Stolen Rembrandt "Portrait of the Father" recovered in Serbia

 It's one of the most sought artists. Not only by museums and art collectors, but also by art thieves.
Rembrandt's talent continues to overwhelm and the desire to own his masterpieces continues unrivaled.

 Stolen in 2006, together with three other paintings, from Novi Sad's city museum, Rembrandt's painting "Portrait of the Father" was recovered by the Serbian police in the town of Sremska Mitrovica, 60 km (40 miles) south of Novi Sad.
Four people were arrested in connection with the 2006 case.



 The portrait of Rembrandt's father, painted ca.1630 and measuring 28 x 22.5 cm (11 x 9 in) has been valued at near $4m (€2,8m; £2.7m) and has been stolen twice in the space of 10 years. The painting was previously found in Spain after an earlier theft in 1996.

 The other paintings stolen from the Novi Sad City Museum in 2006 were a Rubens, a piece by Francesco Mola from the 17th century, and another by an unknown German-Dutch artist from the 16th century.
None of the other works has been recovered.

 Last year, police in Belgrade recovered a painting by French Post-Impressionist Cezanne, which thieves had stolen in Switzerland four years earlier.

Renoir's "Paysage Bords de Seine" was allegedly stolen and its auction has been cancelled

The story involving Pierre-Auguste Renoir's painting "Paysage Bords de Seine" (On the Shore of the Seine), bought at the Harpers Ferry Flea Market in Virginia, is starting to assume the form of a novel.

 Last week, The Art Inquirer mentioned that the 5 1/2 x 9 in oil on linen napkin painting was going up for auction this September 29th at The Potomack Company. But unforeseen events have detemined its cancellation.

 Washington Post reporter Ian Shapira, entered the library at the Baltimore Museum of Art and among the letters and artwork receipts from Baltimore arts patron, collector and important benefactor of the museum, Saidie Adler May, he found records showing that she had lent Renoir's to the museum in 1937. The discovery startled museum officials, who had already said the flea-market Renoir never entered their institution.

 In the possession of the loan registration number, museum officials ended up discovering an even-more-astounding clue about the painting's journey. An old museum loan registration document revealed that the "Paysage Bords de Seine" was stolen on November 17, 1951, from the Baltimore Museum of Art — shortly after May’s death.

A copy of the original police report from 1951 was provided by the Baltimore police this last Friday.

 Due to these unexpected events, the auction of the painting that had been acquired in 1926 by international lawyer Herbert L. May at the Gallerie Bernheim-Jeune in Paris and bought at a flea market over eight decades after, has been cancelled and now the FBI is investigating, while at the same time museum officials are trying to learn more about the painting’s theft and why they couldn’t explain why it does not appear on a worldwide registry of stolen and lost art.

  The museum's Director Doreen Bolger has stated that the painting belongs in the BMA’s May Collection, but  for Potomack Company’s President Elizabeth Wainstein,  Herbert L. May is listed as the buyer by the French gallery where the piece was first sold, she’s not certain that Saidie May technically owned it.
According to Wainstein, the painting will remain at the auction house until the matter is settled.

These and other details may trigger a legal showdown over the painting's ownership and besides the already mentioned players (the Baltimore Museum of Art, The Potomack Company and the woman that inadvertently bought the painting together with a plastic cow and a Paul Bunyan doll at the flea market), one cannot forget about the company that insured the painting and paid a $2,500 claim for the stolen artwork.

 According to Christopher A. Marinello, executive director and general counsel of the London-based Art Loss Register, the world’s largest private database of stolen and lost art, the rightful owner of "Paysage Bords de Seine" might be the company that insured the painting at the time of its disappearance. In the mid-20th century, most art insurers had policies stipulating that they were entitled to stolen artwork that was recovered and for which they’ve paid claims.

 The Art Inquirer contacted The Potomack Company and received the following feedback:

Quote:

"Bellow is our press release from Thursday that explains the situation. Since then, a police report of the theft from the Baltimore Museum of Art has surface. Potomack Commpany is fullly cooperatin with the FBI to help ascertain who has the clear title to this work of art.


RENOIR PAINTING PAYSAGE BORDS DE SEINE WITHDRAW FROM SEPTEMBER 29 AUICTION.


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: SEPTEMBER 27, 2012

The Potomack Company announces the withdrawl of Pierre-Auguste Renoir's painting Paysage Bords de Seine from a planned sale on September 29 at the Potomack Company auction house after a question was raised by The Baltimore Museum of Art on Wednesday, September 26, about the ownership of the painting.


Backround:

On July 27, 2012, a consignor brought a painting into The Potomack Company that she had bought at a flea market., and Potomack's fine art specialist, Anne Norton Craner, confirmed that it was a known Renoir painting titled Paysage Bords de Seine painted in the late 19th century.

The same day, July 27, 2012, Potomack Company promptly contacted Art Loss Register – a service that records and follows missing and stolen works of art - confirming that the painting had never been reported stolen or missing. Potomack also consulted the FBI’s art theft website to confirm that it was not listed as stolen by the FBI. Potomack researched the provenance of the painting, determining that it was a painting listed in Bernheim-Jeune’s Renoir catalogue raisonne and that the last record of the painting’s exhibition or sale was in Paris in 1926. The buyer was Herbert L. May, husband of Saidie May until their separation in 1924. Saidie May was an important donor of paintings and other objects to the Baltimore Museum of Art.

On September 6, Potomack issued a press release announcing the upcoming sale and explaining the mysterious provenance and discovery of the painting. The release was sent to major news organizations, to The Baltimore Museum of Art and to international Renoir specialists. Since the press release, there has been worldwide media coverage of the painting and the mystery of its whereabouts since 1926."

End of Quote.


   As you can see, this story is far from over. Further developments will be reported as soon as they become available.
The Art Inquirer used Lynda Robinson and Magda Jean-Louis report at The Washington Post (Post Local) as a reference for this article.

Paul Cézanne's "The Boy in the Red Waistcoat" found in Serbia

A stolen Paul Cézanne's painting was recovered during an operation coordinated between Swiss authorities and officers from Serbia's Anti-Organised Crime Unit.
The painting in question is "The Boy in the Red Vest"(also known as The Boy in a Red Waistcoat) or “Jeune garçon au gilet rouge,” an Oil on canvas (79.5 x 64 cm) painted ca. 1888/90 and worth €83 million. Three other versions of the painting are in museums in the US.

Three elements connected to the theft were arrested in Belgrade and in the southern town of Cacek. The alleged leader of the gang, Ivan Pekovic, was caught in a car park after a car chase through the streets of Belgrade. The gang was also found in possession of a substantial collection of firearms and more than €1.2 million in cash.

The painting was stolen February 2008, when the thieves, speaking German with Slav accent, burst into the Foundation E. G. Bührle Collection, ordering the staff to lie down on the floor while they took the Cezanne and three other masterpieces: Dega's "Place de la Concorde," Monet's "Poppy field at Vetheuil" and Van Gogh's "Blossoming Chestnut Branches." With near €120 million of stolen art, it was considered one of the major art robberies in the last 20 years.

At time the Swiss police recovered the Monet and the Van Gogh in a psychiatric hospital car park soon after the robbery, but the Cezanne and the Degas disappeared without trace; with an estimated value of €8 million, Dega's "Place de la Concorde" (1875) is still missing.

This recovery of stolen artwork happens near six months after the Serbian police found two paintings by Pablo Picasso, also in Belgrade: "Tête de Cheval" (1962) and "Verre et Pichet" (1944), which had also been stolen in Switzerland only two weeks before the assault.

Art stolen in Western Europe is sometimes either smuggled through Serbia and onto Montenegro, or taken to Kosovo.

Inventory of stolen sacred art in Portugal

The Secretariado Nacional para os Bens Culturais da Igreja (National Secretariate for the Cultural Assets of the Church) has developed an online inventory to register the sacred art objects stolen in Portugal.
Still on an early stage, the database online permits the searching of objects through keywords.

The SNBCI requests the collaboration of those who possess images of stolen items, previously taken in religious ceremonies or processions, to make them available for the inventory, since many of the stolen items are missing an image in the database.

Portugal has a rich patrimony of sacred art and its churches, with particular focus on samll villages, have been victims of theft. In the last 5 years, near 500 sacred art objects have been stolen in Portugal.

With this new tool, it is expected a more interactive collaboration between the Church, the authorities and the population, in order to solve a serious problem.

While there is a considerable legal market for the transaction of paintings and other art objects, namely through auction houses, the market of sacred art objects is reduced and thus the appearance of this items for sale should always be looked with suspicion.

René Magritte's "Olympia" returned by thieves

Not always what starts well ends the same way, especially for the two unmasked thieves who in the morning of 24 September 2009, assaulted the museum located at Esseghem 135 in Brussels in Magritte's former home, where he lived with his wife from 1930 to 1954, and recurring to gunpoint fled with Magritte's 60cm by 80cm painting by foot and then got into a car.

Painted in 1948 and depicting Magritte's wife Georgette, naked with a conch over her belly and a seascape in the background, the painting was too well-known to be sold in the black market and the thieves weren't able to find a complice to buy it.

According to the Belgian press, the art expert Janpiet Callens was contacted anonymously about two years ago, with the purpose of handing the work to him to later be returned to the authorities, and so it happened
Fortunately, "Olympia" was handed back in excellent condition.

It was mentioned in the daily ‘De Morgen’ that a €75,000 ransom was paid by the insurer, while the daily ‘De Standaard’ reported that judicial authorities have confirmed that money changed hands.

The painting has an estimated value of near 3 million Euro.

Pablo Picasso etching stolen from Museo Iberoamericano de Arte Moderno de Popayán MIAMP (Casa Museo Negret) in Colombia

This October 21th, between 5:30pm and 5:45pm, a limited edition etching (6/50) entitled "Homme nu avec Femme ivre et Jeune Flûtiste" by Pablo Picasso, measuring 37cm x 47, dated from 1955, and numbered 18.9.55 II, was stolen from the Sala de Dibujo y Grabado (Drawing and Engraving Room) of the Museo Iberoamericano de Arte Moderno de Popayán MIAMP (Casa Museo Negret) in Colombia. The engraving/etching was donated in 1994 by master Edgar Negret Dueñas.

According to Christie's the etching has an estimaded value of £1,500 - £2,500 ($2,357 - $3,928)

Any information that may help the Colombian authorities to find the piece, should be communicated to (0057)3213947778 (cell phone).

Stolen Rembrandt "The Judgement" Recovered

A 17th century 6x11 inches quill pen and black ink drawing by Rembrandt and sign on its back, was recovered by the authorities in a San Fernando Valley church, about 20 miles from the hotel lobby from which it had been stolen. The church's name wasn't released.
In a statement, officials said that an anonymous tip led officers to "the Judgment," in Encino, Calif.
Nobody is in custody, but the investigations continue.

Included in a Linearis Institute sponsored private exhibit at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Marina del Rey, California, "The Judgement" had been stolen over the weekend between 22:20 and 22:35 local time, while one of the curators was momentarily distracted by someone who seemed interested in buying another piece.
It's not certain if that person was involved but the authorities believe that at least two people participated in the theft.
The drawing was being displayed on an easel or wooden stand and was apparently not secured.



Valued at $250,000, "The Judgement" seems to depict a court scene with a man prostrating himself before a judge.
A Linearis Institute employee attested the authenticity of the recovered drawing.

The Greatest Fakers, Counterfeiters and Art Frauds in the World

Many of us share a secret admiration for those who possess the skill to counterfeit a famous work of art, or even create a painting in the style of a famous old master making most of us, and sometimes even experts, believe that it was created by the old master himself.
The fact that some of them managed to get away with it, at least for a while, ads to that admiration, even if their condemnable acts have caused losses.

Now the readers of The Art Inquirer can satisfy their curiosity upon this subject and learn the names of some of the world's greatest and most famous art fakers such as Piero del Pollaiuolo, Michelangelo Simoni, Paul Désiré Trouillebert, Émile Schuffenecker, Han van Meegeren, and Chang Dai-chien / Zhang Daqian.

Included are also forgers and counterfeiters like Reinhold Vasters, 'Baron' Charles Weisberg, Brigido Lara, Riccardo Riccardi and Alfredo Fioravanti: (The Ricardi family), The Mudlark Forgers, and 'Operation Dealer no Deal'.

A section mentioning frauds and scandals, namely Edouardo Marquis of Valfierno (Mona Lisa art theft), Otto Wacker (Vincent van Gogh art fraud), Ethem Ulge (Fake paintings on ebay), is also provided.

Master copyists such as Gustav Klimt, Peter Paul Reubens, Pieter Brueghel the Younger, and The Posin Brothers also have a dedicated section.

All this information that includes the history of the greatest fakers, counterfeiters and art frauds in the world, has been placed together under a unique resource brought to you by Art Fake.net with the support of Freemanart Consultancy.

Cairo Museum Gets Vandalized

Recently opened last year after, after an eight year restoration valued in $10 million dollars, The Museum of Islamic Art in Cairo (Cairo Museum) was vandalized by looters during the protests that are taking place in the Egypt.
Several cabinets, artifacts and two mummies were damaged. A casket was also opened.
It seems however that looters didn't manage to steal any of the artifacts.

Conscientious citizens have formed a human cord to protect the museum, while the authorities are taking the necessary procedures to avoid further assaults.

Artworks by Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein Stolen from Robert Romanoff's Apartment

Robert Romanoff, now president of the New Jersey-based Nebraska Meat Corp., one of the country’s major distributors of smoked meat, that for years owned property in the Meatpacking District, had several works of art stolen from his five-story apartment in Manhatan, New York.

The heist seems to have been perpetrated between 24-28 November, during Romanoff's absence. According to the authorities, the burgler or burglers, who managed to bypass several security measures to get into the five-story building that has only one key-operated elevator and no stairs access to the 3rd floor, drilled a hole through the wall of the hallway.

One of the facts that is preventing authorities from solving this case in a more swiftly manner is that who committed the crime was wise enough to walk out with the surveillance video footage.

The stolen artworks include the oil painting "Live Cat" by Carl Fudege, "Superman" and "The Truck" prints by Andy Warhol, a set of eight signed prints dated from 1986 called "Camouflage", also by Warhol, as well as "Moonscape" and “Thinking Nude", both by Roy Lichenstein.

Besides the works of art, Cartier and Rolex watches, as well as jewelry were stolen, totalizing near $750,000.

Bronze Statues Stolen in Nijmegen, Netherlands

The City Council of Nijmegen has decided to remove ten bronze statues from their pedestals, following the theft of three bronze statues and another one mistaken for bronze since April this year.
Between the removed ones by the Council is the one of Mariken van Nieumeghen, which normaly stands in the main market square.

The decision was made to preserve those statues that could easily be sawed through.
Substituting the bronze statues for copies made of less expensive materials or embedding GPS chips are being pondered.

With near sixty bronze artworks in public locations, Nijmegen is a city and municipality located in the Gelderland province on the Waal River, Easten Netherlands.
Considered the oldest Dutch city, it celebrated its 2000th anniversary in 2005.

Photo (C) Frans van den Muijsenberg

Brazilian Police Recovers Stolen Picasso

The work "Minotaur, Drinker and Women" (1933), stolen on June the 12th from the Pinacoteca of S. Paulo was found last Friday by the authorities. The engraving was found abandoned at the side of a road in the west side of S. Paulo.
The works "Mulheres na Janela"(1926) by Di Cavalcanti and "O Casal" by Lasar Segall have been previously recovered as was the engraving " The Artist and his Model" by Picasso.
The news about the robery that took place on June the 12th can be read here.