Winter 2024
Fire Destroys Thousands of Paintings in Abkhazia
Early on January 21, 2024 4000 paintings from Abkhazia’s National Art Gallery were reported as burnt. The fire started in a bank in Sukhumi, Abkhazia’s capital, and spread rapidly. According to the director of the Gallery, the building was in disrepair for years and the Abkhazian government ignored requests to improve the conditions of the space. The fire destroyed a collection of works considered a national treasure for the region and represents a broader loss of cultural heritage for Abkhazia, which is only recognized internationally by Russia, Nicaragua, Nauru, Syria and Venezuela. Since the 1980s, the status of the region has been contested; Abkhazia broke away from Georgia in the 1990s following a war of secession and fought alongside Russia in another conflict with Georgia in 2008. Abkhazia’s culture minister announced that 300 of the 4000 destroyed works were by Aleksandr Chachba-Sharvashidze, a revered Abkhazian artist and designer. Abkhazia’s prosecutor general’s office has launched a criminal investigation to determine the cause of the fire. Read more here.
U.S. Air Force Cyber Analyst Arrested in NFT “Rug Pull” Scheme
Devin Alan Rhoden, a Cyber Analyst in the U.S. Air Force, was recently arrested for engaging in a money laundering conspiracy involving NFTs (non-fungible tokens). Rhoden and an associate ran a “rug pull” scheme, a scam in which NFT projects are marketed to attract investor backing and then suddenly abandoned. Rhoden’s NFTs, called the Undead Apes, intentionally mirrored the art style of the popular Bored Ape Yacht Club collection. A suspicious withdrawal from Rhoden’s Coinbase account spurred the investigation and revealed that he accrued over $80,000 from this scheme. Read the criminal complaint here.
Cairo Art Center Demolished with Art Inside
The Darb 1718 art center, a Cairo cultural institution dedicated to exhibiting and developing art, was bulldozed in January to make space for a highway. The center’s founder, Moataz Nasreldin, claimed that he was formerly promised negotiations about the demolition. However, he stated on the center’s Instagram that the new Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi nonetheless went forward with the demolition “without any official notification, decision, or compensation.” Nasreldin says that the center was razed with 150 works from international artists still inside, a collection valued in the millions. Read more here.
Complaint Lodged Against Three U.S. Museums for Allegedly Stolen Stained Glass
Lumière sur le patrimoine, a Parisian heritage association, filed a complaint in the Rouen prosecutor’s office against the Glencairn Museum in Pennsylvania, the Worcester Museum in Massachusetts, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York for housing allegedly stolen stained glass windows from the Rouen Cathedral. In 1931, art historian Jean Lafond testified that six panes from the cathedral’s “Legend of the Seven Sleepers of Ephesus” series had disappeared. Unidentified Parisian art dealers then brought the windows to the United States. Philippe Machicote, the president of lumière sur le patrimoine, claims that the current owners of the panes knew about their original theft, and is seeking to return them to France. The prosecutor’s office in Rouen will issue a decision relating to the complaint within two months. Read more here.
British Brothers Sentenced to 3 ½ Years Each for Swiss Museum Heist
Two British brothers have been banned from Switzerland for five years and sentenced to 3.5 years each in a Swiss prison for their roles in raiding a Geneva museum of Chinese Ming Dynasty artifacts in June 2019. British police arrested the brothers for aggravated theft and extradited them to Switzerland, where they pleaded guilty. Following a lengthy investigation, it was revealed that the brothers, Louis and Stewart Ahearne, stole two 15th-century vases and a cup together estimated at 3 million pounds ($3.8 million) from the Museum of Far Eastern Arts in Geneva in 2019. An undercover sting operation recovered one of the vases in central London but the stolen cup has yet to be found. A representative from the Museum testified that damage from the robbery (caused by a power saw, crowbar and sledge hammer) cost the institution millions of dollars in damages. Read more here.
Irreplaceable Works of Art Potentially Destroyed in Seattle Art Gallery Fire
On January 12, 2024, a fire in an alley spread into Davidson Galleries, a Seattle art gallery. Now, irreplaceable works of art by Picasso, Rembrandt, Goya, and M.C. Esher are feared to be lost. Davidson Galleries, which specializes in works on paper and has collected between 16,000 to 18,0000 pieces over the last 50 years, was planning on moving its inventory to a new location and had several artworks laid out on the floor in preparation for the move. The smoke damaged some artwork, but no injuries were reported in the fire. The gallery manager, Rebecca McDonald, hopes that much of the work will be saved, but it may take weeks to determine the status of the famous artists’ artworks. Read more here.
To Acquire or Not to Acquire Antiquities
The San Antonio Museum of Art (“SAMA”) is acquiring two collections of pre-Columbian objects for its Art of the Americas collection. Recently however, items of antiquities have been the subject of lawsuits and claims by foreign governments demanding these pieces be returned to them, asserting they were taken through looting or theft. Currently there are no regulations requiring museums to do any specific due diligence, but most museums in the United States are members of organizations with certain procedures that are expected to be followed. This includes requiring museum officials to use “informed judgment” regarding the likelihood that pieces were sold and exported legitimately. Some museums are hiring provenance researchers to avoid legal disputes associated with an acquisition. Lowering the risk of a museum losing objects is vital and it requires museums to conduct extensive research and analysis of proposed accessions. Read more here.
Italian Minister Accused of Possessing Painting Stolen From Castle
Vittorio Sgarbi, a well-known art critic and Italian junior culture minister, was placed under investigation over allegations that a 17th-century painting in his possession was stolen. He is also accused of tampering with the painting in order to disguise its origins. The painting, La Cattura de San Pietro by Rutilio Manetti, was reported stolen from a castle in 2013 by Margherita Buzio. Sgarbi presented the artwork at an exhibition in 2021. He claims that this is the original painting, which he found in an abandoned villa, while the painting stolen from the castle was a bad copy. Read more here.
Iowa Museum to Dismantle Mary Miss Land Art Piece Amid ‘Severe Decay,’ Drawing Scrutiny
In a letter dated January 17, the board of the Des Moines Art Center in Iowa announced its plan to deaccession a 30-year-old installation by artist Mary Miss. The museum claimed its decision was due to the safety concerns resulting from the work’s deterioration and the financial hardship of repairing or rebuilding the work. The work consists primarily of wood parts and surrounds a body of water in a public park behind the museum. Miss is one of the few women associated with the land art movement, and the decision has been criticized for its implications for gender parity in museum collections. Read more here.
Performance Artist Sues MoMA for Unsafe Working Environment
A performance artist, John Bonafede, has sued the MoMA for neglecting to take corrective action after visitors sexually assaulted him during a nude performance for the 2010 retrospective “Marina Abramovic: The Artist is Present.” Bonafede filed suit in New York Supreme Court and is seeking to recover compensation for emotional distress, career disruption, humiliation and other damages. According to the legal filings, Bonafede was assaulted seven times by five individuals during the exhibition and he reported four of the museum visitors to MoMA security while security witnessed the fifth assault and according to Bonafede “turned a blind eye.” Bonafede’s lawyer made a statement on his behalf clarifying that he believes in the importance of edgy performance art but acknowledges the need for a safe working environment where performers are protected and safe from museum visitors. Read more here.
Saudi Arabia Shows Off Its Commitment to Tech and AI in Davos
Saudi Arabia demonstrated its commitment to establishing itself as a technology hub for generative AI at this year’s Davos Forum. A key part of Saudi Arabia’s expansion plan is to diversify its economy beyond oil and become a destination not just for tourism and luxury but also technological innovation. The Saudi delegation presented an expansive storefront to promote a new urban development project called Neom. Statements made by Saudi ministers and delegates demonstrate widespread efforts to boost Saudi Arabia’s profile as a major player in tech. Regional experts in Davos told CNBC that the core mission is to entice top tier talent to “feed a value creation cycle in AI.” Read more here.
A “Cheap Treasure” Found in the Barn
A French couple, Mr. and Mrs. Fournier, sold an art dealer a collection of antiques that were piled up in their barn. The collection included an African wooden mask that Mr. Fournier had inherited from his grandfather, who served in L’Afrique Occidentale Française and lived in Africa for over 10 years. The dealer bought the mask for 150€ and submitted it to an auction house where it was valued between 300,000 – 400,000€. In March 2022, the mask sold for €4.2 million. The Fourniers sued the dealer, claiming that they were unaware of the mask’s importance at the time of the sale. The State of Gabon intervened, claiming ownership of the sculpture and seeking repatriation. The Tribunale di Alès (a courthouse in France) rejected both claims. Read more here (Italian).
Brooklyn Artist Kaves Sues NYPD Over Destruction of New York Mural
Brooklyn artist Michael McLeer (a.k.a. Kaves) has sued the New York City Police Department in Brooklyn Federal Court over their destruction of his 2008 mural Death From Above. The case concerns how the NYPD’s graffiti clean-up campaign endangers valuable and permitted artworks across New York City. Death From Above was created by Kaves alongside another artist, Revs, with the property owner’s full permission. The mural was dedicated to Kaves’s mother, and on April 10, 2021, the NYPD’s 84th Precinct publicly posted its destruction on Twitter. Kaves, using a vital precedent established by the Brooklyn Supreme Court in 2018, is asking the court to decide “whether the NYPD’s policy and practices violate the Visual Artists Rights Act (VARA).” Read more here.
Lisa Schiff Files for Bankruptcy During Two Pending Lawsuits
Lisa Schiff, an art advisor involved in two lawsuits for allegedly defrauding collectors, has filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in the Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York. Documents processed by the Bankruptcy Court show that she currently owes approximately $7 million to collectors, storage facilities, galleries and other entities. One of her debts made public in the filing is to the collector Candace Carmel Barasch, who is the plaintiff in both pending lawsuits against Schiff. Schiff is accused of entering into transactions with collectors, taking their money, and then failing to provide artworks. The Chapter 7 filing would potentially allow Schiff to clear some of her current debts. In one lawsuit, Barasch, along with plaintiff Grossman, allege they are owed $1.8 million in artwork from Schiff and in another suit Barasch, along with her husband, allege Schiff owes them $6.6 million worth of artwork. Before the lawsuits, Schiff was a well-known art advisor with a reputation for high-profile clientele. Read more here.
