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Andrew Wyeth Painting ‘Ice Storm’ Caught in Legal Tsunami Over Fraud

Keith Girard
Andrew Wyeth’s bucolic painting “Ice Storm” is at the center of a legal dispute evolving out of a 20-year-old New York City art scandal perpetrated by disgraced art dealer David Ramus, who swindled clients out of millions of dollars. Among his victims is Reed Galin, a former TV news anchor, who was a life-long friend of Ramus and college roommate....
ArtCRIME

Jeff Koons Whitney Exhibit Graffiti Vandal Caught on Video (watch!)

Keith Girard
The Jeff Koons exhibit at the Whitney Museum in Manhattan was hit by a graffiti vandal last night, who was caught on video spray-painting a wall in front of dozens of startled patrons. Christopher Johnson, 33, of Manhattan, was arrested at the museum after he was accosted by security guards and turned over to police, according to reports. Fortunately, the focus of the exhibit, Koons’ “Hanging Heart” sculpture, and other works were not harmed,...
CRIME
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Hildebrand Gurlitt, Notorious Nazi Art Thief, Surfaces in Art Probe

Keith Girard
Hildebrand Gurlitt hailed from a family that was well known in artistic circles in pre-World War II Germany. His father was an architect and art historian, one brother was a musicologist and a nephew was an art dealer. But a deep, dark secret set him apart. During World War II, Gurlitt, a specialist in modern art, was hired by Joseph Goebbels, the feared Nazi propaganda minister, to loot priceless artworks from homes and museums across Nazi-occupied Europe....
ArtCRIME

Artist Revealed Behind Masterfully Faked Pollocks, Koonings, Rothkos

Keith Girard
Pei-Shen Qian, described as a struggling Chinese artist, is the master forger behind one of the biggest scams to sweep the New York City art scene in years, involving more than 80 bogus paintings by modern masters. Alleged works by Jackson Pollock, Willem de Kooning, Mark Rothko and Robert Motherwell, were actually painted by the 73-year-old immigrant artist in the garage of his Queens home. Few details about the investigation are known. What is known is mostly contained in a new grand jury indictment of alleged scam mastermind Glafira Rosales, 57. She was arraigned today (Aug 19) in federal court in Manhattan....
ArtCRIME
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Defaced Rothko at London’s Tate Raises Security Questions Anew

Keith Girard
A Mark Rothko painting defaced at London’s Tate Modern museum over the weekend once again raises questions about how to balance security against the desire to give the public the best experience possible while viewing priceless works of art. A man at the Tate was able to walk up to the Rothko’s untitled 1958 painting best known as “Black on Maroon” and mark a slogan on it in black paint. He was gone in a matter of minutes. The slogan “Vladimir Umanets ’12, a potential piece of yellowism,” doesn't seem to have a direct connection to Rothko or the work....
CRIME
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Bond Fund Manager Offers Stunning Reward for Stolen Art

Keith Girard
Financial mogul Jeffrey Gundlach knows there is no honor among thieves. He’s offering a $1.7 million reward for information leading to the return of his art collection as well as other luxury items, including a Porsche sports car, stolen from his Santa Monica, Calif. home. ...
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Stolen Paul Cezanne Painting Recovered After Four Years

Keith Girard
A painting by the French artist Paul Cezanne, worth an estimated $100 million, has been found relatively unscathed four years after it was stolen at gunpoint from a Swiss museum by three masked robbers. The painting, Boy in a Red Waistcoat, was one of four stolen from the E. G. Buehrle Collection in Zurich in 2008 by three robbers who burst in just before closing time and told staff to lie on the floor while hand-picked the paintings to steal....
CRIME