http://museum-security.org

The following is 'just' a selection of reports about incidents with
cultural property we have been sending to the subscribers of the
Museum Security Mailinglist  the past half year.
Full texts can be found at:
http://museum-security.org/artcrime.html


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* July 23, 1998
- Engineer discovers a rich vein in security (Daily Telegraph London)
- Vandals attack Italian works of art (Daily Telegraph London) - Crime
wave threatens Russian art heritage (Times of London) * July 20, 1998
- Nazi-Plundered Art Hard to Trace (Universal Time) - You're history,'
sentence tells antique thieves (Philadelphia Newspapers Inc.) - 2 get
jail in theft at historical society - Cultural 'Robin Hoods' in book
raid (Times of London) * July 18, 1998 - Lost fresco revealed by quake
damage - Police discover paintings worth $30,000-plus (Toronto Star) -
Beam painted distorted picture of NEA (Barbara W. Grossman) * July 17,
1998 - Chinese Snuff Bottles Alert - U.S. museum curators frustrated
in hunt for looted Nazi artwork - Moves for guidelines on Holocaust
art - Cemetery items hot property - Stolen marbles found on wreck go
back to Turkey - Art theft - Christie's sues collector over 'fake'
painting (Daily Telegraph London) - Schiele - and no end? * July 10,
1998 - MFA won't relinquish Guatemalan artifacts (Walter V. Robinson,
Globe Staff, 07/09/98) - Mexico-Church Fire - Art works recovered 30
years after disappearing from Romanian castle - Arizona State U. Audit
Finds Conflicts of Interest and Mishandled Funds - Re: Options for
protection - McCain Measure Would Protect Park Quiet (of National Park
interest) * July 7, 1998 - Gang held as Italians recover art treasures
(London Times) - Oops, restorers smash Pavilion minaret (Daily
Telegraph London) - Treasure kept from Soviets is revealed (Daily
Telegraph London) * July 3, 1998 - Effort is set to find art Nazis
stole - Searching for Art Stolen During WWII by Nazi War Criminals -
Art Theft Inquiry - Surviving a Disaster - ARREST - Theft of Antique
Snuff Bottles - Bronze, 6-Foot-Tall 'Hey Girl' Stolen From Sculpture
Garden - Vigilance pays as Tenafly treasure turns up - Man accused of
illegally profiting by sale of Cincinnati school art * June 11, 1998 -
Art Loss Register Announces Initiative to Set Up Holocaust Art
Database - 170 museums to review collections for stolen art - Rabbi
linked to disappearance of rare books (Times of London) - concealed
weapons: law enforcement - Auctions boom in Poland as new rich swoop
on art (while thieves are getting slicker and greedier) - Cleaning
'scarred' Elgin Marbles (Daily Telegraph London) - Court: Smithsonian
is not federal agency - Experts asked to examine Elgin Marbles (San
Jose Mercury News) - Germany goes to court for looted Old Master
(Times of London) - Property removal policy (Bill Parker) - stolen art
in last 30 years (findtec) - Greece has intensified its demands for
the return of the Elgin Marbles from Britain * June 5, 1998 - How did
all that art end up in museums? - Stolen rare book by Ptolemy
recovered in London - Villagers take on art world to reclaim 'stolen'
treasure (Times of London) - Mercouri exhibit focuses on getting Elgin
marbles back - Police recover stolen antiques (Columbus Dispatch) -
Closures at the Louvre due to theft - Historic sites are being
destroyed at the rate of one every day * May 31, 1998 - BEYOND
REPATRIATION: AN ANALYSIS OF ISSUES RELATED TO EQUITABLE RESTITUTION
OF CULTURAL PROPERTY (abstract of doctorate thesis by Boa Rhee Seo,
Doctor of Philosophy,with extensive CV) - Stolen art works force
museums to probe deeper - return of the looted treasures * May 21,
1998 - Stolberg Library (ExLibris) - The current situation of the
UNIDROIT Art Protection Convention - Family Reif still is searching
for heirs - Bust of Christ stolen from diocese (The Columbus Dispatch)
- Britain's heritage 'left to rot' (Sunday Times) - Worker admits
theft of Baalbek artifacts (The Daily Star) - Worries about potential
donation ([log in to unmask]) - History in danger of crumbling
to dust, says English Heritage (Daily Telegraph London) - Three
priceless paintings stolen in Rome - Nigeria loses $200 mln of
antiquities in five years - Theft at maryhill Museum of Art,
Goldendale, Wa ([log in to unmask]) - The Bureau of Cultural
Protection ([log in to unmask]) - Dutch Probe Into Nazi-Plundered Art
([log in to unmask]) - Cezanne, Two Van Goghs Stolen From Rome Museum
( thieves removed the tape from the museum's closed-circuit
surveillance system) - Art thieves return painting to pensioner (Daily
Telegraph London) * May 15, 1998 - Louvre examines security following
theft - Louvre security comes under focus - Antique watch collection
missing from Kent store (The Beacon Journal) - Antique decorations
vanishing overnight (Philadelphia) - Recovery of Brazilian stolen
artifacts ([log in to unmask]) - 'Armed robber ripped Picasso
from gallery' - Defendant claims he knows real art thief (Times of
London, May 9, 1998) - 28 of 32 missing watches found hidden in Kent
store (beacon Journal) - Jewels, fine art the latest victims of Asia
crisis - 'The Simpsons' museum spoof - 2 dealers accused of handling
stolen collectibles (Philadelphia Newspapers Inc.) - Bat swarms
threatening artworks (Ker Munthit, ASSOCIATED PRESS) - New theft from
French museum - Cat burglar admits role in plot to sell stolen Picasso
- Millions needed to save Gothic treasure for nation - 'Gentleman'
thief admits he was in picture on Picasso - Theft admission ends
tug-of-war over artwork (looted art and antiquities) - Diebstahl in
der Nationalbibliothek - NY judge orders Schiele paintings back to
Austria - Judge rejects seizure of disputed paintings from a N.Y.
museum - Judge blocks attempt to seize art allegedly stolen by Nazis -
Resolving a case that had alarmed the international art world - Judge
says disputed paintings can return to Austria - International
paintings can't be seized - US court releases disputed works of art -
16th century paintings stolen from Germany to be returned - Looted war
art heads back to German university - Chorus of experts say Van Gogh
``Sunflowers'' a fake * May 5, 1998 - Elton John among victims of Man
Ray photographs fraud - Treasure hunter closes on legendary Nazi loot;
Mystery of the lost amber (Sunday Times) - Thieves plundering cradle
of civilization (The Miami Herald) - German quarry scoured for lost
Tsarist treasure (Reuters Limited) - stolen artwork story
([log in to unmask]) - Robbing the Cradle or Saving Artifacts?
([log in to unmask]) - PARK ADVOCATES URGE CLINTON TO VETO ANOTHER
"PAVE THE PARKS" RIDER - THE LOOTING OF ITALY; THE CASE OF THE GOLDEN
PHIALE - Looting Dispute Artfully Resolved; Museum benefits from deal
allowing exquisite works by Italian masters to be shown in America. -
The Fake van Gogh ([log in to unmask]) - United States v.
Spiegelman (fwd), Claudia Funke [log in to unmask] - 4,000 library
books stolen from garage (By Ann Belser, Post-Gazette Staff Writer) -
TRIBUTES IN DISTRESS; S.F.'s venerable works of art are in serious
need of repair - Famed Florida treasure hunter's coins called fakes
(By Ben Iannotta) - Painting stolen from Louvre; The painting was cut
from its frame - Theft of statue of Helen Keller stumps police
(Cleveland) - illicit art trade - Gates buys Homer painting for $30
million (San Jose Mercury News) - Armenia hands back Soviet army war
booty to Germany * April 23, 1998 - Police return UKPounds:30,000 haul
of antiques to burglar; detectives have been unable to trace the
original owners.(It is estimated that the criminal trade in antiques
in Britain nets UKPounds:500 million annually) (Daily Telegraph) -
Italy Wants Greek Antiquities Back (The Associated Press) - Egyptian
museum gets new security system (Reuters) - Police appeal on items
taken from suspect (Daily Telegraph London) - Russian attacks
over-restoration of Old Masters (Times of London) - Fake Mayan
carvings aim to foil thieves (Reuters) - Schiele Case: Heirs of Fritz
Gruenbaum discovered (Die Presse, Wien) - Move to stop aboriginal art
fraudsters (Daily Telegraph London) - Yeltsin reluctantly signs trophy
art law - (Reuters) - New York: Heirs to stolen treasures saved by
prosecutors who forgot the law (Times of London) - Stolen paintings
just turn up: The Grandma Moses works had been taken from a
Phila.-area home. (Philadelphia Newspapers Inc.) - Schiele-paintings:
Investigastion will take "noch another few months" (Der Standard;
Antonia Kriks [log in to unmask]) - Copyright laws and
charges ( Rooksana Omar [log in to unmask]) - Italy calls N.Y. museum's
prized collection stolen; Legal action is threatened to regain
treasures (By Walter V. Robinson, Globe Staff, 04/17/98) - MMA Denies
Buying Stolen Silver - Van Gogh painting mystery teases art experts -
Missing Items; Daniel Spiegelman case. (Jane Rodgers Siegel
[log in to unmask]) - Stolen statue was buried deep in garden (Times
of London) - £28m Sunflowers among 30 Van Gogh fakes, says expert
(Daily Telegraph London) - Colosseum may be sold to reduce Italy's
debt (Daily Telegraph London) - Italy outraged by proposal to sell
Colosseum (Times of London) * April 12, 1998 - French joyful as stolen
relics are found in US (Times of London) - Delco men plead guilty in
theft of artifacts ( Philadelphia Newspapers Inc.) - Art looted by
Nazis in Austrian museums - report - Swiss defer comment on looted art
until report out - Hunt for conman who strips homes (Daily Telegraph
London) - Poland: Germany Seeks Cultural Treasures (Radio Free Europe)
- A `creative' biography didn't foresee plot of British giggles
(WASHINGTON POST/1998 Philadelphia Newspapers Inc) * April 8, 1998 -
G-Man's Raison d'Etre: Pilfered Art (Fox News Online) - U.S. looting
(Anonymous) - Dispute about paintings (Sueddeutsche Zeitung,
Samstag/Sonntag 28/29 Maerz 1998) - Information of Jewel Theft
([log in to unmask]) - Exhibition Loans (Rosemary Haddad) -
Schiele-paintings: Hearing again delayed ("Die Presse", Wien) -
Earthquake reveals new fresco from 15th century (Daily Telegraph
London) - Nazi loot (Victoria Cranner: [log in to unmask]) - Sculptor
defends taking body parts (Daily Telegraph London) - Artist defends
use of human body parts (Times of London) - missing Italian art
(Teresa Prestwood [log in to unmask]) - Beijing's oldest stone statue
of Buddha has been stolen from its home in a suburban village (BBC UK
News) - U.S. to Host Second Meeting on Nazi Looting (WASHINGTON,
Reuters) - Tenant stole UKPounds: 1/2 m art from his flat (Times of
London) - Master of all forgers (Tages Anzeiger, Zuerich, 02.04.98) -
Deceased Collector Bestows Art Riches Upon National Gallery
(Washington Post) THE NETHERLANDS MY HAVE CLAIM ON VAN GOGH PAINTING.
- Murder of art restorer is linked to serial killer (Daily Telegraph
London April 3, 1998) with background articles: - Who murdered the
count with a candelabra as he played Bach fugues? (Jan. 18, 1997) -
Murder linked to art scandal (February 9, 1997) - Painting at the
centre of smuggling claim returned (February 8, 1997) More at:
http://museum-security.org/ follow the link to 1997 reports. - Artist
is jailed over theft of body parts (Daily Telegraph, Sue Clough,
Courts Correspondent) - Customs officials pluck art at border (By
Diane R. Stepp, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution) - Claims to Greek
goddesses; Italy suspects smugglers got artifacts to US collector
(Walter V. Robinson, Globe Staff, 04/04/98) - Austria Confronts Its
Shameful Past; Reality of Collaboration With Nazis Replaces Myth of
Victimization (By William Drozdiak Washington Post Foreign Service
Saturday, April 4, 1998) - Treasures of Assisi further damaged by new
wave of quake (Daily Telegraph London) - Confidentiality policy (Bill
Parker [log in to unmask]) - Russia: Germans Expect
To Challenge Art Ruling (Radio Free Europe) - Yeltsin plan to return
looted art thwarted (BBC News) - Russian war booty: the judges rule
(BBC News) - Court Tells Yeltsin to Sign Booty Art Law (Russia Today)
- Swiss defer comment on looted art until report out (Reuters ) -
Yeltsin calls trophy art ruling a ``slap in face'' (Reuters) - SUPREME
COURT HEARS NEA DECENCY CASE - Russians urged to return art (The Age
Australia) - Finally, a verdict in the case that has shocked the art
world (The Age Australia) * March 27, 1998 - Hopi-Masks Dealer Draws
33 Month Prison Term - Macabre artist denies stealing human remains -
Court Struggles With Value of Manuscripts - Dispute about looted art
in France's museums - Matthieu Pouly, a young French cyclist on his
second world cycling tour of World Heritage sites and Biosphere
Reserves on different continents of the globe, killed in a tragic
accident outside Rio-de-Janiero, Brazil. - ACLU Sues City Over
Covered-Up Mural - Aborigine artist 'from Calcutta' (aboriginal art
industry, already reeling from two major scandals, has been further
shaken) - Local Man Charged With Theft and Concealment of Four
Valuable Books - Is the "GIRL" allowed to travel? (Schiele) - Grave
robbers find treasure in cemeteries (The Detroit News) - 5 indicted in
thefts involving antiques (Philadelphia Newspapers Inc. ) - Dutch
state may be sued over wartime Jewish art (Reuters Limited.) - Mystery
of stolen picture of Christ is solved (Daily Telegraph London) * March
21, 1998 - Palace sculpture is stolen - Oil paintings damaged in
shipment - 'Looted art' : Tug of war is going on - Switzerland and the
Looted Art Trade Linked to World War II - Oil paintings damaged in
shipment - The Netherlands: Museums are searching for looted art -
Confront the Past, Search for Provenance, By HECTOR FELICIANO - Battle
to beat Russian art thieves - Paintings Worth $20 Million Damaged In
Dallas - Loaned art in best place, says Irvine - Hermitage's Injured
Art Gets Delicate Surgery (restoration of damaged art works) - Stolen
Manuscripts Recovered (the WWW works!) * March 16, 1998 - Stolen Music
Manuscripts in the Canary Islands - 'Forgetful' baronet ruins Roman
site - Researching history of a statue - Austria may favor returning
artwork plundered by Nazis - Mapplethorpe book stays - 'Looted art' in
German Museums - Deaccessioning missing objects - Art Chancellor Klima
pleads for looted art committee * March 10, 1998 - Art swindler
sentenced to 28 months by New York judge - Austria confronts dark past
by combing art for Nazi links - British Museum acts to return stolen
objects March 10, 1998, - Mayan grave robbers strike in Honduras - St.
Peter's Gates Found! * March 5, 1998 - Ownership/recovery of Works of
Art/Art Loans - Art Newspaper March 1998 - Chorus of unanimous
opinion; Looted art: Peter Wittmann und Heide Schmidt agree with
Elisabeth Gehrer - Inmate Connor briefly conscious (Isabella Stewart
Gardner heist) - Artist's family wins £2.5m fight with gallery (Kurt
Schwitters) - Frescoes reduced to rubble are now beyond salvation
(Umbria) - conference on smuggle of looted art in Hungary - Police
Locate Rare Audubon Antiquities - About art, morals - and the Austrian
State, by Antonia Kriks - Chief of museums in Austria presses probe of
Nazi art - Ownership of Durer drawings looted in war still debated -
Putting teeth in looting laws (of National Park interest) - CYPRIOT
CHURCH ART FOUND - SAGA OF THE NINEVEH MARBLES - ANTIQUITIES SCANDAL
(Maya antiquities) - Iraq's artefacts under threat - Mystery of
missing antiquities sold by Sotheby's - Man held in theft of Lincoln
papers - Maximum term urged for relic thief; Tribe describes spiritual
damage he has caused - 18th CENTURY WROUGHT IRON GATES STOLEN FROM
HISTORIC ST. PETER'S CHURCH, PHILADELPHIA - Art swindler sentenced to
28 months by New York judge - ASU museum director on leave; Funds
inquiry at ASU museum prompts move * February 27, 1998 - Anger at art
'looting' by Lord Irvine - Rauschenberg art returned - Stakes high,
penalties harsh in artifacts fight; One collector fears extradition to
Bolivia - Inmate tied to art theft hospitalized - Obelisk to be given
back to Ethiopian holy city - Standard series on looted art (part 3) -
Series: Looted art - The misappropriated inheritance - sotheby's:
T_H_E__I_N_S_I_D_E__S_T_O_R_Y - Flood dents armor in Mass. museum *
February 21, 1998 - MAP THEFT INFO - Finding the Lost Art -
Rauschenberg art to be sold; Creditors set auction date; museums plan
to go to court to get works back. - Art talks on again, Youngworth
claims (Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum) - Irvine accused of looting
Scottish art - Russia-Museum Fire (Historical Museum on Red Square) -
Mutilated Library Books * February 17, 1998 - Clinton inks bill to aid
Holocaust relief bodies - Nazi Loot and relevant websites - How the
Republic of Austria forced the Rothschilds to donate art. - How much
confiscated NAZI art is in Austrian Museums? - Will there be a new US
art acquisition law after the Schiele case? - Art, museums and the
'Third Reich' (Die Presse , Vienna) * February 15, 1998 - Nazi loot -
Museums' stance on Nazi loot belies their role in a key case - The Art
Plunder Problem; Panel Told of Efforts to Deal With Nazi Loot -
Restoration row as water defaces Giotto frescoes - Cultural Property
Protection News - Art of the Feud; Painting provokes high-society
inheritance fight * February 14, 1998 - Man Charged in Theft of
Mozart, Wagner Papers - Alert All offers all museums and institutions
the opportunity, free of charge, to advertise for their stolen
treasures through a database accessible via Internet. - FBI Appeal for
Information to Antiquarian Book Dealers - Stolen Item (medallion) -
Stolen materials (book) - Artist Wins Suit Over Mural; Fresno museum
must pay $10,000 for obliterating her work - Ex-Japan MOF official
took cut in art deals - Beutekunst (Die Presse, Vienna 13 February
1998, American Museums check stocks). - Museo de La Plata (request for
help avoiding partial or total destruction and loss of important
collections (in anthropology, botany, geology, paleontology and
zoology)). * February 8, 1998 - Police set up art network to fight
UKPounds500m thefts (Crime wave has put Antiques Roadshow among most
popular shows in jail, says Stewart Tendler) - Art worth UKPounds1bn
listed as missing - Museums slammed over art stolen during World War
II - Dutch Jewish art ``was plundered twice' - theft from Palenque
museum * February 5, 1998 - Ancient jewelry sale cancelled! -
Indictment of James Gilreath for rare book theft - 3 more messages
about 'Looted Art and Congress' by: Debra Westerman, Margaret Hayon,
and Antonia Kriks. * February 4, 1998 - Museum hosts antiquities sale
* February 3, 1998 - AIC 26th Annual Meeting * January 31, 1998 -
US-customs investigates on Schiele; The verdict wether the
confiscation was legal will be not until the beginning of March -
Greek experts begin to restore Acropolis temple - " Beutekunst",
Looted Art - The Art of The Steal (The Man Who Stole The Mona Lisa) -
Drake Theft ("History of the Indian tribes of North America") Braque
masterpiece, in the Pompidou Center, may have been stolen two articles
about the same: * - Plunder in Vichy France reported * - Paris bought
Braque looted by Nazis * - Fire hits historic San Antonio mission -
Vandals scar memorial to city's fallen heroes - UNESCO
DIRECTOR-GENERAL FEDERICO MAYOR CONDEMNS THE BOMBING IN KANDY (SRI
LANKA) - Former Israeli lawmaker in alleged art scam - German art deal
smooths exiles' return - Famous Man Ray photographs forged. - Looted
Art and Congress - Man Ray forgeries and ISIS technology - Guatemala
demands MFA return of artifacts - Documents talk of art trades between
Swiss and Nazis - McAlpine turns down museum refund plea (artefacts
McAlpine sold the museum some years before it emerged they had been
stolen) - Masterpieces go at a loss in Japan slump * January 23, 1998
- Grave robbing video - New hope for Schiele (Die Presse Vienna) -
Jury finds N.H. thief both sane and guilty - Did painting of nuns get
on thief's goat? - Monks lift ban on women viewing Goya frescos - HH
Sisson: risk management solutions for the entire art community -
http://www.thecityreview.com carries full coverage of the Denny case,
major controversies involving the attributions of early Chinese
paintings and the provenance of Egon Schiele paintings - VANDALISING
UNPOPULAR STATUES ETC. - Two Matisse paintings damaged in Rome exhibit
- Schiele in New York - A further wait. * January 18, 1998 - Boston
Globe "Lost Art series" online * January 17, 1998 - updating safety
procedures ( bomb threat, chemical or hazardous material spill,
accidents, and various other situations) - Rag-picker nabbed for
stealing artefacts - Harvard museum acquisitions shock scholars -
Sotheby's auctions off its honor (Book Review) * January 15, 1998 -
N.H. man's thefts blamed on mental illness (accused of possessing 170
pieces of stolen art, furniture, and computers) - Man pleads guilty
here to smuggling ancient armor - Panel Studying Nazi Wartime Loot;
French Can't Estimate Booty - Museum moves old stone cross (accused of
conducting an archaeological "smash and grab raid") - Turk Cypriot
held in icon theft probe in Cyprus - Woman spray-paints priceless
White House sculptures (follow up on yesterday's report) - Artist
arrested at City Hall during Giuliani speech - Owner, Occupier -
follow up to "Misdirected Fax (Do German Museums have claims on
pictures in the Louvre?) * January 14, 1998 - Recovery of Items Stolen
from the Historical Society of PA Organization: FBI PRESS RELEASE -
White House Paining Vandal Caught - Questions: restitution of cultural
property - Official files on compulsory art traffic: Minister Gehrer
is going to have the origins of paintings in Austrian Museums
historically and scientifically investigated. GUATEMALANS DEMAND
RETURN OF ARTIFACTS * January 13, 1998 -Schiele (translations german
articles and comments) -Hold Those Paintings! : The Manhattan D.A.
seizes alleged Nazi loot - ILLICIT TRAFFIC OF KOGURYO DYNASTY TOMB
MURAL PAINTINGS OUT OF NORTH KOREA INTO JAPAN - Display reflects
anxiety about museum security; The FBI's recovery of stolen artifacts
spotlights problem of insider theft. - Seeking Moral Justice by the
Return of Looted Art - Information on theft of Mona Lisa in 1911 -
Copenhagen mermaid's head found - THE ART OF THE STEAL - Looted Art
from Vienna and Salzburg in the Louvre? * January 10, 1998 - home of
the legendary Minotaur in danger of collapsing. - Museum art seized in
Nazi looting row - U.S. defends Austria art seizure, probe launched -
Austria outraged as U.S. seizes Schiele pictures "The USA has forced
the art world into a banana republic" * January 8, 1998 - Museum
refuses request to retain paintings that were apparently stolen by
Nazis. - MOMA stays out of dispute over ownership of paintings -
Janitor charged in heist of U.S. historical relics - Little Mermaid
loses her head to vandals for a second time - Flood at Higgins Armory
Museum - Inmate's expected transfer chills Gardner case - Tourist
complains that he was framed in the Louvre (security guards accused
yesterday of breaking the nose of a Spanish tourist who refused to let
them search his bag.) January 1 - 5, 1998 - ANTIQUITIES WATCHDOG
- recent theft: http://www.kristalle.com to view photos of some of the
pieces taken. - Art museum sues couple over pledge - Crumbling Minoan
palace gets urgent restoration


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