by Tube and taxi and left for months in black plastic sacks. One leg, nicknamed Hopalong, was kept in a tower room at his family's estate in Kent. Other bits were stored in a Tupperware box at the home of an unwitting girlfriend. Eventually, Kelly buried some 40 parts in an unmarked grave in a field. The trial made legal history because it is the first time anyone has been charged with stealing a body or its parts. For centuries it has been a tenet of English common law that a body is not property because it does not belong to anyone and therefore cannot be stolen. But after legal argument and studying authorities dating back to the 17th Century, the judge decided that once "skilled work" had been done, in this case dissection, body parts became property and could be stolen. In his landmark ruling, destined to be tested in the Court of Appeal, Judge Rivlin became the first judge ever in a criminal case to have to decide on the property rights of a body. In the past, those who raided graveyards and disinterred bodies could be charged only with stealing the coffin or winding sheet around the corpse but not the body itself. After the most notorious of all, William Burke, was hanged in 1829 for murdering at least 15 people with his partner William Hare, to sell their corpses for dissection, the Anatomy Act of 1832 was passed to allay public concern and outrage at such activities. Kelly and Lindsay claimed the remains had been kept by the RCS for longer than the three years normally allowed under the act. Therefore the college no longer owned them and they had not stolen them. The court was told that Kelly was introduced to the RCS by its senior vice-president, a surgeon who described him as "a very talented young artist, particularly interested in doing a 20th-century Leonardo da Vinci. He has spent many, many hours in my operating theatre, in mortuaries and abattoirs. There is no doubt he is a very serious medical artist." Because of this Kelly, of Clapham, south London, was allowed unprecedented access. He became friends with Lindsay, of Stoke Newington, north London, a lowly-paid technician, and persuaded him to smuggle out the remains, paying UKPounds:400. Kelly told the jury of his fascination "with the shapes and cycles of life". From organic matter he progressed to animal parts and embalmed his own shire horses, using his skills as a trained butcher and abattoir worker, and from there moved to real cadavers. He denied that he had "a morbid fascination with death". He said his work was about "demystifying death". It was very important and he needed the human remains to explain "the pursuit of knowledge, the pursuit of life". But even after his conviction, Kelly was reluctant to hand back the moulds and casts. Terry Munyard, his counsel, said he had an "obsession" with them and wanted to keep them because of his "devotion to, fascination and involvement with the work he did". It was only after long discussions with his lawyers that Kelly agreed to hand them back to the RCS. Judge Rivlin granted both men leave to appeal but refused bail for Kelly.

Customs officials pluck art at border (By Diane R. Stepp, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution)

A display of Amazonian artifacts bound for Kennesaw State University has been stopped at the U.S. border by customs officials who suspect that decorative feathers were plucked from endangered species of South American birds, according to the college. The "Secrets of Amazonia" exhibit, which was to have opened Thursday, includes multi-colored necklaces, feathered headdresses, crowns and armbands that rain forest natives use to express their cultures and bonds with the forest, said KSU Art Gallery Director Roberta Griffin. U.S. government officials say they don't know where the exhibit is being held up, but it had just completed a year-long run in Quebec City, Canada. Griffin said the museum is working with international customs brokers and the U. S. Department of Fish and Wildlife to complete authorization to import the objects temporarily. "We've been told that should be around mid-April," said Hillary Wagy of KSU's department of continuing education. The show was to run through April 28, but that may now be extended. The exhibit was collected by Aldo Lo Curto, a traveling volunteer physician who works in Amazonia for six months each year. The plastic surgeon has worked as a volunteer in developing countries since 1978. He is scheduled to lecture about the art collection on April 28 at the college.

Claims to Greek goddesses; Italy suspects smugglers got artifacts to US collector (Walter V. Robinson, Globe Staff, 04/04/98)

IDONE, Italy - New York diamond merchant Maurice Tempelsman received condolence notes from all over the world when his companion, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, died in 1994. But none contained as singular a request as the handwritten letter from first- and third-graders in this small mountain town in central Sicily. In Onassis' memory, the children implored Tempelsman to return to Aidone the 2,500-year-old marble heads, hands, and feet of the Greek goddesses Demeter and Persephone. The artifacts were allegedly plundered by grave robbers in 1979 from the nearby ancient Greek city-state of Morgantina, then smuggled out of Sicily to a London dealer, Robin Symes, who later sold them to Tempelsman for more than $1 million. The children, however, received the same reply sent to his other well-wishers, a preprinted card saying: ''Mr. Maurice Tempelsman acknowledges with grateful appreciation your kind expression of sympathy.'' But now Italy's government is preparing what is certain to be a high profile lawsuit to force him to return the priceless antiquities to central Sicily, where a Greek civilization flourished for more than 300 years before Roman legions overran Morgantina in 211 BC. Last year, Tempelsman rebuffed an entreaty by the Italian Foreign Ministry that he return the artifacts, according to government officials. Tempelsman, who accompanied President Clinton to South Africa last week, did not respond to several requests for an interview. But yesterday, an aide at his New York office released a brief statement saying the Italian government has never contacted Tempelsman and that he purchased the marble artifacts in 1978 - the year before the Italians say they were excavated. After the Globe asked for documentation of the purchase, however, Tempelsman acknowledged late yesterday through the aide that the purchase was made in 1980, not 1978. A spokesman for Symes, the London antiquities dealer who handled the sale and who has figured publicly in other cases involving looted artifacts, said Symes does not discuss his business with reporters. In the wake of a recent US federal court decision, the Tempelsman case is likely to further alarm antiquities dealers and collectors, and even American museums that sometimes sidestep ethics codes by acquiring artifacts that have been illegally removed from countries like Italy. That decision, which has been appealed, ordered the return of a gold platter that New York collector Michael Steinhardt bought for $1.2 million after it was plundered from another archeological site in Sicily. With its porous borders, hundreds of unexplored ancient sites and minimal government spending on archeological preservation, Italy's network of looters and smugglers has long supplied outside dealers and wealthy collectors with everything from 2,500-year-old Greek vases to pieces of ancient columns hacked off tomb entrances. ''We cannot just blame outsiders,'' Judge Silvio Raffiotta, the provincial magistrate in central Sicily who has prepared much of the evidence in the Tempelsman case, said in an interview. ''One cannot just say it's the thief's fault if we've always left the door open. We have made it too easy for the thieves, the dealers, and the collectors and museums that acquire the loot, and that must change.'' Though there are estimates that up to 80 percent of antiquities on the market have been illegally exported from their country of origin, Raffiotta said there is no evidence Tempelsman knew when he bought the two marble heads, three feet, and three hands that they had been stolen. Indeed, as lawyers who represent collectors and museums point out, countries that seek the return of stolen archeological items often have trouble proving the crime occurred within their borders, much less whether the looting took place after the country passed laws to outlaw such plunder. In Italy, excavating or exporting such artifacts without government permission has been illegal since 1939. But in Sicily, Raffiotta said, American archeologists who have worked at the Morgantina site since a Princeton University team discovered it in 1955 have historical proof that the partial statues, called acroliths, probably came from that location. What's more, he said, he has a witness's account of the 1979 excavation of the pieces by a band of nighttime looters called ''clandestini.'' The two goddesses, Demeter and her daughter by Zeus, Persephone, were two of the greatest Olympian deities, and the cult to them was deeply rooted in Morgantina. Only the marble head, hands, and feet of the statues survive because in antiquity, the bodies of many statues were made of limestone and sometimes even wood that disintegrated over time. They are the only known acroliths of that style in the world. The availability of metal detectors in recent decades has led to the plundering of much of the metal, silverware, and coins buried by the Greeks when the Roman assault began in 211 BC. But Raffiotta said the acroliths, which date from about 525 BC, are of extraordinary value because they are important evidence of early Greek colonization of Sicily. ''These acroliths represent the faces of the origin of the Sicilians, these two heads with their profound eyes,'' said Raffiotta, who has written two books about Morgantina. ''These heads are our primordial divinity.'' Raffiotta first made a claim for the acroliths when they cropped up publicly for the first time, on exhibition in 1988 at the Getty Museum in Malibu, California. But the Getty quickly returned the artifacts to the anonymous collector who had loaned them. Interpol, at the request of the Italian government, made a brief inquiry. But for reasons that remain unclear, no action was taken. In an interview here, and during a tour of Morgantina's painstakingly excavated central square, with its commanding hilltop views of Mt. Etna and the Mediterranean 30 miles to the east, Raffiotta said the leader of the plunderers who found the acroliths has given an account of what happened. Giusseppe Mascara, who has served prison sentences for his longtime role as an organizer of looting at the site, has told investigators that he saw the extraordinary marble figures the night they were found in 1979, according to Raffiotta. The two men who found and removed the artifacts were paid the equivalent of about $1,100 for their night's work, a tiny fraction of the profits made by the smugglers and dealers who completed the chain to Tempelsman. The acroliths were smuggled into Switzerland, where, according to the Italian investigation, Symes bought them directly from the middleman for the ''clandestini.'' There is other evidence to buttress the claim, according to Malcolm Bell, a University of Virginia archeologist who has led annual excavation work here for almost two decades. Bell said he heard talk among local residents during that summer of 1979 that the ''clandestini'' had uncovered marble sculptures of the female heads. He added that a subsequent examination of the site pinpointed by Mascara, a sanctuary, turned up evidence that it had been dedicated to Demeter and Persephone. Tempelsman, who has made a fortune in the wholesale diamond business, Leon Tempelsman & Son, that his father started, is not among the best-known of American art collectors. Nor was he in the public eye until he was identified as Onassis' frequent escort during the 1980s, and then as her constant companion when she was dying of cancer. Indeed, it was his public association with Onassis during her illness that first brought him to the attention of Aidone's schoolchildren and their teachers. During the final stages of Onassis' illness, and again just after her death, the students wrote letters to Tempelsman asking for the return of the artifacts. The second letter attracted brief mention in some Italian newspapers. Rosalia Raffiotta (no relation to Judge Raffiotta), one of the teachers who organized the letter-writing in 1994, recalled in an interview how excited they were to receive a reply from Tempelsman after the second letter. But when they read the card, she said, ''there was great disappointment. The children, though they have grown older, still talk about this with great passion and anger.'' If nothing else, the Tempelsman case underscores the risks that buyers- often knowingly - take in the swashbuckling international trade in antiquities. Even if Tempelsman prevails legally, antiquities experts say that the acroliths are likely to become so tainted that he would be unable to sell them or give them to a museum. Judge Raffiotta said Italians would be overjoyed if Tempelsman would return the artifacts voluntarily: ''Americans would better understand this if an Italian collector had such important documents belonging to George Washington, or perhaps Thomas Jefferson's draft of the Declaration of Independence.''

Austria Confronts Its Shameful Past; Reality of Collaboration With Nazis Replaces Myth of Victimization (By William Drozdiak Washington Post Foreign Service Saturday, April 4, 1998)

VIENNA-Sixty years after the Nazis marched into Austria and were treated as conquering heroes by wildly cheering crowds, a dramatic transformation is taking place in the way this nation of 8 million people looks at one of the most sordid chapters in its long history. History books have been rewritten so that students can learn that Austria was not just the first victim of Nazi aggression -- as it long pretended -- but rather behaved in many respects as an ardent sympathizer and active collaborator in the diabolical aims of its native son Adolf Hitler. In contrast to former president Kurt Waldheim, who for many years covered up his involvement in wartime atrocities, Austria's leaders now speak with striking candor about the fact that many compatriots were linked to Nazi crimes and that the rampant antisemitism that culminated in the Holocaust found fertile soil here. More than a half-century after the war, Germany's neighbors are still struggling to cope with their legacy of collaboration with the Nazi regime. The ascendancy of a generation born after the war and the release of documents kept secret during the Cold War have done much to erode myths of resistance and states of denial that persisted throughout much of Europe. France's trial of Maurice Papon, which concluded Thursday with the French wartime official's conviction of complicity in crimes against humanity, cast new light on the extent to which many French civil servants, including former president Francois Mitterrand, cooperated with the Nazi occupation. Switzerland has been forced to acknowledge that it was spared not because of a plucky army guarding its Alpine redoubt but because it provided useful financial services to the Nazis. During ceremonies last month marking the 60th anniversary of the Anschluss, or annexation to Nazi Germany, Austrian Chancellor Viktor Klima emphasized that the time was long overdue "for an open and critical debate so that Austria can draw the right lessons about its past." He said it was "a long and painful process" to confess Austria's shared responsibility for Nazi crimes. But Klima insisted Austrians could no longer justify old myths about being overwhelmed by a foreign power. He noted that 700,000 Austrians were Nazi party members, that many held leading positions in the hierarchy and were guilty of complicity in crimes against humanity. President Thomas Klestil, Waldheim's successor, also stressed the need to deal squarely with the Nazi past and to do whatever is possible to make amends to the victims, especially members of Austria's once-thriving Jewish community who were exterminated or deported. Klestil lamented that "those who were expelled then were invited much too late, and unconvincingly, to return home." He said that while serving as ambassador to the United States in the 1980s he felt a particular shame in meeting Austrian Jews who lost their homes and belongings during the Nazi occupation from 1938 to 1945. "I know how deeply they loved their old home country despite all that happened," Klestil said. "They would have had a right to experience Austria's rebirth, and I know that their contributions to our democracy and culture could have been invaluable." Austria's changing assessment of its historical culpability has gone beyond words. After two paintings by Egon Schiele loaned by Austria for a recent show in New York were seized because it was suspected they had belonged to Holocaust victims, Education and Culture Minister Elisabeth Gehrer declared that "immoral decisions" dating to the war must be rectified. Gehrer ordered that once provenance is certified, all national art works confiscated by the Nazis would be returned to their rightful owners -- a decision that experts believe will strip more than 100 masterpieces from Vienna's leading museums. "It's just the right thing to do," Gehrer said in an interview. "I know it's a shame that it took so many years. We can't change history, but we can correct our mistakes. That's what this learning process is all about." Austria announced last week it would resume cooperation with U.S. agents in the hunt for Nazi criminals. The deal revived an accord suspended in 1990 when Waldheim was barred from the United States, a step taken after the Justice Department concluded that as a lieutenant in the German army in the Balkans, Waldheim helped the Nazi SS deport prisoners to slave labor or death camps. "This accord symbolically ends the Waldheim affair complex and marks the emergence of a new Austria, which we hail," said Elan Steinberg, executive director of the World Jewish Congress in New York. School textbooks, which for decades nourished the myth that Austrians were the Nazis' first victims and suppressed the notion of any national guilt, have been rewritten to emphasize the direct complicity of many Austrians in the Nazi party and Nazi crimes. Vienna's mayor has decreed that the Steven Spielberg film "Schindler's List" will be required viewing for all schoolchildren in the city. Klima acknowledged in an interview that the avalanche of foreign criticism during Waldheim's presidency from 1986 to 1992 was an agonizing and humiliating ordeal -- one that made Austrians at times feel they belonged to a pariah state. Once Waldheim left office, Klima's predecessor, Franz Vranitzky, moved quickly on many fronts to refurbish the nation's image and revise Austria's view of history so that it reflected painful truths about widespread Nazi sympathies. As the first Austrian leader born after the war, Klima, 50, says he feels a special moral duty to sustain that legacy. "It's very difficult and makes many people angry and uncomfortable, but we must face up to the past however awful it may be so we can be sure never to commit the same mistakes in the future," Klima said. "And we have to put this process to work in the form of actions and not just words." Klima says the need to confront the truth about the fascist era is not just a matter of coming to terms with history. He believes it also holds special political relevance for today's Austria. The Freedom Party led by Joerg Haider has emerged as the biggest far-right movement in Europe and captured 28 percent of the votes in elections to the European Parliament last year. Haider has already staked his claim to replace Klima as Austria's next head of government after national elections are held next year. Haider rejects any comparisons to Nazi or fascist forebears and insists he is a democratic populist who wants to break the stranglehold on politics held by Klima's Social Democrats and their conservative partners, the People's Party. Nonetheless, he has lived up to his right-wing reputation by publicly praising the employment policies of the Nazi regime and waging a xenophobic campaign to expel foreign workers. "We must always be vigilant in fighting against racism, fanaticism or indifference," Klima said. "Given the nature of our past, we must never forget how people can be misled by populist demagogues."

Re: a painful matter, ICOM/ICMS (antonia.kriks@munich.netsurf.de)

Open question
As far as I understand ICOM (International Council of Museums) is an International Organization which is concerned not just with museum security but with wide spread questions which are connected with museums. According to Mr. Günther Dembski, Memeber of ICOM, Chairperson of ICMS and Security advisor of Austrian Federal Museums, there is also a suborganization ICMS which especially looks after matters of security in museums. May I quote Mr. Dembski; he wrote in Study Series of ICMS Nr.4: "As you can see, ICMS is an International ICOM Committee that is dedicated to life and it's problems. It is an international committee of interest and importance to all ICOM members who wish to save and protect our cultural heritage: security should be everybody's business." Being a journalist of wide spread interests I also learned that ICOM is having annual meetings in different parts of the world like Israel, Berlin, next autumn in Australia. I also learned that ICOM has a homepage on the Internet and I visited it once and that's it. I came across MSM and I became a subscriber immediately because it really offers wide spread information about museums and it is a very important and singular source of information, opinion and news, therefore MSM does exactly what Mr. Dembsky was talking about. May I put it this way: Why is it not possible to use some money (which obviously exists in the cash register of ICOM otherwise all those expensive meetings all over the world could not be hold) and the experience and knowledge of the people from the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam, especially of Ton Cremers, to go on with the excellent service which they started by implementing MSM on the Internet? It should be possible to finance an endeavour like this without using Ton Cremers' ability to exploite himself all the time. To cut the long story short: Why does ICOM not give some money to MSM and let Ton Cremers go on wiht his excellent work he is providing for the benefits of all of us?
Antonia Kriks
(WDR-Westdeutscher Rundfunk, DLF-Deutschlandfunk, BR, SWF, RB)

(Abbreviated message, forwarded from Museum-L)

1998 NM Heritage Preservation Week Calendar of events

See SASIG Message http://www.swanet.org/discussion/98/126.html or the SWA home page http://www.swanet.org/ to view this announcement as a 40K PDF file -- SASIG Ed.

NEW MEXICO HERITAGE PRESERVATION WEEK CALENDAR OF EVENTS MAY 9-17, 1998

Four hundred years ago this year, a small, rather insignificant event began a chain of events that forever altered the history, culture, architecture, and way of life of what is now New Mexico. A tiny group of settlers arrived at two Indian villages on the Rio Grande called, in the Tewa language, yúngé and ohke·. The Spanish settlers called the former San Gabriel and took up residence there. They called the latter San Juan, and the Tewa-speaking people of both villages lived there. From this simple beginning, two ancient cultural traditions began a centuries-long process of adapting and adjusting to one another's ways. Sometimes this process held mutual advantages, sometimes it led to conflict and suffering. As generations passed and other cultural traditions were added into the mixture, this process of adaptation and interaction gave rise to the unique culture of New Mexico. Throughout these past 400 years, the experiences of our people have shaped and been shaped by the historic buildings and communities, the very landscapes of our state. By preserving the places associated with our history, we preserve a tangible link to the heritage of this state for all of us and for those yet to come. Please join us in celebrating our history by participating in New Mexico Heritage Preservation Week. All of the events listed in this calendar are organized and staffed by volunteers who would like to share with you their enthusiasm for the history and prehistory of New Mexico. Please bring your family and friends and enjoy these fascinating, fun, and informative events.
Lynne Sebastian
State Historic Preservation Officer

The Historic Preservation Division wishes to thank the many organizations and individuals who volunteered their time to organize and carry out the events listed in this calendar. In honor of the 400th anniversary of the founding of New Mexico, the Quartocentenario, this year's Heritage Preservation Week poster features a view of the interior of the San Jose de Gracia Church, built in 1776. Both the church and its collections have been designated a National Historic Landmark and still serve the village of Las Trampas. Posters are available free of charge while supplies last. For a poster or additional information about Heritage Preservation Week, please call the Division at (505) 827-6320.
It is the mission of the Historic Preservation Division to ensure that our remarkable heritage is preserved and passed on to future generations. This is accomplished through a variety of means including public outreach, registration of properties for the National Register of Historic Places and the State Register of Cultural Properties, administration of preservation grants and loans, provision of technical assistance to government agencies and owners of historic properties, and maintenance of information on historic and prehistoric sites in New Mexico. For more information about our programs or to receive our newsletter, New Mexico Preservation, please call (505) 827-6320.
Archaeology, Anthropology and History of the American Southwest Southwestern Archaeology (SWA) -- got caliche??
http://www.swanet.org/
telnet://aztec2.asu.edu
Brian W. Kenny; P.O. Box 61203 Phoenix AZ 85082-1203;
kenny@getnet.com; (602) 227-3154 voice msg pager

Disaster recovery and natural history collections (ConsDisList: sshelton@sdnhm.org)

Andrea Maierhoffer amaierho@dlcwest.com writest
I am a conservation intern putting together a disaster recovery plan for natural history collections ... I have found several articles that describe in adequate detail how to treat library and archival collections but almost nothing about natural history collections.
I'm not sure why natural history collections should be treated differently in a disaster plan from any other type of object collection (with a couple of exceptions listed below). Let me weigh in with one caveat: any disaster plan that focuses first on collections and not on human health and safety is off on the wrong foot. We tend to be object-oriented people, but human health and safety must be the top priority throughout the plan.
I recommend the book PREP: Planning for Response and Emergency Preparedness, published by the Texas Association of Museums with the assistance of IMS (now IMLS). I think you can get copies through the American Association of Museums. I'm biased; I was on the committee that wrote it. Still, I use it as a reference all the time for just this kind of thing.
I also strongly suggest that you get in touch with George Baumgardner and Kathryn Vaughn at the Texas Cooperative Wildlife Collection, Texas A&M University, for an in-depth look at what happened and how they responded when their collections were submerged after a water line ruptured.
The only materials I can think of in natural history ranges that may pose unique problems are fluid-preserved materials (problems with solvent exposure and flammability) and materials treated with heavy-metal biocides such as arsenic and mercury. There is a lively debate in the natural history community as to whether or not primary types should be stored separately for ease of top-priority rescue. Me, I've found that you can't really rigidly plan what you're going to rescue first because you don't know what the disaster will be or what areas you will be able to reach. Your response plan has to be extremely flexible to accommodate reality: you're not going to be the top response priority if you have a community-wide disaster, your key staff may not be able to get to the scene for some time, the building itself may be off-limits for some time until the authorities declare it safe to enter (and, in that interim, it is not your building, it is their building), you may not be allowed back in the building once you're safely out....etc. If your plan is based on the assumption that everyone will be present, able to complete assigned jobs, and have nothing else to think about other than collections rescue, your plan may not be worth much when put to the test.
Cheers,
Sally Shelton

Treasures of Assisi further damaged by new wave of quake (Daily Telegraph London)

By Bruce Johnston in Rome
THE latest earthquake to unsettle Umbria has caused further serious damage in and around Assisi, especially in the vicinity of the Santa Chiara complex. Cracks caused by the quake in September in the 13th-century basilica of Santa Chiara, whose crypt houses the remains of St Francis's companion, St Clare, have been dangerously widened by last Friday's tremor, which registered 4.7 on the Richter scale. It followed another quake the previous week of the same magnitude. Still more seriously, ceilings and walls inside the monumental Convent of St Clare, built by an olive grove and alongside the basilica, have now collapsed, while the convent's outer walls have been so weakened that the structure may give way completely. Down in the valley, dangerous cracks have appeared in the ceiling of the basilica of Santa Maria degli Angeli, raising fears that another tremor could bring parts of it crashing down, as happened on Sept 26 in the upper church of St Francis, where four people died when they were buried in the rubble. At the opposite end of the town to St Clare's basilica and cloistered nunnery, the latest quake has weakened the upper part of the campanile of the Franciscan complex, and the papal hall and refectory of the friary have also been badly affected. Inside the upper church of St Francis, which appears to be almost held together by the scaffolding that now covers it, there was also some damage which, although relatively light, has only helped to heighten the sense of emergency. In open contradiction to Italy's Fine Arts Department estimates that the upper church would be ready to open for the Millennium, Sergio Fusetti, in charge of the church's upkeep, said at the weekend: "The upper basilica will not be re-opened to the public before 2006." The latest quake caused plaster to rain from the left part of the church's already weakened transept, while two fragments of fresco depicting sections of a blue sky have come away from the apse behind the altar. Last Friday's quake, which was followed by a number of aftershocks - 126 on Saturday alone - has surprised experts because of the way its epicentre has moved northwards to Gualdo Tadino, above Perugia. In the town (population 12,000), which contains many old buildings and churches and houses one of Umbria's most important art collections, many roofs caved in at the weekend and the walls of buildings were scarred with cracks. There have been 1,000 reports of damaged dwellings in this town alone. A number of villages outside Gualdo have been very hard hit and many residents have been left without water. An estimated 8,000 people in Gualdo and nearby Nocera Umbra, to the south, slept in emergency lodgings or in municipal buildings at the weekend. In Gualdo, where one quarter of the population had to be fed by the authorities, the hospital was evacuated and schools both there and in nearby Gubbio and other towns will remain closed today, as many are now makeshift dormitories. A special train has arrived in Gualdo to provide emergency lodging for 600 people, in addition to 180 caravans that were brought in over the weekend. But other towns near the original epicentre have complained that caravans previously at their disposal have been plucked from away under their noses and taken to the newly affected areas. Tomorrow's visit to the region by President Oscar Scalfaro could provide an opportunity for local people to vent their anger, regardless of the authorities' promises that the towns are out of danger. Fabrizio Fiorentini, 39, from Gualdo, said: "They're trying to play things down in order to avoid causing panic. But they can't fool us. We know they've sent 6,000 body bags to Umbria, and 800 of them are right here in Gualdo. Even they are fearing the worst."

Confidentiality policy (Bill Parker parker.166@postbox.acs.ohio-state.edu)

I am looking for sample museum confidentiality policies. Does anyone know where I could get some samples?
Thanks in advance.
*****************************************
William O. Parker
Security Services
OSU - Wexner Center for the Arts
1871 N. High St., Cols., OH 43210
(614)292-3643 / Fax (614)292-6865

Russia: Germans Expect To Challenge Art Ruling (Radio Free Europe)

By Roland Eggleston
Bonn, 6 April 1998 (RFE/RL) -- Germany says Russian parliamentarians opposed to the repatriation of German art treasures looted by the Red Army in World War II have "scored a point" in the legal battle but have not yet won. The Russian constitutional court today ruled that President Boris Yeltsin must sign a law banning the repatriation of the art treasures. The law has twice been approved by the Duma. About 200,000 items are involved, including gold treasures, thousands of rare books, paintings and drawings as well as porcelain collections and furniture. The looted goods include the so-called "Gold of Troy," found by the German archaeologist Heinrich Schliemann on the site of the ancient Greek city of Troy in 1873. It is now believed to be at least 1,200 years older than Troy. Russian troops took it from a museum in Berlin in 1945. In 1995 Russia also put on display in St. Petersburg 74 impressionist and post-impressionist paintings taken from Germany during the war. The included paintings by Degas, van Gogh, Gauguin, Renoir, Monet, Cezanne and Toulouse-Lautrec, which German museums would love to have back. Yeltsin opposes the law because he believes it would damage relations between Germany and Russia. Last year he declined to sign it because of procedural irregularities in the parliamentary voting. A Bonn Foreign Ministry official today said that although the ruling appeared final, legal experts believed the way was still open for Yeltsin to challenge the content of the law and its individual parts. "We understand that President Yeltsin's legal advisors also believe that a challenge to the content is possible," the German official said. The German Foreign Ministry pointed out that Russia agreed to return to Germany all art works seized in the war in two treaties signed with Bonn -- in 1990 and 1992. On February 10, 1993, the then German interior minister and the Russian culture minister signed an agreement establishing a joint commission to work out the details. At that time, both ministers said it should be possible to return at least some treasures within a short period of time although they acknowledged that a comprehensive repatriation agreement would take years to achieve. However, Germany subsequently charged that in 1995 Russian cultural officials delayed the negotiations by arguing that an arrangement should not be reached before the ceremonies marking the defeat of Hitler Germany. On other occasions Russia used constitutional objections. The main objection -- voiced by many members of the Duma and by museum directors -- is that German troops destroyed or looted thousands of Russian treasures during the wartime invasion of Russia and Russia should keep most of what its own troops seized as compensation. Adding to the German frustration is the fact that some of the treasures held by Russian museums have been stolen and offered for private sale to European and U.S. art collectors. In 1996 a Washington lawyer, Thomas Kline, said at least a dozen works taken from museums in the German port of Bremen, had surfaced in New York.

Yeltsin plan to return looted art thwarted (BBC News)

The matter was sent to the constitutional court after the Russian parliament overturned a presidential veto. From Moscow, James Coomarasamy reports:
The court's decision appears to signal a rare victory for the Russian parliament over President Yeltsin. According to the ruling the Russian leader will now have to sign the bill into law, effectively keeping billions of dollars worth of art seized by the Red Army during World War II in Russia. The art, which includes paintings by Renior, Van Gogh and Gauguin, came largely from Nazi Germany and Mr Yeltsin has described the bill as a threat to Russian German relations. He wants the art returned, but MPs disagree. They say it was compensation for the losses inflicted on the Soviet Union by the Nazis.
Yeltsin won't give up
The President's representative at the court, Sergei Shakhrai, said he would accept the ruling but made it clear that the President didn't see it as the end of the matter. Mr. Yeltsin's veto which the court overturned was invoked on a matter of parliamentary procedure. According to Mr. Shakhrai, the Russian leader intends to make a further attempt to block the law on the grounds that it contravenes Russia's international commitments. The court's ruling comes at the beginning of an important week in relations between President Yeltsin and parliament. On Tuesday Mr. Yeltsin will host round table talks with his parliamentary opponents on the formation of Russia's new government. He remains confident that his candidate for Prime Minister, the former fuel and energy minister, Sergei Kirienko, will be accepted by MPs.

Russian war booty: the judges rule (BBC News)

The new development is a ruling from Russia's Constitutional Court, which says that President Boris Yeltsin may not refuse to sign a draft law when both houses of the Russian parliament have overturned his presidential veto. However, explains BBC regional analyst, Stephen Mulvey, the battle is not over yet. Today's ruling is the first court judgement in this protracted dispute, but not the last. The Constitutional Court was responding to a case lodged by the parliament, asking whether it was legal for the president to refuse to sign a draft law which gathered sufficient support for a presidential veto to be overturned. Oleg Rumyantsev, constitutional expert - It's very important the court reminded Yeltsin of his limitations (1'53") Following the court's judgement the president must now sign the law, which declares Soviet Second World War booty to be Russian national property. However, President Yeltsin himself has also asked the court to rule on a related issue - he questions whether proper parliamentary procedures were followed when the law was adopted. Furthermore, according to his representative at the Constitutional Court the president will soon lodge another case challenging the law's constitutionality, on the grounds that it conflicts with Russia's obligations under international law.
Yeltsin pulled in two directions
President Yeltsin is in a difficult position, facing one set of demands from the parliament, and another from the international community, particularly Germany, where much of the looted art originated. The Constitutional Court provides President Yeltsin with his only chance of escaping from this corner. The Russian parliament's view is that the war booty is just compensation for the devastation caused by the German army in the Soviet Union. Millions were killed, entire villages were burned to the ground, and it's alleged that the invaders were making a deliberate attempt to destroy Slavic culture as they wrecked churches and imperial palaces. Galina Kislovskaya deputy director, library of foreign literature: Gutenburg Bible is among the Russian art treasures (2'33") The new law does not altogether rule out the return of works of art, but it establishes a very complicated procedure. An official request must be made, the consent of the local authorities must be obtained, and parliament must vote on each case. President Yeltsin has other objections to the law, apart from those he has asked the Constitutional Court to rule on. He's pointed out, for example, that it makes no distinction between works of art stolen from enemies, allies or private individuals. He's the one, after all, who has to answer the Hungarian government's question whether it can be right to regard loot from the collection of a Hungarian Jew as reparation for damage done by the German army. There's a section of Russian public opinion that believes the art should be handed back.
Long-hidden treasures
For most of the past 50 years the Soviet government denied its existence, and kept it hidden in basements. In some cases its condition has been steadily deteriorating, and the Russian authorities do not have the resources to restore it all immediately. Today's court ruling was a rare setback for President Yeltsin, who does not often concede a trick to parliament. It's certain that he'll do all he can to avenge this defeat, and to prevent it leading to a deterioration in relations with powerful foreign states.

Court Tells Yeltsin to Sign Booty Art Law (Russia Today)

MOSCOW -- (Reuters) Russia's Constitutional Court ruled on Monday that President Boris Yeltsin could not block laws approved twice by parliament, effectively halting the Kremlin's plans to return wartime "booty" art to Germany. But the constitutional wrangle pitting Yeltsin against both houses of parliament could still drag on for many months. He is expected to appeal to the court over alleged parliamentary irregularities when the bill was approved. "The president of Russia does not have the right not to sign a federal law rejected by him after its second approval by the Duma (lower house) and the Federation Council (upper house)," the court said in a statement. Parliament had asked the Constitutional Court to rule on Yeltsin's veto powers after he twice refused to sign a law halting the repatriation, mainly to Germany, of art treasures seized by the Red Army during World War II. Last summer Yeltsin invoked procedural irregularities during parliamentary voting when he refused to sign the bill. Germany, Russia's biggest trading partner and creditor, wants Moscow to return its vast hoard of art treasures, which includes a rare Gutenberg bible, gold artifacts supposedly from the ancient site of Troy and paintings by Impressionists Claude Monet and Henri Matisse. Many Russians agree with the parliamentarians, saying the art should stay as compensation for Nazi Germany's destruction of Russian cultural treasures and the sufferings of the Soviet Union, which lost 27 million people in the war. Yeltsin, who values close political and economic ties with Germany and its chancellor Helmut Kohl, has vowed to return the treasures, citing two international treaties signed by Moscow. On Monday RIA news agency quoted Yeltsin's representative in the Constitutional Court, Sergei Shakhrai, as saying the president would dispute "both the content of the new law and its adoption procedure." Itar-Tass news agency quoted Duma lawyers as saying Yeltsin would have to sign the law before being able to challenge it afresh in the Constitutional Court.

Swiss defer comment on looted art until report out (Reuters )

BERNE, April 7 (Reuters) - Switzerland said on Tuesday it could give no new data on how much art looted by the Nazis had found its way into the country until the final results of a research project were published later this year. ``The Ministry for Culture is sticking to the position that the study is not yet completed and therefore based on the facts at hand today it is not possible to make a quantitative statement about supposed stolen art in Switzerland,'' the ministry said in a statement. A Swiss newspaper on Sunday had reported on the study, which it said is looking into claims that far more art than originally thought found its way into private collections and museums in Switzerland. Studies have been done in the past, and at least one Swiss collector has been forced to repurchase works which were found to have been stolen by Nazis from private owners. But, according to the Swiss newspaper SonntagsBlick, at least one lawyer was gathering material for a possible legal claim based on new findings. The Ministry of Culture said its report would deal with how the art market developed in Switzerland between 1930 and 1955, and the role Switzerland played in those developments. Switzerland in 1948 declared that it had uncovered 77 items of looted art.

Yeltsin calls trophy art ruling a ``slap in face'' (Reuters)

MOSCOW, April 7 (Reuters) - President Boris Yeltsin on Tuesday described a Constitutional Court ruling on wartime trophy art as ``a slap in the face'' that would prevent Russia retrieving artefacts from abroad. The court said on Monday that Yeltsin could not block laws approved twice by parliament halting the return of treasures seized by the Red Army during World War Two. ``The government and I received a slap in the face from the Constitutional Court, which supported the State Duma's (lower parliament chamber) claim on the law on valuables, and not the president,'' Yeltsin told a round-table meeting in the Kremlin. ``There are many more Russian artefacts in the foreign lands,'' he said. ``We cannot touch them under this law.'' ``But we are not discussing that. The Constitutional Court has decided and nothing can be done about it,'' Yeltsin said, implying he would finally sign the controversial law. ``I am still convinced that (from the point of view of) civilised world practice it is a wrong decision,'' he told the meeting of political leaders. Presidential press secretary Sergei Yastrzhembsky said later Yeltsin was not blaming the court but was unhappy about the work of his representatives in the court who lost the legal battle. ``The president said that the court's decision is final. It is normal, it should be so in a democratic state,'' he said in a television interview. The court ruling came during a tough political crisis in Russia and on the eve of Tuesday's round table. Yeltsin, keen to foster close ties with Germany and his personal friend Chancellor Helmut Kohl, has long been at odds with both houses of parliament over the draft law on booty art, which he says contravenes Moscow's international obligations. Yastrzhembsky said on Monday Yeltsin was likely to sign the law but would continue to challenge its legitimacy, probably in the Constitutional Court. The problem has long been an irritant in post-Soviet Russia's generally warm relations with Germany, Moscow's biggest trading partner and creditor. Germany said on Monday the bill violated international law. France, the Netherlands and other countries are also anxious for the return of assets first removed by the Germans and then taken to the Soviet Union. Among the more valuable items in question are a rare Gutenberg bible, gold artefacts believed to be from the ancient site of Troy, drawings by Rembrandt and paintings by French Impressionists Claude Monet and Henri Matisse. Under the new law, the return of any individual item of war booty would be subject to parliamentary approval, all but blocking any effective handover. Yeltsin has twice refused to sign the bill and the upper house accused him of overstepping his constitutional powers -- a charge upheld by the Constitutional Court on Monday. As well as Russia's international obligations, Yeltsin has also invoked procedural irregularities during parliamentary voting as a reason for not signing the bill. But many Russians agree with the parliamentarians, saying the art should stay as compensation for Nazi Germany's destruction of Russian cultural treasures and the sufferings of the Soviet Union, which lost 27 million people in the war. Russian treasures seized by Germans include, along with many others, the fabled ``Amber Chamber'' from the Catherine Palace near St Petersburg, a gift to Russian Tsar Peter the Great from Prussia in the 18th century.

http://www.artnet.com/magazine/index.html

SUPREME COURT HEARS NEA DECENCY CASE

On Mar. 31, 1998, the Supreme Court heard arguments in the long-running lawsuit by four performance artists -- Karen Finley, et al. -- against the National Endowment for the Arts, challenging the arts agency's application of so-called "decency standards" in its grant awards as an infringement of free speech. The Associated Press captured the general prurience that has attended the censorship efforts, with a lead that read, "Prompted by a naked artist dipped in chocolate...." Finley, who has been known to pour chocolate on herself in performance but never actually masqueraded as a chocolate-covered cherry, was at the hearing -- though she was not allowed to speak, of course. "It's quite a good installation piece," said Finley of the court setting, "with the columns and all the red velvet. It's done up just like Mount Olympus, and when the judges come in they're like gods." Her lawyer, David Cole, told the justices that the NEA decency rules unconstitutionally favored art that is "respectful of American beliefs" and suppressed points of view that challenge public sensibilities. The government position, as advocated by Solicitor General Seth P. Waxman, seemed to be that the standards were only general guidelines and a compromise with Congress, and were not actually meant to be restrictive. Justice Anthony M. Kennedy chided Waxman for arguing that the statute was essentially a meaningless, "wink, wink, nudge, nudge approach" to curtailing grant money, according to the Washington Post. A decision is expected in late June.

Russians urged to return art (The Age Australia)

By GEOFF KITNEY EUROPE CORRESPONDENT BERLIN, TUESDAY
The German Government has urged the Russian President, Mr Boris Yeltsin, to resist a court ruling and go ahead with handing back billions of dollars worth of treasures stolen from Nazi Germany by Soviet troops. A ruling by the Russian Constitutional Court on Monday will block President Yeltsin from ordering that a vast treasure trove of historical artefacts, jewellery, books and famous paintings, which Red Army soldiers plundered at the end of World War II, be shipped back to Germany and returned to the owners. It was a gesture intended as a symbol of East-West rapprochement. But the German Government immediately questioned the court decision, saying the Russian law violated international law and President Yeltsin should overturn it. The Constitutional Court ruled that a law proclaiming the art treasures as just compensation from Germany for the damage it inflicted on Russia in World War II was valid. President Yeltsin has twice refused to sign the law and now, according to his office, he intends to appeal against the ruling validating it. He has made the return of what is known as "trophy art" to Germany a major cause for his presidency. As recently as two weeks ago he reassured the German Chancellor, Mr Helmut Kohl, he was determined that large parts of the collection held in various Russian museums and galleries would be handed back to Germany before he left office. The stolen art treasures have been a major source of friction between Germany and Russia, which is why President Yeltsin chose to make their return a symbol of the transformation of relations between the former Western and Eastern blocs. It is estimated that Soviet soldiers returning home after the final defeat of the Nazis took with them more than 200,000 art treasures and more than two million books. It is also estimated that the Nazis plundered tens of thousands of precious pieces from Russia during the German invasion. Germany has returned an estimated 24,000 items to Russia but only a handful of items have been handed back by Russia, all of them by the Soviet Union to former communist East Germany during the Cold War. The items still held by Russian museums, galleries and government authorities include extraordinary historic items and artworks by some of the great masters. They include 100 early Bronze Age artefacts claimed to be from the ruins of Troy, an almost priceless Gutenberg Bible, and some of the greatest works by van Gogh, Gauguin, Monet and Matisse. Many of the items were hidden by the Soviet authorities for nearly 50 years and it was thought they had been destroyed or lost forever as a result of the war. But after the fall of the Berlin wall the new Russian Government began to confirm the existence of the lost artworks and some of them were exhibited, including a controversial showing of stolen van Gogh, Gauguin and Degas paintings at the famous Hermitage Museum in St Petersburg. This was followed by an exhibition of "Priam's Treasure", taken from what was claimed to be the ruins of the city of Troy by the German archeologist Heinrich Schliemann in 1873, and thought lost after they were plundered from a Berlin museum in 1945. This collection includes jewelled gold swords and axes, golden diadems, necklaces and earrings and copper and silver bowls. In 1993 a meeting of the Russian and German Governments agreed to begin the process of returning the treasures but ever since then their has been fierce resistence within Russia to the plan.

Finally, a verdict in the case that has shocked the art world (The Age Australia)

By VIRGINIA TRIOLI and STEPHEN CAUCHI
A former art dealer was found guilty yesterday of stealing more than $2 million worth of paintings from the renowned Australian artist, Albert Tucker. Max Michael Joffe, 50, of Myrtle Street, Ripponlea, showed no emotion as the verdicts were read out in the County Court. The County Court jury, which spent five days deliberating, found Joffe guilty on 24 counts of theft and one count of obtaining property by deception. He was found not guilty of the remaining 57 counts of theft. Joffe pleaded not guilty to all the charges. The conviction was greeted with relief by the 83-year-old artist. His wife, Barbara Tucker, told The Age they could not comment before sentencing, further than saying, "You wouldn't believe how relieved he is." Others close to Mr Tucker echoed her view, saying the experience had been long and harrowing for the artist and all who knew him. Mr Tucker's biographer, art historian Janine Burke, said yesterday that Joffe found himself in "an Aladdin's cave" of treasure when he started cataloguing Tucker's vast and disordered collection in 1994, which included works by some of Australia's most eminent artists. "Tucker's house was filled with really high quality, important and valuable Australian art: the temptation was simply too great to resist," Ms Burke said. The damage done by the matter, Ms Burke believes, spreads far into the art community. "There are no winners in this - Tucker is traumatised, Max is in jail and the art world looks like the kind of shonky place where this can happen." Judge Leslie Ross remanded Joffe in custody until next Wednesday, when he is scheduled to hear Joffe's plea before sentencing. The charges related to 80 paintings by Mr Tucker and others, including Arthur Boyd, Daniala Vassilieff, and Mr Tucker's late former wife, Joy Hester, which went missing from Mr Tucker's collection in 1994. Half are still missing. The court heard that Albert Tucker met Max Joffe, a former art teacher and dealer, in the late 1980s and appointed him trustee of his Trust Foundation in 1988. Joffe had an interest in artists of the 1940s and a collection of his own. In early 1994, Joffe started to help Mr Tucker catalogue and order his vast and uncounted collections, as the ageing artist was concerned he might die leaving his life's work in a mess. By about July 1994, Mr Tucker noticed some paintings were missing. And then some books. And some rare magazines. He accused Joffe of stealing them and told the court in evidence that Joffe and his de facto, Lorraine Finlay, immediately brought around a parcel of 11 missing paintings and a book. Mr Tucker told the court he was devastated. He said he recalled becoming very abusive towards Joffe, telling him he was "a moral black hole". Joffe, Mr Tucker said, sat on a couch "like a stunned mullet", begging for forgiveness and saying he wanted to commit suicide. Joffe also returned four other works from auction houses in Sydney and Melbourne. Police said six paintings were eventually recovered from the Christie's, Sotheby's and Lawson's auction houses. Mr Tucker said that in early 1995, he conducted an audit of his works and found 80 were missing, including those returned by Joffe. A police search of Joffe's Ripponlea house in March 1995 uncovered another 13 of the missing works. Shortly after, police charged Joffe with the theft of the missing works and with accepting $75,000 in cash in 1994 from a friend to purchase four or five Tucker paintings. In his defence, Joffe told the court that Mr Tucker accepted his offer to select works from his own collection to replace the missing works. He said that Mr Tucker never left him alone in the house. Ms Burke said Tucker was a vulnerable old man at the time and that the experience has been shattering. "This nearly crushed him and it has had a devastating effect on his life ever since 1995 when it was made public. It has dominated his life," she said.

Bowie and Boyd "hoax" art world (BBC News)

Some of the biggest names in the art world have reportedly been fooled by a biography of a fake artist created by the author William Boyd and the rock star David Bowie. Last week the glitterati of New York gathered for a launch party of Boyd's biography of the apparently rediscovered American painter Nat Tate. Bowie, a director of 21 Publishing, the company which produced the book, read extracts to the gathering. Critics on the other side of the Atlantic were due to attend the British launch of the memoir on Tuesday. Several British papers, including the Sunday Telegraph, have already run extracts from the book. Excerpts were also published on Bowie's own website.
Fake history
However, the Independent newspaper says Tate and the story of how he befriended painters Picasso and Braque, suffered from depression, burned most of his paintings and then killed himself aged 31, is all fiction. Some of the paintings pictured in the book were reportedly by Boyd himself. Photos of Tate were from Boyd's own collection of pictures of unidentified people. The ruse was made more convincing by an endorsement on the book's dust cover from the veteran writer and political commentator Gore Vidal. In the book he is also quoted as remembering Tate as "essentially dignified, drunk with nothing to say". John Richardson, the acclaimed biographer of the artist Pablo Picasso, was also in on the scam and is also quoted. Karen Wright, one of Bowie's co-directors at 21 Publishing said the hoax was not meant to be malicious. "Part of it was, we were very amused that people kept saying 'Yes, I've heard of him'. There is a willingness not to appear foolish. Critics are too proud for that."

British joke falls flat in New York (Times of London)

FROM TUNKU VARADARAJAN IN NEW YORK
A LITERARY hoax that never was has left New Yorkers bemused and perplexed. It concerns William Boyd, the novelist, David Bowie, the rock star, and Nat Tate, a fictitious American artist whose "life" Boyd has celebrated in a new book. According to reports from London, Bowie organised a party at the SoHo, New York, studio of Jeff Koons, the artist, on March 31. Writers and journalists were among the guests. Boyd was the star turn and was to read from his book, which tells the tale of Tate, a modern Rupert Brooke figure who committed suicide aged 31. The aim was to peddle the story to the journalists as fact, in the hope that it would appear in the New York papers the next morning, April Fool's Day. But the hoax did not come off. The party went with a swing, but not one word appeared in any of the newspapers the following day. Or even the day after. Clearly, no one had taken it seriously. Reports have now filtered through from London to the effect that The Independent carried a front-page story about how the novelist "fooled the US art world". The Evening Standard followed suit. But the question everyone here is asking is: What hoax?

Main Indexpage

April 9, 1998

CONTENTS:

- G-Man's Raison d'Etre: Pilfered Art (Fox News Online)

- U.S. looting (Anonymous)

- The Performance of Temporary Protection Assistants as an Adjunct to The Guard Force (Roger Wulff)

- Dispute about paintings (Sueddeutsche Zeitung, Samstag/Sonntag 28/29 Maerz 1998)

- re: use of student officers (Indianapolis Museum of Art)

- Information of Jewel Theft (rfdavis@friend.ly.net)

- Exhibition Loans (Rosemary Haddad)

- Schiele-paintings: Hearing again delayed ("Die Presse", Wien)

- Earthquake reveals new fresco from 15th century (Daily Telegraph London)

- Re: student guards (Steve Keller: IntlArtCop@aol.com)

- Nazi loot (Victoria Cranner: ics@SHORE.NET)

- Volunteers and Security ("Robert T. Handy" handy@BCHM.ORG)

- Sculptor defends taking body parts (Daily Telegraph London)

- Artist defends use of human body parts (Times of London)

- Heritage Lottery Fund chief in UKPounds:30m farewell (Daily Telegraph London)

- Arts centre wins UKPounds:7.5m lottery cash (Daily Telegraph London)

- Re: Lakota study ("The Performance of Temporary Protection Assistants as an Adjunct to the Guard Force at the Hirshhorn Museum"): Steve Keller IntlArtCop@aol.com

- missing Italian art (Teresa Prestwood writer5@hotmail.com)

- Beijing's oldest stone statue of Buddha has been stolen from its home in a suburban village (BBC UK News)

- Partnership opportunities for Federally-associated collections (Sally Shelton sshelton@sdnhm.org )

- Volunteers and Security (Thread of six messages forwarded from Museum-L)

- U.S. to Host Second Meeting on Nazi Looting (WASHINGTON, Reuters)

- Tenant stole UKPounds: 1/2 m art from his flat (Times of London)

- Master of all forgers (Tages Anzeiger, Zuerich, 02.04.98)

- Deceased Collector Bestows Art Riches Upon National Gallery (Washington Post) THE NETHERLANDS MY HAVE CLAIM ON VAN GOGH PAINTING.

- Murder of art restorer is linked to serial killer (Daily Telegraph London April 3, 1998)

with background articles:

-Who murdered the count with a candelabra as he played Bach fugues? (Jan. 18, 1997)

-Murder linked to art scandal (February 9, 1997)

- Painting at the centre of smuggling claim returned (February 8, 1997) More at: http://museum-security.org/ follow the link to 1997 reports.

- security devices opinions requested (Michael P Crimmins mpc584@world.std.com)

- Renumeration of Security/Front of House Staff (Trevor Reynolds trevor@CAERLAS.DEMON.CO.UK)

- a painful matter

- Smart System (IntlArtCop )

- Artist is jailed over theft of body parts (Daily Telegraph, Sue Clough, Courts Correspondent)

- Customs officials pluck art at border (By Diane R. Stepp, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution)

- Claims to Greek goddesses; Italy suspects smugglers got artifacts to US collector (Walter V. Robinson, Globe Staff, 04/04/98)

- Austria Confronts Its Shameful Past; Reality of Collaboration With Nazis Replaces Myth of Victimization (By William Drozdiak Washington Post Foreign Service Saturday, April 4, 1998)

- Re: a painful matter, ICOM/ICMS (antonia.kriks@munich.netsurf.de)

- 1998 NM Heritage Preservation Week Calendar of events

- Disaster recovery and natural history collections (ConsDisList: sshelton@sdnhm.org)

- Treasures of Assisi further damaged by new wave of quake (Daily Telegraph London)

- Confidentiality policy (Bill Parker parker.166@postbox.acs.ohio-state.edu)

- Russia: Germans Expect To Challenge Art Ruling (Radio Free Europe)

- Yeltsin plan to return looted art thwarted (BBC News)

- Russian war booty: the judges rule (BBC News)

- Court Tells Yeltsin to Sign Booty Art Law (Russia Today)

- Swiss defer comment on looted art until report out (Reuters )

- Yeltsin calls trophy art ruling a ``slap in face'' (Reuters)

- SUPREME COURT HEARS NEA DECENCY CASE

- Russians urged to return art (The Age Australia)

- Finally, a verdict in the case that has shocked the art world (The Age Australia)

- Bowie and Boyd "hoax" art world (BBC News)

- British joke falls flat in New York (Times of London)

G-Man's Raison d'Etre: Pilfered Art (Fox News Online)

U.S. looting.

The Performance of Temporary Protection Assistants as an Adjunct to The Guard Force ----

Dispute about paintings

re: use of student officers (Indianapolis Museum of Art)

Information of Jewel Theft (rfdavis@friend.ly.net)

Exhibition Loans (Rosemary Haddad)

Schiele-paintings: Hearing again delayed ("Die Presse", Wien)

Earthquake reveals new fresco from 15th century (Daily Telegraph London)

Subject: Re: student guards (Steve Keller: IntlArtCop@aol.com)

Nazi loot (Victoria Cranner: ics@SHORE.NET)

Volunteers and Security ("Robert T. Handy" handy@BCHM.ORG)

Sculptor defends taking body parts (Daily Telegraph London)

Artist defends use of human body parts (Times of London)

Heritage Lottery Fund chief in UKPounds:30m farewell (Daily Telegraph London)

Arts centre wins UKPounds:7.5m lottery cash (Daily Telegraph London)

Re: Lakota study ("The Performance of Temporary Protection Assistants as an Adjunct to the Guard Force at the Hirshhorn Museum"): Steve Keller IntlArtCop@aol.com

missing Italian art (Teresa Prestwood writer5@hotmail.com)

Beijing's oldest stone statue of Buddha has been stolen from its home in a suburban village (BBC UK News)

Partnership opportunities for Federally-associated collections (Sally Shelton sshelton@sdnhm.org )

Re: Volunteers and Security

Re: Volunteers and Security

Re: Volunteers and Security

Re: Volunteers and Security