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Friday, March 07, 2008

Stolen Art Watch, Femme Fatale Fights For Stolen Pissarro !!





A French museum hopes to get back a painting by Impressionist painter Pissarro.

The work was stolen in 1981, but has now been found in New York.

Andre Liatard, curator of the Faure museum in the Alpine town of Aix-les-Bains, says he will travel to New York later this month to take part in legal proceedings to wrest the stolen work from its current owner.

The painting is in the care of Sharyl Davis, who says she bought the work titled Le Marche Aux Poissons (The Fish Market) in good faith and now wants to be compensated if it is returned to France. (Ooh, she would say that, greed, greeeed, it's a deadly sin you know !!)

According to investigators who traced how the painting ended up in the United States, Ms Davis bought the work from a US dealer for $US8,500 ($9,100),

Camille Pissarro (1830-1903) was seen as a major influence on French painters Paul Cezanne and Paul Gauguin.

See also, below

USA – APA. Impressionist painter Camille Pissarro’s oil painting work “Le Marche Aux Poissons” (“The Fish Market”) stolen in 1981 Faure museum in Aix-les-Bains has been found in New York.

http://en.apa.az/news.php?id=45338

Quoting France Press APA reports, Pissaro’s work was stolen together with the Auguste Renoir’s “Woman Portrait”.

Investigation clarified that well-known art thief Emil Gelton stole them. The fate of both paintings has been remained unknown for 22 years.

In 2003 Sotheby’s expert called to the Aix-les-Bains museum and told about probable place of Pissaro’s “The Fish market”.

French museum demanded US law-enforcement bodies to investigate this issue. The work place was determined and later it was detained in the New York custom house.

Legal proceedings on the stolen art will be started on March 16. Sharyl Davis, who says she bought “The Fish Market” from a US dealer, will also be testified.

The work will be given back to the museum, if the court receives complaints of French side. According to some sources, Renoir’s stolen work is in one of the Japanese collections, but this information has not been confirmed yet.

Art Hostage comments:

First of all, when did Msssssss Davis buy the Pissarro ??

Ms Davis spins the usual line that she bought the Pissarro in good faith.

However, was the price she paid a fair market price ?

$8,500 seems very little for an original Pissarro, even back in the 80's and if this was not a true reflection of its value then Ms Davis is guilty of not showing due diligence when purchasing fine art.

I do enjoy the way the person caught with stolen art always starts off by saying they want the stolen art to go back to its rightful owners, then the kicker, "but I would like to be rewarded"

Another case of being caught with your hands in the Cookie jar and trying to fabricate a false story to justify their possession of the said stolen artwork.

What is the difference between this Femme fatale and the New York man who had possession of the Warhol Dollar painting, I'll tell you, nothing, they are cut from the same dishonest cloth, but Ms Davis hides behind a false cloak of respectability.

Back story on Warhol claimant, below:


Could this be the first Female Dr No to raise their head above the parapet ??
More to come................ Gluttony and Greed go together


2 comments:

Anonymous said...

The Warhol case and this Pissarro do have something in commmon beyond the greed of the people who currently have the work.
Both were discovered thanks to the efforts of The Art Loss Register.

Anonymous said...

The story has many missing details. The Pissarro in question is a monotype, not an oil painting. It was purchased in 1985 in good faith. The price paid was fair market value at that time for a monotype.
The French chose to ignore the loss of the art when it went missing. If they knew Mr. Gueton was a thief why were they not looking for him at that
time.
There is still a question at to the fact that this it the stolen art.
When and how did the museum acquire the art?
How did the art get out of France without the knowledge of the French authorities.
The same expert that identified the stolen art is the expert that certified it as authentic at the time of purchase. In good faith, yes in 1985. Loss of faith 2008.
I would not say this is a case of greed, Should a person who found a beautiful piece of art for sale and chose to purchase it at the fair market value after having checked the authenticity of the work just let it go and loose not only the price paid but the time that is involved. I believe it is a case of corruption in the art market with little regard for the current owner who suffers the greatest loss.

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