Olympia International Fine Art & Antiques Fair at 40

LONDON – The destination for buyers searching for unique pieces this June will be the Olympia International Fine Art & Antiques Fair, which celebrates its 40th year. Influential trend-setters and buyers in the know attend the fair for inspiration and to create the zeitgeist look: a mixture of eclectic and high caliber pieces–both antique and contemporary–to be found at the fair. London’s most established art and antiques fair will take place from Thursday, June 7, to Sunday, June 17.

The fair attracts over 30,000 collectors and enthusiasts including Stella McCartney, Valentino, Ralph Lauren, up-and-coming designer Ethan Koh, Suzy Menkes, Mick Jagger, Dustin Hoffman, Bryan Ferry, Oprah Winfrey, Henrietta Spencer-Churchill, Nina Campbell, Jasper Conran, Sir Peter Blake, Sir David Tang, the Mittals and the Hiltons.

New exhibitors this year include interior designer and socialite Nicky Haslam, Anthony Outred, 20th century design guru Gordon Watson, Lennox Cato and tribal art specialist Clive Loveless.

One hundred-eighty specialist dealers will source and keep their best pieces especially for this annual event. The array of stock for sale ranges from traditional and decorative furniture to contemporary art and design as well as 20th century furniture and design, paintings and watercolors, silver, jewelery, textiles, ceramics, kitchenalia, lighting, carpets, Art Deco, clocks, tribal art, sculpture, fossils, mirrors and natural history.

Shoppers relish sourcing strong statement pieces such as the iconic Love by Robert Indiana (1966-1999), on sale through Barcelona gallery Mayoral Galeria D’Art, to sit alongside a much sought-after 18th century oak table. Antique Ikat textiles can be bought to hang next to the 1st Duke of Cambridge’s mirror (1774-1850) set among contemporary furniture by British designer Paul Belvoir. For those in need of some sparkle, there are over one million diamonds on sale through the jewelery dealers including vintage pieces by Cartier, Tiffany and Van Cleef & Arpels.

With prices ranging from £100 to £1 million the fair accommodates every level of buyer. Both first-time and seasoned collectors can be reassured by the knowledge that every piece has been checked by a team of trade experts, who vet the show before it opens to ensure it is genuine and of good quality.

There will be a program of tours, events and lectures suitable for both first-time visitors and regular attendees.

The fair takes place at Olympia Exhibition Centre, Olympia Way. London W14 8UX.

For details visit www.olympia-art-antiques.com.

 

 

National Geographic to commemorate Titanic anniversary

The bow railing of R.M.S. Titanic illuminated by Mir 1 submersible. The slant of the 'rustcicles' shows the direction of the current. Photo by Emory Kristof.
The bow railing of R.M.S. Titanic illuminated by Mir 1 submersible. The slant of the 'rustcicles' shows the direction of the current. Photo by Emory Kristof.
The bow railing of R.M.S. Titanic illuminated by Mir 1 submersible. The slant of the ‘rustcicles’ shows the direction of the current. Photo by Emory Kristof.

WASHINGTON – A century after the Titanic hit an iceberg and sank, its story still captivates people around the world. In a new exhibition, “Titanic: 100 Year Obsession,” the National Geographic Museum will dive deep into the history and study of the Titanic, highlighting the work of National Geographic Explorers-in-Residence Robert Ballard and James Cameron as well as the ship’s impact on popular culture today. The ticketed exhibition will be open from Thursday, March 29, through Sunday, July 8.

“Titanic: 100 Year Obsession” focuses not only on the importance of the legendary ship, but also on the National Geographic Society’s role in the story. More than 70 years after the ship sank on April 15, 1912, news broke around the world that the Titanic wreck site had been found by a team of scientists co-led by Ballard. Since this historic discovery, Ballard has continued to study the Titanic and is working to conserve the ship and wreck site. His most recent effort has been with the National Museum in Belfast, which he will help dedicate on the 100th anniversary of the ship’s sinking.

Cameron has been fascinated by the Titanic story for many years. Since the visionary director’s work on the film Titanic, he has organized 33 dives to the site—each one bringing back important new information, images and insights on the tragedy. His exploratory excursions, 12,000 feet beneath the ocean surface, have resulted in the development of groundbreaking new technologies in underwater exploration. Cameron continues to study the ship he helped turn into an entertainment icon through one the most popular motion pictures of all time.

The exhibition looks at Titanic’s audacious development, bold engineering and beautiful aesthetic. Highlights include a detailed 18-foot scale model of the ship, a working model of the engine room and a recreation of the Marconi radio room. The exhibition describes the circumstances of the ill-fated journey, using replicas and props from the film Titanic, including life vests and a full-size lifeboat.

The exhibition will feature a video on the “moment of discovery” from Ballard’s historic expedition to the wreck in 1985. Interactives developed for National Geographic magazine’s April 2012 digital edition will provide visitors a chance to explore the wreck site for themselves and will reveal new insights into the debris field.

An impressive 20-foot model of the shipwrecked bow from Cameron’s film will be on display along with the story of his own fascination and exploration of the wreck site. Included are images and data from his findings as well as one of the remotely operated vehicles, dubbed Elwood, that Cameron used in 2001 to explore the interior spaces of the Titanic for the first time. A digital animation of the ship’s final moments will describe how scientists have been able to definitively reconstruct how it broke apart and sank 100 years ago this spring.

The 100th anniversary of the Titanic’s sinking is the focus of a major National Geographic cross-divisional effort in the coming months. In addition to the museum exhibition, the cover story, by Hampton Sides, in National Geographic magazine’s April issue will describe how new technologies have revealed the most complete—and most intimate—images of the famous wreck. Cameron also writes a personal essay. The National Geographic Channel will air two world-premiere specials: Titanic: The Final Word with James Cameron on Sunday, April 8, from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET/PT and Save the Titanic with Bob Ballard on Monday, April 9, from 10 p.m. to 11 p.m. ET/PT. National Geographic also is publishing digital books, home video offerings and games.

National Geographic Museum, 1145 17th St., N.W., Washington, D.C., is open every day from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. It is closed Dec. 25.

For information on the “Titanic: 100 Year Obsession” exhibition or the museum’s other spring exhibition, “Samurai: The Warrior Transformed,” the public should call 202-857-7588 or visit www.ngmuseum.org.

ADDITIONAL IMAGE OF NOTE

The bow railing of R.M.S. Titanic illuminated by Mir 1 submersible. The slant of the 'rustcicles' shows the direction of the current. Photo by Emory Kristof.
The bow railing of R.M.S. Titanic illuminated by Mir 1 submersible. The slant of the ‘rustcicles’ shows the direction of the current. Photo by Emory Kristof.

Art installation being erected over NYC’s Park Avenue

A view down Park Avenue toward the MetLife Building. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.
A view down Park Avenue toward the MetLife Building. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.
A view down Park Avenue toward the MetLife Building. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.

NEW YORK (AP) – Nine stainless steel, multicolored sculptures of various geometric shapes will tower over Manhattan’s Park Avenue in an art project by Venezuelan sculptor Rafael Barrios.

The works, each one weighing about 2,200 pounds and standing more than 20 feet tall, will be installed from 51st to 67th street starting Saturday, organizers said. They’ll be up until June 30.

“I feel very proud and happy that we were able to do this project,” said the 64-year old artist.

“This shows that Latin American art is beginning to have an international impact,” Barrios told The Associated Press by telephone from Miami.

The sculpture installation is a project by the Fund for Park Avenue, the Park Avenue Malls and the city’s Department of Parks and Recreation, which every year chooses an artist’s work to showcase along the stately avenue.

Barrios, who was born in Baton Rouge, La. and grew up in Venezuela, said he hopes New Yorkers “will have fun looking at them.”

He was asked to do the project last November during an art fair in New York, and “we did it in seven weeks,” said the artist, who divides his time between Miami, Paris and Caracas.

He worked with a team of artists in Miami led by Olivier Haligon, whose great-grandfather was involved in building the Statue of Liberty.

“The idea is to avoid monotony,” Barrios said about the pieces. “That’s why I used many colors like shades of silver, grays, whites, purples, iridescent blues or opal-like reds.”

The colors are light sensitive so they change with the sunlight, he said.

Barrios’ works have been shown in other urban spaces such as Coca-Cola International Headquarters in New York and Philippe Stark’s Murano Grande building and the Sunny Isles Park in Miami.

His sculptures are also found in private collections such as those of King Juan Carlos of Spain and Princess Gloria von Thurn und Taxis of Germany.

Other artists who have had their sculptures shown on Park Avenue include Will Ryman and Yoshitomo Nara.

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Online:

http://rafaelbarrios.com

http://fundforparkavenue.org

Copyright 2012 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

AP-WF-03-05-12 1523GMT

ADDITIONAL IMAGE OF NOTE

A view down Park Avenue toward the MetLife Building. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.
A view down Park Avenue toward the MetLife Building. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.

Police investigate art returned to Pa., N.J. galleries

The train station in New Hope, Pa. Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons.
The train station in New Hope, Pa. Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons.
The train station in New Hope, Pa. Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons.

NEW HOPE, Pa. (AP) – A total of six apparently stolen artistic works have been returned to a pair of suburban Philadelphia galleries but the police handling the investigation aren’t releasing details about their investigation.

Two galleries in New Hope, Pa., and neighboring Lambertville, N.J., had works returned last month. The items were returned to both galleries in boxes, wrapped in gift paper and black tape.

A sculpture called Dread World worth about $4,000 was among items returned to New Hope’s Sidetracks Art Gallery. Lambertville’s American Antiques and Designs received two sculptures and an oil painting with a total value of about $1,200.

The Philadelphia Inquirer reports Lambertville police declined to comment Monday, saying could jeopardize the investigation.

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Information from: The Philadelphia Inquirer, http://www.philly.com

Copyright 2012 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

AP-WF-03-06-12 1049GMT

ADDITIONAL IMAGE OF NOTE

The train station in New Hope, Pa. Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons.
The train station in New Hope, Pa. Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons.

John McInnis to sell 500 lots of fine Asian art March 18

Hardwood center table. Image courtesy John McInnis Auctioneers.
Hardwood center table. Image courtesy John McInnis Auctioneers.

Hardwood center table. Image courtesy John McInnis Auctioneers.

AMESBURY, Mass. – On Sunday, March 18, John McInnis Auctioneers will present a sale of over 500 lots of fine Asian furniture, porcelains, ivory, jade and snuff bottles at their gallery, 76 Main St. LiveAuctioneers.com will provide Internet live bidding.

“This is a once-in-a-lifetime sale of exceptional Asian antiques,” said John McInnis, auctioneer, “featuring the collection of a New England gentleman, a former CIA operative and adviser to the U.S. State Department during the ’40s, ’50s and ’60s. He lived in China and Japan and traveled extensively throughout Asia for three decades.”

The highlights of the sale include finely carved furniture from the Qing Dynasty, a Ming dynasty celadon bottle and a massive 18th century blue-and-white bowl.

“The condition, of the pieces in this sale, are very good and it is a pleasure to handle so many truly spectacular objects,” added McInnis. “Our gallery has a history of selling fine Asian art and furniture. Dealers from around the world recognize our expertise. With technology today, we can easily have online bidders from China, phone bidders from Japan and live bidders from New York or San Francisco at our auctions. Thanks to technology, the location of an auction means less these days. Quality merchandise brings strong prices whether it is sold in London or Amesbury, Mass.”

Among the many furniture highlights at the sale is a Chinese, Late Qing Dynasty, 19th century masterfully carved ebonized hardwood center table of leaf and berry motifs with inset variegated rouge marble top, pierced apron, large urn form standard above a tiered platform quadruped base terminating in scroll feet. The 53-inch-diameter table has a great provenance coming from the John Heard family it was displayed in the Appleton Room of the Heard House Museum in Ipswich, Mass. Deaccessioned in the 1970s, it was purchased and remained with one owner until the present.

“In very good to original condition, this beautiful table has already attracted the attention of collector’s world-wide and I expect it to sell in the $30,000 to $50,000 range,” said McInnis.

Equally exciting is an exceptional Chinese late Qing Dynasty, mid-19th century ebonized and superlatively artisan carved desk/bookcase with a pierce carved gallery over four-shelf back with floral relief sides resting upon a base with rouge variegated inset marble, rising on carved cabriole legs. It is similar to the style of furniture acquired by Robert Bennet Forbes in 1849 and displayed at the Forbes House Museum in Milton Mass., and carries an estimate of $9,000-$14,000.

Anyone interested in Chinese furniture will not want to miss the pair of late Qing, probably huanghuali wood, yoke-back side chairs on straight molded supports joined by stretchers or the Chinese three-part huanghuali partners desk with double bank, paneled doors and three-to-a-side opposing drawers. They are extraordinary examples and in good condition. The pair of chairs carries an estimate of $5,000 to $10,000, while the desk is estimated to sell for between $25,000 and $35,000.

Highlighting the porcelain lots, is a massive Chinese blue-and-white shallow bowl, Qing period, 18th century, which features a centered by leafy stylized lotus and peony pattern, birds-and-flowers to the exterior. The base has an apocryphal Qianlong mark. Also outstanding, is a Ming Dynasty Longquan celadon bulb-mouth bottle (suankouping), with a pear-form body. It is a delicate and graceful example of treasured jade-green ceramic.

The sale will feature a number of snuff bottles, but none as stunning as the Chinese inlaid and polychrome ivory bottle from the Qing dynasty. The 3-inch bottle with matching stopper, is carved with an emperor, reversed by a warrior, the sides and shoulders are inlaid with minute seed pearls and the base has a four-character Qianlong mark.

“The booming Asian economy has created an ever increasing demand for fine Asian art and antiques,” added McInnis. “At our last sale of Asian antiques, we had over 300 online and telephone bidders from Asia and we expect at least that level of interest for the March 18 sale.”

There will be an exhibition of the merchandise on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, March 15-17 from 1 to 7 p.m. and from 9 a.m. until sale on March 18. An online catalog with photos, descriptions and estimates is available at www.mcinnisauctions.com. John McInnis is licensed in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Maine and Florida. There is a 15 percent buyer’s premium and 6.25 percent Massachusetts sales tax. For details call the gallery at 800-822-1417.

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

Hardwood center table. Image courtesy John McInnis Auctioneers.

Hardwood center table. Image courtesy John McInnis Auctioneers.

Carved desk/bookcase. Image courtesy John McInnis Auctioneers.

Carved desk/bookcase. Image courtesy John McInnis Auctioneers.

Huanghuali. Image courtesy John McInnis Auctioneers.

Huanghuali. Image courtesy John McInnis Auctioneers.

Bronze. Image courtesy John McInnis Auctioneers.

Bronze. Image courtesy John McInnis Auctioneers.

Jade. Image courtesy John McInnis Auctioneers.

Jade. Image courtesy John McInnis Auctioneers.

East German socialist propaganda art gathering dust

'Brigadier,' a 1981 painting by Bernhard Heisig (German, 1925-2011), appeared on this East German postage stamp. Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons.
'Brigadier,' a 1981 painting by Bernhard Heisig (German, 1925-2011), appeared on this East German postage stamp. Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons.
‘Brigadier,’ a 1981 painting by Bernhard Heisig (German, 1925-2011), appeared on this East German postage stamp. Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons.

BEESKOW, Germany, (AFP) – Piled-up, forgotten and gathering dust, 23,000 artworks from the former East Germany fill a vast warehouse 90 kilometres from Berlin, testimony to an oppressive past.

From busts of Karl Marx to paintings glorifying the Heroes of Socialist Labour, this communist art in a rundown building formerly used to store animal feed arouses little interest in today’s Germany.

One enormous picture among the many catches the eye—it shows Mikhail Gorbachev, the Soviet Union’s last leader, posing with long-term leader Erich Honecker on East Germany’s 40th anniversary.

Several weeks after the meeting, the Berlin Wall would fall and communism be swept away in eastern and central Europe.

“Very poor quality,” comments Kristina Geisler, who is in charge of the Beeskow art archives collection, amid the 1,500 paintings and myriad propaganda objects crammed, floor to ceiling, over three floors.

Dismissive of socialist kitsch, the art historian chooses to focus instead on the East German artists who managed to find a creative space somewhere between artistic freedom and the constraints of dictatorship.

“We also have here works of great artistic quality,” said Ilona Weser, who heads the archive.

To illustrate her point, she opens one of the drawers holding 13,000 graphic paintings by Bernhard Heisig, a major artist from the communist era renowned both in the former East and West Germany.

Works by many other figures of socialist realism are also stored in Beeskow, a quiet town southwest of the German capital. Some are covered in bubble wrap while others just lie on the linoleum floor.

Nearly 2,000 drawings, 1,300 photos, 4,000 medals and 300 busts lie in the space filled with the din of a dilapidated air-conditioning system.

Artworks such as Celebration of Miners, Industrial Landscape and Album on the History of the Soviet Army once adorned the walls of Houses of Culture and offices of the National People’s Army or the ruling Socialist Unity Party.

When these vestiges of the party’s 1949-1989 grip on power vanished with the fall of the Wall, East Germany’s last culture minister managed to save some of the artworks shortly before national reunification in 1990.

Anchored in a political ideology now consigned to the history books of Europe, they were stored in Beeskow and quickly forgotten.

“Art played a particular role in the GDR (German Democratic Republic),” said Geisler. “It was not just about decorating the walls. The art reflected the evolution of society and is today a historical source.”

Juergen Danyel, deputy director of the ZZF institute of historical research of Potsdam, has been trying for three years to draw up an inventory of the    East German artworks with the help of other cultural bodies.

“Art acts like a seismograph and makes visible the erosion of communist power in the 1980s, for example,” he said.

However, nobody seems especially interested in this heritage. At the end of last year, the European Union turned down a request for funding to renovate and modify the warehouse.

Thus, at the end of her workday, Geisler takes one of the big keys she carries and closes up the building, leaving a large gold-framed painting of Lenin, a gift to the GDR from Czechoslovakia, to gather dust in the stairwell.

ADDITIONAL IMAGE OF NOTE

'Brigadier,' a 1981 painting by Bernhard Heisig (German, 1925-2011), appeared on this East German postage stamp. Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons.
‘Brigadier,’ a 1981 painting by Bernhard Heisig (German, 1925-2011), appeared on this East German postage stamp. Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons.

Rushlight Club activities include previews at Jeffrey S. Evans

Sheet-iron Betty lamps, first half 19th century. Image courtesy Jeffrey S. Evans & Associates Inc.
Sheet-iron Betty lamps, first half 19th century. Image courtesy Jeffrey S. Evans & Associates Inc.
Sheet-iron Betty lamps, first half 19th century. Image courtesy Jeffrey S. Evans & Associates Inc.

MOUNT CRAWFORD, Va. – The Rushlight Club will hold their 2012 annual spring meeting in Harrisonburg, Va., on Thursday, April 26, through Sunday, April 29. The meeting is being hosted by Jeffrey S. Evans & Associates of neighboring Mount Crawford.

Meeting activities will include a day of lectures related to 18th and 19th century lighting, private tours of two outstanding Shenandoah Valley collections, and special previews of three important lighting collections being auctioned by Jeffrey S. Evans & Associates on April 28 and 29.

Seminar registration fee is $52 per person, which covers all activities including a Thursday night opening reception, Friday lectures and box lunch, and a banquet on Saturday night. Transportation will not be provided. Registration is open to Rushlight members and their families.

The Rushlight Club, founded in 1932 for the study and preservation of lighting, is one of the oldest organizations dedicated to a single aspect of material culture. The collecting and researching interests of members range from the earliest primitive lighting devices through lighting by gas and electricity.

The purpose of the club is to stimulate an interest in the study of early lighting including the use of early lighting devices and lighting fuels, and the origins and development of each, by means of written articles, lectures, exhibitions from private collections and through the medium of exchange.

Visit the club’s website at http://www.rushlight.org/ for additional information including membership applications.

ADDITIONAL IMAGE OF NOTE

Sheet-iron Betty lamps, first half 19th century. Image courtesy Jeffrey S. Evans & Associates Inc.
Sheet-iron Betty lamps, first half 19th century. Image courtesy Jeffrey S. Evans & Associates Inc.

Lawyer’s journals shed light on Lizzie Borden case

The Borden House in Fall River, Mass., present day. Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons.
The Borden House in Fall River, Mass., present day. Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons.
The Borden House in Fall River, Mass., present day. Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons.

FALL RIVER, Mass. (AP) – A series of journals kept by a lawyer who represented Lizzie Borden in her 1893 double murder trial are shedding new light on the case.

The journals by attorney Andrew Jackson Jennings were willed to the Fall River Historical Society by Jennings’ grandson, Edward Saunders Waring, who recently died.

They contain among other information, details of interviews he conducted in building his defense.

Museum curator Michael Martins tells The Herald News the journals contain some never before published information about the infamous case, including details some interviewees gave describing a caring relationship between Borden’s father, Lizzie and her sister.

Borden was charged with using an ax to kill her father and stepmother in 1892. Although she was acquitted, many people thought she literally got away with murder.

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Information from: The Herald News, http://www.heraldnews.com

Copyright 2012 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

AP-WF-03-05-12 1449GMT

ADDITIONAL IMAGE OF NOTE

The Borden House in Fall River, Mass., present day. Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons.
The Borden House in Fall River, Mass., present day. Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons.

Historic home on the range in need of restoration

Brewster Higley IV wrote the lyrics for 'Home on the Range.' Photo Kansas State Historical Society, courtesy Wikimedia Commons.
Brewster Higley IV wrote the lyrics for 'Home on the Range.' Photo Kansas State Historical Society, courtesy Wikimedia Commons.
Brewster Higley IV wrote the lyrics for ‘Home on the Range.’ Photo Kansas State Historical Society, courtesy Wikimedia Commons.

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) – Kansans are being asked to help pay for repairs to a 140-year-old cabin where Brewster Higley wrote the lyrics for what would become the state song, Home on the Range.

The cabin still stands along Beaver Creek in Smith County but it is badly in need of repairs and renovations.

The Kansas State Historical Society recently announced a $24,600 grant to help with the restoration but supporters say it will take an additional $50,000 to fix the cabin, The Wichita Eagle reported.

In the fall of 1872, Higley, a frontier doctor, wrote a six-verse poem he called My Western Home. It was later set to music and became Home on the Range.

Kansas Sens. Bob Marshall, R-Fort Scott, and Allen Schmidt, D-Hays, recently co-sponsored a Senate resolution that recognizes the historical significance of the cabin and encourages Kansas students and others to help raise money for its restoration.

Kansans who want to help have three ways to contribute to the effort.

“Coins for the Cabin” asks Kansas students, their teachers and families to donate a few cents or dollars to the restoration fund. Letters were sent last week to each of Kansas’ 293 school districts asking for help.

“If each student in Kansas collected $1 in this effort, there would be adequate funds to begin restoration of the cabin,” said El Dean Holthus, whose aunt and uncle, Ellen and Pete Rust, owned the property for nearly 75 years.

Others can buy a $75 limited edition print of the cabin from Gary Hawk, a Western watercolor artist from Iola. Or donations can be sent to the Ellen Rust Living Trust in Smith Center. Donors who contribute $500 or more will receive a collector’s handmade model of the cabin.

Last spring, Orin Friesen at the Prairie Rose Chuckwagon Supper near Benton started a campaign for the cabin that raise more than $25,000, mostly from the Wichita area.

In August, Marshall contacted Holthus to help create a statewide approach to the campaign.

Holthus said the money raised so far will pay to remove dirt on the north side of the cabin and for landscaping for 15 acres immediately surrounding the structure. Additional funds would be used to provide a security system and purchase historically appropriate items for the cabin.

Most of the improvements are expected to be made by July 4, in time for a 140th celebration of the cabin, Holthus said.

The Ellen Rust Living Trust has money to maintain the property but not for the improvements, Holthus said.

A benefit concert by the Prairie Rose Rangers is scheduled for 7 p.m. March 24 at the Smith Center High School in Smith Center.

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Information from: The Wichita Eagle, http://www.kansas.com

Copyright 2012 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

AP-WF-03-05-12 1540GMT

ADDITIONAL IMAGE OF NOTE

Brewster Higley IV wrote the lyrics for 'Home on the Range.' Photo Kansas State Historical Society, courtesy Wikimedia Commons.
Brewster Higley IV wrote the lyrics for ‘Home on the Range.’ Photo Kansas State Historical Society, courtesy Wikimedia Commons.

44 arrested in Greece for antiquities trafficking

City Hall in Polygyros, Greece, where the arrests were made. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Germany license.
City Hall in Polygyros, Greece, where the arrests were made. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Germany license.
City Hall in Polygyros, Greece, where the arrests were made. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Germany license.

POLYGYROS, Greece (AP) – Greek police arrested a total of 44 people for illegal antiquities trafficking after they investigated the group’s moves for months, officials said Sunday.

Police said they confiscated 9,200 silver and bronze coins dating from the sixth century B.C. to Byzantine times (fourth to 15th century). They also confiscated 300 “small artifacts.”

The ringleader of the group, a 66-year-old retired customs official, would often travel abroad to arrange for the sale of the coins, police said. He, along with his two brothers, a daughter-in-law and another relative, formed the core of the group, while the other 39 would excavate in several places in northern and central Greece at the ringleader’s request.

“We conducted 55 separate searches on Saturday,” regional police chief Vassilis Kanalis said in northern Polygyros, 580 kilometers (360 miles) northeast of Athens. “This was the culmination of a great investigation which began six months ago.”

The suspects made depositions to an examining magistrate.

The most valuable coin, according to experts, is a silver coin from the era of Alexander the Great (fourth century B.C.) in which Alexander is depicted as an eagle on one side, while the other shows his father and predecessor as King of Macedonia, Philip II.

“We are talking about a huge treasure, which … was smuggled and sold abroad in small quantities,” another regional police chief, Constantine Papoutsis, said.

In the past six months, the ringleader made several trips abroad—to Bulgaria, Switzerland, Germany, Great Britain and the U.S.—presumably in search of clients. He traveled often, sometimes twice a week.

“The case has a lot of depth. There are likely other persons involved, whom we will look for,” Papoutsis said.

Copyright 2012 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

AP-WF-03-04-12 2247GMT

ADDITIONAL IMAGE OF NOTE

City Hall in Polygyros, Greece, where the arrests were made. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Germany license.
City Hall in Polygyros, Greece, where the arrests were made. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Germany license.