Co-Owner of Painting Missing in New York ID’d as a Thief

NEW YORK (AP).- First it was a curious tale of a $1.3 million painting a middleman said he drunkenly lost while trying to help a friend sell it. Now the story has gotten stranger still: A part owner of the canvas identified its co-owner as an admitted art thief, her lawyer said. Kristyn Trudgeon sued the middleman in New York earlier this week. But attorney Max Di Fabio said she was withdrawing the lawsuit after realizing Wednesday upon seeing a [...]

Zimbabwe Artist Faces Trial, Exhibit Banned

ZIMBABWE (AP).- A Zimbabwe artist’s attorney says the artist will go to trial next month for depicting scenes in his paintings of civilians being massacred by government troops, images that have now been banned under the country’s censorship laws. Earlier this year, police shut down Owen Maseko’s exhibit depicting an armed uprising after Zimbabwe’s independence in 1980 when civilians were crushed by troops loyal to President Robert Mugabe. Attorney Lizwe Jamela said Tuesday that Maseko has now been charged with [...]

Egyptian Minister, Farouk Hosni, Questioned in Van Gogh Theft

CAIRO (AP).-Egyptian prosecutors questioned the culture minister for three hours over the theft of a Vincent van Gogh painting that has put him on the defensive over the state of museum security around the country. Farouk Hosni said he sought in Sunday night’s session to dispel accusations he failed to respond adequately to calls for increased security at Egyptian museums, including the one from where the van Gogh was stolen. No alarms and only seven of 43 security cameras were [...]

Tut-Tut: Security Problems Seen in Most of Egypt’s Museums

CAIRO (AP).- The Egyptian Museum houses some of the world’s prized antiquities, including the gold mask of King Tut that draws millions of tourists a year. But it also has an outdated video surveillance system that doesn’t work around the clock and guards who snooze, read the Quran or are seemingly too bored to pay attention. Security for Egypt’s treasures is under scrutiny after the Aug. 21 theft of a van Gogh painting from another museum in Cairo revealed some [...]

Egyptian Tycoon, Naguib Sawiris, Offers Reward for Van Gogh Theft

CAIRO (REUTERS).- Egyptian billionaire Naguib Sawiris has offered a 1-million Egyptian pound ($175,300) reward for information leading to the recovery of a stolen Van Gogh painting, television reported on Wednesday. Sawiris, chairman of the leading Arab mobile operator Orascom Telecom, is the first businessman to publicly get involved in the search for the panting, worth an estimated $55 million. The painting, known as “Poppy Flower” according to a statement in Arabic, was stolen on Saturday morning from Cairo’s Mahmoud Khalil [...]

Egypt Culture Chief, Farouk Hosni, Sleepless Over Van Gogh Theft

CAIRO (REUTERS).- Egypt’s culture minister blamed “incompetent” security staff for the theft of a $55 million Van Gogh painting from a Cairo museum and said worries for the safety of the country’s art treasures are depriving him of sleep. “I feel like I am working alone and that I alone spend time thinking of how to manage cultural affairs,” the minister Farouk Hosni told daily paper al-Masry al-Youm on Tuesday. “I can’t work with these incompetent employees,” he said. “I’m [...]

Group Representing Ansel Adams Sues Over Garage Sale Negatives

SAN JOSE, CA (AP).- A group representing Ansel Adams sued a Fresno man Monday for selling prints and posters under the name of the famed nature photographer, the latest salvo in a dispute over glass negatives bought at a garage sale and purported to be Adams’ lost work. The lawsuit, filed in federal district court in San Francisco by The Ansel Adams Publishing Rights Trust, seeks to stop Rick Norsigian and consulting firm PRS Media Partners from using Adams’ name, [...]

Egypt Deputy Minister, Mohsen Shalaan, Detained Over Van Gogh Theft

CAIRO.- Egypt’s state news agency reports the country’s top prosecutor has ordered a four-day detention of the deputy culture minister over the theft of a Vincent van Gogh painting. Thieves made off with the canvas, known by the titles of “Poppy Flowers” and “Vase with Flowers,” on Saturday from the Mahmoud Khalil Museum in Cairo. None of the museum’s alarms and only seven of 43 surveillance cameras were working at the time of the robbery. On Monday, General Prosecutor Abdel-Meguid [...]

Trial Date Set in Associated Press-Shepard Fairey Dispute in NYC

NEW YORK (AP).- A March trial date was set Monday to decide whether the artist who created the Barack Obama “HOPE” image violated The Associated Press’ copyright when he based the image on one of the news agency’s pictures. U.S. District Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein said Monday that the selection of eight jurors for a three-week trial will start March 21 in New York. Artist Shepard Fairey appeared in court with his lawyers Monday but declined to comment afterward. Fairey [...]

Faulty Alarms Blamed for Van Gogh Theft at Mahmoud Khalil Museum in Egypt

CAIRO (AP).- None of the alarms and only seven out of 43 surveillance cameras were working at a Cairo museum where a Vincent van Gogh painting was stolen, Egypt’s top prosecutor said Sunday. Thieves made off with the canvas, known by the titles of “Poppy Flowers” and “Vase with Flowers,” on Saturday from the Mahmoud Khalil Museum in the Egyptian capital. Prosecutor general Abdel-Meguid Mahmoud told Egypt’s state news agency Sunday that the thieves used a box cutter to remove [...]

Minister Farouk Hosni Says Search Still On for Van Gogh Stolen from Cairo Museum

CAIRO (AP).- Egypt’s culture minister on Saturday retracted his claim that police had recovered a van Gogh painting stolen from a Cairo museum, saying it was based on inaccurate information and that the search for the canvas continues. The minister, Farouk Hosni, said earlier Saturday that police had confiscated the painting from an Italian couple at Cairo airport hours after it was lifted from the Mahmoud Khalil Museum in the Egyptian capital. But Hosni later backtracked, telling a national television [...]

Photographer and Associated Press Drop Claims Against Each Other

NEW YORK (AP).- A photographer who took a picture that the Barack Obama “HOPE” image was based on dropped his claim Friday that he owns the copyright to the photograph, instead of The Associated Press. The AP also dropped its claim against him. The stipulation between the AP, photographer Mannie Garcia, and artist Shepard Fairey and his related companies was filed in U.S. District Court in Manhattan, where a judge is presiding over a legal fight to decide whether Fairey [...]

Gold Bullion Stolen from Florida’s Mel Fisher Maritime Museum

MIAMI (REUTERS).- Thieves stole a $550,000 gold bar from a treasure museum where it went on display after a Florida salvager recovered it from the wreck of a Spanish galleon that lay on the ocean floor for centuries, the museum’s executive director said. The 74.85-ounce gold bar was stolen on Wednesday from the Mel Fisher Maritime Museum in Key West, Florida, in what executive director Melissa Kendrick called “a very quiet smash and grab.” The 11-inch (28-centimeter) gold bar was [...]

Judge Rejects Fisk Deal to Sell Georgia O’Keeffe Share

NASHVILLE (AP).- A Nashville judge has rejected Fisk University’s proposal to sell a joint share in a 101-piece collection donated by late artist Georgia O’Keeffe to an Arkansas museum. Fisk argued that its precarious financial state prevents the historically black university from maintaining and displaying the collection. Judge Ellen Hobbs Lyle agreed Friday that the cash-strapped school is unable to exhibit the collection. But Lyle said the Fisk proposal to sell a 50 percent stake in the collection to the [...]

Salvador Dalí Sculpture Stolen from Belfortmuseum in Belgium

Brussels – A sculpture by Spanish artist Salvator Dali was stolen in broad daylight from an exhibition in the Belgian city of Bruges, local media said Friday, quoting police sources. The bronze artefact, known as “La Femme aux tiroirs” (Lady with drawers), was snatched shortly after noon local time on Wednesday, the Belga news agency reported.The figurine, which measures around 50 centimetres in height and 30 centimetres in width and weighs around 10 kilograms, was hidden in a bag before [...]