The 2014 Warrior Hikers start their journey along the Appalachian Trial on March 17. Appalachian Trail Conservancy image.
HARPERS FERRY, W.V. – The Appalachian Trail Conservancy has again partnered with Warrior Hike to provide a group of military veterans the opportunity to “Walk Off The War” along the Appalachian Trail. This year’s group of veterans began the six-month-long physical challenge on March 17 at Springer Mountain, the southern terminus of the trail in Georgia.
The “Walk Off The War” Program provides participating combat veterans with equipment and supplies required to complete a thru-hike of one of America’s National Scenic Trails; coordinates trail town support in the forms of transportation, food and lodging; and assists veterans with future employment opportunities through partners and sponsors.
“Hiking over 2,000 miles during the course of six months gives a veteran an opportunity to decompress and come to terms with their wartime experiences,” said Sean Gobin, Warrior Hike executive director. “The camaraderie that is shared between our combat veterans and the trail town communities helps facilitate their integration back into civilian life.”
Veterans hiking the Appalachian Trail this year include Scott Brooks-Miller, a Vietnam War veteran, and several returning service members from Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom.
The Appalachian Trail Conservancy, Appalachian Trail maintaining clubs and veterans groups in trail towns will provide the veterans with support services, including lodging, transportation and meals.
“Similar to Earl Shaffer, the first Appalachian Trail thru-hiker, these veterans will have the opportunity to journey along the Appalachian Trail and reconnect with nature and with the American people,” said Ron Tipton, executive director and CEO of the ATC. “The Appalachian Trail Conservancy is proud to team up with Warrior Hike to offer this experience to our military veterans.”
This year, Warrior Hike has expanded to include end-to-end hikes on the Continental Divide and the Pacific Crest National Scenic Trails in addition to the A.T.
The Warrior Hike “Walk Off The War” Program is an outdoor therapy program that supports combat veterans transitioning from their military service by thru-hiking America’s National Scenic Trails. For information, visit www.warriorhike.com.
About the Appalachian Trail Conservancy
The mission of the ATC is to preserve and manage the Appalachian Trail – ensuring that its vast natural beauty and priceless cultural heritage can be shared and enjoyed today, tomorrow and for centuries to come. For information, visit www.appalachiantrail.org.
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The 2014 Warrior Hikers start their journey along the Appalachian Trial on March 17. Appalachian Trail Conservancy image.
AGEN, France (AFP) – A French man has claimed responsibility for the theft of a Rembrandt painting worth millions that was stolen from a French museum in 1999 and recovered this week, a source close to the investigation said on Friday.
The 43-year-old from Lot-et-Garonne in southwest France told police he had stolen the Dutch master’s Child with a Soap Bubble from a municipal museum as “a challenge” and had never earned any money from it.
He handed himself in on Wednesday night on the advice of his lawyer, a day after the painting was recovered.
Two men, including a former insurance salesman, were arrested on Tuesday in Nice in possession of the painting, which was valued at 20 million francs.
That equates to roughly 3.9 million euros ($5.4 million) today.
The artwork was stolen from a museum in the nearby city of Draguignan in July 1999. It portrays a teenage boy with long dark brown locks, wearing a golden necklace and holding a soap bubble.
After admitting the theft, the man was allowed to leave while further investigations are carried out, the source told AFP.
“He wants to draw a line under the matter. He is ready to take responsibility for his actions,” said his lawyer Franck Dupouy. “He now has a settled family life, he has children and a job, and therefore wishes to conclude this matter.”
The man kept the painting at his home up until 15 days ago, Dupouy said, and had “wrapped it with great care.”
His client “never earned a single centime” from the sale of the painting.
“He was cheated,” he said, without explaining further.
The 17th century painting was stolen on July 13, 1999, from the municipal museum in Draguignan.
The man told police that he stole the painting by breaking into the municipal library next door to the museum during a military parade.
An investigation has been launched by the Central Office for the Fight against Traffic in Cultural Goods (OCBC).
The OCBC says there are still 13 Rembrandt portraits being sought worldwide.
Rare first edition of J.R.R. Tolkein’s ‘The Hobbit,’ 1937. Estimate: £15,000-$20,000. Dreweatts & Bloomsbury image. Estimate: £2,000-£3,000. Dreweatts & Bloomsbury image. LONDON – As the third and final part of Peter Jackson’s epic film adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit reaches the final stages of production, Dreweatts & Bloomsbury Auctions offer Tolkien fans the world over the opportunity to buy a first edition of the original book, The Hobbit, or, There and Back Again (1937), at their sale of Modern Literature in London on Friday, April 11.
Internet live bidding will be provided by LiveAuctioneers.com.
Published in September 1937, the book tells the story of Bilbo Baggins, a hobbit, and acts as a precursor to Tolkien’s famous The Lord of The Rings (1954-1955) trilogy. The continuing popularity of the book, and the recent adaptation to film, make copies of this work coveted collectors’ items. This copy is estimated to sell for £15,000-£20,000 [Lot 139].
The adventures of British secret agent James Bond have a timeless appeal, and a complete collection of writer Ian Fleming’s 007 novels comprise lots 48-62 of this sale. Although all are in excellent condition, of particular note is a first edition of Casino Royale (1953), the book that introduced the character of James Bond, and made a further 11 Bond novels possible.
This iconic book, the dust-jacket of which was designed by Fleming himself, was an instant success with readers with 4,728 copies selling in the UK within a month of publication, and a further two print runs within the same month selling at the same speed. More than 60 years later buyers have an opportunity to purchase one of the books from the original print run. This superb copy comes in an almost pristine dust-jacket and is priced at £10,000-£15,000 [Lot 48].
Live and Let Die (1954) followed hot on the heels of Casino Royale and was published on April 5, 1954. Fleming’s second Bond novel met with an equally favorable reception, and a print run of 7,500 copies quickly sold out. Written at Fleming’s estate in Jamaica, perhaps not surprisingly called Goldeneye, the story has Bond chasing the American criminal Mr. Big, who is involved in smuggling 17th century gold coins from British territories in the Caribbean. Another near-fine example of the first edition is estimated to sell for £4,000-$6,000 [Lot 49].
From one national treasure to another, an almost complete set of the works of P.G. Wodehouse will be offered. Part of a private collection, lots 150-208 include a rare first edition copy of Wodehouse’s first adult novel, Love Among the Chickens (1906). Written when Wodehouse was only 25, the book introduces the character of Stanley Featherstonehaugh Ukridge who famously reoccurs throughout Wodehouse’s short stories. This copy is estimated at £2,000-£3,000 [Lot157].
The collection also includes a number of works featuring Wodehouse’s most enduring pair, Bertie Wooster and his butler, Jeeves. Immortalised on screen by the nation’s favorites, Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie, Jeeves and Wooster are now enjoying a spell at the Duke of York’s Theatre in London’s West End, where the production has been nominated for best comedy at the 2014 Olivier Awards. A copy of the first book to feature the duo, My Man Jeeves (1919), is estimated at £250-£350 [Lot 166], and titles that are rarely seen in their dust-jackets include The Inimitable Jeeves (1923), estimated at £1,000-£1,500 [Lot 170], and Carry On, Jeeves (1925), estimated at £800-£1,200. [Lot 173]
An autograph manuscript poem titled The Dug Out (1918) written by eminent World War I poet, Siegfried Sassoon in August 1918, serves as a moving tribute to soldiers in the trenches. Belonging to British writer and journalist Henry Major Tomlinson, who is well-known for his anti-war novels and short stories, the poem was written in pencil and overwritten in ink by Sassoon. It is accompanied by a group of photographs of Sassoon and the Tomlinsons, some of which are signed by Sassoon himself and come directly from the family of H.M.Tomlinson. It is estimated at £2,000-£3,000.
Also offered for sale by Tomlinson’s family is a signed first edition presentation copy of Sassoon’s book of religious poetry, Sequences (1956). The presentation inscription is from Siegfried Sassoon to H.M. Tomlinson and Tomlinson’s daughter Dorothy, and includes a further presentation inscription below to “Mum & Dad” in Tomlinson’s hand. Also included is an autograph letter, signed from Sassoon to Tomlinson, which reads: “Your messages always sustain my spirit greatly (hence the dedication). No one else understands – or anyhow expresses understanding – as you do.” This personal book is estimated to sell for £200-£300 [Lot 134].
J. D. Salinger’s classic novel, Catcher in the Rye (1951), is one of the most popular books of the 20th century, and has been translated into all the world’s major languages. Not without controversy, the book has become a classic coming of age novel, popular among teenagers for its approach to the challenging themes of adolescent angst, identity and alienation. The book was the most censored work in high schools throughout the U.S. between 1961 and 1982, and has been in the top ten most challenged books in the past two decades. A first edition copy of this defining novel, in excellent condition, is offered with an estimate of £4,000-£6,000 [Lot 132].
An autograph manuscript poem titled ‘The Dug Out ‘ written in 1918 by eminent World War I poet, Siegfried Sassoon along with a group of photographs of Sassoon and British writer and journalist Henry Major Tomlinson. Dreweatts & Bloomsbury image.
Henri Matisse’s ‘Woman in Blue in Front of a Fireplace,’ 1937. Image courtesy of Henie Onstad Kunstenter. OSLO, Norway (AFP) – A Norwegian art museum on Friday returned a precious Matisse painting looted by the Nazis during World War II to the American heirs of the French art dealer Paul Rosenberg.
The 1937 painting by Henri Matisse – Woman in Blue in Front of a Fireplace – worth an estimated $20 million (14.5 million euros), was claimed by the Rosenberg family after it appeared in a temporary exhibition at the Paris Pompidou Center in 2012.
The piece – which has been returned by the Henie Onstad art center near Oslo – was seized in France by the Nazis in 1941, and was briefly part of the personal collection of Luftwaffe chief Hermann Goering.
It later found its way into the hands of a German art dealer Gustav Rochlitz who owned a gallery in Paris.
In 1950, a wealthy Norwegian shipowner Niels Onstad bought the painting from the Parisian dealer Henri Benezit without knowing how he had acquired it.
The Matisse went on to form one of the centerpieces of the Henie Onstad art center, established in the 1960s by Onstad and his wife, the Olympic figure skating champion Sonja Henie.
Although Norway is a signatory to the Washington Conference Principles on Nazi-Confiscated Art it also has a law that grants definitive ownership once a collector has possessed an item for more than a decade.
“Henie Onstad art center’s extensive investigation of the case has led to the decision that the return is justified, and HOK’s board has decided to return the painting without further conditions,” board chairman Halvor Stenstadvold said Friday, announcing the unconditional return of the piece.
Now the Woman in Blue in Front of a Fireplace will cross the Atlantic following an agreement between the French and American sides of the Rosenberg family.
“There is no (contentious) issue,” Christopher Marinello, the Rosenberg’s lawyer who traveled to Norway to collect the painting, told AFP.
The family was continuing to actively search for “hundreds of works” looted by the Nazis during the war, he added.
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Henri Matisse’s ‘Woman in Blue in Front of a Fireplace,’ 1937. Image courtesy of Henie Onstad Kunstenter.
Pierre, S.D., with the state Capitol on the distant left and the Missouri River in the foreground. Image by Alanscottwalker. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license. PIERRE, S.D. (AP) – Barbara Johnson could not wait until June for the return of the stained glass to South Dakota’s Capitol rotunda skylight.
So the scholar of stained glass windows, who has received state grants to study them, visited the skylights at the Wisconsin studio where they have been taken to be cleaned and repaired.
“It’s going to be so cool,” Johnson said about the anticipated reveal of the windows. “It’s going to sparkle.”
Johnson and the crew from Conrad Schmitt Studios in New Berlin, Wis., are back in the Capitol this week to work on the barrel vault skylight above the main marble staircase.
Four sets of windows are being repaired: The main dome over the rotunda, those over the stairs, then windows in the Senate and House chambers will be removed in April. The restoration is costing the state about $3 million.
Workers will dismantle and repair the century-old stained glass windows from the barrel vault. The panels over the stairs are unique because they form an arch. They lacked cross supports and were starting to buckle in an accordion-like manner.
“Age and gravity were taking their toll,” said Mike Mueller with the Bureau of Administration. “They simply weren’t designed well enough to stand the test of time.”
This week and next the crew will remove 60 out of 90 panels from the barrel skylight and take them to Wisconsin for repair. The lead seams will be replaced in the windows.
Crew members in harnesses carefully pull off the windows after cataloging them. Each panel is made up of many pieces of glass and weighs about 20 or 25 pounds.
“We’re having to adjust and adapt our plans as we go,” Mueller said. “But it has gone smoothly in the barrel vault.”
The remaining 30 panels with a corn motif will be cleaned in place. Mueller said they have aged better because they are nearly straight up and down, rather than horizontal.
He also said the installations in the House and Senate originally were put in backward, so the crew will fix that when they put those windows back in.
He estimates the project will be complete by Oct. 1, in time for South Dakota’s 125th anniversary in November. Mueller said he likes being part of something that comes around every two centuries. And he hopes the repairs will last more than 125 years.
“It’s really exciting to work on a project like this. It combines art, history and architecture,” Mueller said. “It’s fun. It’s been fascinating.”
He said people have been supportive despite the cost of the restoration, and notes that the glass could have posed a danger if it wasn’t addressed. Johnson agreed.
“It’s the state’s 125th birthday present to itself,” Johnson said. “People love their state Capitol and they want to take care of it.”
Copyright 2014 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
AP-WF-03-19-14 2305GMT
ADDITIONAL IMAGE OF NOTE
Pierre, S.D., with the state Capitol on the distant left and the Missouri River in the foreground. Image by Alanscottwalker. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.
‘Shepherdess Bringing in Sheep,’ Camille Pissaro, oil on canvas, 1886. Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art, University of Oklahoma. Image courtesy of Wikimedia Paintings. OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) – A woman who claims the University of Oklahoma has artwork that was stolen from her family by Nazis during World War II has not proven she is the lawful or sole heir, a university attorney told state lawmakers Wednesday.
OU attorney Shawnae Robey gave members of the House Government Modernization and Accountability Committee a status update on the case. Robey said the university and the OU Foundation, which owns the painting, have asked a federal judge in New York to dismiss Leone Meyer’s lawsuit involving an 1886 oil painting by Camille Pissarro entitled, Shepherdess Bringing in Sheep.
Meyer said the painting belonged to her adopted father, but Robey said the lawsuit does not outline the painting’s ownership or the Meyer family’s 1953 unsuccessful legal case that found someone else was the good faith owner of the painting.
“The full history of the painting’s ownership history is not yet known,” Robey said. “Simply transferring the piece without first knowing all the facts would, among other things, set a very poor precedent and risk disgracing all prior good-faith purchasers and owners of the panting.”
While questioning Robey about the case, lawmakers asked whether the university had a moral obligation to return looted art. The committee’s chairman, Rep. Mike Reynolds, R-Oklahoma City, said eight or nine other painting in the OU collection have also been identified as possibly stolen.
“If you have something that is stolen, you just don’t give it back to anyone,” Robey said. “We have to be very cautious.”
Meyer’s attorney, Pierre Ciric, dismissed claims that Meyer had not established her relationship to her adopted father, Raoul Meyer, and her legal right to the painting he once owned.
“It’s ludicrous,” Ciric told The Associated Press during a phone interview. “Obviously her intent is to recover the painting. She is not interested in any financial aspects. She wants her panting back.”
Meyer’s biological family was killed at Auschwitz, according to an open letter she wrote to the people of Oklahoma. She was never captured and was later adopted by Raoul and Yvonne Meyer.
Raoul Meyer fled to the United States after Paris fell, but returned to Europe in 1945 and found the painting missing. He discovered it in Geneva six years later – a year after the statute of limitations ran out. He claimed subsequent owners made a weak attempt to prove the Pissarro wasn’t on a list of known Nazi-looted works. A Swiss court found that postwar owners had done due diligence and rejected Raoul Meyer’s claim.
Oklahoma oil tycoon Aaron Weitzenhoffer and his wife, Clara, purchased the painting from a New York gallery in 1956. When Clara Weitzenhoiffer died in 2000, the painting was among more than 30 works totaling $50 million that she donated to the university.
Leone Meyer’s lawsuit, filed in May 2013, states that “minimal ownership information” was provided for the Pissarro painting and others in the collection.
Copyright 2014 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
AP-WF-03-20-14 1044GMT
ADDITIONAL IMAGE OF NOTE
‘Shepherdess Bringing in Sheep,’ Camille Pissaro, oil on canvas, 1886. Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art, University of Oklahoma. Image courtesy of Wikimedia Paintings.
