A New Kind of Trompe-L’oeil: Alexa Meade
I Love a Monogram on Almost Anything >> Why Not Lamps?
Who doesn't love a good heist? Especially an art world heist?
I feel like as an art and art history lover, I should find these kinds of heists offensive and sad, but I can’t help myself. I’m intrigued by them, and particularly by the theories as to the motive for the heist. It’s commonly known that it’s very difficult to sell stolen works of art, especially ones so famous, which always leads to the theory that the heist was sponsored by a private collector, and the idea that someone would be so in love with certain pieces of art as to have them stolen solely to allow unlimited viewing, is somehow romantic, no?
The £100 million modern art heist
A single masked raider has carried out “one of the biggest thefts in art history” during a dawn heist at a Paris gallery in which he stole works worth hundreds of millions of pounds.
By Peter Allen, in Paris, and Stephen Adams
Published: 7:24PM BST 20 May 2010
Click through for the article from the Telegraph and images of the stolen pieces…
There were three security guards in the building at the time, but each has told detectives that they saw nothing.
CCTV footage caught the “heavily disguised, burly figure” jumping through a smashed window at around 6.50am.
He is then believed to have a forced a high security lock to gain access to the most valuable works in the building, which is across the Seine River from the Eiffel Tower.
The canvases are then thought to have been cut from their frames and taken away in a single bundle.
“It’s an enormous crime, one of the biggest in art history,” said a source close to the inquiry, who estimated that the five stolen paintings were worth at €500 million (£430 million).
That figure was later played down by Christophe Girard, deputy culture secretary at Paris City Hall, who suggested they were worth “just under €100 million (£86m).
Police and museum staff were yesterday left examining the empty frames as they began the hunt for the raider.
The paintings, which date from 1906 to 1922, represent some of the most important works of the early 20th century, said art experts.
The haul comprised Pigeon with Green Peas by Pablo Picasso (1912); Pastoral by Henri Matisse (1905/6); The Olive Tree near Estaque by Georges Braque (1906); The Woman with the Fan by Amedeo Modigliani (1919); and Still Life with Chandeliers by Fernand Leger (1922).
Bertrand Delanoe, the mayor of Paris, called the theft “an intolerable attack on Paris’s universal cultural heritage”.
The Picasso was itself bequeathed in 1953 by Dr Maurice Girardin, whose legacy helped establish the museum itself.
The raid could find a place in history as one of the most famous of all time. The biggest art theft until now was a raid on the Isabella Steward Gardner Museum in Boston in 1990 in which 13 works of art worth $500 million were taken. The case remains unsolved.
Other significant thefts include the 1911 theft of the Mona Lisa at the nearby Louvre. Italian immigrant Vincenzo Perugia hid in the museum overnight before getting away with the priceless painting by Leonardo da Vinci. It was finally returned in 1914.
In 1961 an unemployed lorry driver stole Goya’s portrait of the Duke of Wellington from the National Gallery in London. Kempton Bunton later admitted walking into the gallery and then leaving with the massively expensive work under his arm.
Tim Marlow, the art historian, who presents for SkyArts, said last night: “These are works by the greatest figures of early 20th century art.
“That’s irrefutable. You’ve got to say that this thief has good taste – he knew what he was taking.”
Theories about why they were taken – for example whether they were stolen to order – have set the art world abuzz.
Despite the thief’s success in stealing the paintings, art insurance professionals said he faced a harder task in selling them on.
Viscount Charles Dupplin, of Hiscox insurance, said he thought the thief – or thieves – were “almost certainly enthusiastic amateurs” who had decided to launch the raid after “getting excited” about recent high prices for Picassos and other works.
“I would have thought these people are congratulating themselves on stealing some fantastic things, but are now scratching their heads about how to turn them into cash,” he said.
“There are not a lot of rich South Americans who want to buy such paintings on the black market.”
Consequently he thought they would eventually be returned, “but we are talking about years”.
But Anotonia Kimbell, of the Art Loss Register, said there were other ways to make money from them.
“They could attempt extortion with a so-called ‘finder’s fee’,” she said.
Hand-Painted Wall Ads
It’s one of those things you might stop to think about for a brief moment every once in a while– “Who painted that? How long did it take?”– but then you never really get answers so your mind never wanders very far. In this really well-done (love the cinematography and the editing) short sponsored by Stella (brilliant move), you get a close-up peak at this world that not only gives those answers, but also puts human faces to the signs that seem to magically appear around town.
If nothing else, watch the the thirty seconds at the end between about 12:00 and 12:30… you miss out on the story but the visual is still awesome.
Curated by:
Eliza Coleman
Section:
Masters and Their Crafts
Labels:
advertising, Graphic Design, illustration, Street Art
Random Acts of Creativity >> Hi-Jacked Classifieds
Curated by:
Eliza Coleman
Section:
Graphic Fix
Labels:
Graphic Design, random acts of creativity
LustList >> D'Aosta D'Aosta Luggage
Partners & Spade
…And so my fascination with the Spades continues.
Just stumbled across Partners & Spade, apparently another company of Andy and Kate Spade, though it’s difficult to figure out exactly what it is/does or the exact structure. There’s a storefront, which as far as I can gather is a collection of things Andy Spade thinks is cool, with a sort of cheeky twist. Given the credibility the Spades’ taste has achieved, I’d say that’s probably a viable business model. And, given the profitability that has resulted from this credibility, I’d say he’s got room to risk the cheeky twist.
Best Made Co.’s handmade-in-New York axes. Apparently, nice axes are becoming a thing. The point is lost on me, but I will say I like the paint job on this number.
Maybe the most humorous item in the range, a burglary kit– everything one needs to burgle, all in a cool rucksack.
I approve, Andy, I think cartography is cool too.
Here’s what I really like… Apparently they host events and “exhibits” at the store, like this one:
And this one…
And this one…
Cheeky is the perfect word, right? Love the idea of having events like this at the store. Seems like Andy has a lot of fun with this project…
What I didn’t realize, was that Partners & Spade’s “studio,” which seems to be an outlet for co-branding on outside projects, collaborated on the design J. Crew’s Men’s Store. By which I mean, I didn’t realize the Spades were in any way involved with J. Crew, or more specifically the Men’s Store, until I discovered the existence of Partners & Spade. The coming together of two major tastemakers…
And so the Spades continue to conquer the world…
Still Loving >> A Fine Frenzy
Mast Brothers Chocolate
As such, their product has a great story, and I also happen to love their packaging and the look of their storefront/factory!
I love the combo of the beautifullly patterned and retro looking papers with the incredibly simple logo and modern font. And it’s awesome that their logo is a mast that also sort of looks like a crown, and the hand-drawn quality lends a homemade feel to the product and keeps it from looking like they take themselves too seriously.
Click through for more photos and a behind-the-scenes video at their Brooklyn storefront/factory…
The combo of brick, wood beams, maps, grain sacks, chalk board, and industrial equipment is pretty awesome looking. I think they nailed the aesthetic for their little operation.
And of course, since I love behind the scenes videos… a video about their story and process. And you get to see what the brothers are like!
Obsession: Theo Jansen.
These “animals” move. Or I should say, they walk. They’re wind-powered. It’s amazing. They look like a cross between an exoskeleton and an erector set, which is basically what they are, and then they start moving and they become so anthropomorphic, you wonder if they’re alive in some way.
If you want to learn even more about Jansen and his work, click here for a ten minute video presentation by Jansen that shows more animals walking and an explanation of how they work.
It’s also extremely interesting to hear how he talks about the animals– he doesn’t discuss them as art, or really as machines or product prototypes either– he talks about them as though they are animals that he is looking after, and he doesn’t seem to feel any need to explain the “purpose” of them, which I think is an amazing insight into the brain of someone this creative.
Curated by:
Eliza Coleman
Section:
Arts Visuels, Favorites
Labels:
Arts Visuels, must see, sculpture, video
