Saturday, May 30, 2009

Stolen Art Watch, Pink Panther Jelly Wobbles, Dragan Stays Cool and $8 million Chopard Jewels Become Art Hostage !!!







Jewels worth €6 million stolen from Paris store
Saturday 30 May 2009


Jewellery worth some six million euros (8.4 million dollars) was stolen in a hold-up at the elite Chopard store in Paris's Place Vendome, police said. Suspicion fell on the international gang known as the Pink Panthers.

AFP - Jewellery worth some six million euros (8.4 million dollars) was stolen in a hold-up Saturday at the elite Chopard store in Paris's Place Vendome, police said.

The theft happened at around 3 pm (1300 GMT) at the premises near the Ritz Hotel, an official at the Paris police headquarters said, giving no details.

Chopard makes watches and jewels for the stars and has branches in most of the world's capitals.

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In December thieves staged a record 100-million-dollar jewel heist at the Harry Winston boutique in the posh Avenue Montaigne of the Champs-Elysees.

Suspicion fell on the international gang known as the Pink Panthers.

Lone robber steals $11m jewels

A LONE robber armed with a handgun got away with jewellery worth around €6.6 million ($11.73 million) in a hold-up at the exclusive Chopard store in central Paris, police said.

The man, in his 50s, dressed in a suit and wearing a Borsalino-style hat, passed himself off as a customer to get in through the security door on Saturday before drawing his weapon, police spokesman Olivier Lebon said.

He ordered staff to give him jewels from the window display.

They did as they were told and the man got away on foot, the whole robbery having taken two minutes, said police.

"A man on his own, well dressed, who could have been a potential client, came into the jewellers, his faced unmasked, at one o'clock," said another source working on the case.

He pulled out a handgun and got staff to give him 12 jewels, said the source. "It happened very quickly," said the source. He did not take the whole contents of the shop window."

Staff in nearby stores in the Place Vendome said they had noticed nothing out of the ordinary at the time.

The theft happened at around 1pm at the premises, which are near the Ritz Hotel.

Later Saturday, only a few leather handbags could be seen in the shop's window.

The robbery took place over the Pentecost weekend, when the city centre was packed with shoppers and tourists. The Place Vendome hosts some of the world's most prestigious jewellery shops.

Chopard makes watches and jewels for the stars and has branches in most of the world's capitals. It also manufactures the distinctive Palme d'Or trophy for the Cannes film festival.

In December thieves staged a record $US100 million ($127.53 million) jewel heist at the Harry Winston boutique in the posh Avenue Montaigne of the Champs-Elysees.

Suspicion fell on the international gang known as the Pink Panthers.

On May 13 two Serbian alleged members of the gang of jewel thieves were arrested in Paris on suspicion of carrying out armed smash-and-grab raids on stores in Monaco, Switzerland and Germany.

On Thursday, a Montenegrin former soldier, believed to be a member of the Pink Panther gang was sentenced to 15 years in jail for a Saint-Tropez heist.

Dusko Martinovic was also fined $US150,000 ($A266,620) for the robbery in which he and accomplices stole €2 million ($3.55 million) worth of goods from a jewellers in the chic French Riviera resort.

The network of Balkan robbers is blamed for the theft of goods worth €110 million ($A195.52 million) in the past decade.

French police have described the group's crimes as "lightning fast hold-ups: daring, but carefully planned down to the smallest detail".

Art Hostage Comments:

A window of opportunity for Police.

As this "gimme heist" was carried out on a Saturday the jewels cannot be moved until start of business Monday.

This gives Police 36 hours to recover this latest haul from the Paris South suburbs where they are currently being held Art Hostage.

to be continued........................
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Update:
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News coming in the haul could be worth $20 million but authorities are trying to play down the real value.
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A man in his fifties, wrong, grey tints that make him appear to be middle aged when in fact he was in his thirties.

Friday, May 29, 2009

Stolen Art Watch, Sorbet by Irish Decent !!!


Raid on Cirencester antiques saleroom

BURGLARS have hit top Cirencester auctioneers.

http://www.thisisgloucestershire.co.uk/gloucestershireheadlines/Raid-Cirencester-antiques-saleroom/article-1031666-detail/article.html

Moore Allen & Innocent's salerooms at Norcote have been raided.

http://www.mooreallen.co.uk/furniturefinearts/index.php

A haul of antiques, including tables, jewellery and clocks, estimated to run into thousands, were taken.

Police were called at 12.30pm today after the company's security firm reported the break-in.

Officers are currently investigating and are appealing for anyone with any information to contact them as soon as possible on Gloucestershire police 0845 090 1234 or Crimestoppers anonymously 0800 555 111.

Thursday, May 28, 2009

Stolen Art Watch Fairfax House Barometer Theft, Truth Emerges, Update !!!!





Putting pressure on barometer thieves

http://www.clicklancashire.com/news/national-news/122896-putting-pressure-on-barometer-thieves.html

Police are casting the net wider in their hunt for a pair of antique thieves who were caught on CCTV as they nabbed a valuable baromometer from a wall in Yorkshire.

Police are hoping a member of the public will recognise the thief who removed the 18th Century ivory barometer from Fairfax House in York.

The item, worth around £150,000, was stolen from the property on the afternoon of Monday 18 May.

A man and a woman were caught on CCTV taking the 3ft barometer and police are appealing nationwide for help in identifying the offenders as it is believed they could no longer be in the
area.

The man is described as white, slim build, aged in his early 30’s, 5ft 9” tall with a dark complexion and dark curly hair. He was wearing a dark coloured jacket and trousers.

The woman is white, of slim build, similar height to the man, with dark, wavy shoulder length hair. She is described as being aged in her early 20’s.

It is thought pair may have visited Kiplin Hall in Richmond, North Yorkshire, a week prior to the theft at Fairfax House.

Anyone with any information is asked to contact York CID on 0845 6060247.Alternatively you can contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.


Stolen Fairfax House barometer valued at £150,000


By Jennifer Bell »

AN ANTIQUE weather forecasting instrument which was stolen by visitors from a York tourist attraction has now been valued at £150,000.

The ivory and brass-plated barometer – part of Fairfax House’s Noel Terry Collection of English Furniture and Clocks – was stolen from the York Civic Trust-owned museum, in Castlegate, on Monday, May 18.

It is thought that the couple captured on CCTV casually unscrewing the Daniel Quare instrument from the wall may have visited Kiplin Hall in Richmond, North Yorkshire, a week prior to the theft.

Detectives said the pair walked into the museum at about 2.45pm and soon after removed the weather monitor from the wall, with the man then hiding the three-foot long device under his coat.

North Yorkshire Police have issued a appeal nationwide for help in identifying the offenders as it is believed they could no longer be in the area.

The man is described as white, of slim build, aged in his early 30s, 5ft 9ins tall, with a dark complexion and dark curly hair. He was wearing a dark coloured jacket and trousers.

The woman is white, of slim build, in her early 20s, and of a similar height to the man. She has dark, wavy shoulder-length hair.

A “substantial” reward has been offered by Fairfax House’s insurers, Axa, for information leading to the barometer’s safe return.

A spokeswoman for Axa said: “It is our hope that by offering a reward, information will be provided which will lead the authorities to recover the barometer and for it to be put back on display in its rightful home.”

Anyone with information is urged to phone police on 0845 6060247.

Art Hostage Comments:
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Interesting to note, the Irish Pink Panthers regard themsevles as
"Fun Loving Criminals" and have adopted a signature tune that goes:
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"Running around robbing art all whacked up, Scooby snacks"
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Art Hostage vindicated in the valuation of this unique Daniel Quare barometer.

The usual bull shit put out after an art theft has been thwarted on this occasion.

Remember how they tried to play down the value of the Daniel Quare barometer and only say perhaps "tens of thousands ???"

Remember Art Hostage commenting the true estimate should read hundreds of thousands ??

Well, now they reluctantly admit a value of £150,000, when in fact the true market figure is £500,000.

Remember Art Hostage said the thieves are part of the Irish Pink Panthers and they are working from a target list ???

Remember Art Hostage said the thieves would be long gone and did not care about their identity as they were not British, but Irish ?

Art Hostage has heard Underworld whispers about this only being an appetizer and the main course art theft will be served between now and August 31st 2009.
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The Main course will be an art theft of such high magnitude it will rock the establishment and trigger a cross border Police effort.

However, why wait until then and act reactively ????

Also, the whisper from the Underworld is whilst waiting for the Main course art theft, there will be several sorbets to keep authorities busy.

No specific details have been mentioned but Art Hostage has been told it will be abundantly clear when the Main course art theft occurs.

Upon another note, notice how vague the reward offer is ???

Word is the insurers are looking at a figure of £10,000, however, the value of the stolen Daniel Quare barometer within the underworld is reputed to be £25,000, or if used as collateral, £50,000 worth of drugs.

Anyone attempting to negotiate the return of the stolen Fairfax House Daniel Quare barometer will be asked for proof of life, then they will be ordered to go through with the recovery and set up those handling the Barometer.

If the negotiator refuses to participate then they will be threatened with prosecution for demonstrating control, by being able to produce proof of life.

Moral here is to stay clear and do not try and negotiate the return of the barometer unless you are an ex-policeman or freelance undercover officer working for S.O.C.A.
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Leave the investigations to the Police, who after all, get paid very well indeed to do their job.

The only deal available is for someone with inside knowledge to become a Registered Police Informant and set up those involved in the theft and subsequent handling.

If there is a recovery, and if the thieves and handlers get convicted, then and only then will the insurers consider paying a reward.

The amount of reward paid is up to the insurers, is not negotiable and demands for a higher figure will be treated as blackmail and an extortion attempt.

So, to recap, if you have got inside information and want to become a Police Informant, contact police and begin your nightmare journey.

At the end of the whole process, sometime in about two years, the Police informant may, I repeat may, get around £10,000.

An investigator was overheard saying:
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"If it wasn't for that pesky Art Hostage, we could use our usual bull shit and recover the barometer using a sting operation and without paying any reward"
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Art Hostage replies;
Scooby Dooby Do !!!!!
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Update:
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Sad news if true, Michel Van Rijn arrested
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Art Loss Register recovers stolen artifacts from New York Auction house. These were stolen in Holland in 2007 and proves yet again the Art Loss Register has slammed the door closed on selling stolen art through auction houses, worldwide.
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Selling Stolen Art at Auction, Forget About it !!!!!

ICE recovers Egyptian artifacts stolen from a museum in the Netherlands

NEW YORK - U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement recovered seven artifacts of Egyptian origin that were found at a Manhattan auction house. The cultural heritage items were stolen from the Bijbels Museum in Amsterdam on July 29, 2007 in the middle of the afternoon. Dutch police contacted ICE to assist in the recovery of the artifacts on their behalf.

The investigation received significant help from the Art Loss Register (ALR) of New York, an organization that maintains a database of stolen works of art. The ALR discovered the artifacts at the Manhattan auction house, which turned the artifacts over to the Register and ICE agents.

One of the pieces recovered is a 7-inch-high depiction of a mummy with arms folded over the chest and hoes in each hand. It dates to between 1307 and 1070 B.C. The other recovered artifacts were an bronze figure of Imhotep, artchitect of the first pyramid, and one of Hapokrates, and an Egyptian painted Wood Osiris, all dating as far back as 712 B.C.

"The recovery of these artifacts sends a strong message to thieves that the market to sell stolen antiquities in the United States is freezing up." said Peter J. Smith, special agent in charge of the ICE Office of Investigations in New York. "ICE is committed to working closely with foreign governments and organizations like the ALR to recover priceless works of art and antiquities so they can be returned to their rightful owners."

ICE, the largest investigative agency of the Department of Homeland Security, handles investigations into cultural artifacts that show up on the world market.
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That reminds me, wonder if there has been any enquiries at the art loss register about the stolen Cavalier Van Mieris painting taken from the New South Wales gallery in Sydney ??
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Word is from DC the Cavalier could be in play !!

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Stolen Art Watch, Irish Pink Panthers Historic Art Theft


Antiques Roadshow painting sale halted after claim it was stolen

http://www.northamptonchron.co.uk/news/Antiques-Roadshow-painting-sale-halted.5304571.jp

Published Date: 27 May 2009

The sale of a £100,000 painting, which surfaced during an Antiques Roadshow recording at Althorp House, has been halted at the last minute amid claims it was stolen.

Sotheby's was due to auction Winslow Homer's Children under a Palm Tree last week at its New York auction house but the painting was withdrawn following an appeal by Simon Murray, the great, great grandson of Sir Henry Arthur Blake.

Mr Murray claimed the painting was given to Sir Henry during his tenure as Governor of the Bahamas, and that it depicts Sir Henry's children.

The work of art, painted in 1885, was found in a tip in Ireland about 20 years ago after allegedly being stolen from the nearby Blake estate, Myrtle House. It only resurfaced last summer when the BBC visited Althorp House to record Antiques Roadshow.

A spokesman for Sotheby's said every precaution had been made to make sure the painting had not been stolen, and added the family was given "every opportunity" to claim the piece since it was brought to them in March.

He added: "Extensive checks were carried out to ensure the painting was not stolen."

Sotheby's said the family would now have to provide "documentary evidence" that the watercolour had been taken from their estate.

There was no suggestion that the vendor was responsible for the alleged theft. He apparently found the painting while on a fishing trip near Cork, and his daughter approached Sotheby's in March looking to sell it on.

How it came to be on a rubbish tip is not known.

During the Althorp recording, BBC expert Philip Mould picked out the painting, before noticing Homer's signature. Works by Homer, considered to be one of America's greatest 19th century artists, have fetched as much as £2million at auction.

Sotheby's halts auction of their ‘stolen’ painting from fly tip

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23696902-details/Sotheby%27s+halts+auction+of+their+stolen+painting+from+fly+tip/article.do

A £100,000 painting is at the centre of a dispute between Sotheby's and the descendants of a British colonial officer.

Winslow Homer's Children Under a Palm Tree was withdrawn from sale minutes before going under the hammer at Sotheby's in New York yesterday.

The sale was halted in an eleventh hour appeal by Simon Murray, the great, great grandson of British colonial administrator Sir Henry Arthur Blake. Sir Henry was given the 1885 painting of his children by the artist during his tenure as Governor of Bahamas.

Mr Murray, 34, a lawyer who lives in the City, claims the painting, which appeared on Antiques Roadshow last year after being found in a fly tip in County Cork in Ireland 20 years ago, had initially been stolen from his family estate nearby. The BBC programme's art expert spotted that it was signed by Winslow Homer, a renowned American landscape painter, and was worth £100,000.

Sotheby's said that, after the watercolour was brought to them in March, the family was given “every opportunity” to claim it. The painting is now in limbo until the auction house is given “documentary evidence” it was stolen.

Mr Murray says his mother Shirley Rountree, 60, who still lives in the family estate Myrtle House, had never been contacted by Sotheby's and only realised the heirloom was being sold on Tuesday after reading a newspaper article about the auction.

Mr Murray said: “She was distraught. She didn't know they were selling this painting. They did contact the family but gave a wrong number. They should have made a better effort. As we are concerned it belongs to us.”

Mr Murray said that Myrtle House suffered several break-ins in the early Eighties when the painting was found on a rubbish tip a mile away by a man who was on a fishing trip. His daughter approached Sotheby's in March.

Mr Murray says he was fortunate to have been in New York this week, so when he received the call from his mother was able to go in person to Sotheby's Manhattan auction house and stop the sale. He added: “Hopefully we can take back what is ours.”

A Sotheby's spokesman said that “extensive” checks were carried out to ensure it was not stolen and that no evidence has been presented.

Art Hostage comments:

The "found in a rubbish dump on a fishing trip to Cork" is a total fabrication to disguise the fact the person knew all along this was a stolen painting and it shows the Irish Pink Panthers have a long history of art theft.

First of all the painting was stolen then transported over to the UK mainland, where it was sold to the present owner who put it away until he thought he could cash it in.

To try and appear honest and innocent he sent his daughter to a filmed antiques roadshow.

Craftily he had it sent to the New York offices of Sotheby's and then just before the auction it was pulled.

However, authorities were on to this painting and were waiting for it to appear before it would be snatched back.

Cloak and dagger at work here.

What a coincidence the former owner, from Ireland, just happened to be in New York the day before the sale of the painting !!!!

This has all the hallmarks of an undercover effort by Julian Radcliffe of the Art Loss Register, pulling the strings behind the scenes to recover this stolen £2 million Homer painting.

Will the settlement involve the sale of this picture ???

Will any settlement involve payments to the stolen art handler who said he found it in Ireland on a Fishing trip ???

Will the Art Loss Register get paid their tribute ?????

All may be revealed in due course, especially if the painting is sold.

Still, this is yet another example of historic links to art theft by the Irish Pink Panthers and no doubt more 20 year old stolen art may surface in the near future.

Upon another note, during the Irish conflict tourists who went to Ireland on fishing trips and had not caught much, were often offered a hand grenade to use so they could throw it in the river or lake and collect the stunned fish and boast of a big catch.

Strange how a military conflict could benefit tourists who fish !!!!

Saturday, May 23, 2009

Stolen Art Watch, Irish Pink Panthers Tracked by Irish Undercover S.O.C.A. Agents !!!







Breaking news
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Art Hostage has learnt high level political phone calls have been made and now the Serious Organised Crime Agency have agreed to provide their best Undercover agents to infiltrate the Irish Pink Panthers.
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The top agent, who goes by the undercover name Stephen Segal, just happens to be a softly spoken Irishman and has had numerous successes with art loss adjuster Mark "King of Sting" Dalrymple.
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No doubt this super secret undercover agent, who we will only refer to as Stephen Segal, will be donning his Irish Pink Panther attire as we speak.
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Review the latest Art Thefts courtesy of the Irish Pink Panthers, with help from UK and Eastern European counterparts:
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1 http://arthostage.blogspot.com/2009/05/stolen-art-watch-fairfax-daniel-quare.html
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2 http://arthostage.blogspot.com/2009/05/stolen-art-watch-fairfax-house-daniel.html
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3 http://arthostage.blogspot.com/2009/05/stolen-art-watch-sir-reggie-sheffields.html
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4 http://arthostage.blogspot.com/2009/03/stolen-art-watch-beware-ides-of-march.html
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5 http://arthostage.blogspot.com/2009/01/stolen-art-watch-whilst-cats-away.html
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Not forgetting this failed attempt for the Richard Dadd iconic work "Portrait of a Young Man":
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6 http://arthostage.blogspot.com/2008/11/stolen-art-watch.html

Stolen Art Watch, Sir Reggie Sheffield's Stolen Baubles, British Public Don't Give a Monkey's !!!




£40,000 heirlooms 'stolen to order

http://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/40000-heirlooms-39stolen-to-order.5297372.jp

Date: 23 May 2009
By Mark Branagan

BURGLARS who made off with £40,000 of heirlooms from the Yorkshire home of David Cameron's parents-in-law stole the antiques to order for a crooked dealer, baronet Sir Reginald Sheffield said yesterday.

Sir Reginald – the Tory leader's father-in-law – believes the dealer entered the stately home posing as a paying visitor to help plan the raid.

He also believed the break-in was connected to similar burglaries which would not be stopped until the gang targeting stately homes was stopped.

Sir Reginald and his wife, Lady Sheffield, of Sutton Park in Sutton-on-the-Forest, near York, have offered a £5,000 reward for information leading to the recovery of the stolen property and conviction of the thieves.

Police were called to the estate at around 2.30-3am on Thursday after thieves broke in through an east wing window, stealing a bronze bust of an oriental woman by French sculptor Charles Henri Cordier, valued at around £20,000.

They also escaped with a monkey shaped Meissen teapot – the first European hard-paste porcelain – which was also worth around £20,000.

Sir Reginald said: "The bronze is part of a pair so we have got one of the pair and the burglars have the other, which is absolutely crazy.

"These things are of museum quality. The bronzes have been exhibited in Paris, New York and Montreal. The really annoying thing is the thieves will only have got a fraction of their real value."

He added that some of the items had been in his family for more than 100 years. The bronzes were bought 40 years ago by his mother, an antiques dealer, who died 11 years ago.

The property was insured but it was not just the family which lost out but the public who visited the house to see the fine collections, he added.

Security would be reviewed. "But it is hard to see what more we can do. We have outside and inside CCTV and alarms and a security man," Sir Reginald added.

"There has been a spate of similar burglaries in the area over the past few weeks. Apparently a lot of these items end up in the homes of collectors in eastern Europe."

Police appealed for anyone who heard or saw anything suspicious in the area or who could provide any information about the burglary to get in touch.

A police spokeswoman also warned antique dealers to be on their guard if they were offered the items for sale and to contact officers immediately. Any members of the public who are offered them for sale are also asked to get in touch.

Art Hostage Comments:

Here we go for the 2009 Summer of art thefts.

It is worth noting the Irish clans have gathered in the UK for a summer of mayhem and brazen art thefts.

Police are only now organising a team to try and track these Irish Pink Panthers and if they don't react soon the Irish Pink Panthers will back in Ireland.

Expect a cluster of art thefts, then a quiet period and then another cluster, that is how it works.

Also, the Irish Pink Panthers are given shelter by UK art thieves and UK stolen art handlers are queuing up to buy the stolen booty.

Irish Pink Panthers are teaming up with UK art thieves and also there are some Eastern Europeans joining in as well.

This Modus Vivendi will increase the brazen nature of art thefts and will also see many more high profile art thefts.

Mixing the targets already known by UK Art Thieves, with the audacious Irish Pink Panthers as well as the ruthlessness of the Eastern Europeans is a deadly cocktail in the making.

Old Reggie Sheffield can offer a reward but lets look at what is required to get paid this £5,000 reward.

First the property has to be recovered, second the thieves have to be caught and charged with the crime, and third the thieves have to be convicted in a court of law.

If any of these conditions are not met no reward will be paid.

Next, there is an Underworld contact prepared to pass details of all the targets the Irish Pink Panthers are looking at and have not yet been robbed.

The price is reputed to be £100,000 payable on delivery of the target list.

If Police manage to apprehend the Irish Pink Panthers in the act then all well and good, but if the target list proves to be inaccurate then the £100,000 would be paid back.

Funny thing is Police have not only refused to offer any money for the target list, they have also said anyone with information who won't give it free of charge will be prosecuted for withholding information.
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Art Hostage does not know who is on the target list.

Me thinks it is time for all concerned to forget about giving any information and also the crooks and handlers should completely forget trying to negotiate the return of any stolen art or antiques.

Lets have clear understanding, stolen art is always stolen art and must be dealt with within the Underworld.
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Any attempt to hand back any stolen art will result in arrests and no reward, I repeat no reward will ever be paid.

The Police should be left completely alone to do what they are paid very well to do, that is investigate these crimes and solve them without any help.

Police now will embark on spending over £10 million to catch the Irish Pink Panthers and may well make a few arrests and even get some convictions.

As to the actual stolen art and antiques.
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Very little will be recovered as is normally the case.
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Alternatively Reggie dear boy, you can contact Charlie Hill and give him £10,000 cash deposit and Charlie Hill will go and see Jimmy Johnson and pay Jimmy Johnson £5,000 just for the interview, then Charlie Hill will come back to you Reggie and say he will be given a location where the bronze and Monkey can be found and together you and Charlie Hill will go fetch and collect.
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In the meantime Charlie Hill and yourself will seek the permission of Yorkshire Police to make this private recovery and normally they would refuse point blank and would threaten you and Charlie Hill with arrest if you go through with the recovery of your bronze and Monkey.
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However, as Mark Dalrymple, the King of Sting, Master of Disaster, is the loss adjuster in your case, Yorkshire Police may allow you to make the recovery with Charlie Hill.
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When Charlie Hill and good old boy Reggie Sheffield go to the location they will indeed find the bronze and Monkey and as they take a first glance at them all hell will break loose, Police will surround them and Mark Dalrymple will declare to Police he wants Charlie Hill and you Reggie arrested and charged with paying a ransom.
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Sounds good, lots of press reporting how Sir Reggie recovered his stolen bronze and Monkey and got himself arrested in the process.
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Alternatively, Reggie old boy, you can sit back and hope Police stumble across your Bronze and Monkey during other investigations. Don't hold your breath though.
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Truth is, the British Public don't give a Monkey's for you Sir Reggie or the loss of your baubles.

Friday, May 22, 2009

Stolen Art Watch, Fairfax House £500,000 Daniel Quare Barometer, For Every Action, There's A Reaction !!





Published Date: 13 May 2009
By Staff Copy

A SERIAL thief who travelled from Ireland to target English stately homes has been jailed after a caretaker at Yorkshire's Castle Howard saw him stuff two valuable watercolours into his laptop bag.
Andrew Shannon, 44, described as unemployed and illiterate, robbed six stately homes of antiques and paintings worth thousands of pounds on a "weekend spree" of stealing

Shannon travelled from Dublin to target famous buildings across the country,including

Blenheim Palace and Chatsworth House.

Together with an accomplice, he stole ornamental lions, porcelain vases, figurines, expensive books and even an antique walking stick from Belvoir Castle – which was identified as missing by the Duke of Rutland.

The four-day spree came to an end on a Sunday last August at Castle Howard, when a caretaker spotted Shannon lurking on a second floor of the home where the public are not allowed.

He claimed he was looking for a toilet, but staff grew suspicious and found two £800 paintings hidden in his laptop bag.

He also had a walkie talkie which he used to communicate with his accomplice and a Chinese ceramic lid – the other half of which was with the other thief, who cannot be named for legal reasons.

Police later traced Shannon's car and found a satellite navigation unit which had been programmed with six stately homes across the UK.

In court he admitted his part in six burglaries.

Jailing him for three years him at York Crown Court, Recorder Deborah Sherwin said: "Your purpose for travelling to England was to carry out this spree of theft.

"You travelled around the country visiting stately homes and stealing from them. It was pre-planned, you took advantage of these vulnerable homes that do not have the most sophisticated security measures in operation."

Prosecuting, David Brooke, said: "The two men visited a number of stately homes between July 30 and August 3 last year. But they were not innocent tourists visiting them for their beauty, this was a long weekend of crime."

Defending, Taryn Turner, said that Shannon had been claiming disability benefits after being seriously injured in a car crash in 1996. As a result he had suffered four heart attacks.

Speaking after the sentencing, Sgt Daniel Spence, of Malton Police Station, said: "Shannon is a prolific international travelling criminal with numerous convictions of a similar nature and his visit to the UK was with the sole intention of stealing works of art from stately homes and country houses.

"An accomplice in this case was detained by the Gardai in Dublin and has been dealt with in Ireland for handling stolen goods. The Crime Prosecution Service and the police are working towards attaining an arrest warrant and bringing him back to the UK."

He added: "It is a good result for Castle Howard and the police.

Art Hostage comments:

How does Art Hostage solve the Fairfax House Daniel Quare Barometer theft ?

Barely a week after Andrew Shannon gets a three year jail sentence, Fairfax House is robbed.

Well, associates of Andrew Shannon, part of the large Irish version of the Pink Panthers, have stepped in and robbed Fairfax House of their prized possession, the Daniel Quare Barometer.
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Coming from Ireland has given the thieves a sense of security and that is why they were so brazen and did not care about their images being taken.
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Did Police check all of the targets on the list found in Andrew Shannons car, warning those who had not been robbed they were being targeted ??
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Was Fairfax House on the Andrew Shannon target list ????
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If so, then Police should have visited Fairfax House and ordered a security review which would have identified the Daniel Quare Barometer as being exposed ????
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There are some serious questions posed here.

The Daniel Quare Barometer will already be on its way to Ireland, if not already there.

Police should have put a watch on the ports to Ireland, North and South and they may have recovered the Daniel Quare Barometer.
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A little cross referencing does wonders.

Question is, does Fairfax House and the insurers want the Daniel Quare barometer back quickly ??
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Answer is to go and see Andrew Shannon or his accomplice on his art theft cluster and offer them a deal.

No deal, then we will just have to hope Police stumble across the Daniel Quare Barometer during a drugs bust.

Personally, I don't like those odds and would like to see the Daniel Quare Barometer returned and securely housed in a glass case housing.

Stolen Art Watch, Fairfax Daniel Quare £500,000 Barometer, Stands Above Newby Table !!!






Now that's what I call brazen... CCTV shows museum couple stroll off with 'unique' 300-year-old brass barometer

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1186608/Now-thats-I-brazen--CCTV-shows-museum-couple-stroll-unique-300-year-old-brass-barometer.html

It's a theft which will inevitably be described as brazen - as visitors to a museum removed a valuable 17th-Century brass barometer from a wall and nonchalantly strolled out with it.
CCTV footage shows the man and woman walk up to the ivory and brass-plated device, worth many thousands of pounds, and unscrew it from the wall of Fairfax House in York.
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The man is then seen stuffing the barometer beneath his overcoat and the couple walk out.

Museum director Peter Brown described the theft as 'audacious' and added: 'The sad thing is they are preventing hundreds of people the chance to see an extremely important part of the city's history.'
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The barometer is the work of celebrated craftsman Daniel Quare, who enjoyed royal patronage before his death in 1724 and whose devices still grace Windsor Castle, the Science Museum and elsewhere.
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Its brass housing, with indicators ranging from 'Serene and Dry' to 'Rain and Stormy', is seated atop a column of fluted and twisting ivory.
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It is part of the museum's famous Noel Terry Collection of Georgian furniture and, in Mr Brown's estimation, probably unique.
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'It is a huge regret for us that it is gone,' he said. 'It is an irreplaceable piece dating back to 1695. We are just trying to remain calm and hope we get it back.
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He refused to confirm the exact value of the piece beyond saying it was 'extremely valuable' and worth tens of thousands of pounds.
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Staff at the museum - based in a 1762 building that has been described as 'the finest Georgian townhouse in England' - noticed the barometer was missing on Tuesday morning after the couple struck at about 2.45pm the previous day.
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Mr Brown admitted that while stewards keep a close eye on exhibits in each of the museum's rooms, no-one was stationed in the corridor where the barometer was located.
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Fairfax House's insurers are offering a reward for information leading to the return of the stolen treasure.
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Mark Dalrymple, from insurers Axa Art, said: 'This seems an extremely well-planned theft. I have no doubt that the pair have been to the museum on a number of occasions planning the theft.
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'The priority is getting it back. If anyone has any valuable information we are happy to provide a reward.'
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The CCTV footage shows a tall, white male, in his late twenties to early thirties, with dark brown hair, wearing a dark blue overcoat and dark-coloured trousers.
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The woman was also white, with light brown hair, wearing a tan-coloured coat, blue jeans and carrying a satchel.
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Anyone with information should phone North Yorkshire Police on 0845 6060247, or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111.
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Art Hostage comments:

Top photo is the hallway at Fairfax House where the Daniel Quare barometer can be seen on the left.
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This is published on the Fairfax House website along with other blurb.
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Hands up who thinks this unique Daniel Quare Barometer should have been housed in a glass cabinet surrounding it and protecting it from theft ????
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How much would a glass-case housing have cost ???
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How many other iconic artworks in museums and historic houses are exposed to theft in this dilatory manner ??
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An open invitation to thieves, as well as a host of information about the Daniel Quare Barometer when it was the Treasure of the month in August 2007.
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The downside of the Internet advertising historic houses in detail is thieves can discover all sorts of useful inside information without even visiting the historic house.
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The grainy CCTV image is misleading as there is computer software that will enhance these images and their true identity will be revealed.
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Police within 24 hours will have crystal clear images to use and in due course they may release them to the public if they cannot identify the couple, seem more like Dad and Daughter to me !!!
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Hang on a minute, isn't that old thingy and Umum ???
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"The Fairfax Daniel Quare £500,000 Barometer stands above the Newby table"

The current market value for this barometer would be around £500,000, a cool 1/2 Million pounds.

Ironically, Harry Hyams owned the most valuable barometer to ever come on the market and he paid around £275,000 for the Daniel Delander barometer at Sothebys in 1992.

Sadly, that was stolen during the infamous Harry Hyams art heist and remains outstanding.

The Fairfax Daniel Quare Barometer, if ever it came on the open, legitimate market, would smash the world record and Harry Hyams would definitely be the buyer.

So, the tentative valuation quoted "Tens of thousands" should read "Hundreds of thousands"

Sadly, the Underworld now possesses the two most valuable Barometers and are holding them Art Hostage !!!!

Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Stolen Art Watch, Pink Panthers Trial Dilemma !!


The judge calls for extradition of the "Pink Panthers" of St. Francis

LAUSANNE The magistrate in charge of robbery of jewelry "At Emerald has launched international arrest warrants against the two authors of theft arrested last week in France.

He is seeking the extradition of these alleged members of the gang of "Pink Panthers", but it is too early to know if these two men will be transferred to Switzerland.

As it stands, several options are open, "said Mayor J. Christian. Other countries, including France itself, could obtain priority or agree to try the offense committed in Lausanne. Contacts are underway, notably with the French authorities.

Imprisoned in Paris, the two gangsters are accused of pointing with firearms a jewelry store in Lausanne and have stolen hundreds of luxury watches on May 5. Their booty amounted to some two million Swiss francs.

The authors have acted openly and have been identified through photographs. It is likely that there have been sightings. One of the two gangsters was identified through fingerprints, said the judge.

During their arrest, French police and presented as "big fish" of the "Pink Panthers". They have committed extensive robberies of jewelers in France, in Monaco, but also in Germany. Other robberies in the United States, Japan or the Middle East could be charged

St-Pierre on 19.05.2009 - 19:08 commented:
Knowing the laxity of justice Vaud, including the Attorney Eric Cottier who takes up the case of offenders, the two "Pink Panthers" have any interest in returning to Switzerland, they will be released within days. However they may spend several years in the shadows in the France of Sarkozy.

Art Hostage comments:

If these Pink Panthers go back to Switzerland they will get a slap on the wrists, if they stay in France they get 6 years jail time, approx !!

Extradition from France to Switzerland could be a stepping stone to other countries wanting to indict these Pink Panthers. A lighter sentence in Switzerland could be followed by a lengthy sentence elsewhere.

Staying in France to serve a medium sentence, 4-6 years, may give them protection from extradition to other countries.

A dilemma indeed !!!

Sunday, May 17, 2009

Stolen Art Watch, Henry Moore Sculpture Exists, Update !!!



Sculpture worth £3m was melted down and then sold off as scrap for just £1,500, say police

Mark Townsend and Caroline Davies

The Observer, Sunday 17 May 2009

One of the most audacious British art thefts, the disappearance of a two-tonne Henry Moore sculpture worth £3m, has been solved by police, who believe that the internationally revered Reclining Figure sculpture was melted down and sold for no more than £1,500.

The bronze sculpture was stolen from the 72-acre estate of the Henry Moore Foundation in Much Hadham, Hertfordshire, in December 2005. The theft baffled art and crime experts and sparked a global hunt for the culprits.

Police feared at first that it had been stolen to order, but investigations suggest it was taken by a group of travellers from Essex and that the metal may have ended up feeding China's growing demand for electrical components.

Detective chief inspector Jon Humphries, of Hertfordshire police, said it is believed the figure was "irreparably damaged" shortly after being taken away on a flat-bed lorry.

Inquiries indicate that the statue was moved through a Dagenham scrap dealer in December 2005 and on to another Essex scrapyard. Shortly afterwards it was shipped abroad, possibly to Rotterdam and then further east, circumventing an order to Interpol to monitor all ports for the distinctive figure.

Humphries said estimates suggested that the sculpture, three metres long and two metres high, may have made just £1,500 as scrap metal, a value that equates to just a few hundred pounds in current market prices. The Henry Moore Foundation is believed to have offered £10,000 for its safe return.

Humphries, who led the investigation, said: "We have evidence and information suggesting it was cut up on the night, then taken to a location where it was irreparably damaged before it was shipped abroad. In my mind we've managed to kill off the mystery as much as is possible."

Charles Hill, a former head of Scotland Yard's art and antiques squad and now a private art detective, added that he had been told by the notorious art thief Jimmy Johnson, whose family carried out a string of robberies at stately homes in 2005 and 2006, that a well-known group of travellers was behind the theft. Johnson alleged that the metal had been shipped to Rotterdam, then possibly to China.

Richard Calvocoressi, director of the Henry Moore Foundation, said the theft remained a "source of great regret" and that "considerable efforts" had been made to find the sculpture. Moore, who died in 1986, was renowned for his monumental, rounded reclining figures.

"Security measures have been considerably increased since the work was taken," added Calvocoressi.

The latest developments come amid a huge rise in thefts of public sculptures, up by more than 500 % in the past three years, according to Ian Leith, deputy chairman of the Public Monuments and Sculpture Association (PMSA). Police and art experts believe that although some are taken for scrap, others are targeted by black market collectors. Leith believes there is clearly an illegal art collector market, with thefts occurring on average once a month. "It is not purely due to the bronze," he said.

He added that because of the lack of an audit, local authorities and arts bodies were incapable of providing accurate information on stolen pieces. "How do we know what public art exists if we do not record what is there? There is literally a national gallery of art out there," said Leith.

The PMSA is attempting to create an online database of pieces in public places, but is hampered by a lack of funds.

Art Hostage comments:

The Henry Moore sculpture still exists and the allegation it has been melted down is pure bullshit of the highest order.

Yes, it was cut up on the night it was stolen and yes it was initially sold for scrap value.

But then the more manageable Four pieces have been stored away in three separate locations.

If all the pieces were to be reunited they could be welded back together quite easily.

However, this whole thing came about as a result of Police and Insurers refusing to allow Charlie Hill and Jimmy Johnson to recover the sculpture.

Two days after the theft Charlie Hill heard from Jimmy Johnson that the sculpture could be bought for a little bit above scrap.

Charlie Hill tried in vain to see if he could collect the £100,000 reward offered but was told he and Jimmy Johnson would be arrested if they recovered the stolen Henry Moore bronze without arrest of the thieves or the handlers.

However, don't be surprised to see another story soon about how this sculpture re-appears out of the ground.

The four pieces are held at three separate locations and will be handed back separately.

Four pieces of bronze with a £25,000 reward on each piece and you really believe the buyer melted them down, please, give me a break !!!
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Update:
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It is worth noting the Flatbed Mercedes truck with a HIAB crane attached, used to steal the Henry Moore bronze sculpture, was stolen specifically for that purpose.
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However, the Flatbed Mercedes truck was worth £2,000 and the HIAB crane attached was worth £1,000, on the black market.
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So, why bother to steal a Mercedes Flatbed truck that could be sold on the black market for £3,000, then go and steal the Henry Moore sculpture, only to abandon the Mercedes flatbed truck and sell the Henry Moore sculpture for £1500.
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Something Rotten in the State of Den-Mark me thinks !!!!!!!!

Thursday, May 14, 2009

Stolen Art Watch, Brazil Stolen Art, Debt Paid, Art Returned !!


Art Thieves Return Stolen Paintings in Brazil

http://www.laht.com/article.asp?ArticleId=334643&CategoryId=14090

SAO PAULO – The artworks stolen over the weekend from a private collection in Sao Paulo have been returned, Brazilian police said on Wednesday.

The paintings by Brazilian artists Candido Portinari, Tarsila do Amaral and Orlando Teruz were stolen on Sunday by a group of heavily armed men.

Portinari’s “O Cangaceiro” and “Retrato de Maria,” Do Amaral’s “Figura em Azul” (1923) and Teruz’s “Crucificaçao de Jesus” were left by the railroad tracks near the offices of the TV Record network, police said.

The television network’s security guards were told by an anonymous caller exactly where the paintings had been left and immediately notified police.

The paintings, which are worth some $1.4 million, will be examined by an expert to make sure they are authentic.

Police found a bag next to the paintings that contained jewelry that was also stolen Sunday from the residence of a hotel industry executive.

A group of about 20 heavily armed men wearing police uniforms pulled off the heist in Sao Paulo, police said.

A man appeared at the front door of the property bearing Mother’s Day flowers for the owner, and the other armed men then ran inside and subdued the seven people in the house.

The thieves, who were in the house for 90 minutes, took the paintings, cash, jewelry and other valuables.

The paintings do not appear to have been damaged, police superintendent Mario Palumbo Junior said.

In January 2008, police recovered “Portrait of Suzanne Bloch” by Picasso and “Coffee Laborer” by Brazilian Candido Portinari, which had been stolen from the Sao Paulo Museu de Arte.

Six months later, four artworks were stolen from the Pinacoteca state art gallery in Sao Paulo.

The artworks, which included the 1933 Picasso engraving “Minotaur, Fountain and Women,” were all recovered within two months.

The Picasso etching was found abandoned beside a highway on the west side of Sao Paulo, Brazil’s largest city. EFE

Art Hostage comments:

Apparently there was money owed by the victims in this case and now this debt will be paid back the stolen art has been returned.

A family dispute gone too far.

Wednesday, May 13, 2009

Stolen Art Watch, Pink Panthers Named !


Pink Panther 'members' caught


Paris - Two alleged members of the Pink Panther gang of international jewel thieves have been arrested in Paris on suspicion of carrying out armed smash-and-grab raids on stores in Monaco, Switzerland and Germany.

Two Serbs, 36-year-old Nicolai Ivanovic and 38-year-old Zoran Kostic, were arrested on Monday at their discreet hotel in the Pigalle entertainment district of Paris, according to police and judicial officials.

They are being held for carrying false identity documents but are expected to face charges under arrest warrants linking them to a spectacular series of crimes in Mediterranean resorts and Alpine tax havens, they said.

Police described them as "big fish" in the Pink Panthers, a nickname given by British detectives to a network of Balkan robbers blamed for the theft of goods worth €110m in the past decade.

"Everywhere, it's the same tactics, typical of the 'Pinks'," said a French police officer, speaking on condition of anonymity. "They're lightning fast hold-ups: daring, but carefully planned down to smallest detail.

"They're experts in covering their tracks after making their getaway, sending their booty by a variety of international means of delivery, and changing their own transport at will," he explained.

The Serbs were picked up after several days of surveillance following a tip-off to detectives of Paris's anti-organised crime squad.

They are suspected of carrying out raids in the Mediterranean millionaires' playground of Monte Carlo and the chic French Channel resort of Le Touquet, as well as in Germany and the Swiss cities of Lausanne and Geneva.

International officers also hope that the pair can shed light on robberies carried out as far afield as the United States, Japan and the United Arab Emirates, where the Panthers carried out a spectacular heist.
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Art Hostage comments:
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Will Dragan Mikic and Jelly be next ?
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Where will Dragan Mikic and Jelly strike next ?-
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Were the two arrested Pink panthers sacrificed because they were too hot to handle ??
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Apparently, Kostic and Ivanovic were out of control and several people lay dead in the wake of these Pink Panther Gang members activities.

Stolen Art Watch, Pink Panthers Arrested Paris, Jelly and Maybe Dragan Mikic ????


Art Hostage has just been told Radovan Jelusic was one of the two Pink Panther gang members arrested yesterday in Paris.

Art Hostage is waiting for confirmation that Dragan Mikic is the other Pink Panther gang leader arrested yesterday in Paris.

Interpol tracked these two via Lausanne Switzerland where they had robbed a jewellers on May 5th escaping with 3 million euros worth of jewels.

The two boarded a train for Paris and were kept under surveillance for several days before the arrests yesterday May 12th 2009.

The stolen jewels had been posted via international transport and authorities are trying to track the haul.

More coming in...................................

Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Stolen Art Watch, Double Dutch Art Theft !


Thieves steal 6 landscape paintings from Dutch museum, the country's 2nd art heist this month

By Associated Press
3:15 AM PDT, May 12, 2009


AMSTERDAM (AP) — City officials say art thieves broke into a museum in a small Dutch town and stole six 17th- and 19th-century Dutch landscapes.

City spokesman Mark de Kok says three of the stolen paintings were river scenes by Jan van Goyen, a Rembrandt contemporary. The others were a 17th century painting by Pieter de Neyn and 19th-century pieces by Willem Roelofs and Adrianus van Everdingen.

De Kok said two more paintings were damaged at the museum in Ijsselstein when the thieves dropped them as they escaped. He said the burglary took place at 3 a.m. Monday when thieves broke through an emergency door with an iron bar.

Police are reviewing security cameras that may have captured the burglary.

It was the second art heist this month in the Netherlands.

Art Hostage comments:

I must admit I saw this coming, not the specific museum, but talk has been a cluster of planned art thefts in Holland and Belgium.

Speaking to a contact, close to the European art crime scene, it is not surprising as those involved now work on the principal of once bitten twice shy.

The reasons for these art thefts and the destination of the stolen artworks are filtering through.
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Interesting to note these art works were part of an exhibition and were not part of the permanent collection at this small museum. Thieves waited until the works were gathered and then struck.
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Coming soon the biggest art theft of 2009, or so I am told.

No specific details yet.

to be continued..............................
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List of stolen Dutch riverscenes:

Stolen paintings belonging to the ICN collection:

Jan van Goyen: A city with two towers on a river, 1634

Jan van Goyen: Walled city on a river, 1646

Jan van Goyen: The Pellkussenpoort the Vecht Utrecht, 1656

Pieter de Neyn: Farm on the Water, ca 1630

From the collection of the Centraal Museum Utrecht is stolen:

Willem Roelofs: Landscape with cows, c. 1885

Adrianus van Everdingen: meadows, c. 1880

Two paintings from the ICN collection are damaged:

Salomon Jacobsz.van Ruysdael: River View with passengers in a coach

Salomon Rombouts: River View of farmhouse

Monday, May 11, 2009

Stolen Art Watch, Brazil Art Theft, Overkill or What !!!




Gang of Twenty Steal valuable paintings by Brazilian artists from a house in Sao Paulo

The stolen paintings are Cangaceiro and O Retrato de Maria, works by Candido Portinari, and Figure in Blue, by Tarsila do Amaral, who had no insurance

May 10 2009.

A group of twenty heavily armed men raided a home today in Sao Paulo and three valuable paintings stolen from Brazilian painter Candido Portinari and Tarsila do Amaral, informed police sources.

The stolen paintings are "Cangaceiro O" and "Portrait of Maria", works by Candido Portinari, and "Figure in Blue" by Tarsila do Amaral, who had no insurance.

The police said that two men were in the house with a bouquet of flowers, which were supposed to be delivered to the owner of Mother's Day, being held today in Brazil.

When they were allowed entry, did the rest of the group, which yielded easily to the seven people who were in residence.

The attackers remained in the house for an hour and a half, time to pay the fabrics, as well as money, jewelry and other valuables.

The police said that it has no clues about the perpetrators of the robbery, although it is suspected that people who knew what they could find at home.

Art Hostage comments:

They don't do things by half in Brazil.

Twenty armed men, twenty !!!

Notice the ruse about Mothers day ?

More to follow.......................

Wednesday, May 06, 2009

Stolen Art Watch, De Lempicka's Going Scheringa Dutch ??







LOT 24 Top photo

PROPERTY FROM THE COLLECTION OF WOLFGANG JOOP
TAMARA DE LEMPICKA
1898 - 1980
PORTRAIT DE MARJORIE FERRY

4,000,000—6,000,000 USD
Lot Sold. Hammer Price with Buyer's Premium: 4,898,500 USD

MEASUREMENTS

measurements
39 3/8 by 25 5/8 in.

alternate measurements
100 by 65 cm

DESCRIPTION

Painted in 1932.

Signed Lempicka (lower left)

Oil on canvas

PROVENANCE
Marjorie Ferry, Paris (acquired from the artist in 1932, thence by descent and sold: Sotheby's, New York, November 9, 1995, lot 250)

Acquired at the above sale by the present owner

EXHIBITED

Paris, Salon des Tuileries, 1932, no. 1196

Paris, Atelier de la rue Méchain, Exposition personnelle, 1932

Paris, Galerie du Cygne, 1934

Paris, Galerie du Luxembourg, Tamara de Lempicka de 1925 à 1935, 1972, no. 47, illustrated in the catalogue

Munich, Kunsthalle der Hypo-Kulturstiftung, Der kühle Blick: Realismus der Zwanzigerjahre in Europa und Amerika, 2001, illustrated in color in the catalogue

London, Royal Academy of Arts & Vienna, Kunstforum Wien, Tamara de Lempicka: Art Deco Icon, 2004-05, no. 47, illustrated in color in the catalogue

Tokyo, Metropolitan Museum of Art; Fukuoka Kyushu, Municipal Museum of Art & Osaka, Santory Museum Tenpozen, Art Deco 1910-1939, 2005

Boulogne-Billancourt, Musée des Années 30, Tamara de Lempicka, 2006, illustrated in color in the catalogue

Milan, Palazzo Reale, Tamara de Lempicka, 2006-07, no. 39, illustrated in color in the catalogue

Vigo, Fundación Caixa Galicia, Tamara de Lempicka, 2007

LITERATURE AND REFERENCES

Tamara de Lempicka, Annotated Photographic Album, Archives Lempicka, Houston, 1923-33, no. 46

Pierre Berthelot, "Les expositions (dans son atelier, rue Méchain)," Beaux-Arts, Paris, no. 5, May 25, 1932, p. 20

G.C., "Tamara de Lempicka," Cose, no. 92, March, 1933, illustrated

Marc Vaux, Lempicka Collection, Musée National d'Art Moderne, Paris, 1972, no. 46

Giancarlo Marmori, Tamara de Lempicka, Milan, 1977, illustrated in color p. 101

Giancarlo Marmori, Tamara de Lempicka, The major works of Tamara de Lempicka 1925 to 1935, Milan, 1978, illustrated p. 49

Germain Bazin & Hiroyuki Itsuki, Tamara de Lempicka, Tokyo, 1980, no. 56, illustrated in color

Baroness Kizette de Lempicka-Foxhall & Charles Phillips, Passion by design, The art and times of Tamara de Lempicka, New York, 1987, illustrated in color p. 109

Ellen Thormann, Tamara de Lempicka, Kunstkritik und Künstlerinnen in Paris, Berlin, 1993, no. 55, illustrated

Gilles Néret, Tamara de Lempicka 1898-1980, Cologne, 1993, illustrated in color p. 57

Gioia Mori, Tamara de Lempicka, Parigi 1920-1938, Florence, 1994, no. 93, illustrated in color p. 192

Alain Blondel, Tamara de Lempicka, Catalogue Raisonné 1921-1979, Lausanne, 1999, no. B.166, illustrated in color p. 261

Patrick Bade, Tamara de Lempicka, New York, 2006, illustrated in color p. 193

CATALOGUE NOTE

Painted in 1932, this sultry portrait exemplifies the sleek and sexy aesthetic that defined Lempicka's art. The model is the English-born Marjorie Ferry, a cabaret singer living in Paris, whose financier husband commissioned this portrait at the beginning of the Great Depression. Lempicka transforms Ferry here into a modern-day goddess, cloaked in marble-crisp drapery in front of a Doric column. Although loosely tied to the geometric aesthetic of Cubism and the proportionality of neo-Classicism, Lempicka's painting, characterized by its razor-sharp draftsmanship, theatric lighting and sensual modelling, was unlike that of any artist of her day. Her most striking portraits, including Portrait of Marjorie Ferry, have come to personify the age of Art Deco.

In Portrait de Marjorie Ferry, every curve of the figure's flesh is rendered with imperceptible brushstrokes. Her skin appears to be incandescent as if she is bathed in silver moonlight, and her hair glows with a metallic sheen. Lempicka was receptive to the influence of her colleagues in Weimar Germany, and she readily incorporated the hyper-realism of Neue Sachlichkeit into her own work. But it was her love of the precision and classicism of the Italian Renaissance that had the most profound impact on her compositions. Lempicka frequently acknowledged her indebtedness to the Italian Old Masters and how their style profoundly impacted her art: "I discovered Italy when I was a youngster and my grandmother took me away from the cold climate of Poland, where I was born and lived, to take me to the sunny cities of Florence, Rome, Naples, Venice and Milan. It was under her attentive guidance that my eyes took in the treasures of the Italian old masters, from the Quattrocento, the Renaissance" (quoted in Alain Blondel, Tamara de Lempicka, Lausanne, 1999, p. 22).

While much has been written about Lempicka's reverence for the old masters, equally important to her as an artist were the aesthetic forces of her era, the most influential of which was the American film industry. Lempicka was enthralled with the mystique of Hollywood, eventually moving there in the 1940s with her second husband, Baron Kuffner. She invited film crews to her studio in Paris, where she staged grand entrances and posed for pictures with all the theatricality and panache of a silent film star. One oft-repeated anecdote is that Lempicka was thrilled to be mistaken once for the film actress Greta Garbo. The artist was enamored by this type of modern glamour, and it is no accident that the models in her portraits often resemble film icons from the early days of Hollywood. This platinum bombshell, trailing her bejeweled fingers along a balustrade as she casts a knowing glance over her bare shoulder, calls to mind such 1930s silver-screen legends like Garbo or Carole Lombard. As Patrick Bade explains in his monograph on the artist, "There is no doubt that de Lempicka herself was profoundly influenced by the burgeoning art form of the cinema. In the 1920s as she formed her style, the great Hollywood studios of M.G.M., Paramount, Columbia, Universal and R.K.O. began what has been termed the gold age of Hollywood and their domination of world entertainment. The French and German film industries also enjoyed a golden age of creativity, turning out many of the twentieth century's finest films in these years. The ubiquity of movies began to influence the way people looked and behaved. De Lempicka's female subjects with their heavy makeup, perfectly coiffed hair and their theatrical poses and facial expressions full of artifical pathos could have stepped out of the silver screen" (P. Bade, op. cit., p. 92).

LOT 25 second photo

TAMARA DE LEMPICKA
1898 - 1980
ARLETTE BOUCARD AUX ARUMS

800,000—1,200,000 USD
Lot Sold. Hammer Price with Buyer's Premium: 1,482,500 USD

MEASUREMENTS

measurements
36 by 21 7/8 in.

alternate measurements
91.5 by 55.5 cm

DESCRIPTION

Painted in 1931.

Signed T. de Lempicka (lower left)

Oil on panel

PROVENANCE

Private Collection, France (sold: Sotheby's, New York, November 12, 1988, lot 406)

Private Collection (acquired at the above sale)

Barry Friedman Ltd., New York (by 1994)

Acquired from the above by the present owner

EXHIBITED

Paris, Galerie du Luxembourg, Tamara de Lempicka de 1925 à 1935, 1972, no. 42, illustrated p. 57 (titled Portrait d'Arlette Boucard)

Tokyo & Osaka, Seibu Galleries, Tamara de Lempicka, 1981

Zürich, Walter Haas, Art Déco, le Style Moderne, 1981, no. 1

London, Royal Academy of Arts & Vienna, Kunstforum Wien, Tamara de Lempicka: Art Deco Icon, 2004-05, no. 43, illustrated in color in the catalogue

Boulogne-Billancourt, Musée des Années 30, Tamara de Lempicka, 2006, illustrated in color in the catalogue

Milan, Palazzo Reale, Tamara de Lempicka, 2006-07, no. 38, illustrated in color in the catalogue

Vigo, Fundación Caixa Galicia, Tamara de Lempicka, 2007

LITERATURE AND REFERENCES

Tamara de Lempicka, Annotated Photographic Album, Archives Lempicka, Houston, 1923-33, no. 76

G.C., "Tamara de Lempicka," Cose, no. 92, March 1933, illustrated

Marc Vaux, Lempicka Collection, Musée National d'Art Moderne, Paris, 1972, no. 76

Giancarlo Marmori, Tamara de Lempicka, The major works of Tamara de Lempicka 1925 to 1935, Milan, 1978, illustrated p. 38 (titled Portrait d'Arlette Boucard)

Françoise Gilot, "Tamara de Lempicka, mystérieuse et connue," Vogue, Paris, September 1980, illustrated

Germain Bazin & Hiroyuki Itsuki, Tamara de Lempicka, Tokyo, 1980, no. 50, illustrated in color (as dating from 1930)

Ellen Thormann, Tamara de Lempicka, Kunstkritik und Künstlerinnen in Paris, Berlin, 1993, no. 70

Gioia Mori, Tamara de Lempicka, Parigi 1920-1938, Florence, 1994, no. 71, illustrated in color p. 170 (as dating from 1930)

Alain Blondel, Tamara de Lempicka, Catalogue Raisonné 1921-1979, Lausanne, 1999, no. B.154, illustrated in color p. 247

Patrick Bade, Tamara de Lempicka, New York, 2006, illustrated in color p. 187

CATALOGUE NOTE

Lempicka's dynamic still life from 1931 features a portrait of Arlette Boucard, a young woman the artist portrayed as an adolescent in 1928. Arlette was the daughter of Pierre Boucard, a renowned physician and one of the artist's most important patrons. For this new composition, Lempicka pairs a photograph of the girl with a bouquet of arums or calla lilies, a dual symbol of purity and seduction and an allusion to Arlette's passage from the innocence of youth to the worldliness of womanhood. Similar to the suggestive flower compositions that Georgia O'Keefe completed around the same time, Lempicka's flowers are an overt reference to the blossoming sexuality of the femme fatale in the photograph.

In his monograph on the artist, Patrick Bade has written the following analysis of this captivating picture: "The almost monochromatic Arlette Boucard with arums is a still life that displays several characteristic features of De Lempicka's art, such as her love of transparent and reflective surfaces and the highly eroticized forms of the lilies that reach up to the top edge of the canvas much as the spiralling figures do in her female portraits" (P. Bade, op. cit., p. 186).

LOT 26 third photo

PROPERTY FROM THE COLLECTION OF WOLFGANG JOOP
TAMARA DE LEMPICKA
1898 - 1980
PORTRAIT DE LA DUCHESSE DE LA SALLE

4,000,000—6,000,000 USD
Lot Sold. Hammer Price with Buyer's Premium: 4,450,500 USD

MEASUREMENTS

measurements
63 3/4 by 38 1/4 in.

alternate measurements
162 by 97 cm

DESCRIPTION

Painted in 1925.

Signed T. de Lempicka (upper right)

Oil on canvas

PROVENANCE

Private Collection, France (by 1967)

Galerie du Luxembourg, Paris (by 1988)

Barry Friedman, Ltd., New York (by 1988)

Acquired from the above in 1991

EXHIBITED

Milan, Bottega di Poesia, Tamara de Lempicka, 1925, no. 15, illustrated in the catalogue

Paris, Salon d'Automne, 1926, no. 1446

Paris, Galerie du Luxembourg, Tamara de Lempicka de 1925 à 1935, 1972, no. 9, illustrated in the catalogue

Paris, Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris 1925, 1976-77, no. 146

Berlin, Nationalgalerie, Tendenzen der Zwanziger Jahre, 1977, no. 101

London, Hayward Gallery, Neue Sachlichkeit and German Realism of the Twenties, 1978-79, no. 181

Paris, Musée des Arts Décoratifs, La famille des portraits, 1980

Tokyo & Osaka, Seibu Galleries, Tamara de Lempicka, 1981

Berlin, Neuer Berliner Kunstverein, Androgyn, 1986, no. 8

Mexico, Museo Nacional de Arte, Tamara de Lempicka, 1989

Montréal, Musée des Beaux-Arts, Les années 20, l'âge des métropoles, 1991, no. 360

Montréal, Musée des Beaux-Arts, Tamara de Lempicka, 1994

Rome, Accademia di Francia, Villa Medici, Tamara de Lempicka, Tra eleganza e trasgressione, 1994, no. 10, illustrated in color in the catalogue

Munich, Kunsthalle der Hypo-Kulturstiftung, Der kühle Blick: Realismus der Zwanzigerjahre in Europa und Amerika, 2001, illustrated in color in the catalogue

London, Royal Academy of Arts & Bilbao, Guggenheim Museum, Paris: Capital of the Arts, 1900-1968, 2002, no. 66, illustrated in color in the catalogue

London, Royal Academy of Arts & Vienna, Kunstforum Wien, Tamara de Lempicka: Art Deco Icon, 2004-05, no. 17, illustrated in color in the catalogue

Boulogne-Billancourt, Musée des Années 30, Tamara de Lempicka, 2006, illustrated in color in the catalogue

Milan, Palazzo Reale, Tamara de Lempicka, 2006-07, no. 18, illustrated in color in the catalogue

Vigo, Fundación Caixa Galicia, Tamara de Lempicka, 2007

Madrid, Fundación Mapfre, Amazonas del Arte Nuevo, 2008

LITERATURE AND REFERENCES

Tamara de Lempicka, Annotated Photographic Album, Archives Lempicka, Houston, 1923-33, no. 37

Pietro Torriano, "Tamara de Lempicka," Emporium, vol. LXII, no. 372, Bergamo, December, 1925, illustrated p. 402

Die Dame, Berlin, February, 1927, illustrated p. 32

Die Wochenschau, Essen, June 17, 1927, illustrated

Didier de Sceaux, "Un peintre: Tamara de Lempicka," Le Forum, Paris, July 12, 1927, illustrated

"Recent Paintings by Tamara de Lempicka," Vanity Fair, New York, February, 1927, illustrated p. 47

Marc Vaux, Lempicka Collection, Musée National d'Art Moderne, Paris, 1972, no. 37

Giancarlo Marmori, Tamara de Lempicka, Milan, 1977, illustrated in color p. 53

Giancarlo Marmori, Tamara de Lempicka, The major works of Tamara de Lempicka 1925 to 1935, Milan, 1978, illustrated in color p. 17

Germain Bazin & Hiroyuki Itsuki, Tamara de Lempicka, Tokyo, 1980, no. 11, illustrated in color

Alberto Arbasino, "Tamara in Hollywood," F.M.R., no. 18, February-March, 1986, illustrated on the cover

Michel Frizot, Le Passé Composé - Les 6 x 13 de J.-H. Lartigue, P.U.F., Paris, 1987

Wolfgang Joop, "Tamara de Lempicka, Träume von Mythen und Moden," Pan, Burda GmbH, Offenburg, May, 1987, illustrated p. 10

Baroness Kizette de Lempicka-Foxhall & Charles Phillips, Passion by design, The art and times of Tamara de Lempicka, New York, 1987, illustrated in color p. 51

Jean Clair, Les années 20 - L'âge des métropoles, Montreal, 1991, no. 360, illustrated p. 565

Ellen Thormann, Tamara de Lempicka, Kunstkritik und Künstlerinnen in Paris, Berlin, 1993, no. 55, illustrated in color on the cover

Gilles Néret, Tamara de Lempicka 1898-1980, Cologne, 1993, illustrated in color p. 10

Gioia Mori, Tamara de Lempicka, Parigi 1920-1938, Florence, 1994, no. 26, illustrated in color p. 125

Alain Blondel, Tamara de Lempicka, Catalogue Raisonné 1921-1979, Lausanne, 1999, no. B.72, illustrated in color p. 149

Kerstin Stremmel & Uta Grosenick, Realism, Germany, 2004, illustrated in color p. 63

Patrick Bade, Tamara de Lempicka, New York, 2006, illustrated in color p. 143

CATALOGUE NOTE

Tamara de Lempicka's lustrous Portrait de la Duchesse de la Salle exemplifies the sleek aesthetic of the Roaring Twenties. Sexy, bold and ultra-stylized in its presentation, this picture and her other important pictures from the 1920s celebrate the strength and power of the modern woman. Lempicka, who was born in Poland and spent the rest of her life cultivating a glamorous international persona, came to Paris after fleeing Russia in 1918. She began exhibiting her work in the Paris salons in 1922, and through her exposure to avant-garde art, she derived a distinct style of painting that was unlike most of her male contemporaries. Impressed by the Cubists and their deconstruction of form, she applied similar techniques in her paintings. This spectacular portrait from 1925 makes particular reference to Cubism, with its highly-geometricized cityscape backdrop, but also pushes the limits of portraiture in this daring portrayal of the Duchesse.

The modeling of the figure and Lempicka's staging of the scene call to mind Bronzino's Mannerist portraits of nobility. But with this monumental oil Lempicka set new standards for the genre portraiture in the early 20th century, portraying her female subject with an air of grandeur that was normally afforded to men. According to Patrick Bade, "The portrait of the Duchesse de La Salle is one of the grandest that De Lempicka ever painted. The full length format and the traditional props of the curtain and the classical column invite comparisons with courtly and aristocratic portraits of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, though the 'cubified,' nocturnal cityscape illuminated by electric lights in the background, the bobbed hair style of the Duchesse and her daringly masculine garb update the picture unmistakably to the twentieth century" (P. Bade, op. cit., p. 142).

The fashionable woman in this picture is the Greek-born Marika, Duchesse de la Salle de Rochemaure. The Duchesse earned her title by marriage in 1905, ultimately divorcing her husband and retaining a handsome alimony. She was notoriously extravagant in her spending, and she lavished her money on several women artists of her day, including Lempicka and the British painter Marlow Moss. According to Alain Blondel, the Duchesse lost her wealth in the 1930s, and retreated with her daughter Romana to an Alpine village where she lived modestly until her death in 1973. In this portrait, however, Lempicka captures the Duchesse at the height of her flamboyance, smartly dressed in riding attire and striking a swaggering pose on a red carpet.

Alain Blondel provides the following stylistic analysis of this portrait in the Catalogue raisonné: "This portrait underscores this horsewoman's domineering effect by planting her on a staircase carpeted in red. The setting, constituted by a column and a theatrically imposing drape, seems more like an entranceway into a nightclub or any other night spot than the hallway of a ducal residence. The yellow windows of the lopsided houses throw light onto the winding roads, in a fashion reminiscent of films by Murnau" (A. Blondel, op. cit., p. 149).

Lempicka must have been intrigued by the androgynous appeal of this dashing young woman, whose portrait in some ways resembles the one that Lempicka later painted of her husband Baron Kuffner in 1928. In several publicity photographs that Lempicka staged in her home, it is this portrait of the Duchesse, and not that of her husband, that hangs suggestively above her bed. In fact, Portrait de la Duchesse de la Salle has become synonymous with Lempicka's art and style. This portrait has been featured in nearly every major exhibition of the artist's work, and is emblematic of the power and sophistication of her art.

LOT 27 bottom photo

PROPERTY FROM THE COLLECTION OF WOLFGANG JOOP
TAMARA DE LEMPICKA
1898 - 1980
PORTRAIT DE MADEMOISELLE POUM RACHOU

1,800,000—2,500,000 USD
Lot Sold. Hammer Price with Buyer's Premium: 2,994,500 USD

MEASUREMENTS

measurements
36 1/4 by 18 1/4 in.

alternate measurements
92 by 46.5 cm

DESCRIPTION

Painted in 1933.

Oil on canvas

PROVENANCE

Mr. Louis Rachou & Mme Girault de Coursac (née Mademoiselle Poum Rachou), Paris (acquired from the artist)

Galerie Bailly, Paris (acquired from the above and sold: Sotheby's, New York, May 14, 1992, lot 274)

Acquired at the above sale by the present owner

EXHIBITED
Paris, Salon des Tuileries, 1934, no. 1203

Rome, Accademia di Francia, Villa Medici, Tamara de Lempicka, Tra eleganza e trasgressione, 1994, no. 16, illustrated in color in the catalogue (titled Girl with teddy bear and dating from 1934)

Montréal, Musée des Beaux-Arts, Tamara de Lempicka, 1994

London, Royal Academy of Arts & Vienna, Kunstforum Wien, Tamara de Lempicka: Art Deco Icon, 2004-05, no. 51, illustrated in color in the catalogue

Milan, Palazzo Reale, Tamara de Lempicka, 2006-07, no. 43, illustrated in color in the catalogue

LITERATURE AND REFERENCES

Tamara de Lempicka, Annotated Photographic Album, Archives Lempicka, Houston, 1923-33, no. 16

Marc Vaux, Lempicka Collection, Musée National d'Art Moderne, Paris, 1972, no. 16

Gioia Mori, Tamara de Lempicka, Parigi 1920-1938, Florence, 1994, no. 107, illustrated in color p. 206 (as dating from 1934)

Alain Blondel, Tamara de Lempicka, Catalogue Raisonné 1921-1979, Lausanne, 1999, no. B.175, illustrated in color p. 270

Patrick Bade, Tamara de Lempicka, New York, 2006, illustrated in color p. 83

CATALOGUE NOTE
Lempicka's Portrait of Mademoiselle Poum Rachou is one of her most recognizably Cubist-inspired compositions, calling to mind the 1920s Le Petit déjeuner series of Fernand Léger. One can readily see the geometric basis of the composition, especially the cylindrical limbs of the stuffed bear and the repetitive spirals of the little girl's ringlets. Lempicka also invests the composition with a distinct sense of motion, positioning the girl in mid-step and billowing her dress as if it is blown by a gust of wind from the left.

According to Alain Blondel, the present work was inspired by a portrait that Lempicka completed of her daughter Kizette in 1922. In this more modern interpretation of the subject, the girl is much more stylized, with a metallicized appearance typical of Lempicka's Art Deco portraits. As Blondel notes, "in a 1922 portrait of her daughter, Lempicka had Kizette hold a most complacent teddy bear. Here, the stuffed toy is endowed with overly bright eyes, as if ready to rebel" (Alain Blondel, op. cit., p. 270).
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Art Hostage comments:
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Wonder which ones will re-appear at the Dutch Scheringa museum robbed last week ??
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Did the publicity about the theft of an important De Limpicka in Holland cause these pictures to realise a higher price, especially during the current economic times ????
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The value of the stolen De Limpicka has doubled from the $2.5 million paid to a value, after this sale, of about $5-6 million, more if it were to bought from a dealer, considerably more !!!
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Wonder if the Underworld price has gone up ???