1990 Gardner Theft

In the last decades, the repatriation of art and cultural heritage has become a controversial issue. This issue has received great attention from the public, international law and the press. Should cultural object taken by a country or nation remain with that country or should it repatriated? Art repatriation refers to the returning of cultural artifact to their original owners. (Roehrenbeck,2010). Cultural treasures represent the civilization of a nation or group of people which reflect the religions, values and ideologies. (Zhong,2014)

As we know, the result of “Art is” is “Art is” which returned in an ephemeral form at the Studio Museum. All forty photographs are on display on the basement level of the galleries, which are supposedly reserved for pieces in their permanent collection. The room just outside, whether coincidentally or not, is filled with photos of students - reflecting personal memories. How the museum decides to play with this, is by missing them with old-timer photos of Harlem from the

Countless art has been sought-after throughout history. Explorers, scientists, art collectors, politicians, and entrepreneurs from Western nations have sought out and removed art from the lands of great civilizations, often with the assistance and participation of local people and governments. Even as cultural property faces immediate danger today in conflict zones like Syria and Mali, there is circumstantial evidence that some nations are awakening to the political and foreign policy benefits that can flow from the repatriation of cultural patrimony. While on a different scale from World War II, historic structures, religious monuments, and other priceless ancient times continue to suffer collateral damage and manipulation in armed conflict. Relics have been stolen, smuggled and sold in what is a reported multibillion dollar underground market. They have become the illicit prizes of private collectors and the subject of legal claims against museums. Of the countless museums subject to legal claims, The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City happens to be one of them. “The Metropolitan Museum has acquired thousands of works and objects of art from the antiquities”. “For the past several years, the government of Turkey has warned U.S. and foreign museums (including The Metropolitan Museum of Art), that unless ancient objects from Turkish soil are given up on demand, Turkey will stop lending artworks” (The Committee for Cultural Policy, 2015). Turkey continues to up the

This Summer, I had the opportunity to spend my entire break attending conferences and interning at a lab at UCSD so I thought to myself I would never have the time to visit any art museum or do my summer assignments for that matter. That was until I realized I was living at a campus who had an art piece practically on every corner of their six colleges. I then began my journey, on scooter, to discover the hidden and the not so hidden gems The Stuart Collection at UCSD had to offer. It was then that I fell in love with 2 specific art pieces throughout the campus, those being Do Ho Suh’s Fallen Star, which depicts an immigrant’s transition into American culture, and Kiki Smith’s Standing, which depicts a seemingly tortured woman.

I hope to see museums make more concerted efforts to educate the public. Too many exhibits are of the “passive, didactic looking” than like the engaging Object Stories program (Dartt, Murawski). Exhibits should seek to tell untold narratives, and programs should be places of communication and cross-cultural encounters. For too long, difficult confrontations have been avoided, both inside the museum, and by dominant communities

In the early morning hours of March 18, 1990, a pair of thieves disguised as Boston police officers entered the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum and roamed the Museum’s galleries, stealing thirteen works of art. The stolen works are valued at $500 million, which made the lottery the largest art theft in American history. There were 14 pieces of art that was stolen on the March 18, 1990. There is a reward of $5 million for information leading to the recovery of these works in good condition. No one has found out, it has been 25 years of theories as to what happened.

There is an ongoing art-ownership debate over paintings and other art stolen from European Jews during the Holocaust of World War II (1939-45). As Jews were sent to concentration camps, Nazi German soldiers looted valuable art from their homes. During the ensuing decades, some of that art landed in major museums on display, prompting Holocaust survivors and the families of Holocaust victims to ask that those works be returned to them.

After arriving and going through the security screenings, I proceeded to go down the stairs, entering the exhibit itself. Before even observing anything specific, it was immediately realized that this was no typical museum. Most people know that upon arrival, but only when you first enter the exhibit do you realize that this museum is not one that inspects the past, but one that reminds us of it.

The Dallas Museum is a renowned art museum established in 1903 and is located in Dallas, Texas (Neumann et al. 19). The Dallas Museum of art is one of the largest art museums in the United States of America containing more than 24,000 collections of art ranging from the ancient to the modern ones (MacDonald & Brettell 112). There are numerous things inside the museum, such as the pieces of art, museum visitors, and the architecture, that relate to the understanding of the world outside the museum in terms of the day to day life and the human society. My goal in this essay is to think outside the box and describe the observations I made inside the museum and explain how they relate to my everyday life, the wider world, or the human society.

Late on Wednesday night, my phone ringed. It was a text message from my friend Pedro, “Do you want to visit an art museum tomorrow”. Knowing I needed to go, I texted him back quickly, “pick me up after your class tomorrow and we can adventure to The Weatherspoon Art Museum at The University of North Carolina at Greensboro”. After Pedro’s class, we explored the museum observing multiple art works, and I was invoked by three, art pieces. All three were different and intriguing in their own way. For instance, the painting that is on top of the cover page with all the wavy hair was painted by Catherine Murphy and is known as the “Frosted”. This painting was very delightful because of its unique elements. Second, the sculpture in the middle of the cover page is an image of a wooded animal. This sculpture was crafted by Deborah Butterfield and is recognized as Lunalilo. Also, at the bottom of the cover page is a sculpture constructed by Dan Graham, the sculpture was known as Triangle Solid with

Recalling my inability to understand art, you can just imagine how much fun I had in the museum. When I walked into the little area I was immediately stopped by a collection of commemorative plates, each with names of famous civil rights activists on them. The plates looked very elegant, but I couldn’t figure out why the artist would want to create them. “Irony”, I thought, “it must be ironic somehow. Artists love irony – but how is this ironic?” Maybe because the names were in black on white plates? Maybe because they didn’t lead extravagant lifestyles but yet were commemorated on extravagant plates? Or maybe that their names, and all that they have stood for, have been reduced to a cheap souvenir-like object, that may or may not be available at the gift shop. I decided to shake off all the thoughts that were running through my head when I saw a giant sign that described the purpose of the exhibit, and what Brown v Board meant. Beneath it I found a pamphlet describing each work. “Spectacular”, I thought. “Now this is my kind of art museum – one with answers”.

In the occurrence of stolen valuable artwork, often times law enforcement authorities have an extremely hard time recovering the missing property. There are many reasons why of all thefts, artwork theft can be one of the most complicated to solve. In 1990, 14 pieces of art valued at $500 million dollars was stolen from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, becoming the biggest art Theft in American history. The National Stolen Art File (NSAF) was set up to help recover missing artwork. some people may have missing priceless artwork passed down to them just sitting in there basement with them unknowing its true value. Some art works missing have been and can be intentionally taken by

As the FBI have been searching for who stole the paintings and reporters looking deeper into this investigation a statement; believing that there is no trace to where the paintings have gone has been confirmed. The main struggle of this situation is that the FBI and the Police, along

Positioned alongside Central Park within the heart of New York City, The Metropolitan Museum of Art is one of the largest and most influential art museums in the world. The Met houses an extensive collection of curated works that spans throughout various time periods and different cultures. The context of museums, especially one as influential as the Met, inherently predisposes its visitors to a set of understandings that subtly influence how they interpret and ultimately construct meanings about each individual object within a museum. By analyzing two separate works on exhibit at the Met, I will pose the argument that museums offer a unique expression of a world view that is dictated through every element of its construction.

Throughout history, art has caused wars and forged alliances. In modern times, cultural treasures are being sorted into place after much misplacement. Restitution/repatriation, the act of returning cultural treasures to their rightful owners or nation of origin, often ensues difficult legal decisions, but remains a moral necessity. This act of returning cultural treasures, grows more common due to the media’s interest or publicized legal battles. The movie “The Woman in Gold,” involving Gustav Klimt’s painting of Adele Bloch-Bauer, is an example of the influence it has on media.