Catherine Saunders-Watson, Author at Auction Central News

Stakes rise for Nazi-looted art as lawyers become involved

STOCKHOLM, Sweden (AP) – Otto Nathan Deutsch, a Jewish businessman, lost his personal belongings as he fled Nazi Germany at the onset of World War II, including a painting by the German expressionist Emil Nolde.

The canvas of brightly colored flowers, thought to have been destroyed in an Allied bombing raid on Frankfurt, has belonged to a Swedish art museum since 1967, and Deutsch’s heirs have been fighting for five years to get it back.

The dispute underscores the mistrust that persists 10 years after an international agreement was reached to facilitate the return of Nazi-looted art works to their rightful owners.

A process that ought to be a simple matter of natural justice has been muddied by court battles and charges by some museum officials that claims are being pushed forward by middlemen more interested in profits than in doing the right thing.

They complain that heavyweight lawyers are entering the fray, and that recovered works are being auctioned off and disappearing from public view.

The painting in Stockholm is called Blumengarten (Utenwarf), meaning flower garden, painted in Utenwarf, Germany. It is estimated to be worth $4-6 million.

In Memoriam: Patrick McGoohan

Patrick McGoohan from The Prisoner. Image courtesy Amazon.com.

LOS ANGELES – Patrick McGoohan, the actor known to fans as the unbreakable “Number Six” on the cult hit television series The Prisoner and to another audience as villainous King Edward I (“Longshanks”) in Braveheart, has died at age 80. McGoohan passed away after a brief illness on Jan, 13, 2009 in Los Angeles.

At home on stage, in front of and behind the camera, McGoohan wrote, directed and/or produced many different projects over the years, including working with Peter Falk on Columbo in a number of capacities. A 1975 guest appearance on the show resulted in an Emmy Award for McGoohan.

His many roles ranged from Dr. Christopher Syn in Disney’s Dr. Syn, Alias The Scarecrow to the maniacal warden in Escape From Alcatraz with Clint Eastwood. In England he became the highest paid television actor for the series Danger Man, which aired in the U.S. as Secret Agent Man and spawned the hit title song by Johnny Rivers. McGoohan played secret agent John Drake on the show.

Danger Man led him directly to The Prisoner, a 17-episode series, the full meaning of which is debated to this day. Many believe that the character of Number Six, who resigns from his spy agency in the show’s title sequence, was, again, John Drake. Regardless, the man is drugged and taken away by forces unknown to a remote location known as “The Village.”

The series is deliberately ambiguous as to which side might have taken him – the enemy or his own people. Those put in charge of “breaking” him are regularly replaced for their failure to be successful at the job.

Robert Indiana’s HOPE sculpture debuts at New York gallery

Robert Indiana signed print. Image courtesy Jim Kempner Fine Art.

NEW YORK (AP and ACNI) – The pop artist best known for his LOVE word sculpture has created a similar public art installation that spells HOPE, in celebration of Barack Obama’s message of hope.

Artist Robert Indiana’s HOPE was unveiled Thursday afternoon at Jim Kempner Fine Art, a Manhattan gallery at 501 W. 23 Street. The 6-foot stainless steel HOPE artwork had its debut in front of the Democratic National Convention in Denver last August under high security and was closed to the public. Its appearance at the Kempner gallery represents its first open-to-the-public viewing.

An instant classic, HOPE was the subject of more than 1 million Internet hits, was syndicated internationally with keynote appearances in the Washington Post, USA Today and the Miami Herald, and featured in Art In America. The exhibit also includes variations of the HOPE image on canvas and on paper, all of which are available through Jim Kempner Fine Art.

In gestation for over a decade, HOPE was brought to fruition to help elect Barack Obama, and was a highly effective fundraiser for the Obama campaign. It was used as a visible tool in such important states as Pennsylvania [where a LOVE sculpture presides over Philadelphia], Indiana, Denver, Virginia and Maine. A Kempner gallery release said, “HOPE stands as perhaps one of the most important connections between art and politics ever conceived by an American artist. Most importantly, though, HOPE names the new generation, emblazing them with a positive catch-phase that has already circled the globe with stops at The Jon Stewart Show, Bill Maher, CBS-News, CNN, ABC-TV, MTV and numerous others.”

State revokes well-known Maine auctioneer’s license

GARDINER, Maine (AP) – State regulators have revoked the license of a well-known Maine auctioneer following an investigation into his auction business.

The Department of Professional and Financial Regulation announced Wednesday that it had revoked James Cyr’s license and fined him $4,500. Cyr is the operator of Cyr Auction Co. in Gray.

Officials say Cyr failed to account for a person’s property in his possession, failed to return money and unsold property in a timely fashion, and auctioned property without a written contract. They say he was the subject of past disciplinary action in 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008.

Cyr says he didn’t appear before the hearing because he wasn’t properly notified. He says all problems were resolved to his client’s satisfaction and the business will continue utilizing other auctioneers.

AP-ES-01-14-09 1452EST

Consignments from Ford Museum, Winterthur in Feb. 6 Pook & Pook sale

DOWNINGTOWN, Pa. – On Feb. 6, 2009 at 10 a.m., Pook & Pook, Inc. will kick off its 2009 auction calendar with an expansive collection of high-end antique furniture, art and accessories. From American folk art and European accessories to Russian silver and Chinese furniture, this sale represents one of the most diverse selections ever presented by the esteemed Pennsylvania auction house. Live Internet bidding during this sale will be available through www.LiveAuctioneers.com.

With consignments from The Henry Ford Museum, Winterthur Museum, several educational institutions and historical societies, as well as two large estates and various smaller collections from the United States and abroad, this is sure to be a fun event for both seasoned collectors and those brand new to the world of antiques.

From the estate of Margarette Eley of Smyrna, Del., comes a nice grouping of English and Welsh items to include four tall-case clocks, several Welsh dressers, a circa-1760 George III chest on chest, a George I oak cabinet on stand and various accompanying accessories. Also from the estate are two circa-1900 room-size Heriz rugs estimated at $8,000-$12,000 and $6,000-9,000.

An estate from Huntingdon Valley (Philadelphia) provided a nice selection of fraktur and silver as well as an extensive book collection that includes many first editions and limited editions, most signed by the authors. Some examples from this book collection include a wide array from A.A. Milne and J.M. Barrie to an early 18th century illuminated text.

Ownership of Declaration copy disputed in Virginia

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) – A squabble between the state of Maine and an Internet pioneer over ownership of a rare copy of the Declaration of Independence went to the state’s highest court on Tuesday.

A lawyer for Richard L. Adams Jr. told the Virginia Supreme Court there’s no evidence the document was ever an official record kept by the town of Wiscasset, Maine, and that Adams is the rightful owner after buying it from a London book dealer in 2001 for $475,000.

But Maine’s attorney argued that Wiscasset never relinquished ownership of the document, which is one of about 250 copies printed in 1776 and distributed to towns throughout Massachusetts to be read to residents. Maine was part of Massachusetts at the time.

“There’s no evidence the town ever intended to transfer its ownership in this document to anyone,” Maine Assistant Attorney General Thomas Knowlton told the justices. “It’s certainly our belief this document is a public record under Maine law and a public record under common law.”

Fairfax County Circuit Judge R. Terrence Ney last February ruled in favor of Adams, the multimillionaire founder of UUNet Technologies Inc., the first commercial Internet service provider. Adams had filed suit to establish title to the document after learning that Maine officials were considering trying to get it back.
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Italian police recover stolen masterpieces

ROME (AP) – Italian police have recovered 10 masterpieces, including a painting attributed to an artist who worked on the Sistine Chapel, that were stolen in 2004 from an ancient religious complex in Rome, officials said Tuesday.

Officers located the paintings in December. The works were wrapped in newspapers and hidden in the trailer of a suspected art smuggler, police said.

Investigators believe the man was about to take the works abroad to sell them, Carabinieri paramilitary police art squad chief Gen. Giovanni Nistri said. The suspect is under investigation for receiving stolen goods, but is not believed to be behind the theft.

Nistri said the paintings are worth around euro4 million ($5.3 million) and range from the 16th to the 19th century.

The most important among the recovered works is Sacred Family, depicting Mary, Joseph and Baby Jesus.
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Man charged in NH theft of antique cars

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) – A Newbury, N.H., man has been charged with breaking into a Concord business and stealing $20,000 in antique model cars.

Police say 42-year-old Louis Leroux is charged with burglary and conspiracy to commit burglary after a break-in at Central NH Auto Parts last week. Investigators say evidence at the scene led them to Leroux.

On Monday, police searched an antique shop in Northwood and found the stolen antiques.

Police say they expect more arrests.

AP-ES-01-13-09 1008EST

Judge may decide who gets money from doll museum trust

Circa-1880 Thullier bebe. Courtesy LiveAuctioneers Archive and Noel Barrett Auctions.

MITCHELL, S.D. (AP) – This month a judge could hear the case of a trust fund established by the founder of the now-closed Enchanted World Doll Museum, a castle-like building across from the Corn Palace in Mitchell.

The museum’s board wants to give about $250,000 in trust fund money to the United Federation of Doll Clubs, which operates a doll museum in Kansas City, Mo.

Dennis Padrnos, a Mitchell lawyer who represents the museum board, said CorTrust Bank – which manages the trust fund – wants to give the money to the South Dakota Community Foundation’s Mitchell Area Charitable Foundation Endowment Fund.

The trust fund was set up by the late Eunice Thomas Reese, who founded the museum with her then-husband, Sheldon F. Reese.

Padrnos said Mrs. Reese left instructions about the trust fund.

Long-lost Calder banners back on display in Philly

PHILADELPHIA (AP) – A series of enormous banners designed by Alexander Calder are back on display for the first time since they went missing in the 1980s and were feared destroyed.

The four shortest banners in the set of eight are on view until March in the lobby of Philadelphia’s main public library, and may eventually be permanently displayed in a planned expansion of the facility.

“They are beautiful,” said Susan Davis, former director of public art at the Philadelphia Redevelopment Authority. “They aren’t faded or damaged, except for some small water damage.” They are the only banners Calder designed, she said.

Real estate developer and contemporary art collector Jack Wolgin commissioned the banners in 1975 as part of the Redevelopment Authority’s public art requirement for his $80 million Centre Square office building across from City Hall.
Claes Oldenburg’s now-iconic “Clothespin” also was erected as part of the project, as was a giant steel sculpture by Jean Dubuffet, Milord la Chamarre.

Calder designed the boldly colored banners of the sun, moon and floral garlands for the building’s atrium. The Calder-designed steel armature from which they were to hang, a piece of sculpture itself, was never used and is in a Centre Square parking garage.

Wolgin sold Centre Square in the early 1980s and the banners disappeared after being taken down from the atrium. After the building was again sold around 2000, at Davis’ urging, then-building manager Greg Frazier searched for the banners. He eventually found them inside plastic tubs in one of the tower’s countless storage rooms – and they were in good condition.

Wolgin, now 92 and living in Florida, was delighted they had been found. “I am hopeful that the city, the community, and the owners of Centre Square will work expeditiously toward the permanent public display of all the beautiful Calder banners,” Wolgin told the Philadelphia Inquirer for a story Monday.

Since finding the banners, Davis has searched for a permanent home for them. She eventually contacted the Free Library, which is embarking on an expansion by architect Moshe Safdie.

“This is a major work of a major American artist. … That’s what’s motivating this effort,” Davis said. “That they’re sitting scrunched up in these little tubs – that’s a waste of great public art.”
Sandra A. Horrocks, spokeswoman for the Free Library Foundation, said the library would “very much love to have them” on permanent display, but a number of steps have to be taken before that can happen.
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Information from: The Philadelphia Inquirer, http://www.philly.com

AP-ES-01-12-09 1125EST

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