The painting by Jzef Brandt, titled “Watch” (“Czaty”), belonged to the collection of the “Zachęta” Gallery of the Society for the Encouragement of Fine Arts in Warsaw since 1913. The painting was part of the permanent collection of the Gallery until 1939 when German occupational authorities transferred it to the National Museum in Warsaw. Tragically, thousands of the Museums works of art were destroyed or looted during the Warsaw Uprising of 1944. The small oil on canvas depicting a Polish Cossack soldier on watch, was photographed and well documented by the Museum prior to being looted and was therefore, registered on several looted art databases. How the painting arrived in the United States is a mystery to everyone, including the previous owners, who wish to remain anonymous.
The painting was consigned to Grogan and Company’s recent May 20th auction, however, was quickly recognized by Polish officials as possibly matching the painting looted in 1944. The Embassy of the Republic of Poland in Washington, DC, the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage and Special agents from ICE and Homeland Security, contacted Grogan and Company and requested the painting be withdrawn from the auction. The owners of the painting were notified and agreed to allow Polish experts to examine the painting. On May 31st, Dr. Mariusz Klarecki, the expert on works by Josef Brandt, and Ms. Anna Lewandowska, a conservator of the National Museum of Warsaw, visited the gallery in Dedham Massachusetts to examine the painting. After three hours of thorough examination, the experts concluded that the painting was in fact the same painting by Brandt that was looted during WWII and previously held by the “Zachęta” Gallery. After receiving evidence to confirm that the painting is a Polish war loss, the owners decided to authorize Grogan and Company to return the work to Poland.
At the press conference following the hand over ceremony, Minister Zdrojewski explained the historical importance of the painting to the people of Poland. Brandt, an engineering student and painter by hobby, studied in Warsaw at the Noblemen’s institute and went to Paris in 1858 to study at the Ecole centrale. Juliusz Kossack, a Polish artist living in Paris at the time, recognized Brandt’s talent as a painter and persuaded him to abandon engineering. Like Kossack, Brandt’s paintings focused on Poland’s 17th century military history including the Tatar War, the Polish-Ottoman War and the Great Turkish War. This is only the second recovered painting out of seven works by Jzef Brandt listed in the catalogue of Polish painting lost during wartime.
Thanks to the cooperation and generosity of the paintings owner, along with the coordinated efforts of the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Culture, ICE and Grogan and Company, the paintings return was secured in record time. A number of paintings have been returned to Poland from the United States, including works by Julian Fałat (“Before Going Hunting in Rytwiany” and “The Battue Hunt in Nieśwież”), Jan Matejko (“Portrait of Karol Podlewski”) and Witold Wojtkiewicz (“The Procession”).
Source: artdaily.org
Nude painting wins BP Portrait Award 2012 - BBC News
Aleah Chapin's nude portrait of a family friend has been named the winner of this year's BP Portrait Award.
The 26-year-old American painter has won the prestigious first prize of £25,000 and a commission worth £4,000.
The portrait, called Auntie, will go on display at the National Portrait Gallery this Thursday, 21 June.
It will be joined by 54 other entries, including Spanish artist Ignacio Estudillo's portrait of his paternal grandfather, which came second.
This year's four finalists, whose work can be seen in this gallery, were selected from 2,187 entries, received from 74 different countries.
29-year-old Jamie Routley - who is from Newport, Wales but lives in London - was the winner of this year's BP Young Artist Award.
He submitted a triptych of portraits of Tony Lewis, who has a newspaper stand at Baron's Court Tube Station and works in a wine shop.
London-based artist Alan Coulson, whose work previously featured in the 2010 and 2011 exhibitions, was awarded third prize for his painting of friend and fellow artist Richie Culver.
Director of the National Portrait Gallery, Sandy Nairne, said: "Aleah Chapin's portrait is ambitious and beautifully painted, with superbly controlled colour and tone.
"She is a very deserving winner of the 2012 BP Award, which once again demonstrates the vitality of contemporary portrait painting around the world."
Brooklyn-based Chapin has just completed a Master of Fine Arts (MFA) in painting at the New York Academy of Art, and has won several awards including the Posey Foundation Scholarship.
Her painting is part of a series of nude portraits of women Aleah has known all of her life, named The Aunties Project.
"The fact that she has known me since birth is extremely important," said Chapin. "Her body is a map of her journey through life. In her, I see the personification of strength through an unguarded and accepting presence."
The exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery runs until 23 September as part of the London 2012 Festival.
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
Sometimes, a Painting Only Costs a Case of Wine - Huffington Post
In order to succeed in their profession, art dealers need to be patient and accommodating. Works of art can be quite expensive, and few of the wealthy collectors who purchase pieces are likely to have $200,000 or so sitting in the bank on which they can write a check. More often the case is that these collectors must sell stock or other assets, or wait for an inheritance or a certificate of deposit to come due before they can make a substantial purchase, and the process of raising money may take time.
Waiting for money to arrive may bog down a sale, and dealers sometimes take a tangible asset in whole or partial exchange for a desired work of art. "I've traded for houses a couple of times, maybe three times," said Santa Fe, New Mexico art dealer Gerald Peters. "I've taken stock in trade a few times, too." Paul Gray, director of the Richard Gray Gallery in Chicago, has accepted a case of wine ("it was very good wine") as partial payment for a painting, and he did the same with a watch although, when he took a new Toyota in exchange for a contemporary painting ("my sister needed the car") from a car dealer, "I think I may have paid him some cash."
Many art dealers have the experience of being offered some object in trade, the most common being another work of art, although other items may be suggested as well. "When the gold boom was going on, someone once paid me in gold coins," New York art dealer Andre Emmerich said. Gilbert Edelson, administrative vice-president of the Art Dealers Association of America, noted that he has heard of instances in which jewelry is used in a trade: "Everything is OK as long as both parties agree."
The aim, according to Gray, is to "help make the transaction as painless as possible; it's part of maintaining the friendly relationship between the collector and dealer." In addition, he added, exchanges of property offer a "psychological benefit" to the collector who will "trade something they don't think is as valuable as what they're getting, although it usually is. I'm not in this business to lose money."
While speeding up the sale of artwork, noncash exchanges may add several layers of complication for both collector and dealer. The dealer may owe a consignor after the swap has taken place, and that person is not likely to want anything other than cash; a dealer now in possession of a house now will be the one scrambling for money to pay the consignor. The object offered in exchange for art may need to be appraised, and differing estimates could lead to protracted negotiations that slow down the sale and sour the relationship between dealer and collector. Even a generous appraisal, of course, is not money in the bank, "and someone may end up getting the short end of the stick," Peters said. Of the three instances in which he has accepted stocks for artwork, "in one case, I made out great, making 10 times my money; in another case, I guess I came out even." In the third instance, he is still holding onto the stock, waiting for a favorable time to sell.
When a collector offers artwork in exchange for a piece, the dealer may accept the work in a straight swap or arrange to sell the offered object in order to raise money toward purchasing the piece. Robert Fishko, director of New York's Forum Gallery, has "acquired works for inventory, and you take a risk every time when you do that," while Emmerich has "put up at auction" works offered by collectors in exchange, because "I don't like to gamble. If I sell you a painting for $100,000, I want $100,000. I don't want to hope that I can some day sell it."
At other times, the artwork offered by the collector may be outside of the field in which the dealer operates. Jane Kallir, director of Galerie St. Etienne in New York City, which specializes in Austrian and German expressionist art, described being offered once a drawing by Henri Matisse. "We could sell it for them, but there are many other dealers much more in touch with the Matisse market than we are," she said, adding that she recommended the collector sell the drawing through one of those dealers and then purchase the artwork at her gallery. At other times, Kallir has brokered a sale through another dealer on behalf of a collector.
Dividing the exchange into two separate transactions (selling one item and buying another) simply makes the most sense, Kallir said. "Collectors should want to net as much money as possible, rather than just match the dealer's wholesale price." She added that it is sometimes difficult to get the sale and purchase dates to coincide, lessening the opportunity for the collector to use one artwork to acquire another.
There are also tax considerations in making a swap, primarily because this exchange is a type of sale. Both dealer and collector may need to declare capital gains for the sale and not have the cash with which to pay the tax. The Internal Revenue Service permits tax-free "like-kind" exchanges -- for instance, a painting for another painting -- but only when the objects involved were acquired for investment purposes rather than as a hobby; in other words, professional art dealers may swap those paintings tax-free but an ordinary collector could not. The burden of proof would be on the collector both to show the IRS that he or she is an investor and that the exchanged objects were "like-kind." There would be no possible tax-free exchange of a house or jewelry for artwork.
Source: www.huffingtonpost.com
Museum: Fast action may help save Picasso painting - The Guardian
JUAN A. LOZANO
Associated Press= HOUSTON (AP) — Within minutes of a vandal spray painting a Pablo Picasso painting, Houston museum officials had rushed the valuable artwork into their onsite conservation lab as if it was an injured patient in need of emergency surgery.
"I think that's a dramatic analogy, but I think that's apt," said Vance Muse, a spokesman for the Menil Collection, which owns the more than 80-year-old painting.
The fast action increased the odds of saving the painting, Muse said. The museum's chief conservator has been working on it tirelessly since it was damaged June 13, and the restoration is going very well, he added.
The act of vandalism was caught in a 24-second video posted on YouTube. It shows a man dressed in black holding a stencil up to the work of art and then spray-painting the stencil before ripping it away and walking off. An image of a bullfighter, a bull and the word "conquista," which is Spanish for conquest, is left behind.
Once the man walks away, the person taking the video walks up to the painting, recording the damage. This, plus the fact that the witness happened to film the vandal at the moment he damaged the painting, has some speculating whether the two were working together.
"People have wondered if this YouTube (video) was shot by a bystander who just happened to be there at that moment or if it's more akin to perpetrators, plural," Muse said. "I just don't know. But I hope we find out."
Houston police spokeswoman Jodi Silva said investigators are reviewing both surveillance video from the museum and the video posted on YouTube. When asked if police think the vandal and witness were working together, she said, "We're taking all the information and we're looking at all aspects of the incident."
She would not say whether police have spoken to the witness who shot the video.
Muse, who spoke to The Associated Press by telephone from Berlin, said he didn't have specific details about the restoration process because he was out of the country. However, he believed it was going well.
"Most of the damage, virtually all has been taken care of," he said. "But you have to wait and see."
He also didn't know when the painting, "Woman in a Red Armchair," would return to display.
"Even if the treatment is completed, it would need rest for quite a while," he said. "We would not want to bring it out of the conservation lab prematurely."
The museum's chief conservator Brad Epley wasn't available for questions Tuesday because he was working on the painting.
The key thing in restoration probably would be identifying what chemicals are in the spray paint to determine which solvent would be best to remove it, said Jennifer Logan, a chemistry professor who has taught courses on art conservation at Washington & Jefferson College in Washington, Pa.
Logan theorized a range of solvents were probably tested to determine which one was strong enough to remove the spray paint without also dissolving the work's original paint.
"It was most likely a tedious process," she said. "If they have the motivation and the skill and ability to carefully remove the spray paint, that's not surprising to me (that most of the damage has been fixed). I've read about much more drastic restoration cases. In the art world, this doesn't seem as bad."
This is not the first time one of Picasso's works has been vandalized. In 1999, an escaped mental patient in Amsterdam cut a hole in the middle of his "Woman Nude Before Garden," a 1956 painting.
Other works of art have also been the target of vandals. Rembrandt's "Night Watch" masterpiece has been slashed twice and sprayed once with sulfuric acid. The "Mona Lisa" has been attacked several times, including with acid, a rock and even a teacup.
The Menil, which opened in 1987 and is free to the public, will review its security measures, which include surveillance cameras and two dozen guards, Muse said. But he didn't anticipate major changes, such as placing paintings behind protective glass or keeping visitors farther from the works of art.
"I think a museum-goer always appreciates it when a work of art seems more accessible than that. You don't have all those layers," he said. "And I think the Menil loves the fact the art there is very accessible. It's almost like entering someone's wonderful house."
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
Houston cops hunting for vandal caught on video spray painting priceless Pablo Picasso painting (VIDEO) - New York Daily News
Houston cops are hunting for a dapper art vandal who was caught on video spray-painting a priceless Pablo Picasso painting at a museum last week.
Cell phone video shot by a visitor at the Menil Collection Wednesday showed a suave hoodlum in a dark suit jacket and sunglasses spray-painting a stencil over the Spanish master's "Woman in a Red Armchair."
WATCH THE VIDEO BELOW
The vandal then tears the stencil off and strolls casually out of view of the camera.
Museum security quickly realized what had happened — but not before scolding the witness for breaking the museum's no filming policy — and rushed the work to the conservation lab, the Houston Chronicle reported.
Museum officials said Monday they were able to fully restore the 1929 masterpiece.
The brazen graffiti writer sprayed a picture of a bullfighter slaying a bull and the word "Conquista" on the painting.
The witness who shot the video told KPRC television that he confronted the well-dressed vandal afterward.
The vandal said he was an up-and-coming artist and desecrated the artwork in order to honor Picasso, the witness, who didn't want to be identified, told the station.
A caption on the YouTube video identified the artist as Uriel Landeros, "a young Mexican-American artist."
Museum officials wouldn't comment on the vandal's identity.
A Facebook page for a Houston man named Uriel Landeros showed several photos of him spray-painting and creating artwork, contained a clip of KPRC's report about the crime and had a painting of the word "conquista" in an old profile photo.
Conquista means “conquest” in Spanish.
The Daily News sent the man a Facebook message, but didn't hear back.
"Woman in a Red Armchair" has been hanging in the Menil Collection since 1987.
The museum took it down after the incident, but said it would put it back up this week.
"How sad that someone would enter and do something like that to a work of art that should be enjoyed by everybody," Vance Muse, the museum's communication's director, told KPRC.
Picasso works have been under siege over the past year.
Earlier this month, a $30,000 Picasso lithograph that was snatched from the California home of a former Ukrainian prime minister was found ditched on the side of the road in Marin County, north of San Francisco.
In January, two Picasso works were stolen from the National Art Gallery in Athens, Greece.
They have not been found.
Last July, a thief waltzed into a San Francisco art gallery and swiped a $200,000 Picasso pencil drawing.
Mark Lugo, A serial art thief from New Jersey, later pleaded guilty to stealing the sketch.
Source: www.nydailynews.com
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