May 21, 2010 - Auction Central News

Elvis, James Dean and Banksy star in May 27 Fame Bureau sale

Elvis Presley gold medallion, estimate $1 million to $1.4 million. Image courtesy Fame Bureau.

LONDON – Rare street pieces by the elusive British graffiti artist Banksy, Elvis jewelry, John Lennon’s original peace banner and a pocket watch that belonged to screen legend James Dean are among the highlights in Fame Bureau’s May 27 auction. Internet live bidding will be provided by LiveAuctioneers.com.

The popular art section is led by the British art world’s hottest star, Banksy. Four early original street pieces will be auctioned, including Plywood Ghetto Rat 2004, Lock Pick Rat 2005, and Bling Rat 2006. Rare prints which include the LA set 2006, Silver Flag, Trolley Hunters (color), Love Rat, Toxic Virgin and Grannies.

Also included are pieces from John Lennon, John Davis, Andy Warhol and James Wilkinson.

The John Lennon artwork, titled WWIII, is a stunning peace campaign banner, hand-painted and signed by Lennon. It hung in the Apple offices alongside more of his original work.

A collection of more than 40 John Davis multimedia paintings was commissioned by Roger Daltrey and Pete Townsend to illustrate the autobiographic book, Decades of the Who. The unique psychedelic interpretations are accompanied by all legal paperwork between the commissioning agents, signed letters from Pete Townsend, drafts of ideas and letterheads for Eel Pie Studios, and an extensive collection of Who Books posters, personal and candid photographs with an inventory of who retains ownership and copyright.

Elvis Presley’s TCB tour bus, his fingerprints on a Palm Springs gun license application, and a gold and diamond necklace are the highlights in the large Elvis Presley section in The Fame Bureau’s May 27th auction.

Scotty Moore, Elvis’ legendary guitarist, is also contributing to the auction by consigning Elvis Presley’s cherished teenage record collection that influenced many of the songs released by Elvis in his early recording years.

Elvis’ solid gold partner cross is also offered along with his Graceland golf buggy, his personal TCB logo design in his own hand, two clumps of Elvis’ hair and many other personal items relating to the life of Elvis Presley.

James Dean dominates the film section in the form of his “lucky charm” pocket watch, which is said to be one of the most important personal artifacts of James Dean known to exist. The cover of the pocket watch bears James Dean’s engraved initials. When Dean made his screen debut in the classic East of Eden, he insisted on wearing this lucky pocket watch throughout filming, despite director Eli Kazan’s protest. Dean wore the watch hanging from a belt loop and it can be clearly seen throughout the movie.

Marilyn Monroe’s personal clutch bag is also a feature of the auction, alongside a rare autograph.

Also included are two original Gerry Anderson-designed puppets used in filming Thunderbirds. A fully signed Godfather poster and the iconic Wayne’s World AMC Pacer car that was included in the “Bohemian Rhapsody” scene adds an amusing touch to the sale.

A selection of 2-inch multitrack master tapes of alternate recordings made for television features the artists Diana Ross, Karen Carpenter, the Four Tops, Adam & The Ants, Dusty Springfield, Moody Blues, INXS, Barry White, George Benson, Madness, Elvis Costello, the Monkees and many more. A rare home recording of Jimi Hendrix comprising 14 unreleased tracks is also included.

The Beatles are represented by a selection of items including Ringo Starr’s first cymbal, 1962 Brian Epstein letters concerning the Beatles and offering a performance for £50 for an hour. The two letters also relate to Gerry and the Pacemakers and The Big Three and come with an original Cavern Club membership card. A hip flask inscribed “For Kaiser John, Happy Birthday 9th October 1960 From Stu” written in German was presented to John Lennon as a gift from his friend and fellow Beatle Stuart Sutcliffe on his 20th birthday in Germany.

A rare surviving Fender Twin Reverb amplifier used by Jimi Hendrix at Electric Ladyland Studio in 1970 is included in the Hendrix section, as is an amethyst purple crystal pendant owned by Hendrix.

Other items include Madonna’s True Blue jeans, Stevie Nicks’ top hat, a selection of signed guitars, Michael Jackson signed items, Joey Ramone’s hair (caught in his hair band), handwritten lyrics/prose by Jim Morrison and Marc Bolan, and the Ivor Novello award for War of the Worlds.

This historic sale represents the first time an auction has been conducted using multiple currencies and launching the first real-time trading of the WOCU. The WOCU is a new theoretical currency unit created by WDX in London constructed from a basket of the world’s currencies. Read more about the wocu at www.wocu.com.

The auction takes place on Thursday, May 27, starting at 3:30 p.m. London time (10:30 a.m. Eastern Time USA), with a second session commencing at 6:30 p.m. London time (1:30 p.m. Eastern Time).

For additional information on any lot in the sale, call 011 44 7900825898 or email info@famebureau.com.

View the fully illustrated catalog and register to bid absentee or live via the Internet as the sale is taking place by logging on to www.LiveAuctioneers.com.

ADDITIONAL LOTS OF NOTE

Elvis Presley record collection, estimate $180,000-$215,000. Image courtesy Fame Bureau.

James Dean pocket watch, estimate $43,000-$50,000. Image courtesy Fame Bureau.

Hip flask personalized to John Lennon, estimate $2,800-$4,300. Image courtesy Fame Bureau.

Banksy, 2005, Lock Pick Rat, estimate $115,000-$144,000. Image courtesy Fame Bureau.

Update: Broken alarm system enabled $123M art heist in Paris

PARIS (AP) – A broken alarm system made it as easy as 1-2-3: A masked intruder clipped a padlock, smashed a window and stole a Picasso, a Matisse and three other masterpieces from a Paris museum Thursday — a $123 million haul that is one of the world’s biggest art heists.

Offloading the artwork may prove a tougher task, however, with Interpol and collectors worldwide now on high alert.

In what seemed like an art thief’s fantasy, the alarm system had been broken since March in parts of the Paris Museum of Modern Art, according to the city’s mayor, Bertrand Delanoe.

The museum, in a tony neighborhood across the Seine River from the Eiffel Tower, reopened in 2006 after spending $18 million (€15 million) and two years upgrading its security system. Spare parts had been ordered to fix the alarm but had not yet arrived, the mayor said in a statement.

So with no alarm to worry about, a lone masked intruder entered the museum about 3:50 a.m., said Christophe Girard, deputy culture secretary at Paris City Hall. The thief cut a padlock on a gate, then broke a side window and climbed inside — his movements caught on one of the museum’s functioning cameras, according to the Paris prosecutor’s office.

The intruder later slipped back out, carrying the canvases and leaving behind empty frames. The whole thing took 15 minutes, a police official said.

Three security guards were on duty overnight, but “they saw nothing,” Girard said. A night watchman discovered the theft around 7 a.m.

The stolen works included Pablo Picasso’s Le pigeon aux petits-pois, an ochre-toned Cubist oil painting worth an estimated $28 million (€23 million), and La Pastorale, a pastel-hued oil painting of nudes on a hillside by Henri Matisse worth about $17.5 million (€15 million), Girard said.

Also seized were La femme a l’eventail (Woman with a Fan) by Amedeo Modigliani, L’olivier pres de l’Estaque (Olive Tree near Estaque) by Georges Braque and Nature morte aux chandeliers (Still Life with Chandeliers) by Fernand Leger.

Estimates of the total value of the paintings varied: The prosecutor’s office initially put their worth as high as $613 million (€500 million) but later downgraded the figure to about $111 million (€90 million). Girard said the total value was about $123 million (€100 million).

The broken alarm system also renewed concerns about museum security in the French capital. There was no operating surveillance system when a thief made off with a red sketchbook of 33 Picasso drawings from the nearby Picasso Museum while it was undergoing renovations last summer.

Within hours of Thursday’s heist, red-and-white tape surrounded the Museum of Modern Art and signs on the Art Deco building’s ornate bronze doors said it was closed for “technical reasons.”

On a cordoned-off balcony, police wearing blue gloves and face masks examined the museum’s broken window and the discarded frames. The paintings appeared to have been carefully removed from the disassembled frames, not sliced out.

Investigators were trying to determine whether the intruder was operating alone, Girard told reporters. Stephane Thefo, a specialist at Interpol who handles international art theft investigations, expressed doubt that one person could have pulled it off the heist, even if only one person was caught on camera.

Many high-profile art thefts have ended in failure, with the artworks recovered as thieves struggle to trade their illegal bounty for cash. But some famous stolen works remain at large — such as those seized more than two decades ago from Boston’s Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum.

Alice Farren-Bradley of the Art Loss Registry in London said the Paris theft appeared to be one of the biggest art heists ever, considering the prominence of the artists, the value of the paintings and the high profile of the museum.

However, she said it will be “virtually impossible” to sell such prominent paintings on the open market and typically stolen art fetches lower prices on the black market.

“Very often they can be used as collateral to broker other deals” involving drugs or weapons, she said. “They are not necessarily going to be bought by some great lover of the arts.”

Art expert Jean-Marie Baron said the heist could have been organized by thieves who plan to sell the paintings to wealthy individuals in Russia, China or elsewhere, and “who won’t verify the origins of the paintings.” Another possibility was that the thieves planned to “ransom” the paintings in exchange for a big insurance payout, he said.

The FBI estimates the market for stolen art at $6 billion. The Art Loss Register has tallied up to 170,000 pieces of stolen, missing and looted art and valuables.

Picasso is the world’s most stolen artist due to his prolific output and the value of his works. The Art Loss Register lists some 550 missing Picasso pieces, including paintings, lithographs, drawings and ceramics, as of 2007.

Hours after Thursday’s heist, the director of the neighboring Palais de Tokyo modern art museum called the thieves “imbeciles.”

“Those paintings are absolutely unsellable. First off because these are very well-known paintings. And also because we are in a new civilization … of instant global communication,” Pierre Cornette de Saint-Cyr told AP Television News. “The entire planet has pictures of these paintings.”

The loss is “like the death of a family member,” lamented Flemming Friborg, manager of Copenhagen’s Glyptotek museum, known for its Impressionist collection.

___

Associated Press reporters Nicolas Garriga in Paris, Karl Ritter in Stockholm and Jan M. Olsen in Copenhagen contributed to this report.

Prestigious estates give up the goods for Neal’s auction May 22-23

Twenty of these mid-19th century Paris porcelain cabinet plates will be sold on the first day of the auction. Signed ‘Boyer rue de la Paix 2,’ the set of 9 1/2-inch plates has a $3,000-$5,000 estimate. Image courtesy Neal Auction Co.

NEW ORLEANS – American, French and English antiques, Southern paintings, historical material and decorative arts will be sold at Neal Auction Co.’s Late Spring Estates Auction on May 22-23. LiveAuctioneers will provide Internet live bidding both days.

Saturday’s auction, which will consist of 683 lots, will begin at 10 a.m. Central at Neal Auction’s gallery at 4038 Magazine St. Sunday’s session will be conducted at 3923 Carondelet St. beginning at 11 a.m. Central.

Choice items in the auction have been consigned by discerning collectors and fine estates and institutions, including the Grove, the Tallahassee, Fla., home of the early territorial governor Richard Keith Call and of 33rd governor and Mrs. LeRoy Collins. Fine art in the sale is from the collection of Alice Barry, New Orleans and Pass Christian, Miss. Antique furniture and decorations are from the lifetime collection of a noted New Orleans jurist.

Highlights include a French bronze figure titled Pro-Jure: A Gallic Warrior Victorious over the Roman Legion after Emile-Louis Picault (French, 1839-1915). The 34 1/2-inch/tall figure from the late 1800s has a $5,000-$7,000 estimate.

A large – 48 inches by 60 inches – painting of a squire on horseback at a hunt is by Peter Tillemans (Flemish, active England, 1684-1734). Signed “P. Tillemans,” the framed work has a $5,000-$7,000 estimate.

Contemporary art includes an equally large George Rodrigue (American/Louisiana, b. 1944) oil on canvas titled 4 Roses for me Tonight (Flower Child). The signed “Blue Dog” painting, dated 2008 en verso, has a $40,000-$60,000 estimate.

A set of 20 fine Paris porcelain polychrome and stencil-gilt cabinet plates by Boyer has a $3,000-$5,000 estimate. Each plate has finely painted floral bouquets, claret banding with periwinkle floral festoons linking gilt cartouches alternately containing a monogrammed “B” crested by a griffin head with the motto “Gaudeo,” Latin for “to rejoice” or “take pleasure in.” Each colorful plate is 9 1/2 inches in diameter.

An important Yoruba carved and painted wood helmet and body mask were once used in celebration of Gelede, an annual festival honoring “our mothers.” Mounted together on a metal shaft, the ensemble from Nigeria is about 48 inches high and estimated at $5,000-$10,000.

A set of four Chinese carved hardwood panels inset with hand-painted porcelain plaques is from the late 19th or early 20th century. Each panel is relief carved with bamboo, prunus and other flowering branches and vines. The set of panels is more than 5 feet tall and has a $4,000-6,000 estimate.

For details contact Neal Auction Gallery at 800-467-5329

View the fully illustrated catalog and register to bid absentee or live via the Internet as the sale is taking place by logging on to www.LiveAuctioneers.com.

ADDITIONAL LOTS OF NOTE

Standing 34 1/2 inches high, this French bronze titled ‘Pro-Jure: A Gallic Warrior Victorious over the Roman Legion’ is expected to sell for $5,000-$7,000. Image courtesy Neal Auction Co.

Famille Rose porcelain plaques are mounted on a set of four Chinese carved wood panels from the turn of the 20th century. Each panel is 61 inches high by 17 1/2 inches wide. They carry a $4,000-$6,000 estimate. Image courtesy Neal Auction Co.

Carved figures representing snakes, lizards, birds and fish decorate this Yoruba ceremonial helmet and body mask. Joined by a metal skeleton, the ensemble is approximately 48 inches high. It has a $5,000-$10,000 estimate. Image courtesy Neal Auction Co.

Peter Tillemans (Flemish, active England, 1684-1734) painted ‘A Squire on Horseback, at the Edge of a Hunt’ on a large canvas. The framed painting is signed and has a $5,000-$7,000 estimate. Image courtesy Neal Auction Co.

Garden antiques raked in big returns at Kamelot’s April 24 auction

Antique English staddle stones, $5,000. Image courtesy Kamelot Auctions.

PHILADELPHIA – An April 24 auction of garden antiques hosted by Kamelot Auctions proved to be its most successful specialty sale to date. The company has produced an annual sale of garden architecture and decoration since 2006, with Internet live bidding through LiveAuctioneers.com.

The auction opened promptly at 10 a.m. to a full house, with many participants remaining onsite and engaged for the entire nine-hour procession of more than 700 lots. Huge walls of trellis and faux-finished panels arranged around a variety of flooring created dramatic backdrops for groupings of wrought-iron furniture, planters filled with topiaries and layered moss, and fountains with running water. Iron and bronze chandeliers and lanterns were suspended from ceilings 20 feet high, and stained-glass windows were staged to catch natural light streaming into Kamelot’s immense vintage warehouse.

Bidders responded to the collection with enthusiasm from the very first lot onward. Lot #1 consisted of a circa-1920 carved Vicenza stone figure of a bagpipe musician standing 44½ inches high. Presented with estimates of $1,000 to $1,500, it sold in just a few short minutes for over $5,600. Soon afterward, a circa-1860 life-size carved marble garden statue of a young woman watering flowers sold to a private Philadelphia estate for $10,500. Later, a Virginia phone bidder won an elegant antique marble fountain with three-tiered basins rising 12 feet high, for $7,200. All prices quoted are inclusive of 20% buyer’s premium.

Many lots far exceeded expectations. Modestly estimated at $200 to $400 per panel, three marble bas-reliefs brought well over $1,000 apiece, selling together as one lot for $4,300. In another instance, two carved marble lions on rectangular plinths sold to a New England dealer for $7,200, more than double the high estimate for this lot.

A pair of large carved marble lidded urns displaying pineapple forms and carved swags were offered with estimates between $800 and $1,200, but sold easily for a total of $3,600, just prior to a carved travertine marble bench with similar estimates that sold for $3,800.

These results all occurred before the sale even reached lot #100. But, rather than dissipating, the energy in the room continued to mount. The mood in the auction house grew notably more intense as the auction progressed past a monumental antique cast-iron Fiske urn, which sold for $5,000.

A group of mushroom-shape antique English staddle stones estimated at around $1,500 sold to a West Coast buyer for $5,000; and a pair of nicely weathered antique garden spheres estimated between $600 and $900 each sold for a combined $4,000, going to an established Philadelphia area decorator.

Lot #145, a pair of antique Continental garden urns, was poised to steal the show. The neoclassical circa-1850 cast-lead urns, with rams’ heads and Vitruvian scrolls, bore a high estimate of $6,000, but a British garden antiques dealer based in the United States outbid all competitors to win the lot with a price tag of $14,000.

A monumental statue of Pallas Athena with a high estimate of $1500 sold to another British buyer, this one overseas, for just under $8,000; and a near-pair of Italian carved marble wall fountains in the form of satyr busts sold to a private collector in France for $10,500.

While carved marble appeared to be the material of choice, the auction generated strong sales in all garden-related categories including decorative furnishings, ironwork and bronze items. A very large-scale silver gilt Italian pillow mirror was soon off to France after selling for $5,500 against a presale high estimate of $1,500; and a group of antique French arch-topped transom windows sold for $4,300.

A pair of Victorian jeweled stained-glass windows opened at $800 but sold for more than $4,000; and a pair of grand bronze Renaissance style andirons achieved $4,500.

A great example of a circa-1910 Oscar Bach bronze and iron conservatory table with molded marble top circa 1910 sailed past its estimate of $3,000 to $5,000 and has gone to a private residence in Montana for $12,000.

Kamelot Auctions’ next sale will be held on June 12 and will feature some garden items along more diverse categories of furniture and decorative arts. As always, Internet live bidding will be provided by LiveAuctioneers.com.

For additional information, call Kamelot Auctions at 215-438-6990 or visit the company online at www.kamelotauctions.com.

Click here to view the fully illustrated catalog for this sale, complete with prices realized.

ADDITIONAL LOTS OF NOTE

Italian satyr wall fountain, sold together with a near-match as a pair, $10,500. Image courtesy Kamelot Auctions.

Circa-1860 carved life-size marble garden statue of young woman watering flowers, $10,500. Image courtesy Kamelot Auctions.

Pair of Victorian stained-glass windows, $4,000. Image courtesy Kamelot Auctions.

One of two marble lions sold as a pair, $7,200. Image courtesy Kamelot Auctions.

French arch-topped window transoms from a group of eight, $4,300. Image courtesy Kamelot Auctions. Image courtesy Kamelot Auctions.

Emile Galle table earns $21,850 in April 24 auction at Kaminski’s

Circa-1878 Emile Galle marquetry sewing stand, sold for $21,850, April 24, 2010 at Kaminski Auctions. Image courtesy Kaminski's.

BEVERLY, Mass. – Kaminski Auctions’ April Estates Auction, which took place on April 24, 2010, offered a premier selection of items from estates in Massachusetts and beyond. Strong sales and enthusiastic bidding followed throughout the auction, with many items selling well above their original estimates. Internet live bidding was provided by LiveAuctioneers.com.

Of particular interest was an important 1878 Emile Galle sewing stand. Its design features extensive marquetry embellished with figural bronze details, including flowers, insects and turtles. Two bright gold-colored tassels adorn the table’s curved legs, and a light patina accents the piece’s bronze elements.

An inscription on the table’s locking mechanism reads “Souvenir de l’Exposition de 1878.” The stand, signed by the renowned artist, measures 28 1/2 inches tall and is in fine condition. Intense bidding on the finely crafted piece drove it to a final price to $21,850.

To contact Kaminski’s, call 978-927-2223. Visit them online at www.KaminskiAuctions.com.

View the fully illustrated catalog for Kaminski’s April 24 auction, complete with prices realized, online at www.LiveAuctioneers.com

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LeRoy Neiman collection, other estate art in May 22 Universal Live sale

LeRoy Neiman, Ali – Athlete of the Century. Image courtesy Universal Live Auctions.

NORTHBROOK, Ill. – Universal Live is running a live Internet fine art auction on Saturday, May 22, commencing at 1 p.m. Central Time, 2 p.m. Eastern. Internet live bidding will be provided by LiveAuctioneers.com.

Universal has been commissioned to liquidate the fine art section with attractive opening bids, nearly half starting below $900. As a result, said Univeral Live’s auctioneer, Martin Shape, most of the art is estimated at “50 percent below gallery prices, or better.”

The auction is primarily comprised of the Guiragossian and Stevens estates and will feature a number of Leroy Neiman works

“We have almost 20 pieces of LeRoy Neiman art in this auction,” Shape said. “He is one of the most popular, prolific and avidly collected contemporary artists, whose work consistently garners popular praise in critical acclaim. Mr. Neiman got his start by having his works published in Playboy, and the different items displayed in this auction show the great variety of subjects that he delved in.

“His colors are vivid and stunningly energetic,” Shape continued. “He is known for his preoccupation with ‘man at his leisure,’ which introduced him to sports art as shown in lot 8770120, titled Sweet Serve; lot 8770135, Cal Ripken, Jr.; lot 8770159, Ali – Athlete of the Century; and lot 8775992, Holyfield vs. Bowe.”

Neiman paintings that depict historical events are also included in the May 22 offering. Among them are lot 8770122, Napoleon at Waterloo; and lot 8775997, New Stock Exchange.

In addition to his love of the human subject, Neiman has explored the animal category while on safari as demonstrated in lot 8779706, Big 5 Safari Art; and lot 8770138, Portrait of the Elephant. Scenic art depictions include lot 8770105, Bethesda Fountain; and lot 8770178, Hunt Rendezvous.

Neiman, himself, best summarizes his artistic anthology, Shape said, quoting the artist: “I have painted and sketched in casinos, hotels, bars, massage parlors, steam baths, restaurants, on battlefields and football fields, law courts, tennis courts, pool rooms and the doorways of skid-row missions. To me it is all Neimanland.”

Other noted artists in the May 22 auction include Picasso, Dali, Chagall, Peter Max, Matisse and many others.

For additional information on any lot in the sale, call Martin Shape at 847-412-1802 or email sales@universallive.com.

View the fully illustrated catalog and register to bid absentee or live via the Internet as the sale is taking place by logging on to www.LiveAuctioneers.com.

ADDITIONAL LOTS OF NOTE

LeRoy Neiman, Portrait of the Elephant. Image courtesy Universal Live Auctions.

Peter Max, Augusta, Jack Nicklaus. Image courtesy Universal Live Auctions.

LeRoy Neiman, New York Stock Exchange. Image courtesy Universal Live Auctions.

LeRoy Neiman, Napoleon at Waterloo. Image courtesy Universal Live Auctions.

Mikio Watanabe, Dawn II Mezzotint. Image courtesy Universal Live Auctions.

Museum co-founders would rather be fishing

Shakespeare brand fishing equipment has been manufactured since 1896. Early advertising like this countertop advertising display is a prize catch. Image courtesy of Burley Auction Group and LiveAuctioneers Archive.

ST. CLOUD, Minn. (AP) – Long before Minnesota was christened the Land of 10,000 Lakes, its inhabitants fished its plentiful waterways. Its 5,400 game fish lakes and 15,000 miles of fishable streams and rivers make the state an angler’s dream.

“I have so many good memories of fishing. I really enjoy it,” Al Baert said. “I have grandchildren and great-grandchildren and they like to fish, too.”

Baert, of Sartell, is a lifelong angler and the co-founder of the Minnesota Fishing Museum in Little Falls. He believes fishing is an important part of Minnesota’s history. The thousands of anglers who headed out for this month’s walleye opener would likely agree.

“It’s a part of our heritage,” Baert said.

In many Minnesota families, the fishing tradition has been lovingly handed down from one generation to the next. Favorite fishing stories become family folklore. Sweet spots are carefully guarded secrets.

And then there’s the gear: Grandpa’s old tackle box and handmade lures all have tales to tell. Those stories of family, friends and the chase fill the Minnesota Fishing Museum in Little Falls.

Baert and Morry Sauve of St. Cloud created the museum in 1998.

“The idea was to preserve the heritage of fishing by centering the collections around people,” Baert said. “Everything you see in the museum has a story.”

The facility has more than 100 displays, each commemorating a local angler or fishing tradition. There are rods and reels, boats and motors, anchors and other fishing paraphernalia. Almost all show signs of many seasons of use on Minnesota waters.

“Fishing is universal to most Minnesotans, so the founders felt the artifacts of fishing should be available to everyone,” museum director Mavis Buker said.

One of the oldest items in the museum is a 1902 electric boat motor, which also speaks to the esteem with which hitting the water has always been kept.

“Think about it: This was in 1902 when women were beating rugs, handwashing their laundry and cooking over a wood stove and he’s out on the lake fishing with an electric trolling motor,” Buker said. “One visitor told me she was lucky. If he didn’t have that motor she would have been rowing the boat, too.”

There are also thousands of flies and lures in every color and shape, including a few mermaid lures that must have raised a few eyebrows in their time. The oldest lure on display is an 1895 Hastings Frog that Baert donated. Eventually, the museum hopes to display a sample of every Minnesota luremaker’s work.

The passion for fishing inspired a number of inventions that have found a home at the museum.

There’s the folding ice stick that Al Seviola designed after his son stabbed himself in the foot with one. There’s The Bat lure designed by Pierz native Earl Bayerl.

A place of honor is reserved for the museum’s refurbished Plaziak boat.

The Plaziak was built by six brothers – Lawrence, Frank, John, Felix, Ben and Andrew Plaziak – farmers who filled their winter months building aluminum boats. They manufactured and sold 230 of them from 1950-1958 when the advent of fiberglass boats made their design obsolete.

The Plaziak boat and its accompanying Johnson motor was restored by Bruce Reischl of Sauk Rapids. The owner of Bruce’s Outboard Shop and a member of the Antique Outboard Club, Reischl had a chance to talk to the last two Plaziak brothers and copy some of their photos and papers for the museum.

“I was just trying to save the history,” Reischl said. “I decided the Minnesota Fishing Museum needed a Minnesota-built boat.”

Reischl has also restored more than 100 motors. And he tackled the restoration of an old Cokato boat, which he found chopped into three pieces at an antique sale. There were only 50 Cokato boats made, so Reischl knew it was worth preserving. He spent three months stripping the old paint, cutting cedar to replace missing pieces and applying coats of epoxy and resin.

When he’s not working on motors or rescuing old boats, Reischl spends a lot of time fishing with his wife, MaryAnn.

“It’s relaxing sitting out on a lake and listening to the loons howl,” Reischl said. “You get away and it doesn’t matter if they’re biting. If you catch a few, that’s a bonus.”

Barry Bayerl of St. Cloud grew up fishing with The Bat lure his father invented.

“That was basically the only fishing lure he let me use,” Bayerl said. “We’d go down to the Platte River or out on the local lakes and do some fishing.”

A World War II fighter pilot, Earl Bayerl had a creative mind and an inquisitive spirit. He crafted his first lure from the spout of an aluminum teapot, continuing to experiment and perfect his design until he patented The Bat in 1954. It had a stingray shape and came in two sizes and four colors “for 24-hour fishing.”

“We’d talk about the use of size and color in different fishing,” Bayerl said. “I remember one time we took a rowboat up to Platte Lake. We made one trip around the lake and caught six northerns on The Bat. Then Dad sold the lure I caught the fish with to an older gentleman for 25 cents. I was quite young, but I still remember that day.”

When his father died in 1987, Barry Bayerl discovered boxes and boxes of the lures and prototypes, which he donated to the Minnesota Fishing Museum.

Bayerl has made a point of passing along his father’s legacy to his children.

“The younger ones never met him, yet it’s their heritage. It helps them make a connection with someone they never met.”

His 16-year-old son, Grant, just started collecting lures and building his own tackle box, including his own The Bat lure.

Little Falls resident Fred Larson Jr. comes from a long line of relatives who fish. His uncle, Paul Larson, founded the Larson Boat Co. in Little Falls in 1913. His father, Fred Larson Sr., was an avid angler.

“He started me fishing between 2 and 3 years old,” Larson said.

The Larsons fished the lakes and rivers of central Minnesota, focusing on the area north of Little Falls. Occasionally they ventured all the way up to the Arctic Circle. Larson still has a 32 1/2-pound lake trout his father caught mounted on his wall.

“We were primarily walleye fisherman, secondarily lake trout, but we tried all types of fishing,” Larson said. “My dad would fish just about anything that swam, and I’d join him.”

Larson donated a number of his father’s prized possessions to the museum, including a tackle box he won in a national fishing contest in the 1920s. ___

Information from: St. Cloud Times, http://www.sctimes.com

AP-CS-05-19-10 1201EDT

Illegal trade in ivory and rhino horn is target of Interpol operation

Ivory seized during Operation Mogatle. Image courtesy INTERPOL.

LYON, France – A transnational operation coordinated by Interpol targeting wildlife crime across southern Africa has resulted in the location and closure of an illegal ivory factory, the seizure of nearly 400 kilos of ivory and rhino horn with a market value of more than one million dollars, as well as the arrest of 41 people.

The May 13-14 operation code-named Mogatle, involved nearly 200 officers from police, national wildlife, customs and national intelligence agencies across six countries – Botswana, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe – who carried out inspections and raids on markets and shops.

Checks were also made on suspect vehicles at border crossing points where for the first time in a wildlife crime operation, sniffer dogs provided by South African and Swaziland police were used at checkpoints at the Mozambique/Swaziland border.

“The success of Operation Mogatle is not only in relation to the seizures and arrests which have been made, but is a demonstration of the commitment of national and international law enforcement and other involved agencies to working together to combat wildlife crime,” said Peter Younger, manager of Interpol’s OASIS (Operational Assistance, Services and Infrastructure Support) Africa wildlife crime program. “Taking these illegal items off the market is just the first step. Information gathered as part of this operation will also enable law enforcement, both in Africa and abroad, to identify smuggling routes and eventually to further arrests of other individuals involved in these crimes.

“The impact of wildlife crime is wide-ranging,” Younger continued. “People are threatened with violence, law enforcement officers have been killed while carrying out their duties, and there is the wider economic impact on a country and therefore the livelihoods of ordinary people.”

Supported by Interpol’s National Central Bureaus and Interpol’s Regional Bureau in Harare, Operation Mogatle was coordinated by Interpol’s OASIS Africa initiative, which is funded by the German Federal Government. Additional support and funding was also provided for the operation by the Humane Society of Canada and the Born Free Foundation.

Interpol’s OASIS program helps countries in Africa develop a global and integrated approach to fighting 21st-century crime by building operational capacities for policing in the region and enhancing the ability of INTERPOL member countries to tackle crime threats nationally, regionally and globally.

Operation Mogatle – named in honour of the late Professor Keitirangi Mogatle, assistant director of the Botswana Department of Wildlife and National Parks and principle motivator behind effective wildlife law enforcement in Botswana – was the third multi-agency wildlife operation coordinated by Interpol.

The first, Operation Baba (November 2008) resulted in the arrests of nearly 60 people and the seizure of one ton of illegal elephant ivory following coordinated actions in Congo, Ghana, Kenya, Uganda and Zambia.

The second, Operation Costa (November 2009) across Burundi, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda, led to the arrest of more than100 people and the recovery of 1.5 tons of ivory and hundreds of other illegal wildlife items.

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ADDITIONAL IMAGES OF NOTE

Chicago planetarium in the running for space shuttle

The Space Shuttle Discovery, a reusable winged spaceship, launched on Oct. 28, 2007 with a seven-member crew. NASA image.

CHICAGO (AP) – The president of the Adler Planetarium says the institution on Chicago’s lakefront is in the running to receive one of three soon-to-be retired space shuttles.

Adler president Paul Knappenberger said Wednesday that the Adler is one of 21 planetariums and museums around the nation under consideration by NASA.

The retiring shuttles are being offered to institutions that can raise an estimated $28.8 million to exhibit them correctly, and that can offer the best possible access to the public.

NASA’s decision about who will get shuttles is at least months away, as no choice will be made until after the final shuttle mission of the three active orbiters, Atlantis, Discovery and Endeavour.

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Information from: Chicago Tribune, http://www.chicagotribune.com

AP-CS-05-19-10 2245EDT

Paintings worth millions stolen from Paris museum

Le Pigeon aux Petits-Pois (The Pigeon with the Little Peas) an ochre and brown Cubist oil painting by Pablo Picasso, has been stolen from the Paris Museum of Modern Art. Its estimated value is euro23 million. Image courtesy Wikipedia.

PARIS (AP) – A thief stole five paintings possibly worth hundreds of millions of euros, including major works by Picasso and Matisse, in a brazen overnight heist at a Paris modern art museum, police and prosecutors said Thursday.

The paintings disappeared early Thursday from the Paris Museum of Modern Art, across the Seine River from the Eiffel Tower in one of the French capital’s most chic and tourist-frequented neighborhoods.

The museum’s security system, including some of the surveillance cameras, had been broken for the past few days, according to a police official. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation is under way.

Christophe Girard, deputy culture secretary at Paris City Hall, confirmed that the security system was disabled at the time of the theft, and said a single masked intruder was caught on a video surveillance camera.

Investigators are trying to determine whether the intruder was operating alone, Girard told reporters, who suggested the heist was carried out by a very “sophisticated” team or individual. He said three guards were on duty overnight but “they saw nothing.”

The intruder entered by cutting a padlock on a gate and breaking a museum window, the Paris prosecutor’s office said.

The prosecutor’s office initially estimated the five paintings’ total worth at as much as euro500 million ($613 million).

Girard, however, said the total value was “just under 100 million euros.”

He said Le pigeon aux petits-pois (The Pigeon with the Little Peas) an ochre and brown Cubist oil painting by Pablo Picasso, was worth an estimated euro23 million, and La Pastorale (Pastoral), an oil painting of nudes on a hillside by Henri Matisse about euro15 million.

The other paintings stolen were L’olivier pres de l’Estaque (Olive Tree near Estaque) by Georges Braque; La femme a l’eventail (Woman with a Fan) by Amedeo Modigliani; and Nature morte aux chandeliers (Still Life with Chandeliers) by Fernand Leger.

Alice Farren-Bradley of the Art Loss Registry in London said the Paris theft “appears to be one of the biggest” art heists ever, considering the estimated value, the prominence of the artists and the high profile of the museum.

She added, however, that the value of the paintings would have to be confirmed, as museums and art dealers often value paintings differently.

She said it will be “virtually impossible” to sell such prominent paintings on the open market and that typically, stolen art fetches lower prices on the black market.

“Very often they can be used as collateral to broker other deals” involving drugs or weapons, she said. “They are not necessarily going to be bought by some great lover of the arts.”

While the thefts are often carefully planned, that’s not always the case for the next step – selling the stolen paintings – which is why they are often recovered, she said.

Interpol is alerting its national bureaus around the world to the theft.

“This is a big theft, that is very clear,” Stephane Thefo, a specialist at Interpol who handles international art theft investigation, told The Associated Press. “These works are of an inestimable value.”

He expressed doubt that one person could have pulled off the theft alone, even if only one person was caught on camera.

Red-and-white tape surrounded the museum, and paper signs on the museum doors said it was closed for technical reasons.

On a cordoned-off balcony behind the museum, police in blue gloves and face masks examined the broken window and empty frames. The paintings appeared to have been carefully removed from the disassembled frames, not sliced out.

A security guard at the museum said the paintings were discovered missing by a night watchman just before 7 a.m. (0500 GMT, 1 a.m. Thursday EDT). The guard was not authorized to be publicly named because of museum policy.

Paris Mayor Bertrand Delanoe said in a statement that he was “saddened and shocked by this theft, which is an intolerable attack on Paris’ universal cultural heritage.”

The director of the neighboring modern art museum Palais de Tokyo, Pierre Cornette de Saint-Cyr, called the thief or thieves “fools.”

“You cannot do anything with these paintings. All countries in the world are aware, and no collector is stupid enough to buy a painting that, one, he can’t show to other collectors, and two, risks sending him to prison,” he said on LCI television.

“In general, you find these paintings,” he said. “These five paintings are un-sellable, so thieves, sirs, you are imbeciles, now return them.”

Flemming Friborg, manager of Copenhagen’s Glyptotek museum – known for its Impressionist paintings, among others – called the theft of the high-caliber paintings “like the death of a family member.”

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Associated Press writers Christina Okello, Greg Keller and Nicolas Garriga in Paris and Karl Ritter in Stockholm and Jan M. Olsen in Copenhagen contributed to this report.

AP-ES-05-20-10 1032EDT

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