If a person cannot understand the beauty of life,
it is probably because life never understood the beauty in them.
Grigorii Choros-Gurkin, Lake of the Spirits of the Mountains, 1909
I remember standing on a street corner with the black painter Beauford Delaney
“I remember standing on a
street corner with the black painter Beauford Delaney down in the Village,
waiting for the light to change, and he pointed down and said, “Look.” I looked
and all I saw was water. And he said, “Look again,” which I did, and I saw oil
on the water and the city reflected in the puddle. It was a great revelation to
me. I can’t explain it. He taught me how to see, and how to trust what I saw.
Painters have often taught writers how to see. And once you’ve had that
experience, you see differently.” James Baldwin, in a 1984 Paris Review
interview
A Yorkshire Lane in November, 1873, John Atkinson Grimshaw
Painting is poetry
“Painting is poetry that is
seen rather than felt, and poetry is painting that is felt rather than seen.” Leonardo
da Vinci
Looking out to Sea - Théo Van Rysselberghe 1862-1926
Art never responds to the wish
“Art never responds to the wish
to make it democratic; it is not for everybody; it is only for those who are
willing to undergo the effort needed to understand it.” Flannery O’Connor
Spring Sunny Day, Konstantin Yuon
The artist sees
“The artist sees what others only catch a
glimpse of.”
Leonardo da Vinci
Jean-Pierre Cassigneul
The spirit
“Where the spirit does not work with the hand,
there is no art.”Leonardo da Vinci
Frederick Carl Frieseke - The Balcony
Stolen art from WW2
German loot stored in church at Ellingen, Germany found by troops of the U.S. Third Army.
Durer engraving, found among other art treasures at Merker
An unknown Rembrant recovered safe in Munich
Boston's notorious unsolved art heist
Twenty-five years ago this
month, two thieves dressed as police officers tricked their way into the
Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston and stole 13 important works of art.
In 81 minutes, they cut the 1.5
metre tall Sea of Galilee painting by Rembrandt out of its frame, along with
precious art from Manet, Vermeer and Degas.
Pulitzer Prize winning writer
Stephen Kurkjian has written a book on the crime, Master Thieves: The Boston
Gangsters Who Pulled Off the World's Greatest Art Heist.
"It's a disgrace that this
crime has not been solved," Mr Kurkijan says.
When the buzzer rang at 1.24am
at the museum, the guard saw two men in police uniforms and let them in.
They asked him to step away
from his desk and he complied.
"[The guard's] favourite
band, the Grateful Dead, was playing the following day," Mr Kurkjian says.
"He desperately wanted to
go to that concert. He knew if he did not comply with what the men who he presumed
were police said, he would be arrested and he would miss that concert."
The guard and the only other
man on duty were tied up and the thieves went to work, slashing works from
their frames and breaking glass.
"Did they know what they
were looking for? Yes," Mr Kurkjian says.
"They were not collecting
commissioned art work to order like say Dr. No in a James Bond movie. This is
the work of thugs. That gives me an idea as to the kind of people who made
their way into the museum."
Mr Kurkjian has spent 20 years
researching the heist, and says he discovered a link with organized crime in
Boston.
He says Boston gang leaders
believed they could use the masterpieces to negotiate with the FBI.
"It made sense that if you
get artwork and the FBI wants it dearly enough to get it back, they will do
business with you," says Mr Kurkjian.
After 25 years, and a
longstanding $5 million reward, none of the artwork has ever been recovered.
"It's not common knowledge
who pulled off this score," according to Mr Kurkjian.
"My sense is the people
who did this got scared they were going to get arrested and most of them got
killed before they could say what happened to it."
Empty frames still hang where
the Rembrandt and Vermeer once graced the museum walls.
Mr Kurkjian is convinced the
paintings would one day return to the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum.
"I do believe there are
members of the bad guy's family who know pieces of the puzzle and if those
people can be appealed to, it can be recovered. This artwork is our collective
treasure. It belongs to all of us."
Leonardo da Vinci........................
Learn how to see. Realize that
everything connects to everything else.
Still missing
BOSTON (MyFoxBoston.com)
-- Wednesday marked the 25th anniversary of the heist from the Isabella Stewart
Gardner Museum. Priceless artwork was taken right out of their
frames 25 years ago and still have not been tracked down.
On March 18, 1990, 13
pieces, valued at $500 million, were stolen. The most famous piece taken was
Rembrandt's only seascape, "Storm on the Sea of Galilee."
The FBI says that two men
dressed as police officers subdued two guards and had their run of the Gardner
Museum for 81 minutes. FOX25's Bob Ward broke international news last May that
the FBI had confirmed sightings of at least some of the stolen artwork back in
2000, 10 years after the heist.
The FBI told FOX25 that
organized crime figure Carmelo Merlino once told an FBI informant that he
planned on returning the Rembrandt masterpiece for the reward money, but
Merlino then ended up busted for other crimes and died in prison.
FBI Agent Geoff Kelly
told FOX25 that the Merlino lead took them down a path of organized crime
figures in Connecticut and Philadelphia, leading investigators to believe at
least some of the paintings have been offered for sale in Philadelphia.
Investigators believe they're on the right track to finding the paintings.
On the anniversary of the
heist, the FBI reminded the public that they still need help in tracking down
the stolen artwork, A $5 million reward and immunity has been offered in order
to recover the 13 works of art worth a half-billion dollars.
“Beauty is.......................
“Beauty is no quality in things
themselves: It exists merely in the mind which contemplates them; and each mind
perceives a different beauty.” David Hume
Édouard Manet - Jeune femme dans le jardin
Art
“I think a lot of art is trying to make
someone love you.” Keaton Henson
Claude Monet’s studio in Giverny
All children are artists
“All children are artists. The
problem is how to remain an artist once they grows up” Pablo
Picasso
.%2BOil%2Bon%2Bcanvas..jpg)
Interior with a mother reading aloud to her daughter. Carl Vilhelm Holsøe (Danish, 1863-1935). Oil on canvas.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)