Art Loss in Iraq
— Editor
The following five articles address the crisis of art lost or endangered in Iraq as a result of recent military action
Cultural Tragedy in Iraq: A Report on the Looting of Museums, Archives, and Sites
— McGuire Gibson
This article, by a noted Mesopotamian archaeologist, gives an overview of the looting of the Iraq National Museum in Baghdad and other sites that occurred on April 10-12, 2003. Author discusses some prime artifacts that were safely stored prior to the looting but also many great works that were lost. Also discusses important archaeological sites in the area that are being destroyed.
Report on the First UNESCO Cultural Heritage Assessment—Mission to Baghdad, May 16-20, 2003
— John Malcolm Russell
A first-hand account by another noted Mesopotamian archaeologist of the UNESCO mission to Iraq organized in the immediate aftermath of the Iraq Museum looting in an effort to assess the damage.
Cuneiform Inscriptions in the Looted Iraq Museum
— Robert Biggs
Thousands of cuneiform tablets were looted from the Iraq Museum, holder of one of the major collections of cuneiform inscriptions. This article by an archaeological specialist in cuneiform writing gives a brief explanation of cuneiform tablets and an overview of the loss.
Nimrud, the War and the Antiquities Market
— Samuel M. Paley
An account of the war damage to the important Iraqi archaeological site, Nimrud, where many precious jewels and vessels have been found in the past and where major archaeological sites and palaces are still located.
Protection of Cultural Heritage in Time of War and Its Aftermath
— James A.R. Nafziger
A summary by a specialist in international law of the sets of treaties that form the framework for protecting cultural heritage in time of war and its aftermath—The Hague Conventions and the Geneva Convention.
News and Updates: Art Loss in Iraq
— Sharon Flescher
Brief description of the recent losses of art due to the military situation in Iraq (the looting of the Iraq National Museum, and the burning of the National Library), as an introduction to the section of the Journal devoted to Art Loss in Iraq.
An IFAR Evening on the Camille Pissarro Catalogue Raisonné:
— Editor
Following are edited transcripts of two talks and the Q&A from an IFAR Evening on the Pissarro catalogue raisonné. The speakers were Pissarro’s great grandson and the great great granddaughter of Pissarro’s dealer.
Camille Pissarro Through the Forthcoming Catalogue Raisonné
— Joachim Pissarro
Discussion of the forthcoming catalogue raisonné of Pissarro’s paintings (it will be the first catalogue raisonné of the artist’s work since 1939). The talk includes a brief history of catalogues raisonnés in general.
Pissarro and Durand-Ruel
— Claire Durand-Ruel Snollaerts
The article recounts the relationship between Camille Pissarro and his dealer, Paul Durand-Ruel, and discusses the exhibits Durand-Ruel arranged to showcase Pissarro’s paintings.
News and Updates: Antiquities Dealer Loses Appeal
— Sharon Flescher and Samuel Butts
New York Federal appeals court affirms the District Court’s conviction of Frederick Schultz for conspiring to receive and traffic in stolen Egyptian antiquities. Schultz sentenced to prison and a fine.
News and Updates: Accused Dali Thieves Charged
— Sharon Flescher
Two Assistant Deputy Wardens and two Corrections Officers have been charged in the theft of Dali’s Christ on the Cross, which was taken from Riker’s Island Men’s Correctional Facility.
News and Updates: Who Owns the Works Nationalized by Lenin?
— Sharon Flescher
Andre Marc Delocque-Fourcaud has filed a lawsuit against the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. His grandfather, Sergei Shchukin was the owner of a great collection of modern French art appropriated by Lenin in 1918. Twenty-five of the paintings on temporary exhibit at LACMA once belonged to Shchukin.
News and Updates: Austria Seeks Review by Supreme Court in Klimt Case
— Samuel Butts
The Republic of Austria has filed a petition asking the Supreme Court to hear its case after a three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in California ruled that Maria Altmann could sue Austria in California court regarding six Gustav Klimt paintings.
News and Updates: UNESCO Drafts Declaration Against Intentional Destruction of Cultural Heritage
— Sharon Flescher
UNESCO has drafted a “Declaration Concerning the International Destruction of the Cultural Heritage” in response to the 2001 destruction by the Taliban of the two giant 1,500-year-old Buddhas carved into the cliffs of Bamiyan, Afghanistan.
News and Updates: IFAR Flashback
— Sharon Flescher
From IFAR Publications: 30 years Ago, 20 Years Ago, 10 years Ago and 5 Years Ago.
Stolen Art Alert—Antiquities Reported as Stolen/Looted from the Iraq Museum During Operation Iraqi Freedom
A special section listing major items stolen from the Iraq Museum in April 2003, including: Head of a Sumerian Woman (Warka/Uruk, c. 3000 B.C.), Poseidon (discovered at Hatra), Seated Female Deity (found at Temple VII), Goddess of Victory (from Hatra, c.200 A.D.), Assyrian Bronze Model Chariot, Cylinder Seal (c.2000 B.C.).
Stolen Art Alert
Thefts include: Antoine Blanchard, Parisian Street Scene; Milton Avery, March on the Rocks, 1950; Pieter Post, A Cavalry Skirmish a Capriccio of Roman Ruins; Robert S. Duncanson, Highland Scenery: The Pass of Leny; Diego Rivera, Farm Buildings and Fields, 1928; Paul Klee, Child and Dog, 1929.
In Memoriam—J. Kirk T. Varnedoe
— Sharon Flescher
Eulogy for a member of IFAR’s Art Advisory Council and former Chief Curator of Paintings and Sculpture, Museum of Modern Art.
