Tag: Uncategorized

  Strawberry Hill, the gothic-revival mansion in west London is currently in the midst of a £9m restoration.  Martin Bailey has a terrific story in the Art Newspaper on the efforts to track down many of the objects which were originally included in the mansion. 

Horace Walpole built the home in the 18th century, which is credited for the revival of the Gothic style in Victorian England.  The building was inspired by the fan vaulting at Westminster Abbey, bits of tombs from Westminster and Canterbury, and the tomb of Edward the Confessor.  When Walpole died in 1797, most of the objects remained at the mansion, but an auction in 1842 led to the loss of a number of the objects.  The Strawberry Hill Trust is now eager to bring these objects back together, including paintings, sculpture, furniture, ceramics, glassware, weapons, relics and manuscripts.

Some of the most sought-after items include:

1. A Roman funerary urn: The Roman urn appears below the window in a 1750s drawing of Walpole in his library by Johann Müntz. Its triangular top decoration has a tripod relief, supported by griffins.

2. Mirror with portrait of Viscount Malpas: There were two mirrors, and the lost mirror has a circular painting of Viscount Malpas. The Gothic mirror, with an ebonised wood frame, was sold in 1842 to Mrs Dawson Damer. Another mirror depicting the Earl of Orford survives (pictured, it was accepted in lieu of inheritance tax last year and will be displayed at Strawberry Hill).

3. Ornate Turkish dagger: The ornate dagger was reputed to have belonged to Henry VIII. In 1842 it was bought by actor Charles Kean, who is said to have used it on the stage. It was sold at Christie’s in 1898 to someone named as Haigham. It is depicted in a late 18th-century watercolour.

4. Gothic dining table Commissioned by Walpole in 1754, the top is of Sicilian jasper (6 x 3 feet), with the frame in black. An early 19th-century drawing of it survives. The ornately decorated table was last recorded in 1953, when it was owned by antiquarian Harry Bradfer-Lawrence, of Ripon, Yorkshire, who died in 1965.

5. Basalt Bust of Vespasian: The colossal basalt bust had been in 10 Downing Street and was later put on display at Strawberry Hill. It is depicted in a watercolour view of Horace Walpole’s gallery. The bust was last recorded at Christie’s in 1893, after leaving the Hamilton Palace collection.

1. Martin Bailey, Strawberry Hill on the hunt for lost Walpole treasures, The Art Newspaper, January 6, 2010.

2009 saw a number of interesting trends in cultural heritage law and policy.  Below are a few of the year’s prominent stories.  On a personal note, I am still enjoying the fellowship at Loyola in New Orleans; but still looking for a permanent position that will allow me to continue writing and thinking about cultural heritage.  But in the mean time your interest and support continues to enrich and support my work.  There is a need for people to continue thinking and writing about culture.  The blog saw a lot of  interest this year, with nearly 80,000 visitors.  I’d like to thank you all for your interest, comments, and helpful notes and conversations. 

The Four Corners Antiquities Investigation


A large federal investigation into the illegal trade in Native American Artifacts signaled a growing commitment of federal authorities into policing Native American artifacts.  A June 10th raid which searched the homes and businesses of over 20 people lead to arrests, and even two suicides.  So far charges have emerged in Utah, but charges may emerge in New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada, and perhaps even Colorado.

Ongoing Repatriation Efforts

Repatriation continued to dominate headlines this year.  Peru, Egypt, Greece and other nations brought suits and made charges in the press.  One of the most interesting stories which emerged early in 2009 were the efforts by China to secure the return of objects  taken during the period of colonialism.  Many of the prominent details emerged in the press.  In February an auction of many works of art from the Yve Saint Laurent auction became the proving ground for China’s cultural diplomacy.  These two bronzes were slated for sale at the auction, having been looted from the Old Summer Palace in Beijing in 1860.  China first threatened suit against Christie’s, but that suit was denied. At the auction, Cai Mingchao, the general manager of Xiamen Harmony Art International Auction Co. was the winning bidder on these bronzes.  Yet he refused to pay, essentially sabotaging the auction.  This was another indication of the increasing role that nations of origin are playing in the heritage marketplace.  I’m not sure how many wealthy bidders would be willing to stake their reputation or future ability to bid on such a move in the future, but this was a cunningly simple, very shrewd strategic move by Mingchao and the Chinese.  They wanted to disrupt the market in these objects which had been looted, and did a brilliant job doing so.  

Deaccession

The decision by museums to sell works of art generated considerable controversy this year, and no dispute better encapsulates the difficulties which arise than the decision by Brandeis University to close the Rose Museum of Art.  The University has shifted its position  since the initial announcement.  It has announced its intention to maintain the Rose in some form, but given the University’s financial difficulty the decision was not made lightly.  One of the difficulties with deaccession stems from its connection to our fundamental view of art and museum governance.  What is the nature of art?  An art museum?  Are either permanent?  Can we trust the governing structures in our museums?  Our inability to find common ground in crafting answers to these questions accounts for the continued difficulty.  But if the arts community cannot come together and craft viable solutions to these difficulties, we are going to be left with weaker cultural institutions and risk losing more works as a result of financial difficulty. 

Treasure Seekers in the United Kingdom

Earlier this year Oxford Archaeology released a report on the management of undiscovered antiquities in England and Wales.  The conclusion?  Illegal metal detecting in England has declined since the United Kingdom amended the Treasure Act and created the Portable Antiquities Scheme. This has led to the amateur discovery of some beautiful objects, including this Anglo-Saxon hoard discovered by a detectorist this summer.

And of course art theft continued to occur with alarming regularity.

Apologies for the light posting of late, I hope to resume early next week.  I’ve been finalizing my preparations for the AALS Hiring Conference in Washington DC this weekend.  Joni will be joining me as well, and if any readers or former students are up for dinner or drinks, drop me a line:  derek.fincham “at” gmail.com.

We get the State and City we deserve.  Another sign of the dismal state of liberal arts funding generally.  If the Pennsylvania State Legislature doesn’t allocate funds, the Philadelphia Free Library will close on October 2nd and end all programs and services.  All books are due on October 1st. 

The Pennsylvania senate is unable to pass a budget, and this late-arriving state funding will force the closure of the entire system.  Perhaps a Pirate Party can fill the void for the citizens of Philadelphia to get access to books, movies and music.  

All Free Library of Philadelphia Branch, Regional and Central Libraries Closed Effective Close of Business October 2, 2009 [Free Library of Philadelphia]

The Art of the Steal is a new documentary on the Barnes foundation and its planned move from Merion.  Scott Tobias has a review for the AV Club:

As a forward-thinking art collector in the ‘20s, Dr. Albert Barnes snapped up an extraordinary wealth of post-impressionist and modernist paintings from the likes of Matisse, Picasso, Renoir, and Cezanne; though dismissed by tastemakers at the time, his collection is now valued in the tens of billions. In his will, Dr. Barnes was very specific about what the trustees were to do with his assets: He wanted them to remain housed in his small, meticulously conceived institution in the Philadelphia suburb of Merion, never to be loaned out or sold to other museums. He wanted the Barnes trustees to continue his educational mission. And most of all, he wanted to make sure the corporate foundations and politicians in Philly didn’t get their grubby paws on it. The Art Of The Steal is about how Barnes’ seemingly ironclad wishes were withered away by unscrupulous trustees, coffer-draining legal battles, and the overwhelming force of a city looking to bring in the tourist dollar. There are two sides of the story—the other being that the Barnes Foundation simply didn’t have the capital to be a sustainable entity—but the film makes its allegiances clear. And that’s not a bad thing: In this David and Goliath story, Goliath kicks the ever loving shit out of David, and the film is convincing and righteous in its advocacy. It also leaves you with troubling questions about the runaway commodification of art, the extent to which it does or does not belong the public, and just how much power the individual really has in society. Grade: B

Toronto Film Festival ’09:  Day 4 [AV Club].  

From the AP:

SAN FRANCISCO—A federal appeals court has breathed new life into a lawsuit filed by a Connecticut woman against the Norton Simon Museum of Art over ownership of art seized by the Nazis.

Marei von Saher of Greenwich sued in 2007 claiming she was the rightful owner of a pair of 16th Century wood panels painted by famed German artist Lucas Cranach the Elder.

But a trial court in Los Angeles tossed out the case, ruling unconstitutional a California law extending the statute of limitations for heirs of Holocaust victims.

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals agreed with that holding Wednesday, but said von Saher may have another legal avenue. It says the lawsuit may proceed if von Saher can prove she inherited the art before the statute of limitations expired under another state law not related to Holocaust survivors.

My continued apologies—it seems the technical difficulties on the blog may continue.  I understand a number of google blogs are having this difficulty, and it may be attributed to a sustained attack on one prominent Georgian blogger.  It seems crazy that the attack on one writer would be possible; and that it would disrupt so many others.  In any event I may have a very nice idea for a future article on international freedom of speech. 

I’m not sure why my blog would be affected but not others, I did post some thoughts on the Russia/Georgia dispute last year.  In any event, please be patient; I’m still trying to sort out the difficulty.  It appears that I can still post new material, and in the event things are not fixed I have saved the blog archives. 

Apologies for the difficulties with properly displaying the blog today, this appears to be a problem with blogger, and I’m attempting to sort things out now.

In the Art Newspaper, Brook S. Mason reports on the increase in visitors to artist sites and historic homes in the US and the UK—a product perhaps of the economic downturn.  Though the art market may be suffering, people may be staying closer to home and visiting the historic sites and areas near them: