HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Seaforth News, 1962-05-10, Page 2Mystery'Of The..
Stolen: Paintings
Methuen, ert interna-
•tional racketeers -•. who does it?
Who has' the audacity to steal
art masterpieces worth hundreds
Of thousands of dollars — which
he can never sell?
Is 'one man behind the cur-
rent, amazing epidemic of thefts
of modern and els master pie-
tures all over •the world?
Thieves in St. Tropez on the
French Riviera stripped a mu-
seum of fifty-seven Impression-
ist pictures. The loss is making
bids at auction rooms soar,
Eight Cezannes — estimated
work, $2,000,000 -- disappeared
from an exhibition in Aix-en-
Provence. A week later, Goya's
painting of the Druce of Welling-
ton was stolen from the Nation-
al Gallery in London.
Paintings -worth $1$0.000 were
stolen from a villa -in Bergamo,
Italy. Twenty-three canvases,
worth $450.000, were stolen from
a villa in Palermo, Italy, a few
months later.
In Pittsburg:, Pennsylvania, a
theirf ripped six Pieassos and
other modern master paintings
from their frames' and made off
with then%,
Since last July pictures worth
more than 56,000,000 have been
hi narked. The total makes
ti age -snatchers look like small-
timers,
But, of course, the stolen mas-
terpieces cannot be auctioned of
even sold for anything like their
market value. A painting by any
well-khowt artist is about the
"hottest" article a thief can
hold.
Any art dealer or collector he
offered it to would recognize it
immediately. Paintings cannot
be melted like silver or re -set
like jewels. To disguise or alter
one would destroy its value.
Even if some crooked collec-
tor could be found to buy, he
would not dare to hang the pic-
ture in case it was recognized.
And only a madman would want
a beautiful and valuable paint-
ing he dared not hang on his
wail•
Fanciful stories of "art mis-
ers," who sit gloating over stolen
old masters in locked rooms,
have been conjured up to ex-
plain the theft of the unsaleable,
But there has never been the
Slightest evidence that such men
exist. The theo_y might explain
the occasional theft of one pic-
ture, but not a world epidemic.
Commonest motive for old
master robberies seems to have
been the idea of holding the pic-
ture to ransom.
Frequent headlines of fantas-
tic auction -room prices for pic-
tures may have given thieves
ideas about getting at least ten
percent of the value as reward.
Classic cases of this kind was
the theft of Galnsborough's por-
trait of the Duchess of Devon-
shire from a Bond Street gallery
which had just paid $50,000 for
it — a record price at the time,
more than eighty years ago.
The picture was smuggled to
America, it was believed, by
painting another picture over the
canvas so that the original could
not be recognized.
'Then a ransom of 515,000 was
demanded for it. Knowing that
playing along was the only hope
of recovering the picture, the
owners began negotiations. as in-
structed. through messages In
the persons: column of a news-
paper.
But the thief, discovered to be
a man named Adam Worth, was
caught for a nether crime and
sentenced to a long term. After
his release; a detective ageecy
took up the case.
Worth was new at a disad-
vantage and reduced his amend
to $5,000. Money and picture
eventualle changed hands in a
New York hotel twenty-five
years atter the theft!
The pieture, meanwhile, had
tripied in value and was bought
by a Mr, Pierpont Morgan for
$150,000.
Mr. Morgan, the leading mil-
lionaire art collector of the time,
was later the victim ofanother
thief. The case shows that just
occasionally a thief may be able
to sell without being caught.
Mr, Morgan bought a beautiful
miniature on the legitimate mar-
ket. Yeats later he was asked
to lendsone of his collection for
an exhibition in London.
An expert recognized the men-
iature as one he had seen long
before in Italy. It was then dis-
covered it had been stolen, Mr,
Morgan immediately gave it to
the Italian government
In the case of the Goya theft
last year, the Reuters news
agency received a demand that
$400,000 be paid to charities or
the picture would • be mutilated
and a second one stolen.
There is no. way of knowing
whether the threat came from a
madman, a misguided joker or
the real thief, The canvas was
not insured and, of course, the
money was not paid. The paint-
ing's fate remains a mystery.
A thief who took a panel by
the Van Eyck brothers from a
Ghent church sent a ransom note
to the Belgian government,
When'it was ignored, a second
note said half the panel would
be returned and the other half
destroyed unless the ransom was
paid,
One half was found in the
stated place, but no more was
ever heard of the other half.
Immediately a famous picture
is stolen, customs officials are
alerted and the thief's biggest
headache is how to smuggle the
canvas out of the country. A
small canvas is often striugg,ed
by being taken from its frame
"worn" between shirt and vest.
Perugia, an Italian workman
at the Louvre, Paris, who one
day found himself alone with
one of the world's most famous
pictures, the Mona Lisa, took it
out of its frame and walked off
with it under his overalls.
He hid it in his room and,
later, hearing of an Italian mag-
nate in the market for pictures,
offered him a fine Leonardo for
$60,000. He got the picture to
Florence in a trunk with a
double -bottom.
But, naturally, the magnate's
adviser immediately recognized
the picture. Parugia was arrest-
ed and the Mona Lisa returned
to the Louvre.
The thief's defence was that tie
was acting as a patriot by restor-
ing to Italy a picture which had
been taken from there by Na-
poleon. He got a fairly light sen-
tence.
Hopes of collecting ransom, or
making a secret sale; "patriot-
ism" of the Perugia type, and
even publicity, as in a recent
Hollywood case — all these mo-
tives are understandable in in-
dividual cases. But what can one
make of the theft of more than
l00 pictures in the past eight
months? The most plausible ex-
planation seems that thieves are
great imitators.
Reading of a $1,500,000 haul,
and perhaps noticing how little
some galleries are guarded a
thief may be tempted. After-
wards he discovers that stealing
a painting is easy compared with
trying to sell it.
Q, I've been told it's improper
to chew gum in public, True?
A. If true, pity the poor chew -
mg gum industry! Only if you're
the nervous, noisy type of chewer
would it be better to refrain
from public gum -chewing. But
otherwise, if you can keep gum
in your mouth without its being
obvious to others, there is no-
thing at all wrong with it.
HAT ENOUGH FOR TWO — George Chakirks and Elizabeth
Allen find a huge hat sunshade while on the island of Kauai
where they are on location for filming of "Diamond Head."
SPHINX — Irtspd.restiotnt of tate Sphinx is, feat im o hat designed
in Florence, ttaFy. is. done: in, red' fait with scattered
comma-shaped cutouts arid feutatres cc stylish, rolled brims
RONICLES
cNINGER ARM.
C1exi,,e
This morning I looked out of
my bedroom window and there,
quite close to the house, was a
beautiful cock -pheasant, closely
followed by a less colourful hen -
bird. Taffy was tied outside and
barking furiously but the pheas-
ants did not pay the least bit of
attention to hint. I wonder what
would have happened had he
been loose? I watched the pheas-
ants until they strutted out of
sight- At no time did they make
any attempt to take to the air:
We live fairly close to the Credit
Valley Golf Course so we think it
more than possible the birds are
nesting over there. Partner has
seen them around here several
times.
By the foregoing remarks you
may gather I am back home
again. That is true — after five
weeks in hospital. It is grand to
be in familiar surroundings again
but today I am absolutely ex-
hausted as we had so many vis-
itors yesterday — family and
neighbours. It is a situation that
is difficult to cope with. I love
to see everyone, and to all ap-
pearances I am well, It isn't until
afterwards that the reaction sets.
in. And then there was the hock-
ey broadcast Saturday night!'
That was exciting enough to tire
anyone. Who would have thought
the Leafs would score such a vic-
tory in that last game? And yet,
much as I wanted the Leafs to
win I was really sorry to see the
Ranger goalie lose out. This
week the excitement starts all
over again with the Leafs play-
ing Chicago. Personally I feel
the Leafs stand a better chance
against Chicago than they would
have done with Montreal_
Well, there are definite signs of
spring around here. Pussy -wil-
lows have come through the
winter in great shape — %hanks
to tarpaper wrappings that kept
the rabbits from destroying them.
The same with the forsythia. One
thing we find particularly inter-
esting. The people who built this
house seven years ago planted a
good size weeping willow along-
side the drive. It died but Part-
ner decided not to dig the root
up — just to cut down the trunk
and see what happened. This
year his patience has been re-
warded. There are quite a num-
ber of healthy looking branches
shooting out from the stump that
was left in the ground. So you
see you can never be sure. Even
where there dcesn't appear to be
life one can still hope — and
that hope may be rewarded if
one waits long enough. The
same theory applies to more than
trees. You will understand what
' I mean,
This is a momentous weekend
in Dee's family. Our first-born
grandson, David, went away for
the first time as an independent
individual. That is to say he
went to the Cub Camp at Os-
hawa. Art took a car load of
boys down Friday night and
Dave was so excited he alm_est
forgot to say goodbye to his
mother, Today, Monday. I have
just been talking to Dee on the
telephone. She said Dave got
home all right, pretty tired, with
a bit of a cold, but otherwise_ all
right and very happy, Apparent-
ly he was the youngest tn a
group of twenty. Dave won't oe
nine until October. What he
liked best were the hikes. What
he didn't like was porridge for
breakfast t Nothing will induce
him to eat it at home. That is
one good thing about group ac-
tivities — a boy (or a girl, in the
cats of Guides) does as the
others do or stands a good chance
of being laughed at and called a
sissy, It's a funny thing about
ISSUE it — 196E
Chez. porridge. Tee d'aesn.'t like it
and his mother doesn't insist on
hint, eating it because she says;
she suffered so much as a- child
because 11 insisted thae she eat
porridge every morning,. Ansi
she did, but she tells menow that
she often threw ups outside one
her way to school,. 1, wonder
whose is the better way —here's;
er mine?'
Here iss another parenthood'
problem — I wonder hot: many
have faced something similar tot
what is going on in thi'a. district?
The nearest_ school is about a
mile and a half away — that is
along a busy sideroad without
any sidewalk.. For safety and to,
shorten the distance children)
from. this neighbourhood have
been cutting across a land'owner's
property — presumably being
held for housing development.
Between this property and the
school there is a. small holding
with an occupied' devell-iibg, over'
which school children have been
accustomed to taking a short-cut.
Now this: home -owner i threat-
ening to, stop the children• cross-
ing ht's• property. Naturally the
mothers are• worried. The dee-
tance is too: short, to warrant at
bus and too. Iang and dangerous.
for the children to walk. So
there is to be a meeting' at the)
schoolhouse) tonight;. We are in-
terested because we allow chil-
dren to cut across a eorner- of
our acre of thrid and we 'have uo'
intention of stopping' them.. But
we understand that if a footpath
has become more or less publih
property, then„ after severe years
tete owner has no say in the nat-
ter- If we should sail' our prop-
erty what then?'
H• it le of sufficient general in-
terest 1- wD tet you' know the
result of tonight's meeting.
DRIVE WITH CARE
A. 'comic!! Gamlen
In Africa
le a tropical gat'tlen the ilea.
ness of flower and feL atge le en-
hanced by the glow of insect and
bird life. Sven at right the Bile-
flies dart and; dance,; wltile below
at ground level the glewwornet
tend their tiny lamps. it i'tt ells^
appointing to treacle for moths in
the tropics, presumably because
the attracting of., - . treacle earn
not compete with the heavy stent
of flowering shrubs and ereepurs
on the night air, Het leave e light
on the verandah or at at open
window, and the walls :amid
will seen be covered with• a won-
derful collection of mottos from
the great hawks dawn 10 the tin-
iest little creatures, with the mast
wonderful textures and pattern%
on thein' writrgs;.
As cacti are to normal flowers,
so are the. praying mantis to Ifni
rest of the insect world', Stranee
uncanny creatures, redwing them-
selves along the leaves and'
branehes with slow, jerky move-
ments of tlieiat angular legs.
Stranger stiili are the ohameleons
as they pace: relentlessly'' towards)
ant unsuspecting fly, thele claws
elaspitrg the boughs so firmly,.
their bo dies, swaying• from' side • tot '
side;. their railing'g eyes: seemingly,
working quite, ihtlependently of,'
each other. ,. . Then come' thea
iliards,. of which, there must be
malty different kinds, My fa-
vourites are large garden ones)
with brilliant peacock necks,
heads and tails. They sit.motion-
less in the sun on the white
rocks, or scamper. up the trunk
of, a tree... .... •
Lweze is particularly well; sitt•-
uated for Birdilife. With,forestst
below, and' woodland round,,
shortgrass hillsides: above the.
forest toone side,. and swamp
and lake -shore below it to an-
other, we are visited' by birds of.
every' kind. Militant sunbirds
with. dark metallic wiiigs and
black and scarlet breasts hover
about our flowers diinking out
honey with their long curved
beaks,., ..,.A number -of different
Pigeons : ante. dbves coo and call;,
lir harmony witht the:litgpid notes:
of the' muerte and' anvil bird's.
Butall' hfid' calls; are'not: beauti-
ful, and'we'have our sliare'of the.
mucous -voiced' ones too. Flocks
of starlings pass ovrerus 'at night-'
fail' ow the way d'owm ttn the' for-
est to roost. The'rollers, relatives
of the English jays,are beautiful
to' look at but quite horrible ten
listen to........
Finally the prizewinner im oun
noisy cess is the, absurd oasquedt
hornhill. At huge ca.lzmse black:
and wniee bird' considerably nig-
ger titan- a pheasant,. wt.aring- on.
llis• hes at great helmet of horn,,
he flaps heavily and; noisil "
across the gardens ,looltiirg• as
bhnugle he' eoultit never mach, his•
objective:. He =rakes' it somehow„
as often as not breaking' off at
few totters brancheshe lending:. .
Ire general He reminds one' of at
rather attractietet easecrtnotegeir
front rho Rool Sad.. U wtthills
dtFRitlltcly $freak with t eeckney
accent, 1'tatn "African Tape
try,'" by Margaret Trt'wel1.
Want To Keep Those
Flowers Fresh? ,
11 you love fresh -cut flowers,.
here are Sonar Mtirlts from a Matn-
hatfart flatlet eri' how to matte
thein last longer anif give more
pleasure'
To keep' carnation% fresh leng-
et', add a teaspacry of allay to
their water.
A teaspoon of snap pawdet or
a few drops al Clorox' can be
added to the water e1 most ar-
ttuigements 1,5 k„cp• L'bo £IL,wers
lfeasie longer.
Il' roses have dropped. their
heads, pet stoma tat twr,)Incites eft
[boiling hot water fou 16, mini.
Utes, and they'll' be perfectle t•e-.
vived,•
Adil' a tuuspoan of brown sugar
tb•keep'an aevangelical' of greens'
f'l'esh,
EIthue nut tulips tit• a copper;
asmittiitet' or drops a' few copper
pennies - into, t"lieii• water.
Always put fresh flowers into
llikewartm water,
If you'd like' rhoriodendroni
leaves to. last' from) three t , 1 ur
weeks longer, beat+ their items)
wit) a• Hammer' before pitting
them in water,
Modern Wants—'?'
Ile Anne As"•'
Q., When a girli is' he mg inh'o-
duced to a mien whom she be-
lieves she has met' before, sh old
she mention dile' to him?
A, If his memory dee& not
seem' so good' as Hers, it would
pro)iably Be- better not' to make
mention' of the' former meeting,
but' merely to acknowledge this
one with' "Hbw' de you do, Mr,
Adams.'"
CASUAL—Si& nae:fern ahapecur
ansteal.ly' itrlll,iatg trot the, titre' is;
warm sapti.watirrglg' by' Juice:
iH'arg•naves at• sat, arrcen- (uaI'�irQrit
drew' lint E£t:ilghtora, Englund:
ANCIENT AND MODERN — Marien-Square in Munich shows the old city hall on the
right and the twin steeples of Our Lady's Cathedral in the background. In the centre atop
a column erected in 1638 stand the Virgin Mary, patroness of Bavaria,
Photo courtesy el LUFTHANSA GERMAN AIRLINES
A bright copper Pfennig sets
the theme for a new low cost
travel program called Bud -jet
Tours Europe 1962, introduced
recently by Lufthansa German
Airlines. The Pfennig is
the airline's symbol for an eco-
nomy completely new to North
Atlantic air routes. Suggested
tours cover Centre! Europe and
the British Isles, the Mediter-
ranean countries, and Scandi-
ns cis,
I:y to the new program Is ut-
dh'. ft al planning via a simple
bra ;ure, the traveller choosing
his ciaos of hotels, his excursions
and diversions according to per-
sonal taste and budget. Similar
in operation to Lufthansa's 'Ski
i travel ticestsstour by stickingnto; ct bare actls ossor the6jet NorthAtlantic, ghts eekle
divi-
essentials, listing a variety of ded between four times weekly
ihotels and suggested city tours, service from Montreal, Chicago
the traveller picking only those and San Francisco, and daily
desired beyond a skeletal tour service from MY, The airliner's
i framework, Also listed are cities new East African network eche-
the traveller can visit as alter- dttled for May inauguration will
{ nates on quoted tour prices and connect. Athens by jet to the
;routings, To provide basic serer- I North Atlantic flights In Frank-
ity and comfort in travel beyond f:urt, the new route running from
jj jet air fare and hotel, package Germany to Johannesburg via
.prices. include he lel tipping, con- Athens, Khartoum, Nairobi, and
fI tinental breakfast and, either I Salisbury,
the Alps' program started last
lunch or dinner in most cities,
plus steamer, train and bus tran-
sportation when used.
Lufthansa's summer schedule