Kray twins Ronnie (left) and Reggie, Britain's most notorious gangsters
ADAM LAZZARI
Tuesday, May 22, 2012
10:31 AM
More than 40 paintings and drawings by the notorious Kray twins are to go on auction at Fakenham Racecourse.
Ronnie and Reggie Kray were at the forefront of organised crime in London’s East End in the 1950s and 1960s and were given life sentences for murder in 1969.
Ronnie died of a heart attack in Broadmoor Hospital, Crowthorne, in 1995, aged 61, while Reggie died, aged 66, from cancer at the Town House Hotel in Norwich in 2000.
Artwork produced by the pair while they were in prison will be up for sale at an auction at Fakenham Racecourse on July 11.
David James, from Fakenham auctioneers James and Sons, said the artwork is in a variety of mediums including chalk on paper, watercolour, oil on paper, on board and on canvas, charcoal, pastel and pencil.
The subject matter covers a wide range including nudes, portraits, landscapes, seascapes, animals and still-lifes.
The majority of the work is by Reggie, 37 items, with five by Ronnie.
Mr James said: “Some of the works are clearly copies of originals by renowned artists, presumably from text books available in the prison libraries.
“While the work can best be described as naive it cannot be written off as pure amateurism – there is evidence of some talent.”
Also at the auction there will be an album of photographs and Reggie’s letters to ‘Clive’, a fellow inmate who appears to have been Kray’s ‘gopher’ at HMP Wayland and who kept in touch with him after his own release.
A pair of boxing gloves which belonged to Charles Bronson, often referred to as “Britain’s most violent prisoner”, are also in the collection. These bear Bronson’s name and are the subject of one of Reggie’s letters to ‘Clive’, in which he describes how meeting Bronson was “the most frightening visit I had” when the two, accompanied by 20 prison officers, exchanged the gloves at HMP Parkhurst.
There is also one drawing by Ronald “Buster” Edwards, one of the thieves involved in the “Great Train Robbery” of 1963, up for sale.
The auction will be the first to be held by James and Sons at fakenham Racecourse.
Source: www.edp24.co.uk
Artists: Is Your Work Insured in Your Gallery? - Huffington Post
Earthquakes in Los Angeles, hurricane batters the Gulf Coast, tornadoes rip through Texas, bomb blasts, thefts, fires, car crashes, sabotage: typical newspaper fare. However, for fine artists, an additional concern may be that those earthquakes, hurricanes, tornadoes and other acts of God and man may damage the galleries to which they have consigned their work and, quite possibly, the artwork within them. Will the artists be able to cover their losses?
The answer is, sometimes and perhaps only partially. Maria Porges, a sculptor in Oakland, California, was exhibiting her mixed media work at the James Harris Gallery in Seattle in February in 2001 when an earthquake measuring 6.8 on the Richter Scale struck western Washington State, damaging buildings in Seattle and Olympia. Three of her sculptures suffered extensive damage during the shaking that also damaged the facade of the gallery building, but the gallery's insurance policy did not provide for earthquakes, and "Maria is cast those works on her own," according to the gallery owner, James Harris. There is no money from the gallery or from an insurance company to reimburse Porges for her costs. "I mean, I'm very sorry about what happened -- she is a very nice person and a very good artist -- but earthquake coverage is prohibitively expensive," he said.
Actually, the James Harris Gallery's insurance, which covers all the artworks consigned to the gallery for the amount that the artists would realize in a sale (the retail price less dealer commission, or 50 percent of a work's fair market value), is better than that of many galleries in the United States. Some have no insurance at all. The Barbara Krakow Gallery in Boston only insures (to its full value) works that the gallery owns and has no coverage for consigned pieces. Approximately three-quarters of its inventory are works on consignment. "At one time, we did cover all the works in the gallery, but that became too expensive," Krakow said. "Artists have to decide if they are prepared to bring the work into may gallery under those conditions."
It is rare that an artist ever asks her about the gallery's insurance policy -- does she have one, what does it cover, what are the exclusions -- and she cannot recall any artists refusing to consign work to her because of a lack of insurance. "Artists have to weigh things, the chance to have their work shown professionally and to a larger audience versus the risk of damage," Krakow said. "I think the risk is rather small, and most artists seem to agree."
Most damage to consigned artwork occurs during transit, from the artist's studio to the gallery or from the gallery to the buyer's home or office. When artists ship their work, generally they are responsible for insuring it; the carrier then bears liability for damage. Some artists may maintain an insurance policy for works consigned to galleries that do not insure the art in their possession -- the cost is usually $50 per year for $10,000 in coverage.
The fact that a gallery has insurance for consigned artworks does not alleviate all of an artist's concerns. In the event of damage, the questions arise of how extensive is the damage (is it worthwhile to repair the piece) and who should make the needed repairs. Artists may believe that they are in charge of their own artwork, but insurance companies usually include a clause in their policies that gives them the right to determine whether or not an object is reparable. There may be instances in which an artist and an insurance company disagree, requiring the gallery to intercede -- presumably on the side of the artist. "You can always sue the gallery if the gallery won't fight on your behalf with the insurance company," said Joshua Kaufman, a lawyer in Washington, D.C. who has represented many artists. He added that the gallery itself may be liable for damage if it occurred as a result of negligence or mishandling. "Lack of insurance coverage doesn't mitigate liability, either," he said.
A less common but still plausible problem may arise when a gallery makes an insurance claim on an irreparably damaged artwork. By paying the settlement, the insurance company gains title and physical possession of the art. The company may decide on its own to have the piece repaired and then sold as a work by the artist. Under moral rights law, artists may claim that the art in its current state is no longer their work and is prejudicial to their reputations; they may publicly disown the piece and enjoin the insurance company (or anyone else) from attributing it to them.
Many of these solutions involve filing a lawsuit, which is expensive. Better to ask questions in advance of consigning artwork and negotiate for certain provisions (best when in writing on a consignment agreement or contract):
- Does the gallery have insurance? What is covered under the policy? What are the exclusions (what isn't covered)?
- If consigned artwork is damaged or destroyed, what would the artist receive? When the Ann Nathan Gallery in Chicago burned down in 1989, along with eight other galleries in the same building, the artists received only three-quarters of the amount they would have received had the works been sold. The insurance company had applied a "blockage rule" for discounting artworks sold en masse. Most galleries insure to the value of the consignment price, but artists may ask for the full retail value. In fact, an artist sued his California dealer after receiving the commissioned price of 60 percent for nine paintings that had been destroyed in a fire at the dealer's gallery, claiming that he should not have to a pay a commission for works that were not sold. In 1986, the California Court of Appeals agreed, overturning a lower court's decision on behalf of the dealer and awarding the artist the full retail value.
- If artwork is damaged, does the artist have the right of first refusal to repair the art at cost?
- When an artist's work is insured by a gallery, the "artist should be listed as a named insured" -- sometimes called a loss-payee -- "on the policy, which means that the artist gets paid directly by the insurance company and doesn't have to wait while the gallery monkeys around with his or her money," Kaufman said.
Some artists may simply be resigned to a certain level of risk and damage. Artists who work in glass see damage as a regular cost of doing business, for instance. Katharina Fritsch, an internationally renowned sculptor in Dusseldorf, Germany who creates in plaster cast, "makes extra parts and ships them along with her works in case there is damage," said Jeffrey Peabody, director of the Matthew Marks Gallery in New York City. "She knows they are very fragile and that accidents happen."
Source: www.huffingtonpost.com
Artwork was paid for at McDonald’s branch - Independent Online
McDonald’s South Africa has confirmed that MEC for Local Government and Housing Humphrey Mmemezi paid R10 000 for a piece of artwork through one of its branches.
McDonald’s spokesman Belinda McKenna said the fast food company had instituted a probe after The Star ran a story on Monday on how Mmemezi had used his government-issued credit card at a McDonald’s branch in Silverton, Tshwane, for the painting.
McDonald’s said the transaction took place on October 12 last year.
McKenna said: “The owner-operator, in his capacity as a businessman, was empathetic to the needs of a friend, the artist, offering assistance of using the credit card facility in his restaurant to process the transaction, as the artist does not have credit card facilities with which to receive payments.”
She added: “No sale transaction was processed through the McDonald’s system. In hindsight, the owner operator agrees that this was an innocent error of judgment.”
McKenna said the owner-operator’s actions were not in line with McDonald’s South Africa’s corporate governance standards.
The Star
Source: www.iol.co.za
Andy Warhol piece, other artwork stolen from Corktown business - Detroit Free Press
Before few people even knew it was there, millions of dollars worth of artwork nestled away in Corktown has vanished.
The FBI says that sometime between April 27-29, the Andy Warhol silkscreen used to produce Flowers and 18 works by other artists were stolen from a business in Detroits Corktown neighborhood. The feds would not identify the victim or the business, but said the works were not on display nor locked up.
FBI spokesman Simon Shaykhet said a reward of $5,000 is being offered for information on the artworks by Warhol, Larry Rivers, Francesco Clemente, Philip Taaffe, Peter Schuyff and Joseph Beuys.
Whoever is involved may have planned to or may have already transported (the art) outside state lines or possibly outside the country, Shaykhet said. Given the nature of this crime and the value of the artwork stolen, were alerting anyone in the art industry, as well as local pawn shops and those who shop online, that thieves could use any of those avenues to try and sell the stolen goods.
He said the artwork is listed on the National Stolen Art database and can be viewed on the FBIs website, www.fbi.gov.
Anyone with information on the theft is asked to contact their nearest FBI field office. The Detroit office can be reached 24 hours a day 313-965-2323.
Contact M.L. Elrick: 313-222-6582 or mlelrick@freepress.com.
Source: www.freep.com
Katy Perry unveils new single 'Wide Awake' artwork - picture - Digital Spy
Source: www.digitalspy.co.uk
FBI: Artwork worth millions, including a Warhol, goes missing in Detroit - detroitnews.com
Detroit— The FBI is hunting for 20th century contemporary artwork worth millions — including one work by Andy Warhol — stolen from a Corktown business.
The 19 works of art were stolen sometime between April 27 and 29 and may have been taken by international art thieves, according to the FBI.
The FBI did not say where the artwork was stored or identify the owner, but said the artwork was not on display. The art was not insured.
The stolen art has been entered into a national database of stolen artwork. A $5,000 reward is being offered for the return of the art, which includes a "Flowers" silkscreen by Warhol. The other stolen art includes works by Larry Rivers, Francesco Clemente, Philip Taaffe, Joseph Beuys and Peter Schuyff.
"We believe this artwork may have been transported out of Detroit, the state and possibly the country," FBI spokesman Simon Shaykhet said.
As much as $6 billion in art is stolen each year, according to the FBI.
Farmington Hills tax attorney and noted art collector Richard Rollins owns the Brooklyn Lofts building in Corktown, which caters to artists in search of studio space. He did not know about the theft.
"I have some Warhols, but I don't keep them in my building," Rollins said Tuesday. "I don't think anyone should have a serious collection in Corktown. I think Detroit is the most dangerous city in the United States."
The FBI is asking people with knowledge about the thefts to call (313) 965-2323.
(313) 222-2028
Source: www.detroitnews.com
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Simon Alcock
Tuesday, May 22, 2012