Two Greeks jailed for life over illegal antiquities, two more men for 20 and 16 years

THESSALONIKI (AP).- A Greek court has imposed life sentences on two men convicted of dealing in ancient treasure worth an estimated €12 million ($15.85 million), which had been illegally excavated from a cemetery in northern Greece. The court in the northern city of Thessaloniki jailed two more men for 20 and 16 years, respectively, after finding them guilty of digging up and transporting the antiquities. The severity of Friday's sentences was due to the high market value of the loot — more than 70 artifacts from the 6th century B.C. These included gold masks, four helmets, a glass perfume bottle, small clay statues, part of a gold diadem and parts of an iron sword decorated with gold leaf. Archaeologists are currently excavating an ancient cemetery near Thessaloniki where the finds came from. Antiquities in Greece are all state property by law. But smuggling is a major problem in the country, where relics of a rich ancient past often lie just inches beneath the surface. Looting deprives archaeologists of valuable contextual information that would emerge from a proper excavation. Without such clues, finds — however impressive — are little more than pretty artifacts with a high commercial value.

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Man jailed for two years for defacing Rothko work in London's Tate Modern gallery

LONDON (AP).- A Polish man who defaced a Mark Rothko painting in London's Tate Modern gallery with black ink was sentenced Thursday to two years in jail. Wlodzimierz Umaniec, also known as Vladimir Umanets, was arrested after visitors discovered a scrawl across the bottom of Rothko's "Black on Maroon" on Oct 7. The 26-year-old later said he had written the words "a potential piece of yellowism" on the abstract painting to draw attention to Yellowism, an artistic movement he co-founded. He pleaded guilty to criminal damage over 5,000 pounds ($8,000). Prosecution lawyer Gregor McKinley said restoring the painting would cost around 200,000 pounds ($320,000) and take up to 20 months. "Complications to this work include the unique painting technique used by the artist and the fact the ink used by Mr. Umaniec has permeated the paint layers and the canvas itself," he said. Passing sentence at Inner London Crown Court, judge Roger Chapple said it was "wholly and utterly unacceptable" to promote the movement by damaging a work of art that had been "a gift to the nation." Russian-born Rothko, who died in 1970, was a leading figure in American abstract painting, renowned for large-scale works featuring bold blocks of color. The defaced painting was one of a series intended to decorate the Four Seasons restaurant in New York. Rothko changed his mind about the commission and gave the works to galleries, including the Tate. McKinley said auctioneer Sotheby's had valued "Black on Maroon" at between 5 million pounds and 9 million pounds ($8 million and $14 million). This is not the first time an artwork at Tate Modern has been interfered with. In 2000, two Chinese performance artists attempted to urinate on Marcel Duchamp's urinal sculpture "Fountain." Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.

Italian police recover 2,000-year-old Egyptian sphinx stolen from Etruscan necropolis of Montem Rossulum

ROME (AFP).- Italian police on Thursday said they had recovered a 2,000-year-old Egyptian sphinx statue that was stolen from a necropolis near Rome and was about to be smuggled out of the country. "The investigation began with a random check of an industrial vehicle during which police found a decorative ceramic object from an excavation as well as many photos of the Egyptian sculpture," the police said in a statement. A search of the driver's residence turned up the statue from the Ptolemaic era (4th-1st centuries BC) packed into a crate and hidden in a greenhouse. The statue is believed to have been stolen from the Etruscan necropolis of Montem Rossulum near Viterbo, some 100 kilometres (62 miles) from Rome. The police "prevented the sculpture, as well as a series of ancient objects from being put on the clandestine international market," the statement said. The granite statue measures 120 centimetres and 60 centimetres. Egyptian sculptures began to be shipped to Italy following the Roman conquest of Egypt in the 1st century BC.

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Greek police crack Olympia robbery, recover artefacts after three Greek men offer them

Greek police crack Olympia robbery, recover artefacts after three Greek men offer them An array of ancient artifacts are displayed by police after they were recovered. Greek police say they have arrested three people in connection with an armed robbery that targeted the Archaeological Museum of Olympia, the birthplace of the ancient Olympics. The three men were arrested Friday in the western Greek city of Patras, close to Ancient Olympia, after they tried to sell the most ancient of the antiquities to an undercover policeman. AP Photo / Greek Police. PATRAS (AFP).- Greece officials announced on Saturday they had solved an embarrassing museum robbery in Olympia in February after a police sting operation netted three suspects and recovered dozens of archaeological artefacts. Earlier Saturday, police said they had arrested three Greek men aged between 36 and 50, and were seeking another two suspects. The three were arrested at a hotel in the city of Patras late on Friday after one of them tried to sell the Bronze Age gold ring for 300,000 euros ($387,000) to an undercover officer posing as a potential buyer. The original asking price had been 1.5 million euros, the police said. Officers were then dispatched to a village near Olympia where they found the remaining artefacts buried inside a sack in a field. "The discovery and arrest of the perpetrators of the robbery and the recovery of the stolen items are a great success," deputy education minister responsible for culture Costas Tzavaras said in a statement. Back in February, a pair of armed robbers made off with nearly 80 artefacts from a museum dedicated to the ancient Olympic Games. The stolen treasures included a 3,300-year-old gold ring, a bronze statuette of a victorious athlete, a 2,400-year-old oil jar, clay lamps, bronze tripods and miniature chariot wheels, as well as dozens of idols of charioteers, horses and bulls. "All the items were recovered," the ministry's general secretary, Lina Mendoni, told reporters in Athens. "Next week they will regain their place at the museum," she added. In February, police had described the robbers as amateurs who had turned up at the wrong museum. A female guard who confronted them said they had been looking for a pair of golden wreaths, which were not kept in that particular collection. Greece, rich in archaeological heritage, has been targeted by antiquity smugglers for decades. But the financial crisis rocking the country has brought hundreds of staff layoffs among archaeologists and guards, leaving museums vulnerable to theft. The Olympia robbery badly embarrassed authorities at the time. The then culture minister offered to resign but was allowed to keep his post. It came a month after thieves broke into the Athens National Gallery and stole a painting personally gifted to Greece by Spanish-born master Pablo Picasso, in addition to two other artworks. No arrests have been made in that case.

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Dutch police investigating art heist probe tips; heist was more "smash and grab" than "Ocean's 11"

AMSTERDAM (AP).- In Hollywood movies, heists usually feature criminals who plan meticulously and use high-tech equipment to avoid detection. But the thieves who snatched seven paintings by Picasso, Matisse and Monet worth millions from a gallery in Rotterdam appear to have taken a less glamorous approach, relying mostly on speed and brute force. In other words, the theft from the Kunsthal exhibition on avant-garde art was more "smash and grab" than "Ocean's 11." Dutch police said Wednesday they had no suspects in the case, the largest art heist in the country for more than a decade, though an appeal to witnesses had produced more than a dozen tips for investigators to follow up. As questions arose about security at the museum, its director, Emily Ansenk, rejected criticism of the facility's safeguards. Speaking at a news conference Tuesday evening, she defended Kunsthal's security as "state of the art" and noted that insurance companies had agreed to insure it. And yet the thieves got away. The paintings they took are estimated to be worth roughly $100 million if sold at auction. Experts said the structure and location of the museum, which was designed by renowned Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas, may have attracted criminals. "Speaking as a museum-goer, it's fantastic," museum security expert Ton Cremers said. "Speaking as a security expert, it's a total nightmare." The gallery is located along a large road that leads to a roundabout, less than a mile away, connecting highways heading in three directions. The display space where the paintings once hung is a large square area, at ground level, visible from outside through glass walls. Though police and the museum have declined to discuss aspects of the heist that might help thieves, the main details of what happened are clear. The break-in occurred at around 3 a.m. Tuesday, police say, after someone triggered an alarm. Investigators have focused on an emergency exit behind the building. The exit connects directly to the main exhibition hall, with paintings hung just a few yards away. Tire tracks can still be seen in the grass behind the building leading away from the exit. Police on Tuesday dusted the exit for fingerprints and took samples of the tire prints. The paintings were yanked from the walls, leaving only white spaces and broken hanging wires dangling behind. Officers were on the scene within five minutes of the alarm being triggered, according to museum director Ansenk, but the thieves were already gone. Police spokesman Henk van der Velde said Wednesday that 25 officers have been assigned to the case, but the getaway car has not been found and there are no suspects. Agents were reviewing videotape from museum cameras. It is unknown what will happen to the paintings if the thieves are not caught. The thieves may "wake up and realize they can't sell the paintings easily" now that museums around the world have been alerted to their theft, said Chris Marinello, of the Art Loss Register. But the thieves may also sell them on the black market for a fraction of their true value, or try to extract money from insurers in exchange for returning them. Anthony Roman, a New York-based security analyst, said the Kunsthal's level of defenses appeared so basic as to be "astounding," given the value of the art it was housing. He said an alarm system alone would never be enough to stop criminals. Thieves "learn the distance the police have to travel," he said. "They understand the mechanism and the amount of time between when the alarm goes off and the time of a physical presence of law enforcement." Security expert Cremers said the museum was not at fault for relying on cameras and motion detectors, rather than human guards. Having guards on site is costly, and they would be instructed not to confront robbers during a break-in anyway. "The only thing they can do is call police," he said. Cremers said the museum should have looked at ways to slow potential thieves down. That might have prevented them from attempting to break in in the first place, or at least limited the size of their haul. He said the paintings should have been hung inside behind a second makeshift wall with doors, creating a "box within a box" in the gallery. In addition, the museum could have set up a barrier or fence preventing cars from being able to drive up right to the emergency doors. "I'm sure they'll be looking at that now," he said. Later Wednesday, museum spokeswoman Mariette Maaskant confirmed that the museum was installing stone planter boxes big enough to block cars "as an extra security measure." - AP reporter Lori Hinnant contributed to this story from Paris. Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.
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Lost Roy Lichtenstein painting "Electric Cord" surfaces in a warehouse in New York City

NEW YORK (AP).- A painting by the late pop artist Roy Lichtenstein that disappeared 42 years ago has turned up in a New York City warehouse and is in legal limbo. Lichtenstein's black and white "Electric Cord" was reported stolen after it was sent out to be cleaned by owner Leo Castelli in 1970 and never returned. The painting shows a tightly wound electrical cord. Court papers say it re-emerged last week when the Roy Lichtenstein Foundation notified Castelli's widow, Barbara Castelli, someone was trying to sell it. Castelli's court filings say the painting recently was on display at a museum in Colombia. They say Castelli is "deeply concerned" the painting may disappear again. A judge on Tuesday signed an order barring the Manhattan warehouse from selling or moving the painting until a hearing next week. Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. More Information: http://artdaily.com/index.asp?int_sec=2&int_new=56867#.UCFrA6PhdI0[/url] Copyright © artdaily.org

Art collector Herbert Vogel, who with his U.S. postal clerk salary built a collection, dies at 89

WASHINGTON (AP).- Herbert Vogel, an art collector who amassed over 5,000 works despite a modest income, has died at age 89. Pieces from Vogel's collection have been distributed to museums throughout the nation. National Gallery of Art spokeswoman Deborah Ziska says Vogel died Sunday of natural causes in New York. Vogel was among the earliest collectors who championed minimal and conceptual art in the 1960s. He married Dorothy Faye Hoffman in 1962 and inspired her to join him in the art world. They used his salary as a U.S. postal clerk to purchase art while living on what she earned as a librarian at the Brooklyn Public Library. Earl Powell III is director of the National Gallery of Art. He says he will miss Vogel's astute eye and wry sense of humor. The Vogels built one of the world’s finest contemporary art collections in their small Manhattan apartment, using Herb’s income to acquire more than 5,000 works over a span of 50 years. Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. More Information: http://artdaily.com/index.asp?int_sec=2&int_new=56691#.UA70o6P4KNg[/url] Copyright © artdaily.org

FBI in Miami arrests and charges two with possession of stolen Henri Matisse painting

MIAMI, FL.- Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, and Jeffrey C. Mazanec, Acting Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Miami Field Office, announced the arrest and the filing of criminal charges against Pedro Antonio Marcuello Guzman, 46, of Miami, Florida, and Maria Martha Elisa Ornelas Lazo, 50, of Mexico City, Mexico, for transporting and possessing what is believed to be an original Henri Matisse painting, “Odalisque in Red Pants,” which was reported stolen from a museum in Caracas, Venezuela. If convicted, the defendants each face a possible maximum statutory sentence of up to 10 years in prison. Marcuello Guzman and Ornelas Lazo, who were arrested in Miami Beach, made their first appearances in federal court Friday. According to the affidavit filed in support of the criminal complaint, this case was the result of an FBI undercover investigation. According to the allegations in the complaint affidavit, Marcuello negotiated the sale of the Matisse painting, which had been previously stolen from the Caracas Museum of Contemporary Art [Museo de Arte Contemporaneo de Caracas (MACCSI)] in Caracas, Venezuela, in December 2002. The painting is valued at approximately $3 million. Marcuello allegedly admitted to the undercover agents during a meeting that he knew the painting was stolen and offered to sell the stolen painting for approximately $740,000. As part of the negotiations, Marcuello further agreed to have the painting transported by courier to the United States from Mexico, where the painting was being stored. The courier was subsequently identified as co-defendant Ornelas. According to the affidavit, on July 16, 2012, Ornelas arrived at the Miami International Airport from Mexico City, Mexico, hand-carrying a red tube containing the painting. On July 17, 2012, defendants Marcuello and Ornelas met with undercover agents and produced the Matisse painting titled “Odalisque in Red Pants” from inside the red tube. Upon inspection by the undercover agents, the painting appeared consistent with the original Henri Matisse painting reported stolen from the MACCSI museum. At the conclusion of the meeting, Marcuello and Ornelas were arrested. Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of the FBI. Mr. Ferrer would also like to thank the Department of Justice Attaché in Mexico City and the Legal Attachés in Caracas and Mexico City. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Elisa Castrolugo. A criminal complaint is only an accusation, and a defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. More Information: http://artdaily.com/index.asp?int_sec=11&int_new=56602#.UA2uHqP4KNg[/url] Copyright © artdaily.org

Vandals smash duck-billed dinosaur fossil to pieces in Alberta

GRANDE PRAIRIE, Alta. - Paleontologists were thrilled when they found the fossilized remains of a duck-billed dinosaur in northwestern Alberta last month. But joy turned quickly to despair when they returned to the site near the Red Willow River a few days ago and found that vandals had smashed the Hadrosaur skeleton to pieces. The Pipestone Creek Dinosaur Initiative says the fossil was discovered by paleontologist Phil Bell and a University of Alberta team on June 15. They partially prepared it for removal, then reburied it for protection until it could be fully removed later this month. Bell returned to the site on Thursday and found the specimen — which was about one meter long and 80 centimetres wide — had been destroyed. "We still know very little about the dinosaurs that existed up here so every skeleton is crucial," Bell said in a statement. “Each bone is irreplaceable." RCMP say they are investigating but don't have any suspects. They say a number of fossils had either been removed or destroyed at the site. The group says it is at least the fourth act of fossil poaching and vandalism in the region in the last month and a half. At Pipestone Creek Park in the region, a bone bed has been harmed, and in late May, a Plexiglas cover protecting and showcasing several fossilized bones was smashed. In later incidents in June, a vertebra and several rib bones were stolen. The group says the University of Alberta and the Royal Tyrell Museum are also helping in the case. The group says it is illegal to alter, mark or damage palaeontological resources under the Historical Resources Act. Offenders may face up to $40,000 in fines or a year in prison. Bell said the destroyed fossils are beyond having monetary value, adding that he considers them priceless. "They are irreplaceable historical artifacts and illegal to sell," he said. However, a Tyrannosaurus bataar fossil which U.S. government seized last month on the grounds that it is alleged to have been fraudulently imported, previously fetched $1.052 million at auction. The bones were discovered in Mongolia in 1946, and Mongolia hopes to have them eventually returned there. In May, Bell stated in a blog post about the Mongolian case that in the last 10 years, fossils have been disappearing at alarming rates. "Recently, it has come to our attention that the illegal sale of dinosaur fossils on the black market is reaching new lows," Bell stated on the Pipestone Creek Dinosaur Initiative's blog. "What's worse, huge public auctions in the United States are creating a demand for these priceless treasures," he added. Police are asking anyone with information about the latest incident to contact them. A team of local volunteers had been organized to remove the fossil using quads and winches next week. Bell said the Hadrosaur would have warranted a major exhibit in a new museum that's planned for the area, scheduled to open next summer in Wembley, Alta. "It's a tragedy not only for our science but for the whole community that will benefit from the new museum," he said. — By Rob Drinkwater in Edmonton By The Canadian Press July 7, 2012

Warhol piece among high-priced art stolen in Detroit

FBI agents are trying to determine who stole 19 pieces of high-priced art, including an Andy Warhol silkscreen, from a Detroit business. The art – worth millions of dollars, according to CNN affiliate WDIV – was taken between April 27 and April 29 from a business owned by an art collector in Detroit’s Corktown neighborhood, the FBI said Tuesday. The agency didn't name the business or the owner. The collection includes a 1960s silkscreen that Warhol used to make “Flowers” prints, according to the FBI. The other pieces of art, including paintings and drawings, were done by Larry Rivers, Francesco Clemente, Philip Taaffe, Joseph Beuys and Peter Schuyff. Investigators suspect that the thief or thieves “may have already crossed state lines, if not left the country, in an effort to sell them,” FBI spokesman Simon Shaykhet said. “We’re putting a message out to art dealers, pawn shop owners, and anyone dealing in art to be aware of it,” Shaykhet said. The art was neither locked up nor on display, the FBI said. A $5,000 reward is being offered for the pieces’ recovery. They have been entered into the FBI’s national stolen art database. Up to $6 billion worth of art is stolen each year, according to the FBI.

Two men deface painting that ridicules South African President Jacob Zuma defaced

Paintings, stolen during a violent home invasion in 1976, to be auctioned at Sotheby's in New York City

NEW YORK (AP).- Two paintings that resurfaced 31 years after being stolen during a violent home invasion in Massachusetts will be auctioned in New York City next month. "In the Sun" by American impressionist painter Childe Hassam will be sold at Sotheby's on May 17 as part of its American Art sale for an estimated $1.5 million to $2.5 million, the auction house said Thursday. The richly colored canvas, created in 1888, depicts a woman in a flower garden near Paris shielding her face from the sun with a fan. The other work, "The Shore of Lake Geneva" by French artist Gustave Courbet, will be sold at Sotheby's 19th Century European Art sale on May 4. The painting, which has a pre-sale estimate of $200,000 to $300,000, shows an empty lake beach against a stand of trees. They were among three paintings pilfered on July 2, 1976, from a Shrewsbury, Mass., home. Three armed bandits tied up the owner, Mae Persky, and her nurse companion and caretaker before ransacking the house and also stealing the painting, "Lady as Shepherdess" by English artist William Hamilton. The two paintings are being offered for sale by the heirs of the estate, Sotheby's said. Their plans for the Hamilton work were not disclosed The paintings resurfaced in 2007 when a Newport, R.I., art dealer contacted the FBI after a lawyer and developer, Patrick Conley, brought them for an appraisal. Conley said he got the paintings from his brother, an antiques dealer, but didn't know they were stolen. In 2008, a consent agreement in Rhode Island federal court awarded the works to Judith Yoffie, the sole surviving relative of Persky's estate. Persky died in 1979; Yoffie died in March 2008. No one has ever been arrested in the case. The robbers, who also reportedly stole furs, rugs and silverware from the house, fled the scene in the caretaker's car, later found abandoned near the Rhode Island border. Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.

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500-year-old painting back to Jewish family

TALLAHASSEE (AP).- A 500-year-old painting auctioned by the French government during the Nazi occupation in World War II is back in the hands of a Jewish family who proved it was sold illegally. U.S. authorities in Tallahassee on Wednesday signed paperwork to return the 16th century Baroque painting to representatives of the family of Federico Gentili di Giuseppe. He died in 1940 shortly before the Nazis occupied France. The Vichy government sold the painting, but the sale has been deemed illegal. The family plans to auction "Christ Carrying the Cross" later this year. It could fetch up to $3.5 million. U.S. authorities seized the painting from a Florida museum in November after discovering the family had been seeking its return. A federal judge in February ordered that the painting be returned to the family. Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.

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Police find a Paul Cezanne masterpiece that was stolen from a Swiss museum in 2008

BELGRADE (AP).- Police from Serbia and Switzerland have recovered a Paul Cezanne masterpiece that was stolen from a Swiss museum in 2008 and captured four men as they were trying to sell it, officials said Thursday. During a news conference in Belgrade, officials played a video showing how police had arrested one of the four suspects in a Belgrade suburb and found the painting in the roof upholstery of a black van, handcuffed the driver and dragged him away. Clearly proud of the police raids on Wednesday and Thursday, officials displayed "The Boy in the Red Vest" by the French impressionist, with two masked Serbian special policemen armed with machine guns standing alongside of it. A Swiss expert authenticated the oil on canvas painting, which was stolen from E. G. Buhrle Collection in Zurich along with three other masterpieces by Claude Monet, Vincent van Gogh and Edgar Degas. Zurich prosecutors also said that the museum certified that the painting is the original by Cezanne. The work was worth 100 million Swiss francs ($110 million, €84 million) when it was stolen by three masked gunmen who witnesses said spoke German with a Slavic accent in what was one of the biggest art thefts in Europe at the time. "I think this is really an impressive action conducted jointly with Swiss police," said Miljko Radisavljevic, Serbia's organized crime prosecutor. He said four men, including the leader of the gang that conducted the robbery, were arrested in raids in Belgrade, the capital, and the central city of Cacak. Soon after the robbery on Feb. 10, 2008, Monet's "Poppy field at Vetheuil" and van Gogh's "Blooming Chestnut Branches" were discovered undamaged in a car parked at a mental hospital in Zurich. About a year later, Degas' "Ludovic Lepic and his Daughter," worth about 10 million francs ($11 million, €8 million), was returned to the Swiss museum after a €400,000 reward was paid to and unidentified person, Serbian officials said. Serbian Interior Minister Ivica Dacic said the police raids, planned since 2010, took place when the suspected robbers decided to take the Cezanne painting to a wealthy Serb who agreed to buy it for €3.5 million ($4.6 million). Dacic said that nearly €1.5 million ($2 million) in cash and firearms were found with the four arrested men. "Of course, they could not sell the painting for its real price," Dacic said. "It's amazing standing besides this masterpiece." He said one of the arrested men was the leader of the gang that conducted the robbery, while the three others are believed to be accomplices in the crime. They will stand trial in Serbia, Dacic said. Art experts have suggested the robbers took advantage of low security at the Swiss museum without knowing about the paintings or how difficult it can be to sell such well-known stolen art works. The robbers took the first four paintings they reached when they raided the museum shortly before closing time on a Sunday. Although the most valuable painting was among the ones they took, they left behind the second most precious picture in the room, Cezanne's "Self Portrait with Palette," insured for 90 million francs ($98 million, €75 million.) Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.

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Kroeller-Mueller Museum confirms through new X-Ray technique that still life is by Vincent van Gogh

THE HAGUE (AP).- It was, it wasn't, it is: A still life once thought to be by Vincent van Gogh but later downgraded to being the work of an anonymous artist is indeed by the tormented Dutch impressionist himself, researchers announced Tuesday. The process leading to the confirmation of the painting's authenticity reads like a cold case detective story. A new X-ray technique helped experts re-examine what they already knew about "Still life with meadow flowers and roses" and draw on a growing pool of scholarly Van Gogh research. A detailed X-ray of an underlying painting of two wrestlers and knowledge of the painter's period at a Belgian art academy led a team of researchers to conclude that the painting really is by Van Gogh. The painting is owned by the Kroeller-Mueller Museum in the central Netherlands and was being hung there Tuesday among its other Van Gogh works. There was no real eureka moment for experts studying the still life, said Louis van Tilborgh, a senior researcher at Amsterdam's Van Gogh Museum who took part in the confirmation process. "All the pieces just fell into place," he told The Associated Press. The painting, on a 100 cm-by-80 cm (40x31 inch) canvas, was bought by the Kroeller-Mueller Museum in 1974 as a Van Gogh. The work was thought to come from the artist's period living with his brother Theo in Paris from late 1886. "But when they hung it (in the museum), doubts crept in" about its authenticity, said Van Tilborgh. Experts thought the canvas was too large for that period, the depiction of a vase brimming over with flowers and yet more flowers lying on a table in the foreground was too exuberant, too busy. The signature was in an unusual position for Van Gogh — the top right hand corner. With the doubts piling up, the museum in 2003 decided to attribute the painting to an anonymous artist instead of to Van Gogh. But the detective work did not end there. An X-ray taken five years earlier had already revealed an indistinct image of the wrestlers and continued to interest researchers. Now, a new more detailed X-ray has shown the wrestlers in more detail, along with the brush strokes and pigments used. They all pointed back to Van Gogh. "You can see the wrestlers more clearly and the fact that they are wearing loin cloths," said Van Tilborgh. Having models pose half-naked was a defining characteristic of the Antwerp academy where Van Gogh studied in early 1886. So was the size of the canvas, the Kroeller-Mueller Museum said. Vincent wrote to his brother about needing the large canvas, new brushes and paint. Theo helped the penniless artist buy the materials and a week later Van Gogh wrote back that he was delighted with the painting of two wrestlers. Van Tilborgh said the brush strokes and pigments in the wrestlers painting also corresponded with what experts now know about Van Gogh's work in Antwerp. The wrestlers also help explain the "uncharacteristic exuberance" of the floral still life, the Kroeller-Mueller Museum statement said: Van Gogh had to cover up all of the old image with his new work. Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.

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Greek policemen recover ancient illegally excavated marble statue from goat pen

(AP).- Greek police recovered an ancient statue that was illegally excavated and hidden in a goat pen near Athens, and arrested the goat herder and another man who were allegedly trying to sell the work for €500,000 ($667,000). The marble statue of a young woman dates to about 520 B.C. and belongs to the kore type, a police statement said Wednesday. Police photos showed the 1.2-meter (4-foot) work to be largely intact, lacking the left forearm and plinth. Although dozens of examples of the kore statue and its male equivalent, the kouros, are displayed in Greek and foreign museums, the type is considered very important in the development and understanding of Greek art. New discoveries in good condition are uncommon. Archaeologists who inspected the find estimated its market value at €12 million ($16 million), a police official said. "They told us that this is a unique piece," the official said on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to the speak to the media since the investigation is still ongoing. Still bearing traces of soil, the statue has the hint of a smile on its lips, elaborately braided hair and an ankle-length gown. Police said it had been concealed in a goat pen near the village of Fyli, in the foothills of Mount Parnitha on the northwestern fringes of Athens. The 40-year-old goat herder and another Greek man aged 56 were arrested. Detectives are seeking to determine where the statue was excavated, which could potentially lead archaeologists to a previously unknown 6th century B.C. sanctuary or cemetery. The archaeological remains of civilizations stretching back thousands of years are spread all over Greece. By law, all antiquities are state property. But pillaging is a highly lucrative business. The police official said the suspects arrested Tuesday had put out feelers to potential buyers in Greece, and "would have sold it for a relative pittance, €500,000, given its market value." In another major success two years ago, police in southern Greece recovered a pair of twin kouros statues, and arrested two suspected looters. Dozens of illegally exported finds have been returned to Greece over the past few years, including masterpieces from the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles. (This version corrects grammatical error in headline.) Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.

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Thu Mar 01 2012
Ari Altstedter

Finding Willy: orca sculpture resurfaces 16 years after theft

Killer Whale Haida artist Bill Reid's sculpture, Killer Whale, was recovered recently after it was stolen 16 years ago from an Ottawa park.

Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press

OTTAWA “We have your whale,” said the voice on the other end of the line. “And could you come down and identify it in its holding cell tomorrow?”

And with that curious call from a taciturn cop, a 16-year-old mystery about the fate of a beautiful $500,000 bronze whale sculpture by renowned Canadian artist Bill Reid was solved.

The piece by Reid, whose work adorns the $20 bill and various Canadian landmarks, had been stolen from an Ottawa park in 1995 and was never seen again — until Lorraine Pierce-Hull got the call from Ottawa police.

Pierce-Hull works for the National Capital Commission, the government body responsible for beautifying Canada’s capital. She, like most people in Ottawa, had given up hope of ever seeing that sculpture again.

But the bronze orca was back on display Thursday at the NCC’s Ottawa headquarters, where it will stay until a new home is found. The unveiling marked the finale of a six-month saga that at times recalled the highbrow art underworld of The Thomas Crown Affair.

Of course, it all started with a mysterious phone call from an anonymous source.

Andrew Gibbs, an art appraiser at Heffel Fine Art Auction House in Ottawa, got that call in September, but when the voice on the other end claimed to have a Bill Reid, Gibbs didn’t get excited.

The famous Haida artist’s major works sit outside the Canadian embassy in Washington, the Vancouver International Airport and the Vancouver Aquarium. But Reid also produced tiny bronzes only a few inches tall, so Gibbs was skeptical this was a work of real value. He asked the mysterious voice to describe it.

“When he said it was maybe around four foot tall I thought, ‘My goodness, we’re talking about something very valuable here,’” he said. “Or a large copy, a large fake.”

The enigmatic tipster’s answers became vague when asked where he got the sculpture, so Gibbs suspected a forgery. He asked for pictures as proof. After a few weeks of waiting they never came, so he wrote the whole thing off.

Then, in December, the photos finally appeared in an unmarked envelope slipped under his office door.

“Instantly I knew that it was the real McCoy,” he said. “This was a half-million-dollar sculpture.”

Gibbs called the police to say he thought the long lost sculpture, Killer Whale, had been found. But none of his interactions with the anonymous caller so far offered any clues about the sculpture’s location. Gibbs could do nothing but wait. And hope he was contacted again.

With each day that passed the possibility grew that the statue would disappear, or worse.

“There was also the possibility that this could be melted down if something wasn’t sorted out,” he said.

Finally, after two tense weeks the phone call came and Gibbs managed to wring out enough information for the police to retrieve the sculpture.

The Ottawa Police are being tight-lipped about who had the statue and how he got it. They say they’re not pressing charges because the mysterious caller wasn’t aware the statue had been stolen, and if he hadn’t come forward the statue would still be gone. But they admit they’re out of leads as to who stole it in the first place.

“The investigation has gone cold a bit, it’s stalled,” said police spokesperson Constable Marc Soucy.

The police are calling for more tips, but for now, officials at the NCC are just happy to have their whale back.

The sculpture will stay safe in the NCC’s offices for now but the search for a more permanent home is already under way. The new venue will be a public place where people can enjoy the sculpture and the NCC can keep an eye on it with 24-hour surveillance.

“Bill Reid is one of the key Canadian artists of the 20th century,” Gibbs said. “His work is vitally important in many ways and this piece is not only financially very valuable, but culturally valuable. It’s a great gain to have it back again.”

The Canadian Press

http://www.thespec.com/news/canada/article/680041--finding-willy-orca-sculpture-resurfaces-16-years-after-theft