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1 JANUARY 2005
366 art trade companies are registered in France. This has been published by the French Conseil des ventes. Jean-Marie Schmitt, Le Journal des Arts, 219 (8 July–8 September 2005): 29.
1 JANUARY 2005
Changes to the Russian Customs Code entered into force and are forcing Russian museums to pay tax on works of art returning from display in foreign museums. The Russian museums are furious and expect corrupt practices. John Varoli, The Art Newspaper, April 2005, p. 26.
1 JANUARY 2005
FBI's new Art Crime Team, created in November 2004 as the Rapid Deployment National Art Crime Team (ACT) started working. Robert K. Wittman, Johanna M. Loonie and Jane A. Levine, IFAR Journal Vol. 8, no. 1 (2005): 13–30.
1 JANUARY 2005
In many countries of the European Union, the artists' resale right (droit de suite) based on the European Directive 2001/84/EC entered into force. The British government decided that the lower threshold at which a work of art attracts the resale right is €1000 and not €3000 as expected. Georgina Adam, The Art Newspaper, February 2006, p. 43.
1 JANUARY 2005
The new British Freedom of Information Act came into force and is also applied to museums. Responses of four museums differ considerably. The Martin Bailey, The Art Newspaper, April 2005, p. 24.
3 JANUARY 2005
The Zann Corporation, a nutriceutical firm focused on diabetic medicines, has hired Tis Mal Crow, an internationally known herbalist and Native American root doctor (medicine man). Native American Times, 3 January 2005.
10 JANUARY 2005
20 paintings, worth approximately €20 million, are stolen in the Dutch town of Hoorn. The stolen works of art comprise Dutch masters like Jan van Goyen and Jacob Waben. Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, 11 January 2005, p. 7; The Art Newspaper, February 2005, p. 22.
10 JANUARY 2005
The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation announces plans to create a digital library of the region's traditional knowledge and develop laws to prevent such knowledge being misappropriated through commercial patents. http://www.SciDev.net, 10 January 2005.
12 JANUARY 2005
The German Advisory Committee for the Return of Cultural Objects lost because of National Socialist-persecution (Beratende Kommission für die Rückgabe NS-verfolgungsbedingt entzogener Kulturgüter) has recommended that three paintings by Karl Blechen (1798–1840) and a watercolor by Anselm Feuerbach (1829–1880) should be passed to Julius and Clara Freund. The Freund couple fled to Switzerland with their art objects and were forced to sell them in Switzerland where the objects were bought by Hans Posse for the Hitler Museum in Linz. The paintings were held until now by the Federal Republic of Germany in trust for unknown persons. Press release of the Koordinierungsstelle für Kulturgüterverluste Magdeburg, Germany; Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, 14 January 2005, p. 33.
14 JANUARY 2005
Police in Calcutta made their first arrest in the investigation of the theft of a fifth-century sandstone relief sculpture of the head of Buddha which was stolen from the Indian Museum on 29 December 2004. The Art Newspaper, February 2005, p. 22.
16 JANUARY 2005
The city of Frankfurt am Main, in its Sauberes Frankfurt (Clean Frankfurt) campaign, teaches its personnel to distinguish between waste and art. This became necessary after a piece of art of a young artist was mistakenly held to be waste and was collected by the city's waste management. Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, 13 January 2005, p. 34.
16 JANUARY 2005
Closing of the exhibition “Raphael before Rome” in the London National Gallery. This unique exhibition was devoted to the early works of Raphael before he went to Rome in 1508. Exhibited was also the Madonna del Garofano acquired by the National Gallery last year. Giorgio Bonsanti, Il Giornale dell'Arte, December 2004, p. 28.
16 JANUARY 2005
The project to rescue the temples of Luxor and Karnak from rising groundwater is presented in Luxor, Egypt. The ancient temples of Luxor and Karnak are crumbling as a result of rising groundwater, which causes water with a high salt content to be absorbed by the foundations through capillary action. The work will start after Christmas. The project is managed by the Swedish company SWECO and funded by USAID. Francesco Tiradritti, Il Giornale dell'Arte. March 2005, p. 50.
17 JANUARY 2005
The United Nations opened for signature the Convention on Jurisdictional Immunities of States and their Property from Jurisdiction. According to Article 21 (1) lit. d and lit. e, cultural objects are also exempt from seizure.
18 JANUARY 2005
Judge Denise de Bellefeuille of California state superior court in Santa Barbara rules that a lawsuit that seems to claim damages from an art dealer (Stephen Hahn of Santa Barbara), who allegedly sold two Nazi-looted paintings (Picasso's Femme en blanc, now held by Ms. Alsdorf, Chicago, and Pissarro's Rue de Saint Honoré après midi, effet de pluie), years ago may proceed. This is true despite the fact that there has been no allegation that the dealer knew that the works were claimed to have been looted by the Nazis. The suit uses the novel theory that the dealer should be held to have kept the sale proceeds in a “constructive trust” for the heirs of the original owners, Thomas C. Bennigson, heir of Carlota Landsberg, and Claude Cassirer, grandson of Lilly Neubauer-Cassirer. Martha Lufkin, The Art Newspaper, March 2005, p. 9. Thomas Bennigson later settled his case against Stephen Hahn with money payments if Bennigson gets back the painting from Ms. Alsdorf. Press release from E. Randol Schoenberg of 26 July 2005; Marilyn Henry, ARTnews, October 2005, p. 72.
18 JANUARY 2005
Six indigenous communities and the International Potato Centre in Cusco, Peru, announced an agreement recognizing the right of these communities over the unique potato strains that they have developed and grown. The “agreement on the repatriation, restoration and monitoring of agro-biodivisity of native potatoes and associated community knowledge systems” aims to challenge the growing corporate ownership of genetic resources and indigenous knowledge. InterPress Service News Agency, January 18, 2005.
18 JANUARY 2005
Three thimble-size artifacts (dating to 2340–2180 b.c.) looted in a Baghdad museum and sold on the black market for $200 to a scholar-turned-smuggler were returned to the Iraqi government. Tom Hay, Associated Press.
21 JANUARY 2005
Mr. Robin Symes, London's best-known and most successful dealer in antiquities, was sent to prison for 2 years at the high court in the Strand for contempt of court in a civil proceedings of business partners (heirs of his partner Christo Michaelides) after having concealed assets of the business and given incorrect information to the court. Peter Watson, Culture Without Context, issue 15, Autumn 2004, p. 20.
25 JANUARY 2005
The famous Gault architectural miniatures created by Dominique and Jean-Pierre Gault more than 20 years ago are, according to the French Cour de cassation, protected under French copyright law. Recueil Dalloz 2005, Actualité jurisprudentielle, p. 568 (Enesco France c. Denoyelle).
26 JANUARY 2005
The American architect Philip Johnson (born 1906) passed away in his “Glass House” in Connecticut. His most famous building is the AT&T Building in New York, 550 Madison Avenue, finished in 1984. Gottfried Knapp, Süddeutsche Zeitung, 28 January 2005, p. 13.
26 JANUARY 2005
Giuliano Urbani, the Italian Minister for Cultural Property, and Camillo Ruini, President of the Conferenze Episcopale Italiana (Conference of Italian Bishops) have signed an agreement on the protection of religious cultural property. Il Giornale dell'Arte, March 2005, p. 4; Le Leggi 2005, I, p. 1604.
27 JANUARY 2005
The Louvre of Paris bought, at the Sotheby's auction in New York, one bust of the German artist Franz Xaver Messerschmidt (1736–1783) for almost $5 million. The bust was formerly owned by the playwright Richard Beer-Hofmann. The International Herald Tribune, 29–30 January 2005, p. 8.
27 JANUARY 2005
The Paris “Mémorial du martyr juif inconnue” and the “Centre de documentation juive contemporaine” opened again, after 3 years of restoration work, on the day of the liberation of the Auschwitz camp. Daphné Bétard, Le Journal des Arts 208 (4–27 February 2005): 7.
28 JANUARY 2005
Opening of Moscow's first Biennale of Contemporary Art. Sophia Kishkovsky, The Art Newspaper, January 2005, p. 30.
29 JANUARY 2005
The retrospective of works of the Argentine artist Léon Ferrari (* 1920) at the state run Recoleta Cultural Center in Buenos Aires closed. The retrospective angered conservative church groups and provoked debate over the right of artists to express themselves even if they are offending others in the process. Exhibited was also the piece, “Western and Christian Civilization,” a figure of Christ crucified on a U.S. fighter plane. Peter Hudson, ARTnews, April 2005, p. 62.
31 JANUARY 2005
The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in The Hague has sentenced Pavle Strugar, ex-general of the Serbian army, to 8 years in prison for his participation in the destruction of the old city of Dubrovnik (protected by UNESCO as World Heritage) on 6 December 1991. Lucian Harris, Il Giornale dell'Arte, March 2005, p. 1; The Art Newspaper, March 2005, p. 1.
JANUARY 2005
U.S.-led forces in Iraq have caused irreparable damage to the site of the ancient city of Babylon, contaminating the soil and destroying archaeological evidence, according to a damning report by the British Museum. According to John Curtis, curator of the museum's ancient Near East department, the site suffered “substantial damage” while being used as a military depot by American and Polish forces for the past 2 years. http://www.channelnewsasia.com
JANUARY 2005
A Spanish committee suggested that documents looted during the Spanish Civil War by Franco should be given back to the region of Catalonia. Paul Ingendaay, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, 11 January 2005, p. 38.
JANUARY 2005
Agreement between the Hermitage of St. Petersburg and the city of Mantova, Italy, on a branch of the Hermitage in this north Italian city. Le Journal des Art 4–17 February 2005, p. 7.
JANUARY 2005
An amendment to Italy's budget bill put forward by MP Gianfranco Conte intended to declare an amnesty for looted archaeological material was rejected. Culture Without Context 16 (Spring 2005): 19.
JANUARY 2005
Museums in Iraq are still closed, and looting is still endemic. Kaufmann, The Art Newspaper, February 2005, p. 4. A 5-year tour of museums worldwide has been organized for an exhibition of Iraqi archaeological material, including the Nimrud Gold, to raise more than $10 million for refurbishing the Iraqi National Museum. Neil Brodie, Culture Without Context 16 (Spring 2005): 15.
JANUARY 2005
The battle between the American art dealer Rod Shene of St. Louis, Missouri, and the Staatsgalerie Stuttgart in Germany over the “Augsburger Geschlechterbuch” (Augsburg Book of Nobles) with precious sixteenth-century woodcuts goes to court in New York. Claudia Herstatt, Die Zeit, 13 January 2005, p. 44.
JANUARY 2005
The Italian restorer Bruno Zanardi (* 1948) will be compensated for his unfair and unjustified exclusion from restoration work in the Cathedral of Parma. This has been decided by the Italian Consiglio di Stato and by the Tribunale di Roma. Il Giornale dell'Arte March 2005, p. 4; The Art Newspaper, April 2005, p. 28.
JANUARY 2005
German customs officials seized Saddam Hussein's left leg from a giant statue of Saddam toppled by the U.S. troops when they entered Baghdad in 2003. The bronze limb was advertised on the Internet for $12,600. The Art Newspaper, January 2005, p. 2.
JANUARY 2005
Trial on New York state court in the case of Jean-Pierre Lehmann (French art collector and professor of international political economy at the University of Lausanne, Switzerland) against the New York Gallery Project Worldwide Inc. for violating the plaintiff's stipulated right to first choice of artists' works. Marta Lufkin, The Art Newspaper, March 2005, p. 43. On 2 March 2005 Lehmann was awarded $1.7 million in damages. Martha Lufkin, The Art Newspaper, April 2005, p. 53. The case was settled on 8 November 2005, Martha Lufkin, The Art Newspaper, December 2005, p. 45.
JANUARY 2005
Training of the eight-member Rapid Deployment National Art Crime Team (ACT) set up by the FBI as the first national art theft unit in the U.S. similar to the units in Italy (Commando Carabinieri per la Tutela del Patrimonio Artistico). France (Office central pour la répression du vol d'œuvres d'art), Spain (Grupo de investigación para la protección del Patrimonio Histórico Español) and in the United Kingdom (Art and Antiquities Unit of the Metropolitan Police). Jason Edward Kaufman, The Art Newspaper, March 2005, p. 4.
JANUARY 2005
Peter B. Lewis, Guggenheim's billionaire chairman, resigned as chairman of the Guggenheim Foundation because of philosophical differences with Guggenheim Museum Director Thomas Krens. Lewis would rather the museum focus on New York and not on global expansion. Jason Edward Kaufman, The Art Newspaper, March 2005, p. 18.
JANUARY 2005
Secret documents were declassified in London and revealed the embarrassing news that a Benin bronze, given to the Queen by Nigerian President General Yakubu Gowon during his state visit to London in 1973, was expropriated from Nigeria's National Museum and that this was known to the Foreign Office in 1974. Martin Bailey, The Art Newspaper, February 2005, p. 9.
JANUARY 2005
Belgium celebrates the 175th anniversary of the country by exhibiting all over the country the national treasures of Belgium. Le Journal des Arts 214 (29 April–12 May 2005): 16.
JANUARY 2005
Conviction of the Californian Jerry David Hasson of violating the Archaeological Resources Protection Act (ARPA) by offering for sale on the internet a 200-year-old scull of a native Hawaiian that was stolen from Maui in 1969. Neil Brodie, 16 Culture Without Context 16 (Spring 2005): 13.
JANUARY 2005
Denmark and Iraq agreed on a world tour of the Nimrud gold. The show will visit 8 to 12 cities in Europe, the United States, and Asia. Jason Edward Kaufman, The Art Newspaper, March 2004, p. 1.
JANUARY 2005
French customs officials at Roissy airport seized 845 African artifacts sent from Niger in North Africa. The cargo was bound for Belgium and falsely described on customs documents as “hand-crafted products.” The Art Newspaper, March 2005, p. 4; Minerva, May 2005, p. 6; Neil Brodie, Culture Without Context 16 (Spring 2005): 11.
2 FEBRUARY 2005
Judge R. Gary Klausner of the Federal District Court for Los Angeles dismissed the claim against the actress Elizabeth Taylor seeking to recover the van Gogh painting “View of the Asylum and Chapel at Saint-Remy,” which the claimants broadly asserted was lost to “Nazi persecution” without, however, claiming that it fell into Nazi hands. Claimants were the heirs of Margarete Mauthner, who fled Nazi Germany in 1939 for South Africa. The judge said that the claim came too late under California law (3 years after Ms. Taylor bought the painting from Sotheby's in 1963) and that the U.S. Holocaust Victims Redress Act 1998 does not create a private right to sue. Martha Lufkin, The Art Newspaper, March 2005, p. 9; Jan Sjostrom, ARTnews, April 2005, p. 52.
4 FEBRUARY 2005
Opening of the new Study Centre of the Weimar Anna Amalia Library, Germany, which was severely damaged by fire in 2004. Heinrich Wefing, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, 4 February 2005, p. 33; Joachim Güntner, Neue Zürcher Zeitung, Internationale Ausgabe, 5–6 February 2005, p. 35.
4 FEBRUARY 2005
Opening of the new University Library in Cottbus, Germany, built by the Swiss architects Herzog and de Meuron. Christian Welzbacher, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, 5 February 2005, p. 39; Niklaus Bernau, art, April 2005, p. 123.
7–10 FEBRUARY 2005
The UNESCO Intergovernmental Committee for Promoting the return of Cultural Property to its countries of origin or its restitution in case of illicit appropriation at its 13th session in Paris passed Recommendation Numbers 3 and 4.
9 FEBRUARY 2005
Italy passed a Ministerial Decree on state guarantees for art exhibitions in Italy and of exhibitions promoted by Italy abroad. Such a guarantee replaces insurance required for such exhibitions and covers theft, loss and damage to art objects. Le Leggi 2005, I, p. 1169.
11 FEBRUARY 2005
The Iranian Cultural Heritage News Agency (CHN) announced that the Iranian Cultural Heritage and Tourism Organisation had managed to stop illegal excavations at Jiroft, where since 2001 thousands of objects were removed, 300 people were arrested, and two men were sentenced to death. Neil Brodie, Culture Without Context 16 (Spring 2005): 13.
12 FEBRUARY 2005
Opening of “The Gates,” Christo and Jeanne-Claude's much heralded, extravagantly produced project which was officially launched with the unfurling of more than 7,500 tightly rolled saffron-colored panels, each attached to a similarly colored portal set up along pathways throughout Central Park in New York City. Lilly Wei, ARTnews, April 2005, p. 123; Caroline Cardon, The Art Newspaper, April 2005, p. 56. The profits of “The Gates” merchandise (mugs, sweatshirts, baseball caps, etc.) will go to the licensee Nurture New York's Nature, a nonprofit environmental organization. Michelle Falkenstein, ARTnews, May 2005, p. 59.
14–18 FEBRUARY 2005
Parties to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity met in Bangkok, Thailand, and discussed a proposal by the Like-Minded group of Mega-diverse Countries (LMMCs) and several African nations to develop a legally binding regime that would require users of biological resources to first seek informed consent of the country of origin and ensure that the origin of the resources were disclosed in patent applications. http://www.SciDev.Net 28 February 2005.
17 FEBRUARY 2005
The U.S.-American Cultural Property Advisory Committee (CPAC) held a public hearing on the Chinese request for an American art-import ban under Article 9 of the 1970 UNESCO Convention. See the discussion in: IFAR Journal 7 (3/4) (2005): 20–59; Jason Edward Kaufman, The Art Newspaper, February 2005, p. 7; James Lally, The Art Newspaper, April 2005, p. 30; Culture Without Context 16 (Spring 2005):16.
17 FEBRUARY 2005
The German Federal Office for the Regulation of Unsettled Economic Questions (Bundesamt zur Regelung offener Vermögensfragen) decided to return the painting “Princess of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn” of Franz von Lenbach (1836–1904) to the heirs of its former owner Bernhard Altmann of Vienna. Press release of the Koordinierungsstelle für Kulturgutverluste of 17 February 2005.
18 FEBRUARY 2005
Harald Szeemann (* 1933), the famous Swiss art curator and organizer of art exhibitions (e.g., Documenta in Kassel, Biennale in Venice) passed away in Locarno (Switzerland). Franco Fanelli, Il Giornale dell'Arte, March 2005, p. 11; The Art Newspaper, April 2005, p. 4; Christophe Domino, Le Journal des arts no. 210, 4–17 March 2005, p. 3; Derek Blyth, ARTnews, April 2005, p. 68.
24–28 FEBRUARY 2005
The annual Art Show, organized by the Art Dealers Association of America (ADAA) and held at the Seventh Regiment Armory in Manhattan, was attended by fewer visitors than last year. Lindsay Pollock, ARTnews, May 2005, p. 88.
25 FEBRUARY 2005
The former French minister of foreign affairs Roland Dumas and executor of the Swiss sculptor Alberto Giacometti's (1901–1966) widow, was acquitted in Paris from the charge of having embezzled in 1994 the proceeds of sale of works of art created by Alberto Giacometti. Neue Zürcher Zeitung, Internationale Ausgabe, 26–27 February 2005, p. 43. Jacques Tajan was fined €10,000 for falsifying a public document. The Art Newspaper, April 2005, p. 52.
FEBRUARY 2005
Germany and Russia still disagree about the return of the so-called Baldin collection and a Rubens painting. ARTnews, March 2005, p. 68.
FEBRUARY 2005
Announcement that the Torlonia collection of 620 Roman statues will be publicly exhibited in Rome. The Art Newspaper, March 2005, p. 26.
FEBRUARY 2005
The Sheikh Saud Al-Thani of Qatar, the important collector of art for the museums of Qatar was arrested and charged for abusing public money. Georgina Adam, Il Giornale dell'Arte, April 2005, p. 71; Le Journal des Arts, no. 212, 1–14 April 2005, p. 3; The Art Newspaper, April 2005, p. 21, May 2005, p. 6, and June 2005, p. 9.
FEBRUARY 2005
Two painted pages from a manuscript seized at the battle of Maqdala in 1868 by British troops were handed over to the Ethiopian embassy in London to be returned to Addis Ababa. The pages were owned by a British lawyer who inherited the pages from his great uncle who fought at Maqdala. The Art Newspaper, March 2005, p. 5.
2 MARCH 2005
Jean-Pierre Lehmann was awarded $1.7 million in damages because he was denied his contractual rights of first choice of all art sold by the New York gallery Project Worldwide, Inc., The trial started in January 2005; Martha Lufkin, The Art Newspaper, April 2005, p. 53.
2 MARCH 2005
Edward and Samuel Merrin, the father-and-son dealers of pre-Columbian art and antiquities at the Merrin Gallery on 5th Avenue in New York City were indicted of having defrauded two major customers over 10 years, during which the clients paid the Merrins more than $36 million for art purchases. Martha Lufkin, The Art Newspaper, April 2005, p. 53.
2–4 MARCH 2005
The regional intergovernmental seminar promoting the 1999 Second Protocol of the 1954 Hague Convention was held in Buenos Aires, Argentina. It was organized in cooperation with UNESCO and the International Humanitarian Law Advisory Service of the International Committee of the Red Cross.
4 MARCH 2005
The TEFAF (The European Fine Art Fair) opened in Maastricht, Netherlands. Georgina Adam, The Art Newspaper, April 2005, p. 57.
6 MARCH 2005
A Munch watercolor and two lithographs were stolen from the Hotel Refsnes Gods, south of Oslo, Norway, but were recovered soon after, Art Newspaper, April 2005, p. 7.
8 MARCH 2005
In 2004 there were 314 reported cases of antiquities theft in Israel, compared to fewer than 200 in 2003. Etgar Lefkovits, Jerusalem Post 8 March 2005; Neil Brodie, Culture Without Context 16 (Spring 2005): 14.
8 MARCH 2005
Opening of the exhibition “Dürer, Masterpieces from the Albertina” in the Prado, Madrid. The Albertina in Vienna had also shipped to Madrid Dürer's watercolor, “A Hare,” but without government permission. The permission was later given and even extended to the end of the exhibition on 29 May 2005. Das grosse Hasenstück, NZZ online. 〈http://www.nzz.ch〉
8 MARCH 2005
The French Cour de cassation rejected a demand for compensation for being prevented from exporting the classified painting, “Cercle de la rue Royale,” by Tissot (1836–1902) because the owner previously declined to sell it to the Republic of France for 20 million francs. Jean-Marie Schmitt, Le Journal des Arts, 16 December 2005–3 January 2006, p. 26.
9 MARCH 2005
An agreement has been signed in London between the British Library, the St. Catherine's Monastery in Egypt, the University of Leipzig Library, and the National Library of Russia with respect to the Codex Sinaiticus taken by Konstantin Tischendorf to Leipzig and Russia and sold to the British Museum Library in 1933. The four parties will cooperate in a joint study and digitization of the world's oldest Bible and reserve all rights to the parts held in Leipzig, London, Moscow, and St. Catherine, Martin Bailey, The Art Newspaper, April 2005, p. 21.
9 MARCH 2005
The Memorandum of Understanding Between the Government of the United States of America and the Government of the Republic of El Salvador Concerning the Imposition of Import Restrictions on Certain Categories of Archaeological Material from the Pre-Hispanic Cultures of the Republic of El Salvador has been extended for another 5 years. 70 Federal Register 11,539; 19 C.F.R. part. 12.
9 MARCH
The European Patent Office in Munich dismissed an appeal against revoking a patent granted for the preparation of a fungicide derived from the seeds of the neem tree. The patent was initially granted in 1995 by the European Patent Office to the United States Department of Agriculture and the chemical multinational W. R. Grace but was revoked in 2000 after opposition from India and several agricultural research institutions. The Hindu, 9 March 2005.
11–14 MARCH 2005
Armory Show was held on Manhattan's West Side and upheld its reputation for success and its prestige amid the growing number of major contemporary art fairs. ARTnews, May 2005, p. 88.
14 MARCH 2005
The Tribunal de grande instance de Dijon decided that the numismatic collection of Léon François (1904–1992) may be sold. Le Journal des Arts, 17 February–2 March 2006, p. 24.
21 MARCH 2005
The Heckscher Museum of Art in New York gave up its attempts to sell George Grosz's “Eclipse of the Sun” (1926) for funding the planned building expansion. The Art Newspaper, April 2005, p. 9 and May 2005, p. 15
21 MARCH 2005
Spanish police raided a winery in Aguilar de la Frontera near Cordoba in Southern Spain and seized 5,000 archaeological artifacts which were on display in a clandestine museum in the cellars of the building for more than 20 years. The police arrested the owner, Antonio Sanchez. Lucian Harris, The Art Newspaper, May 2005, p. 5.
22 MARCH 2005
It has been reported that the Cambodian army has been involved in the theft and transport of temple sculptures of Angkor and the region of Siem Reap. Culture Without Context 16 (Spring 2005): 17.
23 MARCH 2005
The U.K. Spoliation Advisory Panel recommended that the British Library should return the twelfth-century Benevento Missal to the Italian cathedral from which it was probably looted between September 1943 and April 1944. The return must wait for a change in law because the British Library is legally barred from deaccession. Martin Bailey, The Art Newspaper, April 2005, p. 1, and May 2005, p. 10.
28 MARCH 2005
The organizers of the Moscow exhibition “Be careful, religion!” of 2003 were fined $3600 for violating the feelings of religious people who destroyed the exhibited objects and were not punished. Kerstin Holm, Neue Zürcher Zeitung, Internationale Ausgabe, 30 March 2005, p. 35; Konstantin Akinsha, ARTnews, May 2005, p. 76. In another similar case, the organizer of the exhibition “Russia 2,” Marat Guelman, was exonerated from having offended the religious sensibilities of believers and having promoted racial and religious hatred. Konstantin Akinsha, ARTnews, October 2005, p. 86.
30 MARCH 2005
The Stedelijk Museum of Amsterdam loaned 14 paintings of the Russian artist Kazimir Malewicz (1878–1935) for exhibitions in New York's Guggenheim Museum and the Menil Collection in Houston. The heirs of the artist asked to attach the paintings and to return them because they were allegedly illegally confiscated by the City of Amsterdam. The Federal District Court for the District of Columbia gave a judgment postponing the decision as to jurisdiction over the City of Amsterdam and the immunity of the defendant and the art objects. 2005 U.S. Dist. Lexis 5414; ARTnews, June 2005, p. 64.
MARCH 2005
The Israel Museum returned the Degas drawing “Four Nude Female Dancers Resting” of around 1898 to the daughter-in-law of Jacques Goudstikker, the Dutch dealer, because the drawing was confiscated in 1940. Marilyn Henry, ARTnews, May 2005, p. 78; The Art Newspaper, April 2005, p. 55.
MARCH 2005
Zambia announces plans to draft a national policy for protecting indigenous knowledge and genetic resources. Traditional healers, scientists, and policy makers are collaborating on the initiative. http://www.iol.co.za 21 March 2005.
MARCH 2005
The Italian government returned an eleventh-century gold funerary pre-Incan mask to Peru. The mask was stolen in Peru, acquired by two collectors at auction in Milan in 1982, taken by the Italian police, and exhibited in Rome before it was shipped to Peru. The Art Newspaper, March 2005, p. 5.
March 2005
The Artist Pension Fund opened a branch in Germany. The artists provide art objects to the fund and receive long-term payments in reward. Anna V. Bodungen, Kunst und Recht 2006, p. 43.
MARCH 2005
Fifteenth anniversary of the Isabella Stewart Gardner theft of 13 paintings and drawings in Boston. The robbery is described as the greatest art theft in American history and is no closer for being solved than it was 5 or 10 years ago, despite a $5 million reward offered by the museum for information leading to the return of works by Vermeer (“The Concert”), Rembrandt (“Self-Portrait”), Degas, and Manet, valued together at $300 million. David D'Arcy, The Art Newspaper, March 2005, p. 5.
MARCH 2005
The British Museum, at the request of the Association for the Return of The Maqdala Ethiopian Treasures (AFROMET), has agreed to transfer its Ethiopian tabots (or holy tablets) to a church in London. Later this year the Ethiopians are expected to take over a redundant Anglican church, and a crypt or secure room will then be set aside to house the symbolically charged wooden objects, which represent the Ark of the Covenant. The tabots were seized by British troops at the battle of Maqdala in 1868. The Art Newspaper, April 2005, p. 24.
MARCH 2005
The International Journal of Cultural Property, which ceased to be published by Oxford University Press in 2002, has resumed. Beginning with volume 12, it will now be published quarterly by Cambridge University Press, under the editorship of Alexander A. Bauer. The Art Newspaper, February 2005, p. 36.
MARCH 2005
The head of Yemen's General Organisation for Antiquities and Museums announced a new get-tough policy on antiquities smuggling with the creation of a special police unit and increased international cooperation. This policy has already resulted in several arrests of smugglers. Culture Without Context 16 (Spring 2005): 16.
4 APRIL 2005
Leonardo's “Mona Lisa” returned to the nineteenth-century Salle des Etats in the Louvre. Laurie Hurwitz, ARTnews, April 2005, p. 70; Il Giornale dell'Arte, April 2005, p. 29.
8 APRIL 2005
A Picasso painting stolen in 2004 from the Centre Pompidou in Paris has been recovered and given back to the Centre. Le Journal des Arts, 213, (15–28 April 2005): 3.
8 APRIL 2005
A suspect was arrested in Oslo, Norway, because of suspicion to have been engaged in the theft of Munch's “The Scream” on 22 August 2004. Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, 11 April 2005, p. 8.
8 APRIL 2005
The Swiss Federal Tribunal declined to return two golden coins to the Republic of India, which claimed that they have been illegally exported. There was no evidence for such an export; and furthermore, there was no obligation to enforce in Switzerland foreign export policies. Such an obligation exists only between the state parties of the 1970 UNESCO Convention since entering into force of this instrument in these countries. 131 III Entscheidungen des Schweizerischen Bundesgerichts p. 418 (Union de l'Inde c. Crédit Agricole Indosuez).
13 APRIL 2005
The Swiss Ordinance on the International Transfer of Cultural Property was approved by the Swiss government. Amtliche Sammlung des Bundesrechts 2005, p. 1883. It will enter into force on 1 June 2005.
13 APRIL 2005
The SAFE (Saving Antiquities for Everyone) organized a panel discussion in Washington, D.C. on “Preserving our Past: Looting and the Black Market in Art, Artifacts, and Antiquities.”
15 APRIL 2005
Conference in the newly renovated Palazzo Altieri Rome, Italy, on the defence of privately owned cultural objects. One issue discussed concerned Italian law that favors good faith purchase even of stolen private property. This should be changed to take advantage of Chapter 2 of the 1995 UNIDROIT Convention. Gazzetta Aniquaria 47 (1/2005): 55.
18 APRIL 2005
The Dutch Restitution Committee Cultural Objects and World War II (Restitutiecommissie Cultuurgoederen en Tweede Wereldoorlog) decided to return eight artworks of the Dutch Collection of Art (Nederlands Kunstbezitcollectie) to the heirs of the former owner Goudstikker. Nederlands Juristenblad 2005, p. 973.
20 APRIL 2005
Christie's of London sold an Achaemenid limestone relief fragment of a Persian guardsman dating from the early fifth century b.c. and originating from the Palace of Xerxes at Persepolis. Iran claims it back in London because Iran alleges that the relief was illegally removed in 1931. The Art Newspaper, July/August 2005, p. 47.
19–22 APRIL 2005
The Axum Obelisk looted 1937 by Mussolini's army in Ethiopia, taken to Rome, and placed as a trophy on the Circus Maximus was returned to Ethiopia in two pieces carried by two giant Antonov cargo planes. Neue Zürcher Zeitung, Internationale Ausgabe, 20 April 2005, p. 43; Il Giornale dell'Arte, April 2005, p. 12. At the same time underground chambers and arcades were found near the original position of the obelisk. The Art Newspaper, June 2005, p. 7; Il Giornale dell'Arte, April 2005, p. 12.
26 APRIL 2005
Sixty years after World War II the State Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts in Moscow opened the exhibition “Archaeology of War” displaying 552 restored archaeological objects seized by Soviet troops from German deposits and taken to Russia in 1945. Kerstin Holm, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, 28 April 2005, p. 42; The Art Newspaper, June 2005, p. 12; Nora Fitzgerald, ARTnews, Summer 2005, p. 92; Tim Sommer, art June 2005, p. 3.
26 APRIL 2005
Germany returned the painting Battle of Riders of the school of the French painter Pierre Bourguignon (1630–1698) to Russia. It was during World War II in the vicinity of St. Petersburg. Press release of the Stiftung Preussischer Kulturbesitz, Berlin, 27 April 2005.
27 APRIL 2005
Klaus-Dieter Lehmann, President of the Stiftung Preussischer Kulturbesitz, gave an interview and alleged that the policy of the German Chancellor Schröder with respect to the German art objects taken by the Soviet Army after World War II has failed. Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, 27 April 2005, p. 41; Ernst Gottfried Mahrenholz, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, 17 June 2005, p. 35.
30 APRIL 2005
Opening of an exhibition of forged antiquities in Rome. The forgeries were mainly made by Mauro Morani of Cerveteri, Italy. He had also forged a red-figure kylix of Euphronios. Jerome M. Eisenberg, Minerva, May/June 2005, p. 7.
APRIL 2005
The Palazzo Grassi in Venice, Italy, has been sold to the French businessman François Pinault, and the Italian industrialist Guido Angelo Terruzzi gave up his idea to do the same. The Palazzo Grassi will serve as a home for Pinault's art collection and also a place for exhibitions. He gave up his plans to build a museum on the Isle Seguin in Paris. Neue Zürcher Zeitung, Internationale Ausgabe, 30 April–1 May 2005, p. 36; Le Journal des Arts, 18 February–3 March 2005, p. 7; and 29 April–12 May 2005, p. 1; Il Giornale dell'Arte, March 2005, p. 1; The Art Newspaper, May 2005, p. 2; June 2005, p. 3, and July/August 2005, p. 1.
APRIL 2005
A 30-hectare park in the center of Cairo, Egypt, was inaugurated by the Aga Khan and Suzanne Mubarak, wife of Egyptian President Anna Somers Cocks, The Art Newspaper, May 2005, p. 36.
APRIL 2005
The heirs of Edvard Munch (1863–1944) forbade the Norwegian National Broadcast to mention the name of Edvard Munch, because the speakers very often mispronounce the name as if it were “Monch.” Neue Zürcher Zeitung, Internationale Ausgabe, 20 April 2005, p. 35.
APRIL 2005
The Tribunale Bolzeno, Italy (Alto Adige) decided that the German discoverers of the mummy “Ötzi” discovered in the Italian Alps in 1991 are the “finders” of this mummy. An appeal has been filed. Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, 30 April 2005, p. 9.
APRIL 2005
More than 400 works of art promised as loans have been banned from leaving Austria. The problem developed after Austria's Federal Office for the Protection of Monuments (Bundesdenkmalamt) took action over the loan of Dürer drawings of the Albertina to the Prado, for an exhibition. The Federal Office argued that the Albertina exported the Dürers without the necessary authorisation. The Art Newspaper, April 2005, p. 28 and May 2005, p. 24.
APRIL 2005
Statistics about the movement of artworks between France and foreign countries have been published. Jean-Marie Schmitt, Le Journal des Art, 17–30 March and 31 March–13 April 2005, p. 27, 26.
APRIL 2005
Spanish police recovered 10,358 cultural objects, including 7442 archaeological pieces and 467 tools that could be used for faking, when they arrested 16 people across the country and charged them with illegally excavating, trading, or forging objects. Culture Without Context 16 (Spring 2005): 18.
APRIL 2005
An independent group of experts (directors of museums, head of the Unit Culture of the EU Commission, government representatives) have published the brochure “Lending to Europe. Recommendations on collection mobility for European museums.” The report can be downloaded at: http://www.minocw.nl/cultureelerfgoed/publicaties,html
APRIL 2005
The Von der Heydt Museum in Wuppertal, Germany, returned three artworks to the heirs of the former owners expropriated and killed during the Nazi period. Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, 8 December 2005, p. 39.
1 MAY
Closing of the Tutankamun exhibition, which attracted 800,000 visitors in Bonn, Germany. Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, 30 April 2005, p. 37.
4 MAY 2005
At Christie's New York Brancusi's “Oiseai dans l'espace” was sold for $27.4 million. The Art Newspaper, June 2005, p. 50.
7 MAY 2005
Herford, Germany, opened the new Gallery MARTa (Möbel-Art-Ambiente) built by Frank Gehry. The Art Newspaper, May 2005, p. 26.
10 MAY 2005
Opening of the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe in Berlin. The Museum is designed by architect Peter Eisenman. The Art Newspaper, May 2005, p, 4; art, May 2005, p. 16.
12 MAY 2005
A protocol on the building of a branch of the Louvre of Paris in Lens, France, has been signed, The branch will be opened in 2009. Le Journal des Arts, 27 May–8 June 2005, p. 6.
12–13 MAY 2005
The Royal Museum for Central Africa at Tervuren, Belgium, chose 2005 as a year in which to open a large historical exhibition on Central Africa. The year marks the 120th anniversary of the close of the Berlin Conference, an initiative of Chancellor Bismarck that led, among other things, to the creation of the Congo Free State, of which Leopold II would be the sovereign. It also marks the 45th anniversary of accession to independence by the Democratic Republic of Congo.
12–14 MAY 2005
The World Heritage Committee of the UNESCO held its 27th session in Vienna, Austria, and discussed the protection of the cities listed as part of the World Heritage. An issue was also the case of Cologne, Germany, where a skyscraper might conflict with the protection of the old city and the Cathedral of Cologne. Flavia Foradini, Il Giornale dell'Arte, July/August 2005, p. 7.
13 MAY 2005
Donors attending the Conference for the Protection and Preservation of Cultural Heritage in Kosovo in Paris pledged $10 million for the restoration and conservation of Christian, Islamic, and secular buildings in the Balkan state. The Art Newspaper, June 2005, p. 13.
19 MAY 2005
The sale by Christie's has thrown a spotlight on the increasing number of companies that accept works of art as a collateral against loans, several of which have been set up in the last year. Brook S. Mason, the Art Newspaper, November 2005, p. 51, 53.
20 MAY 2005
The Australian Federal Court ruled that Aboriginal artifacts loaned by British museums to an exhibition at Museum Victoria in Melbourne must be returned and that they could not be blocked by the Dja Dja Wurrung community. The Art Newspaper, September 2005, p. 23.
23 MAY 2005
The ministers of the European Union Council of Culture agreed on “Lending in Europe,” a report drafted by a working group coordinated by the Dutch presidency of the EU, with recommendations on the enhancement of collection mobility. Newsletter of the Network of European Museum Organisations, 1 (2005): 1; Martin Bailey, The Art Newspaper, July/August 2005, p. 27.
26 MAY 2005
The Russian artist Mihail Chemiakin (* 1943) was allowed by a Paris court to destroy fakes of his colored bronze series “St. Petersburg Carnival.” The fakes were seized by French officials from Chemiahin's former dealer Patrick Carpentier, owner of Galérie Carpentier in Paris. John Varoli, The Art Newspaper, September 2005, p. 48.
30 MAY 2005
The painting “The Archers” of Sir Joshua Reynolds (1723–1792), which was sold to an overseas buyer for £3.2 million and declared to fall under the Waverley Criteria, was not sold to somebody in England, and the deadline for the export licence was deferred until 30 September 2005. Matin Bailey, The Art Newspaper, July/August 2005, p. 25.
31 MAY 2005
An Italian court issued a landmark ruling blocking a 35-kilometer motorway stretching through the historic landscape of the Veneto from the foothills of the Alps to Rovigo in the south. The government-backed, privately funded motorway would have passed close by some of Italy's finest villas, including one designed by the sixteenth-century architect Andrea Palladio. Emmy Beatty/Luca Caburlotto, The Art Newspaper, July/August 2005, p. 12.
MAY 2005
The European Museum Forum (EMF) awarded the European Museum of the Year Award to the National Heritage Museum in Arnhem, Netherlands, and Council of Europe Awards to the Museum of Byzantine Culture at Thessaloniki, Greece, and to ONLUS, City of Science in Naples, Italy. Press release of the Network of European Museum Organisations, 10 June 2006.
MAY 2005
The Pacific Research Institute published its report “Biotechnological and Pharmaceutical Research and Development Investment Under a Patent-Based Access and Benefit-Sharing Regime,” which seeks to assess the impact of a proposed Access and Benefit-Sharing Addendum to the Convention on Biological Diversity. Pacific Research Institute, May 2005.
MAY 2005
The Reynolds exhibition “The Creation of Celebrity” opened in the London Tate Gallery with Reynolds' “Portrait of Omai” sold in 2001 to an anonymous buyer and refused to be exported because the Tate raised the £12.5 million for a matching offer. Martin Bailey, The Art Newspaper, March 2005, p. 23.
MAY 2005
The case Altmann v. Republic of Austria has been submitted by both parties to arbitration to be held in Austria. Press release of Associated Press on 18 May 2005; Martha Lufkin, The Art Newspaper, July/August 2005, p. 11; Marilyn Henry, ARTnews, Summer 2005, p. 102; Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, 28 May 2005, p. 45.
MAY 2005
The painting “Kindred Spirits” of Asher Durand (1796–1886), a treasure of New York, was sold by the New York Public Library for about $35 million to the Wal-Mart heiress Alice Walton to be exhibited in a museum in Bentonville, Arkansas. Eileen Kinsella, ARTnews, Summer 2005, p. 63.
MAY 2005
A judge in Perugia, Italy, heard the petition of Cecil Craig, brother-in-law of the Arte Povera artist Alberto Burri (1915–1995) claiming to gain ownership of the artist's estate, which was previously managed by the Burri Foundation. Emma Beatty, The Art Newspaper, July/August 2005, p. 9.
MAY 2005
Claude Cassirer of San Diego, California, filed a law suit in the U.S. District Court in Los Angeles against the Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection Foundation in Madrid, Spain. Mr. Cassirer wants to recover the painting “Rue St.-Honoré. Après-Midi, Effet de Pluie” by Pissarro that was expropriated from Cassirer's grandmother by the Nazis. Marilyn Henry, ARTnews, Summer 2005, p. 80.
MAY 2005
The attempted sale of an important archive from the family of Pierre Auguste Renoir is subject of a lawsuit brought by the American buyer Charles Slane against the Paul Renoir and Marie-Paul Renoir Trust. The Art Newspaper, July/August 2005, p. 45.
1 JUNE 2005
Entry into force of the Swiss Federal Act of 20 June 2003 on the International Transfer of Cultural Property implementing the UNESCO Convention of 14 November 1970 on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property. The same day the Swiss Ordinance of 13 April 2005 on the International Transfer of Cultural Property entered into force. Systematische Sammlung des Bundesrechts Nos. 444.1 and 444.11; Emma Beatty, The Art Newspaper, June 2005, p. 5.
3 JUNE 2005
The third session of the intergovernmental meeting of experts in Paris finalized the preliminary draft for a UNESCO Convention on the Protection of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions to be adopted at the 33rd session of the UNESCO General Conference 3–21 October 2005. UNESCO Today. Magazine of the German Commission for UNESCO 2 (2005): 18.
6 JUNE 2005
The Picasso painting “Nature morte à la charlotte” stolen in 2004 from the Centre Pompidou in Paris was recovered in France and returned to the Centre Pompidou. Le Journal des Arts, 213 (15–28 April 2005): 3.
7 JUNE 2005
Mr. Justice Andrew Morritt of the London High Court of Justice ruled that the British Museum is, by statute, not allowed to return drawings formerly owned by Arthur Feldmann of Prague, Czech Republic, confiscated by Nazis and, in 1946 bona fide, acquired by the British Museum. Hand Pietsch, art October 2005, p. 144; Kelly Devine Thomas, ARTnews Summer 2005, p. 94; Marilyn Henry, ARTnews, October 2005, p. 92.
7 JUNE 2005
The German Federal Office for the Regulation of Unresolved Property Problems (Bundesamt zur Regelung offener Vermögensfragen) announced that it will return a painting of Heinrich von Zügel (1850–1941) to the heirs of the former owner Dr. Alexander Lewin who, as a Jew, was expropriated by the Germany. The return was based on the Washington Declaration of 3 December 1998 and the approving German declaration of 9 December 1999. Press release of the Federal Office; Zeitschrift für offene Vermögensfragen 2005, p. 209.
7 JUNE 2005
On 7 June 1905 the German artists Friedrich Bleyl, Erich Heckel, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, and Karl Schmidt-Rottluff founded the association “Brücke.” This anniversary is celebrated in Germany by many exhibitions of works of art of members of the Brücke. Neue Zürcher Zeitung, Internationale Ausgabe, 26–27 February 2005, p. 45.
12 JUNE 2005
The 51st International Art Exhibition in Venice, the Biennale, opened for the public. The Art Newspaper, June 2005, p. 10. The “Cube Venice 2005” by the German artist Gregor Schneider inspired by the ka'ba of Mekka was not permitted to be installed on St. Mark's Square. Gareth Harris, The Art Newspaper, July/August 2005, p. 7.
12 JUNE 2005
At the auction of Christie's London a blue Chinese jar of the Yuan dynasty (1279–1368) was sold for £14 million. Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, 16 July 2005, p. 45.
13 JUNE 2005
Litigation pending in three separate forums regarding ownership of the Picasso painting “Femme en blanc” has been resolved by mutual agreement in an out of court settlement. The painting was reportedly looted by Nazis in Paris from the original owner Carlota Landsberg. In 1976 the Stephen Hahn Gallery in New York City sold the painting to James Alsdorf. Thomas Bennigson, the grandson and heir of the original owner Landsberg, sued the Hahn Gallery in California (sued on 18 January 2005) and Mrs. Alsdorf of Chicago as the widow of James Alsdorf asked an Illinois court to remove the cloud that had been placed on her title to the painting (International Journal of Cultural Property 12 [4] 2005: 556). The FBI filed a lawsuit to seize and recover the painting in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California. According to the settlement Mrs. Alsdorf made a substantial monetary payment to Mr. Bennigson, and it is recognized that Mr. Alsdorf purchased the painting in good faith; Mrs. Alsdorf's title to the painting is confirmed. Press release by Burris & Schoenberg of 9 August 2005. http://www. bslaw.net/news/050809.html; Sharon Flescher, IFAR Journal (3/4) (2005): 5.
15 JUNE 2005
The painting “Nachmittag im Tuileriengarten” by Adolph von Menzel (1815–1905) sold by Jewish citizens of Berlin in 1935 and later acquired by the State Art Collections of Dresden, Germany, was returned to the Jewish Claims Conference. The American citizen Alfred Bader, born in Vienna, bought the painting and seemed to give it as a permanent loan to the Dresden Gallery. Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, 8 June 2005, p. 42. This did not happen. The painting was sold to the London National Gallery; see Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, 10 November 2005, p. 37.
15 JUNE 2005
The icon “Virgin and Child” of about a.d. 550 sold in Avignon, France for €85,000 in 2003 to the London icon dealer Richard Temple was exhibited at London's Temple Gallery. The icon seems to be one of the very few that survived the Iconoclasm. It was legally exported to the United Kingdom because it was worth less than €150,000. Now France claims that the icon is an archaeological object which, without any price limit, may not be exported at all. Martin Bailey, The Art Newspaper, September 2005, p. 14; Le Journal des Arts, 23 September–6 October 2005, p. 8.
17 JUNE 2005
Gustav Zumsteg (* 1915), the Swiss collector and owner of the restaurant “Kronenhalle” in Zürich, passed away. Neue Zürcher Zeitung, Internationale Ausgabe, 18–19 June 2005, p. 10.
18 JUNE 2005
The Munch Museum in Oslo, Norway, re-opened following the theft of “The Scream” and “Madonna” on 22 August 2004. Security has been upgraded at a cost of $5.8 million. The Art Newspaper, July/August 2005, p. 27; Le Journal des Arts, 2–15 December 2005, p. 3.
20 JUNE 2005
A new Ukrainian buyer spent more than $21 million at Sotheby's sales of Impressionist and Modern Art. The Art Newspaper, July/August 2005, p. 52. Kees von Dongen's “Femme au grand chapeau” (1906) was sold for £5.5 million. Neue Zürcher Zeitung, Internationale Ausgabe, 25–26 June 2005, p. 37.
20 JUNE 2005
The new Zentrum Paul Klee in Bern, Switzerland, was inaugurated. The building was designed by the architect Renzo Piano. The museum will hold approximately 4,000 works of Paul Klee (1879–1940). Die Zeit, 23 June 2005, p. 40; Le Journal des Arts, 24 June–7 July 2005, p. 7; Neue Zürcher zeitung, Internationale Ausgabe, 18–19 June 2005, p. 35.
21 JUNE 2005
The World Monuments Fund released the latest list of the 100 Most Endangered Sites and included the entire country of Iraq. The Art Newspaper, July/August 2005, p. 14; also Italian monuments are mentioned. Il Giornale dell'Arte, September 2005, p. 8.
21 JUNE 2005
The French antiques dealer Jacques Perrin of Paris has been sentenced by the Tribunal Correctionnel de Paris to jail for 1 year and to damages of €1 million because he forged the signature of the president of the expert commission when he declined to admit a valuable secretaire of his competitor Camille Bürgi for the “Pavillon des Antiquaires.” Armelle Malvoisin-Bianco, Le Journal des Arts, 8 July–8 September, 2005, p. 30.
25 JUNE 2005
The Italian Legge n. 109 abolishes the protection of ancient and modern coins. They no longer form part of the Italian “bene culturale.” Il Giornale dell'Arte, October 2005, p. 4. It also turns the Legislative Decree 63/2005 of 27 April 2005 on preventive archaeology into a statute. Il Giornale dell'Arte, July/August 2005, p. 13.
26 JUNE 2005
The Museum für Kunst und Kulturgeschichte in Dortmund, Germany, opened a branch of the Nationalgalerie Berlin. Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, 25 June 2005, p. 40.
JUNE 2005
A battle started over watercolors of the Austrian artist Egon Schiele 1890–1918). The art objects were formerly owned by the collector and singer Fritz Grünbaum of Vienna who was killed in the KZ Dachau. The art objects were confiscated and later sold to the collector David Bakalar of Boston, the Art Institute of Chicago and the New York MoMA. The heirs of Fritz Grünbaum, Leon Fischer and Milos Vavra, tried to get the art objects returned to them, art, October 2005, p. 144.
JUNE 2005
Mexico's President Vicente Fox has asked the Austrian Present Heinz Fischer to return the feather crown of Montezuma exhibited in the Museum of Ethnology in Vienna. The Art Newspaper, July/August 2005, p. 14.
JUNE 2005
The World Intellectual Property Organization's (WIPO) Intergovernmental Committee on Intellectual Property and Genetic Resources, Traditional Knowledge and Folklore met to consider two proposals on protecting traditional cultural expression and folklore and protecting traditional knowledge. UN News Center, May 26, 2005.
JUNE 2005
The Iranian government is suing London's Barakat Gallery for the return of $913,000 worth of antiques, which it claims were looted from Jiroft, a site southeast of Teheran from the third millennium b.c. Martin Bailey, The Art Newspaper, October 2005, p. 5.
JUNE 2005
The European Union published the booklet “Lending to Europe: Recommendation on Collection Mobility for European Museums.” The European Union wants to encourage museums to exchange their treasures on the basis of reciprocity and to enhance the preparation of exhibitions. Martin Bailey, The Art Newspaper, July/August 2005, p. 27.
JUNE 2005
Michel Arm, the brother of Alberto Giacometti's (1901–1966) late wife Annette, petitioned a French court to dissolve the Giacometti Foundation. The Art Newspaper, July/August 2005, p. 9. Arm also contests the will of his sister because of alleged incapacity. art, August 2005, p. 107.
JUNE 2005
The antiquities dealer James Ede of Charles Ede, Ltd. London returned a small kouros dating from the sixth century b.c. to the Samos Museum in Greece where it was stolen some 60 years ago. Mr. Ede acquired the piece from a Greek collector in good faith. The Art Newspaper, July/August 2005, p. 47; ARTnews, September 2005, 62.
JUNE 2005
Richard Serra's huge sculpture, “A Matter of Time,” has been installed in the Guggenheim Museum of Bilbao, Spain, for the next 25 years. Jason Edward Kaufman, The Art Newspaper, July/August 2005, p. 33; Le Journal des Arts 236 (28 April–11 May 2006): 12.
JUNE 2005
The national cultural Institute of Peru published the plans for the protection of Machu Picchu. Neue Zürcher Zeitung, Internationale Ausgabe, 20 June 2005, p. 17.
JUNE 2005
More than 50 artists, galleries, and collectors are suing the London-based art storage and shipping company Momart, following the disastrous fire on 24 August 2004. Total claims are expected to Amount to around £20 million. Martin Bailey, The Art Newspaper, July/August 2005, p, 10.
JUNE 2005
Russian embassy officials in Stockholm, Sweden, have demanded the return of two paintings by the Astrakhan-born artist Boris Kustodiev (1878–1927) currently in the collection of the Konstmuseum in Malmö. The paintings were part of an exhibition of Russian art that took place immediately before World War I. In the ensuing chaos of the war and the aftermath of the Russian Revolution, the works in the exhibition were stored and then largely forgotten. In the soviet era some works were returned, but not two paintings by Kustodiev. The Art Newspaper, July/August 2005, p. 27.
2–9 JULY 2005
The 19th festival “Il cinema ritrovato” took place in Bologna, Italy. Old classical films were shown in their original and restored version. The festival is organized by the “Cineteca del Comune di Bologna,” specializing in preserving and restoring old movies. Elsbeth Gut Bozzetti, Neue Zürcher Zeitung, Internationale Ausgabe, 20 June 2005, p. 19.
5 JULY 2005
At the Old Master Drawings sale of Christie's, London, the drawing “Head of St. Joseph Looking Down” was sold for £6.5 million ($11.4 million). The Art Newspaper, September 2005, p. 55.
6 JULY 2005
The Federal Court for the Southern District of New York sentenced the art dealer Ely Sakhai of New York to 41 months in prison and fined him $12.5 million. He was found guilty of having forged hundreds of works of art and having sold them in his art gallery on Broadway, Manhattan. Sharon Flescher, 7 IFAR Journal 7 (3/4) (2004/05): 12.
6 JULY 2005
Opening of the exhibition “El Palacio del Rey Planeta. Felipe IV y el Buen Retiro” in Madrid. The Museo del Prado wants to commemorate the fourth centenary of the birth of King Philip IV (1605–1665) by reconstructing the royal art collection formerly exhibited in the Buen Retiro Palace. Die Welt, 26 August 2005, p. 29; Neue Zürcher Zeitung, Internationale Ausgabe, 8 November 2005, p. 35.
6–7 JULY 2005
Canaletto's painting “Venice—Canal Grande from the Palazzo Balbi” was sold with Sotheby's London for $32.5 million. It was part of the art collection of the Portuguese billionaire Antonio de Sommer Champalimaud who passed away last year and left most of his estate to the Sommer-Champalimaud Foundation for Eye Diseases. Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, 31 December 2005, p. 53; The Art Newspaper, September 2005, p. 52; Il Giornale dell'Arte, September 2005, p. 61.
10–18 JULY 2005
The UNESCO Committee on World Heritage met in Durban, South Africa and called for the re-formation of the Israeli-Palestinian technical committee on archaeology, which disbanded in 1996 when fierce Palestinian protest followed the opening of the tunnel by the Israelis near the Temple Mount, Jerusalem. The UNESCO committee also included the rebuilt bridge Stari Most of Mostar, Bosnia, in the list of the World Heritage. Although a replica of the old bridge destroyed in the Yugoslav war, it was qualified a “symbol of reconciliation and international cooperation.” Gareth Harris, The Art Newspaper, September 2005, p. 1; Il Giornale dell'Arte, September 2005, p. 1 and 4.
14 JULY 2005
In a speech at the meeting of the Intergovernmental Committee for Promoting the return of Cultural Property to its Countries of Origin held at UNESCO in Paris, Zahi Hawass, secretary-general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities of Egypt, urged the return of five key items of Egypt's cultural heritage. The objects in question are the Rosetta Stone, now in the British Museum in London, the bust of Nefertiti in the Egyptian Museum in Berlin, the statue of Great Pyramid architect Hemiunnu in the Roemer-Pelizaeus Museum in Hildesheim, the Dendara Temple Zodiac in the Louvre in Paris and the bust of Kephren pyramid builder Ankhaf in the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. Minerva, September/October 2005, p. 7.
18 JULY 2005
The Italian criminal trial of Marion True, former curator of antiquities for the Getty Museum scheduled for this day was postponed to 16 November 2005. ARTnews, Summer 2005, p. 90; Marisa Ranieri Panetta, Il Giornale dell'Arte, July/August 2005, p. 29.
18–19 JULY 2005
Conference in the Royal Palace of Turin, Italy, to discuss what makes for a successful exhibition. The conference is organized by the French marketing company Agenda and sponsored by the Region of Turin. The Art Newspaper, June 2005, p. 13; September 2005, p. 25.
19 JULY 2005
The French millionaire François Pinault became the owner of the Palazzo Grassi in Venice where he will exhibit his collection of modern art. Roxana Azimi, Le Journal des Arts, 9–22 September 2005, p. 5; The Art Newspaper, October 2005, p. 28; Il Giornale dell'Arte, September 2005, p. 9.
28 JULY 2005
Statement of Paul Hoffman, deputy assistant secretary for Fish and Wildlife and Parks, U.S. Department of the Interior, before the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs concerning the oversight of the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA). He discussed the issue of whether the term “Native American” should be expanded. Press release of 29 July 2005 by the Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture of Seattle, the court-designated neutral repository for the human remains commonly known as “Kennewick Man.”
30 JULY 2005
Ali Mahforuzi, director of the Cultural Heritage Center, Mazandaran province, northern Iran, has recorded unprecedented levels of illegal excavation in the area. In one 100 m2 area, evidence of more than 250 illicit excavations were found, and a staggering 100,000 were discovered and recorded in a 100 kilometer stretch from the provincial capital. Culture Without Context 17 (2005): 16.
JULY 2005
The American Journal of Archaeology revealed that since 2003 almost 14,000 art objects were stolen in the National Museum of Baghdad, and more than 5,300 of them have been returned. Bogdanos, The casualties of war, American Journal of Archaeology 109 (2005): 477–536; Neue Zürcher Zeitung, Internationale Ausgabe, 10 October 2005, p. 20.
JULY 2005
The Victoria and Albert Museum in London sent a monstrance stolen in 1890 from the church in Toro, Spain, back to Toro on long-term loan because permanent deaccession is not allowed. The Art Newspaper, September 2005, p. 23.
JULY 2005
The collection of Hans Grothe (1,500 art objects of mostly German artists) was sold to the collectors Syvia and Ulrich Ströher. Il Giornale dell'Arte, September 2005, p. 14; The Art Newspaper, October 2005, p. 1.
JULY 2005
The Kunsthaus Zürich, Switzerland, will get famous paintings (i.e., Cézanne, Gauguin, Degas, Renoir, van Gogh) of the Niarchos Collection on permanent loan. The collection was assembled by the Greek ship owner and billionaire Stavros Spyros Niarchos (1909–1996). Neue Zürcher Zeitung Online 15 (July 2005); Stefan Koldehoff, ARTnews, September 2005, p. 84.
JULY 2005
The Saudi-Arabian prince El Walid bin Talal donated €17 million to the Louvre of Paris for the newly created section on Islamic art. Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung 28 July 2005, p. 31.
JULY 2005
The saga of New York art dealer Ely Sakhai, architect of a brazen international art fraud scheme that spanned 2 decades and duped clients on three continents, came to an end in federal court when he was sentenced to 41 months in prison and fined $12.5 million. Sharon Flescher, IFAR Journal 7 (3/4) (2005): 12; Georg Waser, Neue Zürcher Zeitung, Internationale Ausgabe, 29–30 January 2005, p, 37.
JULY 2005
The London art dealer Richard Temple returned the icon, “The Hodegetria Mother of God with 18 Scenes” (ca. 1550), to the Vologda Museum 400 kilometers north of Moscow where it was stolen in 1994. The icon was sold in Berlin to the good-faith dealer Temple, who sold it to a Belgian collector who returned the icon to Temple after having heard of the theft, The Art Newspaper September 2005, p. 10.
JULY 2005
The Foundation for Contemporary Art (Stiftung für zeitgenössische Kunst) has been established in Berlin. The fund of €6 million is the surplus of the MoMA exhibition in Berlin in 2004. The money will be spent for acquisition of art objects created by young artists during the last 10 years. Die Welt 8 July 2005, p. 28.
JULY 2005
The state museums Preussischer Kulturbesitz in Berlin and the Pushkin Museum of Moscow agreed on closer cooperation despite divergent views with respect to the art objects taken from German deposits by the Soviet Army after World War II. The museums of both countries want to start a new time of collaboration. Süddeutsche Zeitung 8 July 2005, p. 15.
1 AUGUST 2005
Lord Halifax announced that he intends to auction the painting “Portrait of a Young Man” by Titian (1480/85–1576). He had already declined to sell it for £55 million to the National Gallery of London where it could be seen as a permanent loan of Lord Halifax. Martin Bailey, The Art Newspaper, September 2005, p. 11.
1 AUGUST 2005
It was decided long ago that the city of Strasbourg must return to the owners the painting “Vue de l'église de la Salute depuis l'entrée du Grand Canal” of Canaletto acquired bona fide by the Musées de Strasbourg and formerly owned by Bernard Altmann from whom it has been taken by the Nazis. The city of Strasbourg had the option to buy the painting for €2.5 million until the end of July 2005. This deadline was extended until 31 October 2005. Press release of AFP, 1 August 2005. A contract between the city of Strasbourg and the owners was approved by the city on 10 October 2005.
2 AUGUST 2005
A new French statute in favor of small and medium size enterprises regulates the art trade of these enterprises. Jean-Marie Schmitt, Le Journal des Arts, 21 October–3 November 2005, p. 26.
6 AUGUST 2005
A letter of the Saudi ambassador in London was published by the British newspaper, Independent, in which he denies that the Wahhabis (followers of Mohammad ibn Abd-Al-Wahhab of the eighteenth century) are demolishing historic buildings because of their pure and austere interpretation of Islam. The ambassador pointed out that Mecca must provide accommodation for increasing crowds of pilgrims. Lucian Harris, The Art Newspaper, September 2005, p. 8.
8 AUGUST 2005
Marilynn Alsdorf and Thomas Bennigson settled their dispute over Picasso's “Femme en Blanc,” which started on 13 June 2005. The grandfather of Mr. Bennigson lost this painting in France during World War II and Ms. Alsdorf bought it bona fide. Ms. Alsdorf will pay $6.5 million to Mr. Bennigson. Sharon Flescher, IFAR Journal 7 (3/4) (2004/05): 5; Martha Lufkin, The Art Newspaper, September 2005, p. 6.
9 AUGUST 2005
The provincial government of Piemont, Italy, denied to provide that guides of tourists are prohibited to serve as guides in the Museo Egizio of Torino. Il Giornale Dell'Arte, October 2005, p. 16.
17 AUGUST 2005
The Italian Legge n. 175 protects the Jewish Cultural Heritage in Italy and provides €5 million for this reason. Il Giornale dell'Arte, October 2005, p. 14.
18 AUGUST 2005
The exhibition “Shared Cultural Heritage” was opened at the Museum Nasional in Jakarta, Indonesia. This exhibition is the first major visible result of the new Dutch policy of seeking the greatest possible cooperation with fellow institutions in countries of origin. Museum Volkenkunde Leiden, Annual Report 2005, p. 7 et seq.
23 AUGUST 2005
Discussion in Switzerland about whether the exhibition of body parts and foeti violate public policy and decency. The discussion was initiated because the Chinese artist Xiao Yu exhibited such objects in the Kunstmuseum Bern. Similar questions arose with the objects of Gunter von Hagen and Damien Hirst. Neue Zürcher Zeitung, Internationale Ausgabe, 24 August 2005, p. 35; 28 September 2005, p. 35.
25 AUGUST 2005
Celebration in Dresden of the return of art objects (i.e. Raphael's “Sistine Madonna”) from Russia 50 years ago. Irina Antonova, director of the Moscow Pushkin Museum, said with respect to the German art objects still retained by Russia, “Every nation should know: If the cultural heritage of another nation is destroyed, its own national treasures may be lost.” Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, 27 August 2005, p. 37.
28 AUGUST 2005
The Hurricane Katrina also devastated art galleries, museums and studios in the U.S. Gulf Coast. ARTnews, November 2005, p. 53.
AUGUST 2005
The Frankfurt Museum of Modern Art (Museum für Moderne Kunst) lost about 500 of its art objects on “permanent loan” by Mr. and Ms. Bock. They had provided the money to buy the objects 15 years ago and now decided to sell them. art, September 2005, p. 110.
AUGUST 2005
In Turkey a campaign was launched for the restitution of spoils of the Mausoleum of Halikarnassos (ca. 350 b.c.) that were transported 150 years ago by the British archaeologist Sir Charles Thomas Newton (1816–1894) from Bodrum in southern Turkey to the British Museum. The Mausoleum, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, was destroyed by earthquakes and finally rediscovered by Newton in 1856/57. Süddeutsche Zeitung, 3–4 September 2005, p. 14.
AUGUST 2005
The Cassel silver has been bought for the United Kingdom by nine UK museums. Originally acquired by financier Ernest Cassel (1852–1921), the collection passed down through his descendants and was sold by Lady Pamela Hicks. The objects will be distributed to the museums taking part in the acquisition. The Art Newspaper, September 2005, p. 22.
AUGUST 2005
The bust of Queen Nefertiti has been transferred to the renovated Alte Museum on Museum Island of Berlin. Die Zeit, 12 August 2005, p. B 1; 18 August 2005, p. 16; Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, 13 August 2005, p. 33.
AUGUST 2005
An employee of the Copenhagen Museum of Design has been arrested. He is charged of having stolen about 100 objects. He wanted to sell a tobacco tin in Hamburg, but the auction house recognized the object as part of the Copenhagen treasures. Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, 20 August 2005, p. 9.
1 SEPTEMBER 2005
A Mexican federal court ruled in favor of Ms. Beatriz Varo Jiménez with respect to 38 drawings and paintings by the Spanish-born Surrealist artist Remedios Varo (1908–1963) valued at more than $15 million. The art objects were held by Walter Grün, the partner of the artist, and he donated the objects to Mexico City's Museum of Modern Art. Beatriz Varo Jiménez, the artist's niece, contested this donation and alleged the art objects were part of the artist's estate. Charmaine Picard, The Art Newspaper, November 2005, p. 10.
1 SEPTEMBER 2005
The German city of Kassel celebrates 50 years of Documenta. Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, 30 December 2005. p. C10.
4 SEPTEMBER 2005
In Brühl, Germany, close to Bonn and Cologne, the Max Ernst Museum opened. Max Ernst (1891–1976) was born in Brühl and left Germany in 1922. The museum collection comes from original holdings of the town of Brühl, gifts from the artist or art purchases by the town beginning in 1969 and from an exhaustive collection of Ernst's prints. Spies, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung 3 September 2005, p. 33; 5 September 2005, p. 37; Neue Zürcher Zeitung, Internationale Ausgabe, 12 September 2005, p. 18; Werner Spies, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, 5 September 2005, p. 37; ARTnews, November 2005, p. 98.
5 SEPTEMBER 2005
Opening of the Kunsthistorische Museum Vienna after 5 years of restoration. Il Giornale dell'Arte, September 2005, p. 40.
6 SEPTEMBER 2005
The UNESCO met in New Delhi and discussed the problem of trafficking in art objects, which—amounting to $6 billion—is next only to narcotics trade. Cp. http://portal.unesco.org.
7–14 SEPTEMBER 2005
The Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK) aired the documentary Skriftsamleren (The Manuscript Collector), a well-researched and hard-hitting investigation into the collecting activities of the Norwegian multimillionaire Martin Schøyen who collected also Buddhist manuscripts under dubious circumstances. Staffan Lundén, Culture Without Context 16 (Spring 2005): 3–11.
8 SEPTEMBER 2005
In a public state department hearing, the U.S. Cultural Property Advisory Committee met to discuss whether to renew a 2001 bilateral agreement with Italy broadly restricting the importation of Italian antiquities into the U.S. The Art Newspaper, October 2005, p. 4.
8 SEPTEMBER 2005
The heirs of Pablo Picasso (1881–1973) have been criticized by an advocate general of the European Court of Justice for commercializing Picasso's name for merchandise. The Art Newspaper, October 2005, p. 47.
8 SEPTEMBER 2005
The local priest of the village Umbriatico in southern Italy agreed to lend the statue of the local saint San Donato for an exhibition in Brazil. However, he had to abstain from doing it because the population protested against this loan and blocked the church. Frankfurter Rundschau, 9 September 2005, p. 14.
11 SEPTEMBER 2005
On European Heritage Day national museums and monuments were opened for the public.
11 SEPTEMBER 2005
Giorgios Gligoris of the Hellenic Police Force's antitrafficking unit spoke to the Boston Globe about looting of underwater sites off the Greek coast. He claims that some looters pose as wealthy tourists cruising on yachts, and that the rise of Internet auction houses has enabled criminal gangs to launder illicit antiquities. Culture Without Context 17 (2005): 19.
13 SEPTEMBER 2005
The Stiftung Preussische Schlösser und Gärten of Potsdam got back the painting “Ausritt der Fürstin Liegnitz im Park von Charlottenburg” by Franz Krüger (1797–1857) from the central Asian Republic Kyrgyzstan. It had been stolen in World War II. Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, 14 September 2005, p. 35.
14 SEPTEMBER 2005
Ceremonial opening of the Philological Library of the Freie Universität Berlin designed by the renowned British architect Sir Norman Foster. The library, the entrance of which adopts the form of a brain, provides a home for 700,000 books in 11 subsidiaries. Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, 19 September 2005, p. 35.
15 SEPTEMBER 2005
Danish police in Copenhagen recovered a self-portrait of Rembrandt stolen in a daring raid on Sweden's National Museum in Stockholm in December 2000. Two Iraqi nationals, a Swede, and a Gambian were arrested. They had offered the Rembrandt, worth about €34 million, for $100,000 to FBI agents posing as art buyers. At the time Los Angeles police revealed that 6 month ago a Renoir painting stolen in the same raid had been recovered in Los Angeles. Sharon Flescher, 8 IFAR Journal 8(1) (2005): 2.
16 SEPTEMBER 2005
Opening of the exhibition “Russia” in the Guggenheim Museum in New York. It is the most comprehensive and significant exhibition of Russian art outside Russia since the end of the Cold War. Including more than 250 artworks, many of which have rarely or never travelled abroad, this innovative presentation features the greatest masterpieces of Russian art from the thirteenth century to the present. International Herald Tribune, 12 December 2005, p. 3.
17–18 SEPTEMBER 2005
A painting of Jean-François Millet (1814–1875) stolen in 2004 in the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Reims has been discovered in a plastic bag hidden in a church. Le Journal des Arts, 7–20 October 2005, p. 4.
19 SEPTEMBER 2005
The news agency UPI reported that the American battalion stationed in Samarra, Iraq, had begun the construction of a berm or temporary embankment around the city, setting up checkpoints on all the roads to control access. There is concern, however, that these security measures threaten Samarra's heritage. Lucian Harris, The Art Newspaper, November 2005, p. 6.
22 SEPTEMBER 2005
The auction house Hampel in Munich had no success with the auction of 35 paintings, drawings and pastels, more than 30 graphic works, and many letters of Max Liebermann (1847–1935). The objects were part of the collection of the Karg-Stiftung for the promotion of highly gifted persons founded by the businessman Hans-Georg Karg (1921–2003). Because of contested provenances, many objects were not sold. Süddeutsche Zeitung, 3–4 September 2005, p. 38; Neue Zürcher Zeitung, Internationale Ausgabe, 17–18 September 2005, p. 37, and 1–2 October 2005, p, 37.
23 SEPTEMBER 2005
The auction “Arts of India” by Christie's of London attracted many nonresident Indians and became a success. Lucian Harris, The Art Newspaper, November 2005, p. 59.
23 SEPTEMBER 2005
Opening of the travelling exhibition “The World of Heroes: Myth and Reality, Works from Antiquity and Western European Art” which, sponsored by the Russian billionaire Oleg Deripaska, will show works of the Hermitage in St. Petersburg in Krasnodar, Rostov, and Stavropol. John Varoli, The Art Newspaper, November 2005, p. 25.
23 SEPTEMBER 2005
The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents announced that they have seized 322 Pre-Columbian artifacts in one of the largest recoveries ever of Peruvian artifacts in the U.S. Martha Lufkin, The Art Newspaper, November 2005, p. 2; Culture Without Context 17 (2005): 15.
26 SEPTEMBER 2005
Inauguration of the new Museo Nacional Reina Sofia in Madrid. The new building was designed by Jean Nouvel. Le Journal des Arts, 7–20 October 2005, p. 7; The Art Newspaper, September 2005, p. 24.
26 SEPTEMBER 2005
The Landgericht Halle, Germany, as county court of first instance found guilty the sellers of the illegally excavated Himmelsscheibe of Nebra (Sky Disc, found near the town Nebra). Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, 27 September 2005, p. 11; 28 September 2005, p. 11,
30 SEPTEMBER 2005
Opening in the Bibliothèque nationale of Paris the conference on “Twenty Years Preventive Archaeology in the World.” Daphné Bétard, Le Journal des Arts, 21 October–3 November 2005, p. 4.
SEPTEMBER 2005
The World Monuments Fund launched a large-scale conservation project for seven Pre-Columbian sites on the Yucatán Peninsula, Mexico. Culture Without Context 17 (2005): 15.
SEPTEMBER 2005
An exhibition of Italian art in Trieste, Italy, has prompted new claims for the return of cultural property displaced during World War II. Twenty-one paintings, drawings, and works of applied art, which went on view last summer in the Revoltella Museum, were removed by Italian authorities from the territory of Istria in 1940. The Slovenian government sent an official claim to Rome for the artworks. Konstantin Akinsha, ARTnews, December 2005, p. 76.
SEPTEMBER 2005
In Berlin Prince Michael von Sachsen-Weimar was awarded the German Maecenas-price of the Arbeitskreis selbständiger Kultur-Institute (Association of Independent Cultural Institutes). He and the family of the Dukes of Sachsen-Weimar gave up any claim for recovery of the Ducal Art Collection in Eisenach and Weimar and were satisfied to get compensation for their losses. Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, 22 September 2005, p. 42.
SEPTEMBER 2005
Russia launched an exhibition “Heritage Revealed, Art stolen from Hungarian Jews.” Martin Bailey, The Art Newspaper, February 2005, p. 23.
SEPTEMBER 2005
The Getty Museum has appointed Michael Brandt, formerly director of the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in Richmond, as the new director. Jason Edward Kaufman, The Art Newspaper, September 2005, p. 15.
SEPTEMBER 2005
Britain and China agreed to exchange antiquities and artworks on a temporary basis. In return for loaning China objects such as mummies from Egypt and cuneiform tablets from the Near East—cultures rarely seen in Chinese museums—Britain will receive a loan of antiquities including ceramics, paintings, and jade from Chinese collections. Charlotte Higgins, ARTnews, November 2005, p. 100.
SEPTEMBER 2005
The painting “The Fighting Temeraire” (1839) of J.M.W. Turner (1775–1851) was chosen by the British public as the “Most Popular Painting in Britain.” ARTnews, November 2005, p. 44.
SEPTEMBER 2005
The Federal Republic of Germany decided to implement the UNESCO Convention of 1970 and later to ratify this instrument. Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, 3 September 2005, p. 47.
SEPTEMBER 2005
The British Museum decided to loan the Cyrus Cylinder of 539 b.c. to Teheran's National Museum next year. The Cyrus Cylinder was discovered in 1879 in ancient Babylon in what was then part of the Ottoman Empire and is now modern Iraq. It was exported with the permission of the Ottoman authorities and since then undisputed ownership of the British Museum. The 23-centimeter–long baked clay cylinder, inscribed in cuneiform, is an order by Cyrus the Great following his conquest of Babylon. The text records how Cyrus ordered the restitution of images of gods which had been taken to Babylon and these were to be brought back to temples in Mesopotamia and western Iran. Martin Bailey, The Art Newspaper, September 2005, p. 18.
3 OCTOBER 2005
Marion True, curator of antiquities at the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles, resigned from her office. ARTnews, November 2005, p. 74; Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, 5 October 2005, p. 44.
6 OCTOBER 2005
Opening of the Foire internationale d'art contemporain (FIAC) in Paris. Le Journal des Arts, 23 September–6 October 2005, p. 15.
8 OCTOBER 2005
From 29 September to 8 October the auction house Sotheby's sold at auction on castle Marienburg, Germany, 20,000 items of the royal collection of the house Hannover for about €41.8 million. Il Giornale dell'Arte, November 2005, p. 69; The Art Newspaper, November 2005, p. 61; Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, 7 October 2005, p. 7.
10 OCTOBER 2005
The municipality of the French city of Strasbourg approved the contract between the city and the owner of the Canaletto painting “La Salute from the Entrance of the Canale Grande.” The former owner sold it for €2.5 million to the city of Strasbourg to be exhibited in the municipal museum. Le Journal des Arts, 21 October–3 November 2005, p. 8; Alexandra Kemmerer, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, 10 November 2005, p. 42.
11 OCTOBER 2005
The U.S. government has expressed regret that U.S. military officials in 1945 took valuables belonging to Hungarian Jews from the so-called Nazi “Gold Train.” The lawsuit Rosner v. United States pending in Miami was settled on 26 September provided that such an apology was expressed. The United States will pay $25.5 million to elderly Jews affected by the American seizure. Neue Zürcher Zeitung, Internationale Ausgabe, 15–16 October 2005, p. 6 Martha Lufkin, The Art Newspaper, December 2005, p. 9.
13 OCTOBER 2005
BBC TV showed the film “The Artworld Dodger,” which tells the ongoing story of the supposedly reformed Dutch smuggler Michel van Rijn. The Art Newspaper, December 2005, p. 37.
13 OCTOBER 2005
The French Tribunal de grande instance of Paris dismissed the lawsuit of the Pinaults asking to annul the sale of a writing desk of the time of Louis XVI. Le Journal des Arts, 4–17 November 2005, p. 40.
14 OCTOBER 2005
More than 600 antiquities stolen in Egypt four years ago and seized by British authorities at Heathrow airport were flown back to Egypt. BBC News, 14 October 2005.
17 OCTOBER 2005
A fire destroyed several old railway engines in the Museum of the German Railway in Nürnberg. Neue Zürcher Zeitung, Internationale Ausgabe, 22 June 2006, p. 7.
19 OCTOBER 2005
Opening of the exhibition “Egon Schiele” at the “Neue Galerie” in New York, The heirs of Fritz Grünbaum, who was an important art collector of Vienna and killed in Dachau in 1941, discovered some works of art formerly owned by Fritz Grünbaum and now located in several mostly American museums. The heirs plan to recover these works of art. Il Giornale dell'Arte, April 2006, p. 20.
20 OCTOBER 2005
The UNESCO adopted the Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions. This convention qualifies cultural expressions as more than economic goods, which may be protected by national states without violating free trade. Le Journal des Arts, 18 November–1 December 2005, p. 6; Rascher/Fischer, Aktuelle Juristische Praxis 2006, 813 et seq.
23 OCTOBER 2005
Opening of the travelling exhibition “Nimrud Gold,” a cache of ancient jewelry which was rescued from a Baghdad bank vault. The exhibition will tour to 12 cities in Europe. It is organized by the Copenhagen-based United Exhibits Group. The Art Newspaper, April 2005, p. 3.
24 OCTOBER 2005
Topping-out ceremony in Weimar, Germany with the Herzogin Anna Amalia Library, which caught fire in September 2004. Bibliotheksdienst 2005, p. 1645.
24 OCTOBER 2005
There was a dispute whether the painting “Rote Mitte” by Oskar Schlemmer (1888–1943) is owned by the heirs of the artist or by the person seized of the art object. This person asked for a court order prohibiting the grandson of Oskar Schlemmer to declare in public that the painting is still part of the state of his grandfather. The German Bundesgerichtshof gave this order. Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, 26 October 2005, p. 25.
25 OCTOBER 2005
The British Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) published new Guidelines urging cultural institutions to ask for evidence, or provenance, of the object's history before acquiring it; refuse to accept anything when there are doubts about its origin; and seek expert advice when they are unsure of how to progress. The guidelines, “Combating Illicit Trade: Due diligence guidelines for museums, libraries and archives on collecting and borrowing cultural material,” are available at http://www.culture.gov.uk/NR/rdonlyres/721E9365-38BE-4AF8-BF8D-BE5B4BF8B21C/0/Combating Illicit Trade v5.pdf. Art Newspaper, December 2005, p. 7.
25 OCTOBER 2005
At an Internet auction in Philadelphia, three paintings of Heinrich Bürkel (Pirmasens 1802–1869 Munich) were offered for sale. These paintings were stolen in Pirmasens during World War II and the city of Pirmasens asked for return. With help from the United States the paintings were not sold and finally returned to Pirmasens on 10 February 2006. Heike Wittmer, Kunst und Recht 2006, p. 37
27 OCTOBER 2005
The Council of Europe adopted the Framework Convention on the Value of Cultural Heritage for Society. Council of Europe Treaty Series No. 199.
28 OCTOBER 2005
Charles Saatchi closed his gallery at County Hall, London. He will open it again at the Duke of York's Headquarters in King's Road, Chelsea, London. The Art Newspaper, December 2005, p. 10.
30 OCTOBER 2005
Consecration of the protestant Frauenkirche (Church of Our Lady) of Dresden, Germany, of 1726–1743, which as destroyed in World War II and rebuilt since 1993. The reconstruction was very expensive (€180 million), but most of the money (ca. €100 million) came from private donations by many countries. The Art Newspaper, December 2005, p. 26; Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, 28 October 2005, p. 39, 28 October 2005, pp. 9 and 37.
30 OCTOBER 2005
Police and government officials of Cambodia revealed that the looting of ancient graves in Banteay Meanchey and Oddar Meanchey province of Cambodia is continuing unabated. http://museum-security@museum-secutity.org of 31 October 2005.
OCTOBER 2005
Section 47 of the British Human Tissue Act 2004 (c.30) has been amended to allow museums (British Museum, Natural History Museum, and others) to return human remains, “which are reasonably believed to be under 1.000 years in age.” At the same time the British Department for Culture, Media and Sport published “Guidance for the care of human remains in museums.” The Art Newspaper, November 2005, p. 18.
OCTOBER 2005
Trial of E. Forbes Smiley III, dealer of maps and atlases, for having stolen maps from the Beinecke Library of Yale University, New Haven. Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, 15 October 2005, p. 49.
OCTOBER 2005
The Gallery of Fine Arts in Ostrava, Czech Republic, still declines to return valuable paintings looted from the industrialist Oskar Federer by the Nazis in Czechoslovakia in 1939 and finally exhibited in the Ostrava museum. The statute no. 212/2000 “to mitigate certain property-related injustices suffered between 1938 and 1945 by Jewish communities” is not applied. Milton Esterow, ARTnews, November 2005, p. 92–94.
OCTOBER 2005
At Angkor Wat Heritage Watch opened a 2-month exhibition to educate tourists about the disastrous effects of looting and of buying illicit antiquities. Culture Without Context 17 (2005): 21.
OCTOBER 2005
As the United States considers China's request for restrictions on the import of archaeological material, the question of China's alleged organized plunder of Tibetan artifacts is about to come under U.S. congressional scrutiny. The move is likely to be seized on by dealers in the United States, who oppose restrictions on the trade in Chinese artifacts. James MacDonald, The Art Newspaper, November 2005, p. 3; Sharon Flescher, Robert W. Bagley, Patty Gerstenblith and others, IFAR Journal 7(3/4) (2004/05): 20.
OCTOBER 2005
Egypt is planning to renew her Antiquities Law of 1983. The draft statute is waiting for parliamentary approval. http://www.museum-secuity@museum-secuity.org of 28 October 2005.
OCTOBER 2005
The Central Institute for Art History in Munich gave access to photos of wall and ceiling paintings of buildings in Austria, Czechoslovakia, Germany, Italy, Poland, and Russia taken by German art historians during World War II. These paintings can be found under http://www.fotothek.org. Neue Zürcher Zeitung, Internationale Ausgabe 5 December 2005, p. 8; Donald Lee, The Art Newspaper, December 2005, p. 26; Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, 6 October 2005, p. 35.
OCTOBER 2005
Should a reception room for Adolf Hitler in the Wiener Volkstheater be protected as a national monument? Finally, the answer was negative and the “Hitler-Zimmer” was dismantled; the remnants were used as scenery for Thomas Bernhard's piece “Vor dem Ruhestand.” Neue Zürcher Zeitung, Internationale Ausgabe, 17 October 2005, p. 17.
OCTOBER 2005
Italian police arrested five alleged tomb robbers and/or collectors in possession of 600 ancient artifacts and traced around 3,000 more illicit antiquities to the Linz home of an 82-year-old Austrian tour guide nicknamed Mozart, who they allege employed the five. Culture Without Context 17 (2005): 17.
OCTOBER 2005
Conference of the Berlin Museums and the Pushkin Museum in Moscow on problems of restoration and conservation of cultural property. Süddeutsche Zeitung, 8–9 October 2005, p. 14.
OCTOBER 2005
The Smithsonian Institution has received the Walt Disney–Tishman Collection of African art, a gift of 525 artifacts valued at $20 million to $50 million. Donated by the Walt Disney Company, the collection will become part of the Smithsonian's National Museum of African Art, which is planning a major exhibition for February 2007. Charmaine Picard, The Art Newspaper, November 2005, p. 13.
OCTOBER 2005
A French court ruled against François Pinault and his wife attempting to cancel the sale of a Louis XVI table that they bought at auction in 2001. The Art Newspaper, December 2005, p. 10.
OCTOBER 2005
In Göppingen, Germany, valuable Märklin model railway toys have been stolen. Die Zeit, 3 November 2005, p. 13.
1 NOVEMBER 2005
Professor Hanan Eshel, archaeologist of the Bar Ilan University, Israel, was arrested on suspicion of locating and purchasing an ancient document (pieces of a Leviticus scroll) from antiquities thieves and of not having reported the purchase to the Israel Antiquities Authority within 25 days. http://www.museum-security@museum-security.org of 4 November 2005.
5 NOVEMBER 2005
Thanks to close cooperation between Germany and Syria, Syria recovered important antiquities (necklaces, glass-made cups, bronze-made crosses, etc.), which were smuggled outside the country after they were stolen some 3 years ago. The antiquities were discovered at the German-Swiss borders while two Syrians were trying to smuggle them into Germany. http://www.museum-security@museum-security.org of 6 November 2005.
5 NOVEMBER 2005
The Boston Globe reported that the Boston Museum of Fine Arts will contact Italian authorities to get more information whether also objects acquired by the museum were smuggled out of Italy by the art dealers Robert E. Hecht and Giacomo Medici accused of having sold protected antiquities to the Getty Foundation. http://www.museum-security@museum-security.org of 5 November 2005.
7 NOVEMBER 2005
Hearing before the London High Court the case between the Panama-based Erie International Trading Co. and the American restaurateur Michael Bakwin concerning seven paintings (of Cézanne, Soutine, Utrillo, and Vlaminck) stolen in 1978 and now offered for sale by Erie. Georgina Adam, The Art Newspaper, November 2005, p. 56; XXXI ARTnewsletter 13 (14 February 2006): 6; Stefan Koldehoff, Süddeutsche Zeitung, 22 November 2005, p. 15.
8 NOVEMBER 2005
Roy Lichtenstein's painting “In the Car” was sold with Christie's in New York for $14.5 million. Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, 31 December 2005, p. 53; Mark Rothko's “Homage to Matisse” (1954) was sold for $22.4 million. Neue Zürcher Zeitung, Internationale Ausgabe, 12–13 November 2005, p. 37.
8 NOVEMBER 2005
The Italian group UniCredit presented to the public the principal projects of cultural activity in the near future. Il Giornale dell'Arte, December 2005, p. 10.
8 NOVEMBER 2005
A 2-year–long legal action by Manhattan art collector and gallery-backer Jean-Pierre Lehmann against art dealer Christian Haye, co-owner of The Project gallery on 57th Street was resolved. The dispute arose in late 2003, 2 years after the collector had made a $75,000 loan to the gallery, expecting to be repaid through gaining head-of-the-line rights to purchase the artwork of Ethiopian-born Mehretu at discounted prices. ARTnewsletter, 20 December 20095, p. 5.
9 NOVEMBER 2005
The Dutch State Secretary transferred a mummified Maori head held by the Museum Volkenkunde at Leiden, Netherlands, to the Te Papa Museum in New Zealand confirming the exception to the rule of sharing collections: museum property will not be returned to countries of origin unless it concerns human remains that a family, for example, is requesting. In that case, moral law trumps property law. Museum Volkenkunde Leiden, Annual Report 2005, p. 11.
10 NOVEMBER 2005
Three archaeological objects of Italian provenance arrived at Rome International Airport. They were returned by the Getty Museum after having been convinced that they were exported illegally. Press release of the Italian Ministry of Culture. http://www.Museum-security@museum-security.org of 10 November 2005; Süddeutsche Zeitung, 24 November 2005, p. 11.
12 NOVEMBER 2005
Opening of the exhibition “China, the Three Emperors” in the Royal Academy of London. At the same time there are negotiations to get some permanent loans from the Beijing museums. Martin Bailey, The Art Newspaper, November 2005, p. 22.
15 NOVEMBER 2005
The St. Petersburg Hermitage exhibits many art objects in the London Somerset House. The State Hermitage Museum is to end all loans to its gallery in London, unless the British government provides guarantees against the seizure of works of art. Martin Bailey, The Art Newspaper, December 2005, p. 1.
15 NOVEMBER 2005
The French Cour de cassation annulled a decision of the court of Appeals of Paris in the dispute about the authenticity of a tableau-piège “Mon petit déjeuner” of Daniel Spoerri. The buyer questioned whether the artist himself had arranged the plates for the art object. The Cour de cassation decided that “the effective author is that person who personally creates or performs the art object.” As the tableau-piège was arranged by somebody else on instructions of the artist, the art object was not a personally created object of Spoerri. Bulletin de la Cour de cassation, 2005, I, 344; Le Journal des Arts, 6–19 January 2006, p. 26.
16 NOVEMBER 2005
Beginning of a criminal trial in Rome against Marion True, the ex-curator of the Getty Museum in Malibu, California, and the antiquities dealer Robert Hecht. They are charged of having acquired, many years ago, illegally excavated and exported archaeological objects originating in Italy for the Getty Museum. Sharon Flescher, IFAR Journal 7 (3/4) (2005): 10; Jenny Doole, Culture Without Context 17 (2005): 12; Il Giornale dell'Arte, November 2005, p. 1, and December 2005, p. 6; The Art Newspaper, December 2005, p. 7; Jenny Doole, Culture Without Context 17 (2005): 12; Hubertus Adam, Neue Zürcher Zeitung, Internationale Ausgabe, 18 November 2005, p. 36; Kelly Devine Thomas/Eileen Kinsella, ARTnews, December 2005, p. 62.
16 NOVEMBER 2005
The Swiss Federal Council (Swiss government) decided that art objects loaned by the Moscow Pushkin Museum for an art exhibition in Martigny, Switzerland, at the Gianadda Foundation are immune from seizure by a creditor of the Russian Republic and can be returned to the Pushkin Museum. The art objects had been seized by Nessim Gaon, an unpaid holder of an award given by a Swedish arbitration tribunal. The Swiss Federal Council said that the exchange of cultural objects is state activity iure imperii and hence protected against proceedings and executions. Hansjörg Peter, Blätter für Schuldbetreibung und Konkurs 70 (2006): 54; Neue Zürcher Zeitung, Internationale Ausgabe, 17 November 2005, p. 9.
21 NOVEMBER 2005
The French Cour de cassation decided about the conflict between the auctioneers (commissaires-priseurs) and the bailiffs (huissiers). Recueil Dalloz 2006, Jur., p. 1658.
25 NOVEMBER 2005
Trial in the Hamburg Landgericht (county court) against the Hamburg Kunsthalle because of remuneration of the Frankfurt lawyer Edgar Liebrucks for helping to recover the paintings of William Turner and Caspar David Friedrich stolen in 1994 while being exhibited in the Frankfurt Schirn Gallery. Süddeutsche Zeitung, Magazin of 3 November 2005.
28 NOVEMBER 2005
In London with MacDougal the painting “In the Dukhan” of Mikhail Larionov (1881–1964) was sold for £350,000. It was mentioned in the auction catalog that the painting was once part of the collection of the State Azerbaijani Museum. One day before the auction, the Museum denied this. The Art Newspaper, January 2006, p. 41.
30 NOVEMBER 2005
The German Office to Regulate Open Questions of Property (Bundesamt zur Regelung offener Vermögensfragen) returned the painting “Gentleman with Gloves” of Franz Dobiaschofsky (1818–1867) to the heirs of the former owner. The painting was exhibited in the State Museum of Lower Saxony. Zeitschrift für offene Vermögensfragen, 2006, p. 16.
30 NOVEMBER 2005
Greece announced that it will take legal action to try to recover four antiquities that it says the Getty Museum possesses illegally. Martha Lufkin, The Art Newspaper, January 2006, p. 12.
NOVEMBER 2005
The new Berlin main railway station has been designed by the Hamburg architects Meinhard and Gerkan. The railway company decided unilaterally to change the ceiling of the hall and the main entrance. The architects brought a law suit because of violation of the contract with the railway company. Horst Bredekamp, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, 17 November 2005, p. 36.
NOVEMBER 2005
The Art Copyright Centre, Japan, has filed a lawsuit against the city of Yokohama for alleged infringement of the copyright of an artist it represents. It claims that the city posted three images on the internet of a painting offered for sale in an online auction, without paying copyright fees. The city had seized the painting from a resident who had not paid municipal taxes. Kay Itoi, The Art Newspaper, December 2005, p. 51.
NOVEMBER 2005
The British Museum loaned the Kwakwaka'wakw ancestral mask to the U'mista Cultural Society Museum in the settlement of Alert bay, on Cormorant Island, off Vancouver Island. This long-term loan to a native Canadian community is evidence of a change in the British Museum's policy for its ethnological collection. The Art Newspaper, December 2005, p. 19.
NOVEMBER 2005
As the market for Russian art grows, so does the business of faking pictures. Russian police arrested a Moscow art and antiques dealer suspected of forging five nineteenth-century Russian paintings, which he offered for sale at a combined value of $ 750,000. John Varoli, The Art Newspaper, December 2005, p. 49.
NOVEMBER 2005
The bilateral agreement between the United States of America and the Republic of Nicaragua on restrictions on the import of some kinds of Nicaraguan art objects has been extended for another 5 years. Patty Gerstenblith, News of the U.S. Department of State. International Lawyer 40 (2006): 442.
NOVEMBER 2005
Plans have been announced for the $550 million Great Egyptian Museum near the Pyramids to be opened in 2010. Martin Bailey, The Art Newspaper, December 2005, p. 23; Le Journal des Arts, 6–19 January 2006, p. 8.
NOVEMBER 2005
The Minneapolis Institute of Arts is among eight U.S. museums accused by Italian authorities of possessing antiquities allegedly looted from ancient Italian ruins. The Minneapolis Institute of Arts will investigate whether it also holds antiquities looted in Italy. http://www.mueum-security@museum-security.org of 9 November 2005.
NOVEMBER 2005
More than 2 years after the fall of Saddam Hussein, 10,000 artifacts looted from the National Museum of Iraq are still missing. http://www.museum-security@museum-security.org of 9 November 2005.
NOVEMBER 2005
The American “Research Project on Art and Archives” held a conference in Moscow, Russia, to discuss the restitution of art objects taken from private owners and still held by national or privately run museums in many countries. Lawyers from many countries reported about their experience with claims for restitution and about the solutions found in many disputed cases. Kerstin Holm, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, 22 November 2005, p. 40.
NOVEMBER 2005
The Committee for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict, established under Article 24 of the Second Protocol to the Hague Convention of 1954 for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict (IJCP 1999, p. 530), elected Switzerland as one of the twelve members of the Committee for 4 years. Neue Zürcher Zeitung, Internationale Ausgabe, 29 November 2005, p. 38. Text of the Second Protocol is reproduced in International Journal of Cultural Property 8, 1999: 530.
NOVEMBER 2005
Opening of the Musée d'art contemporain du Val-de-Marne (MAC/VAL) in a suburb of Paris. Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, 23 November 2005, p. 41.
NOVEMBER 2005
Peru is preparing a lawsuit against Yale University to retrieve artifacts taken nearly a century ago from the Inca citadel of Machu Picchu. http://www.Museum-security@museum-securits.org of 3 December 2005.
NOVEMBER 2005
In 2003 the painting “Ploughmen,” signed by “Vincent” was given to an auction house in Bordeaux, France to be sold at auction. The painting was finally withdrawn because the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam declined to recognize the painting as painted by Vincent van Gogh. The expert Benoît Landais is of the opinion that the painting is one of the missing works on wood by van Gogh painted in Drenthe, Netherlands, but confirms that the painting cannot be sold as a “van Gogh” without the expertise by the Van Gogh Museum that it is a work of van Gogh. The owner of the painting, a simple kitchen hand who bought the painting in a flee market, started a lawsuit in Bordeaux against the Van Gogh Museum and asks for a positive expertise or €6 million. Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, 3 December 2005, p. 51.
1 DECEMBER 2005
Sotheby's of London sold the autograph of Beethoven's “Grosse Fuge” (1825), discovered in a library in Pennsylvania, for €1 million. Neue Zürcher Zeitung, Internationale Ausgabe, 30 November 2005, p. 25 and 2 December 2005, p. 25
1–4 DECEMBER 2005
The Basel-based art fair, Art Basel Miami Beach, again opened in Florida. Süddeutsche Zeitung 17 November 2005, Reise p. 1.
5 DECEMBER 2005
Second hearing in the trial of Marion True, former director of the Getty Museum, in Rome. Il Giornale dell'Arte, January 2006, p. 8.
7 DECEMBER 2005
A local not-for-profit “culture and environment” group in the city of Kut, southern Iraq, has rescued 287 objects looted from the local museum following negotiations with locals—mainly families living near the museum. Culture Without Context 17 (2005): 18.
8 DECEMBER 2005
The Berry-Hill Galleries, a top New York dealer in American Art, filed for bankruptcy. The Art Newspaper, January 2006, p. 39; ARTnewsletter, 20 December 2005, p. 3.
15 DECEMBER 2005
Theft of Henry Moore's “Reclining Figure” from the private park of Much Hadham in Perry Green, Hertfordshire, England. Neue Zürcher Zeitung, Internationale Ausgabe, 1 February 2006, p. 25; art, February 2006, p. 114; The Art Newspaper, February 2006, p. 5.
14–15 DECEMBER 2005
The collection Wildenstein was sold at auction with Christie's of London. 300 pieces of furniture have been sold for more than $38.8 million, £7 million above its presale expectations. Il Giornale dell'Arte, January 2006, p. 58; Georgina Adam, The Art Newspaper, January 2006, p. 44.
15 DECEMBER 2005
The painting “Seppellimento di Santa Lucia” of Caravaggio (1571/72–1610) has arrived in Milano for the exhibition “Caravaggio e l'Europa” after it was withheld by the Italian Istituto Centrale del Restauro. Il Giornale dell'Arte, January 2006, p. 4.
19 DECEMBER 2005
The Museo Egizio of Torino, Italy, has become the Fondazione Museo delle Antichità Egizie under the new Italian legge Bottai for the privatization of public museums. Il Giornale dell'Arte, January 2006, p. 1.
19 DECEMBER 2005
The Dutch Advisory Committee on the Assessment of Restitution Applications for Items of Cultural Value and the Second World War issued its recommendation in the Goudstikker case. The Committee advised the State Secretary to return 202 of the 267 claimed works of art. These art objects were part of the trading stock of the art gallery Goudstikker and became later part of the Dutch National Art Collection. Annual Report 2005 of the Advisory Committee, p. 33, 78.
20 DECEMBER 2005
The 20th Council on Foundations, a membership organization of more than 2000 grant-making foundations and giving programs, announced it had placed the J. Paul Getty Trust on probation for 60 days. The council said it is awaiting additional information from the Getty that relates to “serious charges of misconduct levelled against the foundation in public news stories.” ARTnewsletter 31 (10) (2006): 4.
DECEMBER 2005
The U.K. government published new due diligence guidelines for museums, galleries, and libraries. They are available on the Internet at http://www.culture.gov.uk/NR/rdonlyres/721E9365-38BE-4AF8-BF8D-BE5B4BF8B21C/0/CombatingIllicitTrade-v5.pdf.
DECEMBER 2005
The Berlin Museums got back the painting “Ruinen einer gotischen Klosterkirche” of Domenico Quaglio (1787–1837) stolen during World War II and discovered recently. Museums Journal 3 (2006): 28.
DECEMBER 2005
The Hamburger Bahnhof museum in Berlin, Germany, has scrapped plans to erect the installation “Cube Berlin 2006” by the German artist Gregor Schneider, which was originally scheduled to open this March as part of the Berlin Biennale. The work was originally commissioned for the Venice Biennale last year but never realized for fear of offending Muslims. Gareth Harris, The Art Newspaper, January 2006. p. 7.
DECEMBER 2005
The State of Peru has asked American Museums (especially Yale University) to return artifacts taken by Hiram Bingham about 100 years ago from Machu Picchu. Yale refused to do so and relied on the old Peruvian Civil Code of 1852. Leiden Network, http://www.museum-security@museum-security.org of 30 December 2005.
DECEMBER 2005
Six suspects who might have had stolen Edvard Munch's “The Scream” in August 2004 have been accused of theft in Oslo. Neue Zürcher Zeitung, Internationale Ausgabe, 20 December 2005, p. 7.
DECEMBER 2005
The “Galerie des Glaces” of the castle of Versailles were renovated and opened for the public. Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, 21 December 2005, p. 9.
DECEMBER 2005
The Kunsthalle of Hamburg wanted to return the painting “Harbour of Bastia on Corsica” of Auguste Herbin (1862–1960) to the family of the former owner Oskar Gerson. He left Hamburg in 1939 and the painting was confiscated and later bought bona fide by the Kunsthalle. Moved by this gesture family Gerson donated the painting to the Kunsthalle, art, January 2006, p. 111.
DECEMBER 2005
The Museum Ludwig Cologne acquired with help from various sources (i.e. Kulturstiftung der Länder) the collection “Agfa Photo-Historama” and became one of the few museums with a big and important collection of photographies. arsprototo 1 (2006): 10.
DECEMBER 2005
The painting “Zwingergraben” of Bernardo Bellotto, called Canaletto (1722–1780) was formerly owned by the Hamburg merchant Max James Emden. Since 1929 he lived in Switzerland and also had transferred his art collection to Switzerland. Between 1938 and 1941 he sold the painting to the art collection of Adolf Hitler. It became part of the Munich Central Collecting Point and was finally given to the Federal republic of Germany. The heir of Mr. Emden asked for the return because Mr. Emden had sold the painting under pressure. This is denied by the Federal Republic. art, January 2006, p. 109.
DECEMBER 2005
Italian police arrested an art dealer who sold antiquities on the flea market of Rome. The police attached 9000 stolen Etruscan and Roman objects in his house. Neue Zürcher Zeitung, Internationale Ausgabe, 29 December 2005, p. 7.
DECEMBER 2005
The sculpture “Equal-Parallel/Guernica-Bengasi” (38 tons heavy) of Richard Serra disappeared in the Reina-Sofia Museo on Madrid. Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, 20 January 2006, p. 31; The Art Newspaper, February 2006, p. 5.
DECEMBER 2005
Philippe De Montebello of the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art met the Italian Minister of Cultural Property to discuss the future of Italian art objects exhibited in American Museums and allegedly illegally exported from Italy. Il Giornale dell'Arte, January 2006, p. 8; ARTnewsletter, 8 November 2005, p. 4; Matthew Bogdanos, The Terrorist in the Art Gallery, International Herald Tribune, 12 December 2005, p. 8.
DECEMBER 2005
In 2001 the Paris Hôtel Drouot sold parts of the art collection of the Foundation Salomon Rothschild. Also, worked gold articles were sold and some of them exported with French export licences; however, the objects had already been donated by the widow of Salomon Rothschild to the French Republic but never handed to a French museum. Now the French government tries to recover these items; because of their quality as inalienable domaine public they could not be sold and exported. Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, 10 December 2005, p. 50.
DECEMBER 2005
The British Museum and the Glasgow Art Gallery paid compensation to the heirs of the Bruno collector Dr. Arthur Feldmann for two works of art (drawing and still-life painting) held by these museums. The works of art were part of Mr. Feldmann's collection until they were seized by the Nazis in 1939 and, under the present legal situation of prohibiting deaccession, could not be returned by the British museums to the heirs. The Art Newspaper, February 2006, p. 1.
DECEMBER 2005
In 1997 a suicide bombing took place in Jerusalem, Israel. The bombing was allegedly sponsored by Iran. Victims of this bombing are seeking antiquities in the United States belonging to Iran. In Illinois Ms. Rubin and others are seeking antiquities on loan by Iran to the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago as well as antiquities of the collection of the institute, which allegedly belong to the Iran although acquired by the Institute in the 1930s and 40s. These antiquities belong also to Iran, as the victims allege, because they were acquired after the entry into force of Iran's Antiquities Ownership Law of 1930. All these antiquities should be liquidated to compensate the victims of the bombing in Jerusalem in 1997. U.S. Magistrate Judge Ashman of the federal district court in Chicago ruled that only Iran could assert Iran's sovereign immunity defenses that might protect the antiquities. Martha Lufkin, The Art Newspaper, May 2006, p. 12.
DECEMBER 2005
In 2005 the donations to cultural institutions of France have risen considerably in contrast to the year before. Guillaume Morel, Le Journal des Arts, 17–30 March 2006, p. 3; 31 March/13 April 2006, p. 16.
