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https://tw.news.yahoo.com/法國總統府藝術品失竊上千件-何時被偷-概不知-120253455.html

法國總統府藝術品失竊上千件 何時被偷一概不知

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編譯中心╱綜合9日電
2019年7月10日 下午8:02


據巴黎人報(Le Parisien)6日報導,巴黎警察局鎮匪大隊近日收到法國國家造型藝術中心6月提交的一份報告,報告中稱,總統府艾麗榭宮有七件藝術品失竊,包括木製、陶製、銅製雕塑等,總價值數萬歐元,令警方震驚的並非涉案價值,而是失竊地點在艾麗榭宮及其外圍建築。
事實上,法國早前已發現數以千計的國有資產從總統府、總理府、國民議會、參議院、市政廳、使領館、博物館等地「不翼而飛」。國家審計法院發布一份驚人的報告後,法國於1997年成立國家藝術收藏委員會對此進行專門管理。根據該委員會的統計,在國家擁有的46.7萬件藝術品中,失竊物品超過5.7萬件,僅艾麗榭宮失竊物品就有上千件。
這次失竊的是七個木製、陶製和銅製雕塑,當局只知道這批藝術品是1879年至1984年間放在艾麗榭宮的,但對於何時遺失及目前下落等毫無頭緒。
過往不少部長及其顧問離任時,會帶走藝術品裝飾家居,部分則因為人為疏失而遺失。曾有一個骨董燈罩被歸類為失蹤物品,最終當局發現它一直被擺在櫥櫃內封塵。
目前仍有眾多藝術品下落不明,包括原本掛在艾麗榭宮、由18世紀義大利畫家帕尼尼(Giovanni Paolo Panini)所繪畫的古羅馬廢墟景象畫作,估計價值20萬歐元(約22萬美元);原本放在內政部、由20世紀法國著名雕塑家朗度斯基(Paul Landowski)創作的銅製雕塑「蛇舞」(Snake Dance)也消失不見。


The French presidential palace has stolen thousands of artworks. When I was stolen, I don’t know.
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July 10, 2019, 8:02 PM

According to the Parisian newspaper (Le Parisien) on the 6th, the Paris Police Department’s township brigade recently received a report submitted by the French National Plastic Art Center in June, which stated that seven pieces of art were stolen from the presidential palace, Elijah Palace. Including wooden, ceramic, bronze sculptures, etc., with a total value of tens of thousands of euros, what shocked the police was not the value of the case, but the location of the theft at the Elliott Palace and its surrounding buildings.

In fact, France has discovered thousands of state-owned assets that have been "missing" from the presidential palace, the prime minister's office, the National Assembly, the Senate, the city hall, embassies and consulates, museums and other places. After the National Audit Court issued an astonishing report, France established the National Art Collection Committee in 1997 to manage it. According to the statistics of the committee, among the 467,000 artworks owned by the state, there are more than 57,000 stolen items, and there are thousands of stolen items in the Elijah Palace.

The seven wooden, ceramic and bronze sculptures were stolen. The authorities only knew that the works were placed in the Palace of Elliott from 1879 to 1984, but they had no clue as to when they were lost and their whereabouts.

In the past, many ministers and their consultants left the art to decorate their homes, and some were lost due to human error. There was once a bone lampshade that was classified as a missing item, and the authorities finally found it had been placed in the cabinet to seal the dust.

There are still many unknown artworks, including the ancient Roman ruins paintings originally painted by the 18th century Italian painter Giovanni Paolo Panini, estimated to be worth 200,000 euros (about 220,000). The US dollar, the bronze sculpture "Snake Dance" originally created by the famous French sculptor Paul Landowski in the 20th century, disappeared.


https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/ar...s-stolen-President-Macrons-official-home.html

French authorities hunt seven rare artworks stolen from President Macron's official home - including statues and sculptures believed to be worth thousands
  • The CNAP (National Centre of Plastic Arts) complained about the missing art
  • Police have launched an investigation to find wooden and terracotta statues
  • A bronze bust was also reportedly taken from the Elysee Palace before 2013
By Peter Allen In Paris for MailOnline
Published: 01:40 BST, 9 July 2019 | Updated: 14:34 BST, 9 July 2019




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Paris detectives are investigating the mysterious theft of seven works of art from the official home of French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte.
They include wooden and terracotta statuettes, as well as a bronze bust taken from the Elysee Palace, in the centre of the capital city.
'The complaint arrived a few days ago in the office of the Paris criminal brigade,' a judicial source told the Parisien newspaper.
'These statuettes were not stolen in a sales room or a luxurious apartment, but within the presidency of the Republic, in the Elysee Palace or its annexes.'
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The Elysee Palace from which some of the art was stolen is home to the French President and his wife
Paris is infamous for art theft, but such crimes at the centre of the political establishment have even shocked 'hardened detectives,' said the source.
Items confirmed as stolen from the Elysee will guarantee a full investigation, with anybody with a link with the Elysee coming under suspicion.
The complainants are the CNAP (National Centre of Plastic Arts), which manages France's national contemporary art foundation.
Despite the report only just being made to police and prosecutors, the CNAP's theory is that the works disappeared before January 2013.
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This was when Socialist president Francois Hollande was in residence with his girlfriend, Valerie Trierweiler, and then his mistress, the TV actress Julie Gayet.
Before them, the conservative politician Nicolas Sarkozy lived at the Elysee with his third wife, the model Carla Bruni.
The theft of the art appeared on a CNAP audit which was looking at works placed in the Elysee between 1879 and 1984.
'Extensive research was then carried out, but this did not allow anyone to find the statuettes and the bust, forcing the CNAP to file a complaint,' the report reads.
15799840-7226677-image-a-14_1562630484443.jpg


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Macron greeting US President Donald Trump in the Elysee palace last year surrounded by a number of antiquities


Thousands of state-owned works of arts regularly go missing from embassies, town halls, museums and even the two houses of parliament, the National Assembly and the Senate.
Many are soon classed as 'permanently lost', because of poor record keeping, and a lack of interest in recovery.
A chandelier that went missing from the Elysee some 25 years ago was recently discovered in a forgotten box.
But the past, souvenir hunters have ranged from lowly cleaners and members of the public, to those in high-ranking official positions.
Jean-Philippe Vachia, of the Court of Auditors, France's supreme auditing institution, said: 'The stolen objects are not masterpieces, but they can still be worth tens of thousands of euros, and they have a big heritage value.'

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French authorities hunt seven rare artworks stolen from President Macron's official home





https://www.bbc.com/news/world-46324174

Benin artworks: France to return thrones and statues

  • 23 November 2018





Image copyright Reuters
French President Emmanuel Macron has said that France will return 26 artworks taken from the west African state of Benin in the colonial era.
His announcement follows an experts' report recommending that African treasures in French museums be returned to their countries of origin.
The 26 thrones and statues were taken in 1892 during a colonial war against the then Kingdom of Dahomey.
They are currently on display in the Quai Branly museum in Paris.
Benin officially asked for their return some years ago. President Macron said the statues would be returned "without delay".
His office said the return of art to Benin should not be an isolated case.
The president "hopes that all possible circulation of these works is considered: returns but also exhibitions, loans, further cooperation", the Elysee palace said.
A panel of experts, commissioned by the president to study the issue of African artworks in French museums, presented their findings to him on Friday.
Ousmane Aledji, director of the Benin cultural centre Artisttik Africa, told the AFP news agency he was pleased to see "a new form of cultural exchange" with France.
During colonial rule in Africa, thousands of cultural artefacts were seized from the continent by Western countries.
The official report states that most of the Africa collection in the Quai Branly museum - approximately 46,000 pieces - was acquired with some degree of duress.
France's announcement comes as major museums across Europe have agreed to lend key artefacts back to Nigeria.
 

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https://www.scmp.com/news/world/eur...sed-return-art-treasures-looted-africa-during

French president advised to return art treasures looted from Africa during colonial past
  • Experts have advised France to return thousands of African artworks held in its museums
  • Move could prompt private French collectors to move their works out of France for fear of seizure


Agence France-Presse
Published: 11:47am, 22 Nov, 2018
Updated: 10:10pm, 22 Nov, 2018
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Experts appointed by President Emmanuel Macron will advise him to allow the return of thousands of African artworks held in French museums. Photo: AFP
African museum directors have welcomed an expert report calling on France to allow the return of thousands of African treasures and artworks, a radical policy shift that could put pressure on other former colonial powers.
Calls have been growing in Africa for restitution, but French law strictly forbids the government from ceding state property, even in well-documented cases of pillaging.
French President Emmanuel Macron raised hopes in a speech last year in Burkina Faso, saying “Africa’s heritage cannot just be in European private collections and museums”.


He later asked French art historian Benedicte Savoy and Senegalese writer Felwine Sarr to study the matter, and they are to present Macron with their report on Friday.
The report recommend amending French law to allow the restitution of cultural works if bilateral accords are struck between France and African states.
The change would apply in particular to works held in museums which were “transferred from their original territory during the French colonial period,” the report said.
“We propose changing heritage laws so that all types of cases can be taken into account, and the criteria of consent can be invoked,” Sarr told French daily Liberation in an article posted late Tuesday.
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The report was welcomed by advocates of the restitution of works which were bought, bartered or in some cases simply stolen.

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The Ato ceremony of the Kingdom of Dahomey, circa 1934, held at the Quai Branly Museum-Jacques Chirac in Paris. Photo: AFP
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“Today it feels as if we’re just a step away from recovering our history and being finally able to share it on the continent,” Marie-Cecile Zinsou, a daughter of Benin’s former prime minister and president of the Zinsou Art Foundation in Cotonou, said.

Her sentiments were echoed by Hamady Bocoum, director of the Museum of Black Civilization in Senegal’s capital Dakar.
Noting that the works under discussion were taken “in the context of colonisation and subordination,” he said: “It’s a good decision that reflects the march of history.”
While the ownership controversy is nothing new, the issue was thrust into the spotlight in 2016 when President Patrice Talon of Benin asked France to return items including carvings, sceptres and sacred doors from the Palaces of Abomey, formerly the capital of the kingdom of Dahomey.
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A late-19th-century funerary crown from the Kingdom of Dahomey on display at the Quai Branly Museum. Photo: AFP
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France refused, citing its law that museums are forbidden from permanently parting with any piece in their collections.
Of the estimated 90,000 African artworks in French museums, around 70,000 are at Paris’ Quai Branly museum, created by ex-president Jacques Chirac, a keen admirer of African and Asian art.
In order to proceed with any restitutions, “a request would have to be lodged by an African country, based on inventory lists which we will have sent them,” according to the report.
The prospect has raised hackles among some curators and art dealers who say it would eventually empty museums and galleries in some Western countries.
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Felwine Sarr and Benedicte Savoy France wrote the report for President Emmanuel Macron. Photo: AFP
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They point to the fact that many objects came from kingdoms which no longer exist, and that in many cases the owners can claim they were obtained legitimately.
Critics also say the move could prompt private French collectors to move their works out of France for fear of seizure.
“No dealer in African art was consulted” by the report’s authors, said Yves-Bernard Debie, a Belgian lawyer who is one of the most vocal opponents of returning works taken by soldiers, explorers and others during the colonial era.
European conservationists meanwhile have raised practical concerns, such as the danger of artefacts being stolen or poorly handled by inexperienced museums in politically unstable countries.
But the report’s authors said art market professionals were indeed among those who contributed to the report, along with collectors, lawmakers, legal specialists and even “sceptics”.
aeaf1468-ee06-11e8-b0fe-c62dccd2d711_1320x770_114717.JPG

A visitor looks at a statue at the Quai Branly museum in Paris. File photo: AFP
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Britain too has faced calls to return artefacts, including the Elgin Marbles to Greece and the Benin Bronzes to Nigeria.
On Tuesday, the governor of Easter Island in the Pacific tearfully begged the British Museum to return one of its famous statues.
The London museum has held the Hoa Hakananai’a, one of the most spiritually important of the Chilean island’s stone monoliths, for 150 years.
Elsewhere in Europe, the French experts said 37,000 objects from Sub-Saharan Africa were at Vienna’s Weltmuseum and 180,000 were at Belgium’s Royal Museum for Central Africa in Tervuren.
The report said such collections were effectively depriving Africans of their artistic and cultural heritage.
“On a continent where 60 per cent of the population is under the age of 20 years old, what is first and foremost of a great importance is for young people to have access to their own culture, creativity, and spirituality from other eras,” it said.
The colonial ghosts that haunt Europe’s museums
Germany

Germany is also considering what to do with the items stolen from its colonial-era African empire, which ran from 1884 to the end of the first world war. It included countries such as Cameroon and Namibia.
In September 2017, minister of culture Monika Gruetters suggested a model similar to that used by the German Centre for Lost Cultural Property. The centre seeks out owners of art plundered by Nazis to return the items.
The debate could ignite again in 2019 when a major new ethnological museum, the Humboldt Forum, opens its doors. Its collection includes artefacts taken from former German colonies.
Britain
The British Museum holds a major collection of bronzes from the African Kingdom of Benin that were seized by the British army in 1897.
Nigeria, which today covers the ancient territory, wants them returned. The museum says it is ready to send them back but only on loan.
London’s Victoria and Albert Museum has also said it is open to the long-term loan to Ethiopia of jewellery and manuscripts looted by British soldiers in 1868 when they stormed the Fortress of Magdala during the reign of Emperor Tewodros II.
Ethiopia is demanding the return some of the most significant “treasures of Magdala”, including a royal crown.
Leader of the opposition Labour Party, Jeremy Corbyn, has promised to return stolen art to its countries of origin should he become prime minister.
Belgium
Belgium’s debates over its colonial past have coalesced around the vast transformation of the Royal Museum for Central Africa in Tervuren, near Brussels. It was built in the 19th century under King Leopold II to showcase Belgium’s presence in the Congo, Rwanda and Burundi.
The renovated museum will reopen in December after five years and promises to offer a “critical view” on colonialism.
But in September a collective of associations, universities and Congolese personalities published an open letter demanding the restitution of its works of art.
“We can not base intercultural dialogue on former pillaging by colonial murderers: stolen cultural goods must be repatriated,” they said.

This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as: Africans welcome call for Paris to return treasures
 
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