------- Forwarded Message Follows -------
From:          Antony F Anderson <[log in to unmask]>
To:            "'The Editor, The European'" <[log in to unmask]>,
               "'The Newsdesk, The European'" <[log in to unmask]>
Cc:             <[log in to unmask]>
Subject:       FW: histoire rocambolesque d'une collection d'art a Toulouse
Date:          Wed, 26 Feb 1997 00:37:30 -0000

Re your article in the European 20-26 Feb 1997: "Unlikely champion for French Justice - Portrait of Denis Robert."

 I found Anne Elisabeth-Moutet's article most interesting and helpful. It is encouraging to hear that the Geneva Appeal is beginning to receive such support. The appeal should be put on the Internet

You may remember that you published an article in Elan in the issue Feb 4th -10th 1994 on the Denney case and the City of Toulouse. It illustrates many of the points made in your article.

"Lessons from the Denney Collection" published as part of the "Art Loan" seminar put on by the Institute of Art and Law  in London on May 13th 1996, summarises the main issues of public interest tha
t* Facts to be laid out clearly, without the constraints of  wordspace
* The information to be seen by anyone anywhere in the world.
* Wide discussion of the issues involved

May I commend "Lessons from the Denney Collection" for your interest. I think it is probably the first time the Internet has been used in quite this way and it is going to be very interesting to see

Yours etc.
Antony Anderson
[log in to unmask]
Tel 0191 2854577

----------
From:  Museum Security Netork[SMTP:[log in to unmask]]
Sent:  25 February 1997 17:14
To:  [log in to unmask]; [log in to unmask]; [log in to unmask]; [log in to unmask]; [log in to unmask]; [log in to unmask]; 100350.1361@compuse
rSubject:  histoire rocambolesque d'une collection d'art a Toulouse

Histoire complet a lire a: http://museum-security.org/denney.html (en
Francais, Anglais et Espagnol)

                                           Résumé

            Le célèbre photographe et décorateur, Anthony Denney,
            avait réuni une vaste collection d'objets d'art moderne au
            cours des années 50 et 60. Une partie importante de sa
            collection- représentant plusieurs millions de
            livres-avait été prêtée au Dallas Museum of Art en 1970.
            Suite à la mort subite de Denney en Espagne en avril 1990,
            23 tableaux ont été transférés de Dallas en France au
            moyen de lettres signées "Anthony Denney". Ces tableaux
            ont été cachés, ainsi que d'autres de la collection, puis
            transformés en une donation apparemment de bonne foi à la
            Ville de Toulouse, dépouillant ainsi le patrimoine Denney
            de la plupart de ses biens meubles.
Ce cas suggère que les prêts à long terme à des institutions renommées
pourraient être moins sûrs qu'on ne pense et qu'il faut absolument
faire quelque chose pour renforcer la sécurité des prêts d'objets
d'art et les protéger contre de telles attaques à l'avenir. Il met de
plus en évidence la responsabilité professionnelle des musées qui
devraient établir la preuve concluante du titre de propriété des
objets d'art avant d'accepter des donations et de ne jamais prendre
parti dans le cadre d'un litige concernant une succession. Faire un
prêt à un musée place les objets prêtés dans le domaine public. Un
accès libre à des informations sur tous les prêts constitue donc la
meilleure protection. Un registre public distribué des collections
faisant l'objet d'un prêt, accessible sur Internet-Denney Net-pourrait
être un moyen peu coûteux et pratique de renforcer la sécurité et
serait de plus une façon appropriée de se souvenir d'un décorateur et
photographe de talent et de l'histoire rocambolesque de sa collection
d'objets d'art.
====

Summary - Lessons from the Denney Collection
(complete story available at: http://museum-security.org/denney.html)

            Anthony Denney the well-known photographer and interior
            designer built up a large collection of modern art during
            the 1950's and 1960's. A significant part of the
            collection - worth several million pounds - was lent to
            the Dallas Museum of Art in 1970. Following Denney's
            sudden death in Spain in April 1990, 23 pictures were
            removed from Dallas to France by means of letters signed
            "Anthony Denney". The pictures were hidden, along with
            others from the collection, and were subsequently
            transformed into an apparently bona-fide donation to the
            City of Toulouse, thereby stripping the Denney estate of
            most of its movable assets. The case suggests that long
term loans to reputable institutions may be less safe than we might
suppose and that something needs to be done to increase security and
prevent art loans from similar attacks in the future. It highlights
the professional responsibility of Museums to establish conclusive
proof of ownership before donations are accepted and of never taking
sides in a dispute over inheritance. Lending to a Museum places the
loan in the public domain. Open access to information about all loans
provide the best protection for them. A distributed public register of
loan collections accessible via the Internet - Denney Net - might
provide a cheap and practical means of improving security and would be
a fitting way to remember a gifted designer and photographer and the
recambolesque story of his art collection.

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