Tuesday, August 12, 2008

Art Crimes: Does any of this Look Familiar?

picasso "tete de femme"

This has all the elements of a great story: In 2006, the secretive William MV Kingsland (nee Melvyn Kohn) died and left no will. When the NY Public Administrator discovered 300+ paintings, drawings, and sculptures in his one bedroom apartment, Christie's and Stair Galleries were nominated to sort out the provenance and auction off the works. In the process, a mover stole two Picasso sketches that turned out to have been reported missing for the first time in 1967. In the course of research, Christies discovered many of the other pieces had been stolen from New York galleries in the 60's and 70's.

These are just a handful of paintings that caught my eye, from the top: Picasso's "Tete de femme", Ron Gorchov's "Study #1 in blue and orange" (I find it incredibly sexy), Odilon Reden's "Jeune fille et fleurs", Kenneth Rush's "Sweeny's mfg co below Brooklyn Bridge", and Henry Baskerville's "Still life with two glasses and lemon". Read the official FBI report and view the complete galleries.

ron gorchov "study #1 in blue and orange"

odilon reden "jeune fille et fleurs"

kenneth rush "sweeny's mfg co below brooklyn bridge"

henry baskerville "still life with two glasses and lemon"

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