JERUSALEM.- The Israel Museum, Jerusalem, presents Orphaned Art: Looted Art from the Holocaust in the Israel Museum, an exhibition exploring the fate of works of art looted during World War II that were subsequently brought to Israel. Culled from 1,200 such works held in custody by the Israel Museum, all of which lack clear ownership history, Orphaned Art features over fifty paintings, drawings, prints, and books, together with a selection of Jewish ceremonial objects, and includes such artists as Jan Both, Moritz Daniel Oppenheim, Marc Chagall, Egon Schiele, and Alfred Sisley.
On view through June 3, 2008, Orphaned Art presents a companion story to Looking for Owners: Custody, Research, and Restitution of Art Stolen in France during World War II, an exhibition on view concurrently at the Israel Museum that is drawn from the collection of stolen art in France known as Musées Nationaux Récupération (MNR).
“Orphaned Art offers an important opportunity to explore one dimension of the story of art looted during World War II, focusing specifically on those works whose histories vanished completely and which arrived in Israel during the early 1950s,” said James S. Snyder, the Anne and Jerome Fisher Director of the Israel Museum. “In presenting this exhibition concurrently with Looking for Owners, we hope to illuminate the range of ongoing efforts to conclude the saga of lost art and artifacts of World War II and to highlight the shared significance of this process within the international museum community.” |
Musées Nationaux Récupération (MNR). Les "MNR", entendez " Musées nationaux Récupération", sont des oeuvres récupérées en Allemagne à la fin de la Seconde Guerre mondiale et qui, faute d'avoir retrouvé leurs légitimes propriétaires, ont été confiées par l'Office des biens privés à la garde de la Direction des musées de France en vertu du décret du 30 septembre 1949. |
Grand Theft
The World's Greatest Art Heists
Forbes.com staff 02.12.08, 2:30 PM ET
Sunday afternoon, three men in ski masks entered the E.G. Buehrle Collection in Zurich, Switzerland, a half-hour before closing time. One brandished a pistol and ordered museum employees to the floor. The other two snatched paintings off the wall. They bolted to a getaway vehicle parked outside the museum.
The thieves' haul included masterpieces by van Gogh, Monet, Cezanne and Degas. Estimated value: More than $163 million.
Stunning? Sure. But it's just the latest in a long line of similar robberies. Art heists are probably as old as art itself. The modern era dates to the 1911 theft of the "Mona Lisa," when the self-styled Marques Eduardo de Valfierno paid three men to steal it from the Louvre in Paris. It's usually seen as the first great art heist of the 20th century. Since that time, countless works of major and minor art have been stolen. Read more and see the pictyres of the stolen Art works... |
