Looted Ancient Sarcophagus

Egyptian Museum staff present the bottom of a looted ancient sarcophagus lid during a ceremony after its repatriation from Israel on June 21, 2016 at the Egyptian Museum in the capital Cairo. Two sarcophagus lids -- one dated to between the 16th and 14th centuries BC and the other between the 10th and 8th -- were delivered to Egypt's ambassador to Israel on May 22, 2016 and returned to Egypt on June 21, 2016. Egypt said the ancient artifactshad have been illegally imported after they were smuggled out of their homeland through a third country.
MOHAMED EL-SHAHED / AFP

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'Argentine' splurges at Nazi relics auction: report

BERLIN (AFP).- A buyer who said he came from Argentina spent over 600,000 euros on Nazi memorabilia, including one of Adolf Hitler's uniform jackets, at a controversial auction in Germany, a report said Monday. The mystery buyer, dressed in dark clothes and wearing a baseball cap, spent 275,000 euros ($312,000) on the jacket alone and 3,000 euros for a set of Hermann Goering's silken underwear, among over 50 items he purchased, reported Bild daily. Using the number "888", the man outbid others on most items and dominated the Munich auction, reported Bild, which had sent an undercover reporter to the event that was formally closed to the press following a public outcry. The number evokes the neo-Nazi code "88" that marks the eighth letter of the alphabet and stands for the banned greeting "Heil Hitler".

Last week the Central Council of Jews in Germany had appealed to the auction house Hermann Historica to cancel the event, charging it was "scandalous and disgusting" to make money with Nazi relics in such an auction. Bild reported that the room was filled with "young couples, elderly men, and muscular guys with shaved heads and tribal tattoos". The top bidder also bought the brass container that Goering, the founder of the Gestapo secret police and air force chief, used to kill himself with hydrogen cyanide two hours before his scheduled execution in 1946 in Nuremberg.

When the Bild reporter asked the top bidder who he was, the man reportedly replied in Spanish-accented English that he came "from Argentina" and had bought the items "for a museum", but declined to give his name. The items -- sold under the theme "Hitler and the Nazi grandees - a look into the abyss of evil" -- were formerly owned by the late US army medic John K. Lattimer, who was in charge of monitoring the health of Nazi war criminals on trial in Nuremberg. German law prohibits the open display and distribution of Nazi objects, slogans and symbols, but not their purchase or ownership, for example by researchers and collectors.

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After 30 years "hidden in plain sight," still life painting is identified as a Gauguin; artwork is highlight of sale

Paul Gauguin (French, 1848-1903), Fleurs D’Ete Dans Un Gobelet, 1885, oil on canvas, 13 x 9¾ inches (sight), initialed at lower right ‘PG,’ shown in Gauguin catalogue raisonee, authenticated by Wildenstein Institute, est. $800,000-$1.2 million.

LITCHFIELD, CONN.- It’s a scenario every art appraiser and auctioneer dreams of – exploring the contents of a long-held collection and discovering an artwork that is much more important than even its knowledgeable owner initially believed. That was the case when Nick Thorn, president of Litchfield County Auctions & Appraisals, was asked to evaluate estate property that had been amassed over a lifetime by a Manhattan antiques dealer. Within the eclectic selection of artworks, French Empire pieces and midcentury furniture was an appealing little French school still life in an ornate gilt frame.

“It had been quietly displayed on a wall in the owner’s home since the mid-1980s. It was unsigned and had a hard-to-decipher monogram. I was intrigued by it, but the painting wasn’t for sale at the time, so I didn’t spend a lot of thought on it,” Thorn said.

Months later, Thorn was contacted by the painting’s owner and asked if it would be possible to include the artwork in Litchfield’s April auction. The consignment deadline had long since come and gone, but the owner had some enticing new details to share. Upon removing the painting from the wall, he had noticed some labels from Sotheby’s Parke Bernet in Paris that indicated the work was by second-tier Impressionist Paul Signac. Potentially, it could be worth $50,000 to $100,000 at auction.

However, there was a problem – it looked nothing like a Signac and did not appear in the artist’s catalogue raisonne. So Thorn asked his father, Weston Thorn, founder of Litchfield County Auctions; and the company’s other art expert, Tom Curran, to weigh in with their opinions. Upon closer scrutiny, Weston Thorn noticed that the frame was too large for the painting and that it had been fitted with a liner. His opinion was that the identification labels on the frame probably had nothing to do with the painting.

Now their focus shifted to the faint “PS” monogram. Searching through various art databases, the auction-house sleuths could not find any other painters with those initials who painted in that style. “But what if it’s not ‘PS’ at all?” Weston surmised. “What if that ‘S’ is an elongated ‘G’ and it says ‘PG’ – as in Paul Gauguin?” At that point, Curran started looking up Gauguin still lifes and concluded that their painting did, indeed, have a similar look.

After a few months of research – first locating the painting in Gauguin’s catalogue raisonne, then having it authenticated by the Wildenstein Institute – Litchfield County Auctions could confirm without question that they had in their possession a genuine 1885 Paul Gauguin still life. After ensuring the work was not listed in any lost or stolen-art registry, Nick Thorn notified its owner that the painting, which is titled Fleurs D’Ete Dans Un Gobelet (Summer Flowers in a Goblet), would be the centerpiece of their June 29-30 auction.

An exciting discovery, the Gauguin painting has been given an auction estimate of $800,000-$1.2 million. It will share the spotlight with other prestigious consignments: a select grouping of Picasso ceramics, a top-tier collection of European furniture and decorative art; a well-refined collection of religious icons, reliquaries and Russian icons; tribal art, and a collection of antique occupational shaving mugs. Examples of 18th-century Queen Anne furniture include a mahogany and walnut highboy, est. $2,000-$4,000, and an oak dressing table, $800-$1,200. Also, a Victorian papier-mache terrestrial globe that would enhance any traditional study or office was produced in London in 1842 and is entered with a $1,500-$2,500 estimate.

Leading the Asian decorative art highlights is a pair of stunning 19th-century Chinese bottle-shape porcelain vases that have been repurposed as lamps, as was the fashion in the early 20th century. The lamps are offered as one lot with an $8,000-$12,000 estimate.

A collection of five pieces of Pablo Picasso (Spanish, 1881-1973) pottery includes several designs collectors seek but do not often encounter in the auction marketplace. A 1954 pitcher in the form of a woman’s head crowned with flowers could realize $10,000-$15,000; while two lots are entered with individual estimates of $8,000-$12,000. They are: a 1954 “Scene de Tauromachie” bowl, and a 1948 “Three Sardines” rectangular dish. A 1955 “Femme” earthenware pitcher that was illustrated in Alain Ramie’s respected reference Picasso: Catalogue of the Edited Ceramic Works 1947-1971 is expected to make $8,000-$10,000.

A single-owner collection of religious icons, reliquaries and effigies features a Russian icon of Christ in the temple in Jerusalem with three archangels watching from above, $2,000-$3,000; and several French 19th-century Santibelli saint figures offered in small groupings. Among the many three-dimensional depictions are The Virgin of Marseilles, St. Christopher with the Christ Child, St. Philomena with an anchor, and St. Agnes with a palm branch. Each of the lots is estimated at $600-$900.

Litchfield County Auctions’ Wed./Thurs. June 29-30, 2016 auction will start at 10 a.m. Eastern Time on both days. The gallery is located at is located at 425 Bantam Rd., Litchfield, CT 06759. The preview will be held from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., June 24-28, inclusive. For additional information on any item in the auction, call 860-567-4661 or email sales@litchfieldcountyauctions.com.

All forms of bidding will be available, including absentee or live via the Internet through www.LiveAuctioneers.com. http://artdaily.com/news/88218/After-30-years--hidden-in-plain-sight---still-life-painting-is-identified-as-a-Gauguin--artwork-is-highlight-of-sale#.V2gRNKLN6sk

Picassos settle sculpture custody battle in New York

The sculpture in question, the 1931 "Buste de Femme (Marie-Therese)," was last seen in public at New York's Museum of Modern Art earlier this year.

NEW YORK (AFP).- An international custody battle for a Picasso sculpture worth more than $100 million has been settled in favor of a New York billionaire, forcing the artist's family to pay agents of the Qatari royal family. The out-of-court deal required Pablo Picasso's heirs to make an undisclosed payment to London-based agents Pelham Europe, who initially negotiated to buy the sculpture for $47 million on behalf of their Qatari clients. A family dispute prompted the Picassos to renege on the deal and sell the sculpture to New York art dealer Larry Gagosian for more than $100 million instead. The Gagosian Gallery then sold it to billionaire Leon Black for an undisclosed sum.

The sculpture in question, the 1931 "Buste de Femme (Marie-Therese)," was last seen in public at New York's Museum of Modern Art earlier this year. The tortured legal dispute involved courts in France, Switzerland and the United States, exposing a damaging breakdown in communications and bitter rivalry among the descendants of one of the 20th century's greatest artists. The parties said in a joint statement on Wednesday that they were "pleased" to have reached "a good faith global settlement" resolving the dispute in all courts for good.

The Gagosian Gallery said the settlement was "a complete vindication" of its position and that Black would now receive his sculpture. "The Gagosian Gallery purchased and sold this sculpture in good faith and without any knowledge of Picasso and Pelham's prior dealings, as we have said all along," it said in a statement. Pelham Europe had gone to court seeking damages from Gagosian and Picasso's granddaughter Diana Widmaier-Picasso. The agents' lawyers confirmed Wednesday that Maya Widmaier-Ruiz Picasso, Picasso's daughter whose mother is depicted in the sculpture, had settled. "The amount of the payment is confidential, but Pelham and its client are very happy with the settlement," they said in a statement. They had claimed that Maya agreed to sell the sculpture to Pelham in November 2014 for $47 million to go on public display in a Qatar museum. But she pulled out of the deal days before the final payment was due.

Pelham alleged that her daughter, Diana, had objected to the deal and negotiated the Gagosian sale in May 2015. The settlement heads off a trial scheduled for September. Forbes magazine estimates Black, a private equity magnate, to be worth $4.7 billion. He reportedly bought Edvard Munch's "The Scream," which fetched $120 million at auction in 2012, a world record at the time.

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Hundreds of ancient Artifacts that were traded without a license were seized during a raid

In the coming days an indictment will be filed against the store owner who is suspected of illicit trade in antiquities.

JERUSALEM.- Bronze arrowheads, coins bearing the names of the Hasmoneans rulers, special vessels for storing perfumes and hundreds of items that are thousands of years old were offered for sale in a store in the Mamilla Mall, which was not licensed to trade antiquities. All of these items were seized yesterday (Tuesday) during an operation carried out by the Israel Antiquities Authority’s Unit for the Prevention of Antiquities Robbery. The raid took place after the store, which was under surveillance, sold ancient artifacts to undercover Antiquities Authority investigators.

New regulations have been in force since March 2016 requiring that Israeli antiquities dealers manage their commercial inventory using a computerized system developed by the Israel Antiquities Authority. The move, which will allow the tracking of the items, is designed to prevent antiquities dealers from "laundering" illegal artifacts that are the product of antiquities robbery, namely the illicit excavation of archaeological sites that eradicate knowledge about the country’s and the world’s cultural heritage solely for the purpose of profit. The souvenir shop was selling antiquities at the prestigious mall even though it had not obtained a license to do so.

According to Dr. Eitan Klein, supervisor in charge of the antiquities trade, at the IAA, “Prior to enacting the regulations the situation with the ancient market was nothing short of miraculous, whereby there was always an abundance of finds on the shelves. Yet the dealers were constantly bemoaning the fact that sales were extremely weak. These reports raise questions about the remarkable survival of these stores for decades. In practice, it was abundantly clear that in order to supply the merchandise antiquities sites in Israel and around the world were being plundered and history was sold to the highest bidder. The activity we carried out in the Mamilla store is just part of much broader effort being made in the antiquities market that is aimed at preserving the cultural heritage of the State of Israel, which belongs to all of its citizens, and preventing the "laundering" of stolen antiquities by manipulating the commercial inventory of authorized antiquities dealers ".

In the coming days an indictment will be filed against the store owner who is suspected of illicit trade in antiquities.

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Graffiti 'artist' who tagged national parks pleads guilty

Among the parks targeted by Nocket, who went by the nickname "Creepytings," was Death Valley National Park in California. Photo: Brocken Inaglory / Wikipedia.org.

LOS ANGELES (AFP).- A California woman who defaced some of America's most iconic landmarks in the name of art pleaded guilty Monday and was sentenced to two years' probation and 200 hours of community work. Casey Nocket, 23, of San Diego, had documented her exploits on social media as she traveled the country in 2014 and over a 26-day period damaged rock formations at seven national parks by drawing or painting on them with acrylic paint and markers.

"The defendant's defacement of multiple rock formations showed a lack of respect for the law and our shared national treasures," prosecutor Phillip Talbert said in a statement. "The National Park Service has worked hard to restore the rock formations to their natural state, completing clean-up efforts in five of the seven parks." Among the parks targeted by Nocket, who went by the nickname "Creepytings," was Death Valley National Park in California, Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado and Crater Lake National Park in Oregon. Authorities said a court hearing will be held at a later day to determine the amount of money Nocket will be required to pay in restitution.

The graffiti artist was nabbed as she had proudly documented her crimes on Instagram, for all to see. Her account on the photo-sharing website was deleted following an outcry, but not before various media outlets got hold of it, publishing exchanges in which she shamelessly defends her work. "It's art, not vandalism. I am an artist," she wrote at the time, cited by The Denver Post. The case also prompted a White house petition demanding she be prosecuted with more than 10,000 people signing the document.

"This case illustrates the important role that the public can play in identifying and sharing evidence of illegal behavior in parks," said Charles Cuvelier, chief of law enforcement for the National Park Service. "It is clear that the public cares deeply for the special places that the National Park Service represents, and the resolution of this case sends a message to those who would consider such inappropriate behavior going forward."

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Turkey police seize 'Kadhafi's dagger' in Istanbul: report

Gaddafi at the twelfth African Union conference in 2009. U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Jesse B. Awalt/Released - This Image was released by the United States.

ANKARA (AFP).- Turkish police have seized a jewel-encrusted ivory dagger said to have belonged to Libya's late leader Moamer Kadhafi and which was going to be sold for millions of dollars on the black market, Anadolu news agency reported. Acting on a tip-off, the police raided a house of a businessman in the Esenyurt neighbourhood of Istanbul on the European side of the city and confiscated the artefact, the state-run agency said late Monday. The dagger, studded with sapphires, emeralds and diamonds, was looted from Kadhafi's palace during the Libyan revolution, it added.

The businessman planned to sell the dagger on the black market to a Saudi businessmen in Istanbul, it said. Anadolu quoted officials as saying the Istanbul businessman paid $4.6 million (4.09 million euros) for the dagger, which was purchased from Libya nearly three months ago. The suspect was detained while trying to sell it to the Saudi businessman for $10 million, it said. Police detained two other accomplices, according to the agency. They were released pending trial.

Anadolu published an image of the seized artefact showing the finely-crafted dagger embossed with gold and jewels supported on a stand and flanked by two white lions. Istanbul is a hub for the smuggling of valuable art works and antiques but Turkish police regularly claim success in seizing valuable artefacts that are about to be sold illegally. Since Kadhafi's killing in 2011, Libya has descended into near-anarchy, ruled by rival militias vying for power while the Islamic State group has gained influence in the country.

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