Footnotes

The Annunciation to Joachim, Lucas Cranach the Elder, once oned   owned by Baron Herzog Mor Lipot Herzog
  • A Nazi-era suit will proceed: A US District Court Judge for the District of Columbia has denied Hungary’s motion to dismiss a lawsuit to reclaim works once owned by Jewish banker Baron Mor Lipot Herzog (previously discussed here).
  • The Mary Brogan Museum of Art and Science has discovered a Nazi-looted painting in a group of loaned paintings.
  • Libyan archaeologists are inspecting heritage sites for signs of damage during the conflict.
    • It is the first time I go there since the war, Kadhafi’s troops were inside and I want to know what happened,” said Fadel Ali Mohammed, Libya’s freshly appointed minister for antiquities.Setting out from the Tripoli hotel that has become his temporary home, the 62-year-old — a doctor in archaeology and Greek philology — begins the drive west to Sabratha, one of Libya’s most treasured archaeological sites.Despite multiple checkpoints armed by young volunteer militiamen, it only takes 90 minutes to get there. But it is an anxious 90 minutes for the man who is now in charge of protecting Libya’s past.
  •  Judith Dobrzynski discovers a work deaccessioned by the Brooklyn Museum in 1967 on temporary display at the Met, and Donn Zaretsky wants to know how this fits with the public trust.
  • What is the difference between viewing St. Cuthbert’s Gospel at Durham Cathedral or in the British Library?
    • The fundamental (and I use the term advisedly) challenge of modern society is how people deal not just with cultural differences, but with worldviews that are incompatible to the extent that they seem life-threatening—and require life-taking. Without over-estimating the impact that preserving historic objects can have, this joint custody agreement is a small contribution to making the world a safer, more civilised place.
  • How do you trust an art dealer?
    • The only way I know is to do your homework and spend time talking with them. Before you go to a show look at the list of participants and then go to their web sites. See what they offer and what sort of reputation they have. Are they considered true experts in the field/fields they deal in? Do other people in the art world look to them for advice? Have they had any serious legal issues? Do they deal in a wide range of items or do they have a focus … I personally find it hard to believe that any one dealer can be a true expert in all periods of art and antiques. Those who have a tighter focus will probably be better versed in the works they sell. If you take a little time doing your due diligence, your show experience will be much more rewarding.
  • What a theft! Now it seems the theft of the Mona Lisa over 100 years ago is being credited with creating modern museums.
  • Do we want someone controlling the fate of $30 billion in art 60 years after his death?
  • A painting by Rubens stolen a decade ago in Belgium has been recovered in Greece.
Questions or Comments? Email me at derek.fincham@gmail.com

Footnotes

Google Earth Image of Leptis Magna, one of Libya’s Important Heritage Sites

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Footnotes

  • LS Lowry paintings stolen in a violent 2007 theft have been recovered.
  • A discussion of the legal standing of SLAM to contest the Government’s civil forfeiture. And lest we get too critical of SLAM for asking for assistance from the Missouri Highway Patrol, that likely would have been the conduit to check Interpol’s stolen art database.
  • Charged with 16 felonies. Pleaded guilty to one count of trafficking in stolen artifacts. Another defendant receives probation sentence in the Four Corners antiquities case.
  • Herakles looted torso will be reunited with his lower half after the MFA in Boston agreed to return it to Turkey.
  • A reminder that collecting antiquities is not a new endeavor.
  • Twelve people have been arrested in Spain for looting archaeological sites with metal detectors.
  • And coins legally discovered by metal detectorists in Spain and recorded in the PAS have led to a discovery of a Roman town west of Devon, further than many had believed the Romans to have settled.
  • Archaeologists have discovered how to hack a kinect to conduct 3D scans of objects and buildings.
  • Two men have been arrested for selling illicit antiquities in the Istanbul bazaar.
Questions or Comments? Email me at derek.fincham@gmail.com

Footnotes

Art connoisseurs have re-discovered this work by Van Dyck in Paris

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Footnotes

The Bost Arch in 1970

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Footnotes

The 2nd Century AD frieze has a title history which precedes the 1970 UNESCO Convention by 194 years
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Footnotes

Questions or Comments? Email me at derek.fincham@gmail.com

Footnotes

Häuser mit bunter Wäsche (Vorstadt II), by Egon Schiele
  • The Leopold Museum in Vienna is deaccessioning a cityscape by Egon Schiele to raise the money to pay the settlement to the heirs of Lea Bondi Jaray over the disposition of Portrait of Wally.
  • A 500 year-old Nuremberg Chronicle has appeared in Salt Lake, it had been gathering dust in an attic for decades, or so the undisclosed seller has claimed. One wonders if the actual story is a good deal more complicated.
  • A review of a new human history of the Mediterranean notes the study of the island-city of Motya in Sicily has been delayed by looting

Motya is just four kilometres square, yet only five per cent has been excavated to date. Archaeological investigations collapsed in 1987 owing to Mafia complicity in pilfering antiquities. In the nearby Sicilian town of Marsala (famous for its fortified wine) a small museum nevertheless displays artefacts. Marsla is incidentally named after the Arab Mars al Allah, “Harbour of God”, after the Saracen invasion of the western Mediterranean in 831.

Here’s a list on which most Egyptologists agree: Consult with local and international agencies and specialists to develop and implement long-term management plans. Train on-site inspectors and give them greater responsibility. Design better security for sites and museums. Allocate more money for site conservation and documentation. Take a strong stand against commercial and political interests that threaten the monuments.

Questions or Comments? Email me at derek.fincham@gmail.com

Footnotes

Medici, Getty, BP: Are museums run on “tainted” money?
Questions or Comments? Email me at derek.fincham@gmail.com

Footnotes

A Rothko has been found, Christie’s expects to auction it for $18 million

Questions or Comments? Email me at derek.fincham@gmail.com