The Long Arm of the Law

24 years after they were stolen from the Solomon Gallery on Madison Avenue in NYC, four important contemporary paintings -- by Robert Motherwell, Franz Kline, Jean Dubuffet, and Fernand Leger -- have been recovered in Cologne, Germany.

On July 4^th, 1988, an unidentified intruder picked the locks of the gallery and made off with six paintings. At the time, the theft was reported to the NYPD, the FBI, and Interpol, and was registered with the International Foundation for Art Research and with the Art Loss Register.

Here's the story as released today by the Art Loss Register: “An oil on canvas by Karel Appel,was the first work to resurface and was recovered in 2003 when a German art dealer searched the ALR Database through his lawyer in Stuttgart, Germany. The dealer claimed to have purchased five of the six stolen works on a buying trip in New York but the lawyer could produce no documentation of the sale and refused to divulge the name of his client to authorities.

A German public prosecutor issued a warrant for aiding and abetting the sale of stolen goods but a police raid of the lawyer's home and office failed to uncover the other pictures. According to law enforcement, all references to the dealer had been removed from the firm's case files and in a bizarre series of events, one law firm partner was charged with threatening a police officer involved in the raid.

The sudden focus on the law firm meant the lawyer could no longer represent the art dealer who quickly retained new counsel. Hiding behind this second lawyer, a criminal specialist from Munich, the German dealer once again refused to cooperate and the case went cold.

Over the course of the next nine years, no attempts were made to contact the ALR or authorities over the stolen pictures. Finally, in 2012 the daughter of the now deceased dealer contacted the Dedalus Foundation in New York to authenticate the stolen Motherwell. The daughter, a fine art professional, had also approached a local auction house but was quickly referred back to the ALR. The ALR Recovery Team immediately flew to Cologne where they met with police authorities and positively identified the works as the paintings stolen in 1988.

Christopher A. Marinello, a lawyer who specialises in recovering stolen and looted artwork for the ALR, negotiated the return of the four paintings with the lawyer for the family. ‘At the Art Loss Register, we're going to make life difficult for those who attempt to sell stolen art. You can hide behind lawyers and look for loopholes in civil law jurisdictions, but eventually you're going to have to deal with some very uncomfortable issues. The problem will not simply disappear with the passage of time. Leaving stolen artworks to the next generation is a losing proposition.’

Marinello credits authorities in the US and Germany for their strong support: ‘International cooperation among law enforcement is alive and well when it comes to recovering stolen art. The determination and tenacity of Special Agent Meredith A. Savona of the FBI Art Crime Team, NYPD Detective Mark Fishstein and the Cologne Police Department were critical in bringing these pictures home.’

Despite this auspicious ending one final work remains unrecovered. Mulberry Centre by Franz Kline appears to have been separated from the others.”

Destructive Art

There seems to be a trend brewing, called "Destructive Art".

For a recent gallery show in London, Michael Landy installed a huge glass
tank and invited people to toss in their "creative failures".

The South London Gallery website offered an explanation of the various
notions the installation represented, ending with "and [...it] makes reference to the
derision with which contemporary art is sometimes treated." ... hmmm ...

I personally prefer art that lifts the spirit. With all the bleakness and destruction that exists in the world ... why strive to create more?

Shaquille O’Neal as Art Curator

Size Does Matter, an exhibit curated by Shaquille O’Neal, will continue to run through May 27, 2010, at the Flag Art Foundation, a contemporary art space on W.25th St in NYC.

In an article in New York Magazine (02/15/10), when asked how he made his choices, Shaq said, "Art is a process of delivering or arranging elements that appeal to the emotions (...). The thing about size -- if it's big or small you have to look at it. Because I'm so big you have to look at me. I think of myself as a monument. But sometimes I like to feel small."
(Maybe by going to a planetarium? MJM)

Shaq weighs 320 pounds and stands 7'1" in size 22 shoes, so he knows something about size relativity! He selected 66 works for the show, ranging from Andreas Gursky's billboard-size photograph, Madonna I, to a tiny portrait of Shaq himself, by Willard Wigan.

The exhibit, which includes works by international artists (including the likes of Chuck Close & Cindy Sherman), explores the ways that scale affects perception. Large and small objects require different viewing approaches, elicit unique responses, and reflect a variety of purpose. The exhibit demonstrates how scale can be treated as a key compositional component in a variety of media.

Less Elephant Dung?

This headline in a recent issue of Art Knowledge News makes me think I might yet learn to better appreciate contemporary art!

Less Elephant Dung in New Show by Chris Ofili at Tate Britain