http://museum-security.org/
securma@xs4all.nl
SITE MAP
November 25, 1998
CONTENTS:
- educational video for fire protection of cultural properties (Linda Swenson Stoppacher)
- Fire damage to paintings (Alan Phenix)
- Prince faces Marbles row in Athens
- Marbles lose out to God and mammon in great Greek debate
- 'Playboy cop' exposes art fraud riddle
- Additional info re V&A theft
- searching for foreign legislation (Amalie Weidner)
- -RE: Student needing info (Richard Viola)
- what else- sprinklers (Thomas Dixon)
- WWII / Holocaust Stolen Art; Part III. Restitution Efforts
(Jonathan Sazonoff)
From: "Linda Swenson Stoppacher" lindseys@together.net
subject: educational video for fire protection of cultural properties
Dear editor,
I have been in insurance Loss Control for 9 years, 8 of which I was a
museum specialist for Chubb. As my thesis project, I received a $40K grant
from the National Park Service (NCPTT) to make an educational video for
fire protection of cultural properties. It explain the use and function of
detectors, different sprinkler systems, gaseous agents (and the Halon
issue), and water mist. It was shot on location using the Library of
Congress, Colonial Williamsburg, Olana (NYS Bureau of Historic Sites), and
the Cabildo in Louisiana. As a member of the NFPA Committee for the
Protection of Cultural Resources, The NFPA served as "Technical Adviser".
It is available for essentially postage and the cassette it was copied onto
from NCPTT.
Your members may find it of interest. If you would like to preview
it and perhaps contain it on the website, I am happy to send it to
you. My phone # is (802) 658-0722 X243, or (802) 658-3185 (home).
I
look forward to hearing from you and want to commend you on a great
website I share with all of my cultural clients.
Linda Swenson Stoppacher, CPP, ASP
From: Alan Phenix alan.phenix@courtauld.ac.uk
Subject: Fire damage to paintings (Alan Phenix)
Cons DistList member Alan Phenix of the Courtauld Institute of Art,
London places the following posting on behalf of an intern from Spain,
Rocio Pena-Helguera. Rocio is interested in gathering information on
the treatment of paintings and polychrome sculptures that might have
been damaged, either directly or indirectly, as a consequence of fire.
Despite previous discussions in past Cons DistLists regarding both
fire in museums, historic houses etc., and treatment of fire-damaged
paintings, there seems to be very little information in the public
domain, especially on this latter issue. A literature search has
revealed only a handful of useful publications.
Rocio is very keen, therefore, to hear from conservators who have had
direct experience of treating paintings, polychrome sculpture or other
objects that have been exposed to fire. Alternatively, if you know of
anyone who has experience in this area, please let her know.
Specific issues that Rocio is interested in include:
* the specific details (title, school, artist, date, support,
etc.) of any fire damaged paintings treated,
* the nature and circumstances of the fire (eg. electrical
fire, smoke only, large scale fire etc.),
* whether the painting/object was removed from the scene of
the fire and, if so, at what time in relation to the fire
(during, after)
* whether the painting/object was exposed to water from
firemen's hoses, extinguishers, sprinklers, etc.
* of damage sustained by paintings/objects are a particular
interest. In relation to the points above, Rocio would like
to hear of the different kinds of damage/alteration sustained,
for example:
* the extent of damage--front, reverse, severe, localised,
superficial
* surface deposits of smoke, soot?
* discolouration of paint, especially any pigment-specific
alteration
* blistering or other physical disruption of paint,
* burning, charring or other physical degradation of the
paint, ground, support etc.
* water damage, including canvas shrinkage and
flaking of paint, softening or other disruption of
ground or paint, blanching (ie. permanent whitening) of
paint, blanching or other disruption of varnish
* or any other forms of deterioration.
Details of conservation methods and materials used to deal with any of
the above forms of damage are of special interest, and any
contributions would be very much appreciated. In particular, Rocio
would like to hear about approaches to correcting and consolidating
heat-derived blisters and to dealing with discoloured paint.
Finally, any opinions would be gratefully received on what issues
should usefully be explored in research on conservation of
fire-damaged paintings.
Please send any contributions to
Rocio Pena-Helguera
Dept. of Conservation & Technology
Courtauld Institute of Art
Somerset House
Strand, London WC2R ORN,
rocio.pena_helguera@courtauld.ac.uk
or alan.phenix@courtauld.ac.uk
Alan Phenix
(Daily Telegraph London)
Prince faces Marbles row in Athens
By Robert Hardman in Athens
THE Prince of Wales was repeatedly dragged into the controversy
surrounding the Elgin Marbles yesterday as he began his first
official visit to Greece in 34 years.
As the Prince arrived at the Acropolis, the marbles' original home,
the Greek minister of culture described his presence as a "symbolic
step" towards the repatriation of the friezes and sculptures from the
British Museum.
Despite Foreign Office assurances that the issue was unlikely to
surface during his two-day stay, the Prince was told in no uncertain
terms by the Greek government and the mayor of Athens that Greece
wants what it calls the Parthenon Marbles returned.
While refraining from any official comment on what is a matter for
the Government, British officials were clearly uncomfortable as the
matter was raised time and again in front of the Prince. One
privately described it as "bad manners", but the Prince himself
appeared unconcerned and seemed to enjoy a reception which, overall,
proved very warm.
The marbles issue surfaced at the Prince's first engagement as he was
declared an "honorary Athenian" by the city's mayor, Dimitris
Avramopoulos. The mayor suggested that the Prince should resolve the
matter on the day he becomes King.
In reply, the Prince made no mention of the matter, but said that
many British people had found Athens an "absolute fascination",
adding: "We are all acutely conscious of what we owe to your
history."
At the 102-year-old British School at Athens, the archaeological
institute of which the Prince is now patron, he was reminded about the
marbles again. "May this visit be the first step towards the
restitution of the Parthenon marbles," the minister of culture,
Evangelos Venizelos, told him. The Prince decided that a joke was the
best course of action and replied, with a laugh: "I've been made an
honorary Athenian which may have something to do with it."
Mr Venizelos mentioned it again as he welcomed the Prince at the gate
to the Acropolis. "I hope your visit is a symbolic step towards the
return of the marbles," he said. The Prince smiled and listened to
another lecture on restitution.
Further on, at the Propylaia, Mr Venizelos pointed out: "This is the
birthplace of the marbles. We have all the best technology to preserve
them." Later, he pointed out where the marbles would have been
originally. "There's no point banging on about it because the Prince
can't do anything," muttered one aide.
The marbles were bought by Lord Elgin, the British ambassador to
Constantinople, in 1799. He later presented them to the British
Museum, whose trustees are barred from disposing of them by law. Such
technicalities were of little concern to Mr Venizelos. "My proposal is
to find a political solution not a legal or historical one," he said
afterwards.
(Times of London)
Marbles lose out to God and mammon in great Greek debate
AS THE Prince of Wales discovered to his annoyance during his visit to
Greece this week, few local politicians can resist the opportunity to
make an impassioned public appeal for the return of the Elgin Marbles
from the British Museum. Dig a little deeper, however, and the issue,
which at times seems to dominate Anglo-Greek affairs, hardly raises an
eyebrow among ordinary Greeks, who feel a far greater affinity with
their Byzantine heritage than with ancient Greece.
For some time now, politics and its nationalist symbols have been
losing their attraction for the Greeks.
Austerity, uncertainty over the euro, and the chances of being able
to buy a new car next year and get that summer home fixed up all now
weigh more on the public consciousness. Ancient Greece, or the modern
conception of it, understandably looms large in the modern Greeks'
sense of themselves. Throughout this century, however, the classical
past has been pressed into service as a flagwaver.
Its latest function is that of a boost for politicians thirsty for
public applause. Despite polite yet firm rebuffs from Tony Blair and
Chris Smith, the Heritage Secretary, Athens repeats its demand time
and again. Evangelos Venizelos, the Minister for Culture, with an
unerring eye for publicity, has made the Marbles the central theme of
an irredentist foreign policy in which diplomatic conventions and
niceties, not to mention the Foreign Ministry itself, are brushed
aside. The conservative opposition party, New Democracy, has avoided
sticking its neck out. Given the political capital to be made,
however, that stance could soon end. Hours before the Prince of Wales
bent his ear to Mr Venizelos's latest appeal, the conservative and
highly popular Mayor of Athens, Dimitris Avramopoulos, reinforced the
call.
There is no logical reason, the official Greek argument runs, why the
Marbles should not be returned to their homeland, there to be
exhibited and viewed as an inalienable part of Greece's past.
Diplomatic battle was first joined in 1982 by the late actress, Melina
Mercouri, the Minister for Culture in the country's first Socialist
Cabinet. Despite her propagandist talents, the Greek case was weakened
from the beginning by its political angle. Any mention of the Greek
relics in the Louvre, for example, was avoided so as not to embarrass
the French Socialist Government. The Greek stand was then hastily
modified to emphasise that the Marbles in the British Museum are a
missing part of the unified Parthenon sculptures.
This abstract argument leaves large segments of the Greek public
cold. There is a sense of resentment about having to beg for anything
at all, combined with an aversion to things classical that is
traceable to the compulsory teaching of classical Greek in schools
until the mid-1980s. Many, if not most, Greeks recall with a shudder
the ordeal of memorising Homer and Xenophon. The Parthenon is visible
from hundreds of flats, offices and hotel rooms and familiarity may
have bred contempt. I was recently told of a taxi driver who, while
near near the Acropolis, pointed to the hill and boasted to his
passenger that in half a century of being a cabbie he had "never once
set foot on that thing".
Most Greeks, not wanting to be taken for tourists, visit the
Acropolis only on school trips. It is no accident that it is Greece's
foreign community, including a good many Britons, that has been
petitioning for the Marbles' return.
Greece's most popular figure is Archbishop Chrisodoulos, head of the
National Orthodox Church, the sole remaining symbol of the pomp and
spirituality of the Byzantine Empire. This is no coincidence.
Byzantium, not the Athens of Pericles, is the cultural, political and
administrative forerunner of modern Greece.
The break in the nation's historical continuity, somewhere around the
3rd century, was a sharp one. The result is a confusion over identity.
Greek school texts, while rhapsodising about the battle of Marathon,
go on to gloss over the fact that the early Byzantine emperors, who
equated Ancient Greece with pagan unbelief, executed philosophers,
abolished the Olympic Games, and converted the Parthenon into a
church.
Mr Venizelos, according to most accounts, really believes in his
mission. What remains unclear is how hard the Greek Government is
willing to press its demand for the Elgin Marbles while an indifferent
public looks on.
(Times of London)
'Playboy cop' exposes art fraud riddle
AN ALLEGED fraud involving $17.5 million (UKPounds:10.9 million) and
the bogus theft of paintings by Monet and Picasso has been uncovered
thanks to a tip-off from a former California policewoman, who made
her name shedding her uniform for Playboy. Dr Steven Cooperman, a
retired eye surgeon, had a taste for French Impressionists. In a
break in a case that has baffled the FBI for years, he now stands
accused of having two historic canvasses "stolen" from his Los
Angeles home while he was away on holiday. Having bought Claude
Monet's Customs Officer's Cabin at Pourville and Pablo Picasso's Nude
Before a Mirror for less than $1 million each in the 1980s, he
managed to insure them, with the help of a museum's loan receipt, for
a total of $12.5 million. They vanished from his home the following
summer.
Despite suspicious circumstances, including no sign of forced entry
and an alarm that failed to go off, Dr Cooperman claimed the
paintings' full insured value. When his insurers refused to pay he
sued them, eventually settling out of court for a reported $17.5
million. He retired rich to the seaside in Connecticut.
Meanwhile, the former wife of his lawyer's ex-partner had been
talking to the FBI. Roberta Vasquez, known to ardent fans as the
first California Highway Patrol officer to strip for Playboy, had
given up modelling and gone to college.
Facing mounting bills, when she learnt that her husband might have
been involved in a "theft" for which a $250,000 reward was now being
offered, she turned him in.
James Little, a failed actor-turned-lawyer, has been the FBI's main
witness in the case since the paintings turned up last year wrapped in
blankets in an air-conditioned storage locker rented in his name in
Cleveland. Police say that he received them from his former partner,
whose clients happened to include the wealthy Dr Cooperman. Facing up
to 120 years in jail if convicted, Dr Cooperman has vowed to fight all
16 federal counts against him.
In the meantime, interest has intensified in the helpful Ms Vasquez.
A former actress as well as model, her film credits include Picasso
Trigger, a 1988 B-movie about a psychotic art collector who is foiled,
the production notes explain, "by our hero and his team of beauties".
Ms Vasquez has claimed that money had nothing to do with her decision
to give Mr Little's name to the Los Angeles Police Department's art
theft unit. "I didn't do it for any reward situation; I just wanted
him away from me," she told the Cleveland Plain Dealer, only to admit
in the next breath: "Honestly, $250,000 would be great. It would pay
for my college."
She has several rivals. Pamela Davis, Mr Little's current fiancée,
claims to be the one who led the FBI to the Cleveland storage
facility, while a local builder has hired a former judge to sue for
the reward after having a chance conversation about the paintings with
Ms Davis in a bar and passing on what he heard to federal agents. One
character out of the running for the money is Mr Little. Having
initially struck an immunity deal with the FBI in return for
information about Dr Cooperman, he is now in danger of a long prison
stay himself. His credibility as a witness was undermined last year
when he arrived shaved of all body hair for a court appearance on
cocaine charges.
The bald look was apparently a ploy to foil an imminent drug test for
which a hair sample would have been taken. He spent ten days in jail
anyway.
The judge at Mr Little's trial called his relationship with Ms Davis,
whom he was accused of beating, a "fatal attraction". The disgraced
lawyer still displayed a touching faith in his girlfriend's motives.
"I believe Pam Davis has been irreparably harmed by these paintings,"
he said.
"I believe that if she gets any money from them, she will donate 100
per cent of it to the American Cancer Society in her grandmother's
name and the name of my mother." Ms Davis's response at the time was:
"No comment."
From: "William A. Heidecker" heideckerwa@worldnet.att.net
Subject: Additional info re V&A theft
U. K. Museum Suffers Art Loss
Two sketches discovered missing
Business Insurance, November 23, 1998
By Matthew MacDermott
LONDON-The spate of art losses in Europe this year has spread to the
United Kingdom with the disappearance of two oil sketches worth a
total of UKPounds:800,000 ($1.3 million). The two oil sketches by
British artist John Constable-"Dedham Lock and Mills," c. 1810-1815,
and "Sketch for Valley Farm," c. 1835-were reported missing this
month by staff from London's Victoria & Albert Museum. The sketches,
both 8 inches by 6 inches, were being stored in the V&A's prints,
drawings and paintings storeroom in South Kensington in London. The
storeroom is not open to the public, with only V&A staff and
accredited visitors such as researchers allowed access. James Emson,
managing director of the London-based Art Loss Register, said the
sketches were "almost certainly stolen." Police investigations are
continuing. Mr. Emson said it would be difficult to sell the sketches
in the United Kingdom, where they are very well known. However, they
could be sold in Europe, he said. The U.K. government self-insures
the V&A's art collection, which totals more than 4 million paintings,
sculptures, carvings and other objects. The collection does not have
an estimated total value. Mr. Emson said U.K. museums have a very
good loss record in comparison with European museums. He said there
have been only three major art loss incidents, including the loss of
the Constable sketches, from U.K. museums in the past 10 years. This
compares with three high-profile European art thefts from museums in
Paris, Rome, and Nice, France, this year alone (BI, Sept. 28). The
ALR is an international database of stolen artworks backed by Aon
Corp. and several fine arts underwriters and auction houses. The
register recovered UKPounds:12 million ($20.1 million) worth of art
in 1997, Mr. Emson said the disappearance of the two Constable
sketches from the V&A highlights the security problems faced by
museums and galleries with such large collections. "It is quite
impossible to check everything regularly," he said. The Constable
sketches were last recorded as present in the collection by V&A staff
in August. Mr. Emson said it is important for museums to use
effectively both human and technological security arrangements for
their works of art. The V&A recently suggested the possibility of
replacing weekend security guard patrols of its storerooms with more
advanced electronic monitors and alarms. However, a V&A spokesman
said no decision has yet been made. Mr. Emson said that wherever
humans are responsible for security, there is the possibility of
error and lapses, especially if there are "rotten apples" within the
staff. However, he said human intuition can often pick up potential
problems faster and more effectively than electronic systems.
From: "Amalie Weidner" amalie.weidner@stud.uni-regensburg.de
Organization: Universitaet Regensburg
Subject: searching for foreign legislation (Amalie Weidner)
I am doing a comparitive law research dealing with the inalienability
and incommerciability of cultural property. I would be very grateful
if anyone could give me any hints concerning this subject. Further I
would like to know if there is any internetpage offering foreign
national legislation (any country) in the field of protection of
cultural property. Thank you. Amalie Weidner
amalie.weidner@stud.uni.regensburg.de
From: "Felicia Peterson" pole101@hotmail.com
Subject: Student needing info (Felicia Peterson)
I am a student that is currently in grade twelve. I just
finished
reading a book titled For Art's Sake written by W.O. Mitchell. It
is a story about art theft but it left me wondering about a few
points that I was hopeing you could answer.
How many major art heists are there world wide in a year?
How many are ever recovered?
Of the ones not recovered, what is expected to have happened to
them?
In the story I was reading the art was distributed around the
world to different public galleries ect... after the insurrance was
up. The goal of these theives was to get major art out of private
ownership and out for the public to see. Does this ever happen or
are all theives just doing it for money?
reply
Dear Felicia,I Handled the stolen art and antiques as a detective in
the Philadelphia Police Departments Intelligence Unit for a good many
years. In every case it was either junkies trying to convert the art
for drugs or money to buy them or Insurance Fraud.
Richard J. Viola
From: Tom Dixon tom.dixon@ngv.vic.gov.au
Subject: what else- sprinklers
Regarding my posting about sprinklers, please allow me to point out
that some sentences and parts of sentences were omitted from the
message published on the list. The only part that matters is that I
do endorse the article by Peter Cannon-Brookes (whose name I apologize
for mispelling) "Choose Wet or Burnt Objects" which was published in
Museum Management and Curatorship- I don't have the reference at hand,
but can find it in back copies if anyone needs it. My comment was that
Peter is so brilliant that one doesn't actually need to read the
article- that the title says it all. But certainly, I recommend it be
read and have referred a number of architectural consultants and
engineers to it. I have made the choice I'd rather have wet objects.
Regarding Steve Keller's most recent posting and his discussions with
conservators, speaking as a professional conservator, I and many of my
colleagues have had a hard time coming to grips with the sprinklers
because we deal with water damaged items from floods, storm damage and
the like. Its no fun. I may look at it somewhat differently because
I stood outside a major US museum 25 years ago watching the fire
brigade running in with 4" hoses, and I have been in fire-gutted
buildings (with fire department officials). However, the real turning
point for me was seeing a film presented at the Getty Preventive
Conservation course in 1990 showing the Director of a museum in New
Orleans interviewed by a news crew in front of his blazing museum
(which was a total loss, as it turned out) and the tv news person
asked how this could happen and why weren't there sprinklers or
something. The Director, who was obviously in shock, looked at the
camera and said, with no sense of irony, "The conservators told us the
sprinklers might damage the collection" or words to that effect.
Then, as I recall, his expression changed as he realised the absurdity
and tragedy of the logic. This is a really powerful document. If
anyone knows how I could obtain a copy, I would be most grateful.
On the other side of the argument, in April 1996, the National
Gallery of Victoria had a collar, which holds the deflector on a
sprinkler head, apparently spontaneously break in our then newly
installed antiquities gallery. This happened during an evening
opening. A guard was standing only a few meters away and saw it go
off and we later reviewed the incident on our security cameras. It
just went pop. We were extremely fortunate that only a few ancient
Greek urns became wet and had to be re-glued, a large section of
parquet flooring was ruined and later replaced, and that the Asian
gallery directly below (where quite a lot of water went) was empty
awaiting renovation. Some books in the Gallery shop were water
damaged on the floor below the Asian gallery. Our VESDA system
indicated there was no fire, we had a witness to why the sprinkler
went off, and it obviously wasn't hot or smoky, so our attendants
tried to turn it off . The fire department was automatically
summoned due to the drop in water pressure and the sensor operating
properly. There was considerable confusion in turning the water
system off - in retrospect, we believe it was turned off, then turned
on again because observation that the water was still flowing lead
the operator to believe he had turned the valve the wrong way- and
there is no doubt that far more water than necessary was allowed to
flow. We recovered all the bits of that sprinkler and sent them, plus
a random sample of other collars and whole sprinkler assemblies, for
independent examination and testing. Nothing was found wrong with the
metal or construction. The incident did occur after pressure testing
of the system by the installers, but this had finished a few hours
before and we were never able to make a link between the two. To
date we have absolutely no idea why this happened.
I was in charge of the salvage of the art for this event and though
it made me re-think sprinklers for our major renovation and
construction of new off site storage as well as our about to be built
new Museum of Australian Art, I still support their use in our
situation. Even if I thought they were, on balance, more of a risk
to the collection than fire (which I don't)- I would still support
them in our institution because we have a million visitors a year and
owe every one of them our caring about their lives and doing
everything we can to reduce the danger to them while they are our
responsibility. As a professional conservator, my responsibility is
first to our public and staff, and second to the works of art- we
must be absolutely clear about that. It is pretty well understood in
my profession today that risk management and harm minimization is an
effective approach to whole collection preservation. We museum
professionals are all playing with other people's property and for
keeps.
Thomas Dixon
Chief Conservator
National Gallery of Victoria
Melbourne Australia
From: Jonathan Sazonoff saz@kwom.com
Subject: WWII / Holocaust Stolen Art (Part III. Restitution Efforts)
Dear Subscribers,
This is the third posting examining WWII / Holocaust Stolen Art
websites prior to the Washington DC conference on Holocaust Assets
(Nov 30 - Dec 3) http://www.state.gov/www/regions/eur/holocausthp.html
We hope you find this information useful. SAZ PRODUCTIONS, INC.
www.saztv.com
Part III. Restitution Efforts
A good summary of the situation - Statement of Lynn H. Nicholas
http://www.house.gov/banking/62597nic.htm
The US Holocaust Museum has compiled a good list of resources
http://www.ushmm.org/assets/ushmm4.htm
Holocaust Art Restitution Project
http://www.lostart.org/
Art Loss Register's initiative - Statement of Ronald S. Tauber
http://www.house.gov/banking/21298tau.htm
WWII European looting is covered in "Looted Art - First Internet
Research Catalog" Many good pages including Spoils of War Newsletter,
Press articles, and more
http://www.dhh-3.de/biblio/
National Press Club address by Phillippe de Montebello, Art Plundered
during the Holocaust
http://www.metmuseum.org/htmlfile/news/NPC.htm
An exerpt from AAMD's Task Force report -
Discovery of Unlawfully Confiscated Works of Art
1. If a member museum should determine that a work of art in its
collection was illegally confiscated during the Nazi/World War II era
and not restituted, the museum should make such information public.
2. In the event that a legitimate claimant comes forward, the museum
should offer to resolve the matter in an equitable, appropriate, and
mutually agreeable manner.
3. In the event that no legitimate claimant comes forward, the museum
should acknowledge the history of the work of art on labels and
publications referring to such a work.
(Full text: http://www.aamd.net/guideln.shtml )
Note -
We applaud the efforts of all who have worked towards the restitution
of stolen art, and other assets. All claims should be vigorously
pursued. see NY Holocaust Asset Claim form
http://www.claims.state.ny.us/clartinf.htm
Sadly, one must assume that
many items will go unclaimed. There should be some thought given to an
international standard, a label or badge to mark these works for
posterity.
Perhaps museum labels could present those work's, in
part, as gifts or bequeaths from those victims, in their memory, in
hope that it should never happen again.
- saz
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