Prez Sarkozy's Father Exhibits Carla Bruni Paintings

Top ART News Headlines for Monday, February 8, 2010

The centerpiece of Pal Sarkozy's exhibition will be a large canvas of his daughter-in-law Carla Bruni-Sarkozy. [Credit: Mail Online]

Pal Sarkozy Exhibits Paintings of His Daughter-in-Law | BUDAPEST — Eighty-two-year-old Pal Sarkozy has a famous son and daughter-in-law to thank for "enormously" boosting his painting career. The Hungarian aristocrat is the father of French President Nicolas Sarkozy. Pal's paintings are currently on view in Budapest before being shown at Espace Pierre Cardin in April. A large canvas of Carla Bruni-Sarkozy was a wedding present to the pair but will be the centerpiece of the show. Pal says Carla is an "adorable girl" who helped bring him closer to his son after years of estrangement. "There is a rose on the piano as a symbol of the openness of Nicolas to the political Left, but also an emblem of love," he said. [Source: Telegraph]

NoMA Victorious in Super Bowl Art Bet | NEW ORLEANS — In case you've been locked away in a closet for the past 24 hours - the New Orleans Saints won Super Bowl XLIV on Sunday evening. Looks like Joseph Turner's The Fifth Plague of Egypt (1800) will be traveling to the New Orleans Museum of Art for a 3-month visit. [Background on the Super Bowl art bet here]

Kate Moss Fashions Herself a Painter | LONDON — Supermodel Kate Moss was recently spotted stocking up on art supplies after signing up for a private art course at her home in London. A source close to the waifish celebrity said: "Kate has always been a big collector of art and has several valuable works in her home. But she has been getting more into painting herself. She has a very hectic life and that is one of the few things that relaxes her." [Source: The Sun]

Missouri Museum Gifted 400 Artworks for 75 Years | KANSAS CITY — Dozens of patrons have donated 400 artworks to the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in celebration of its 75th anniversary this year. Among the gifted pieces is an impressive Impressionist collection from Marion and Henry Bloch (founder of H&R Block Inc.), including works by Monet, Van Gogh, Edouard Manet, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Edgar Degas, Pierre Bonnard and Camille Pissarro. The museum will feature 130 of the 400 artworks in a special exhibition February 13-April 4. [Source: ABC News]

Iran Formally Cuts Ties with British Museum | TEHRAN — "Since the Cyrus Cylinder has not been transferred to Iran, we will lodge a complaint against the British Museum to UNESCO and cut ties," head of Iran's cultural heritage and tourism organization, Hamid Baghai, confirmed Sunday. Baghai accused the museum of stalling in returning the Persian treasure to Iran, who formally severed relations after the final deadline of Sunday was not met. The British Museum expressed "great surprise" at the decision, saying it planned to return the artifact in late July. "The British Museum has acted throughout in good faith, and values highly its hitherto good relations with Iran. It is to be hoped that this matter can be resolved as soon as possible," said a museum official. [Source: AFP]

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Prez Sarkozy's Father Exhibits Carla Bruni Paintings

The Standoff is Over: France Returns Stolen Relics to Egypt

PARIS — If  Zawi Hawass, the current head of Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities, made a "to do" list, it would read something like this:

• Naos artifact from the Met - check.  
• Steele relics from the Louvre - check. 
• Rosetta stone from the British Museum and bust of Queen Nefertiti from the Neues museum - in process.

Since taking office in 2002, Hawass has been on an international campaign to recover Egyptian artifacts for his country. On Monday, Hawass achieved another victory when France's President Nicolas Sarkozy presented his visiting Egyptian counterpart, Hosni Mubarak, with the last of five in a series of what Egypt characterized as "stolen" ancient relics. "Thank you very much," Mubarak said to Sarkozy as the exchange was made.

The items at issue are 3,000-years-old and were taken from a wall painting of an ancient Egyptian tomb in the 1980s. The SCA argued that the pieces were stolen from Egypt, while French officials maintained that the Louvre took them from the country in good faith. Initially, Egypt's demands for the artifacts went ignored. Egypt then cut ties with the Louvre in October, causing the standoff that has now ended peacefully.

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Read More - France Returns Stolen Louvre Relics to Egypt | Agence France Presse

[Photo: French President Nicolas Sarkozy (left) meeting with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak (right) on Monday. Courtesy: AFP]

The Standoff is Over: France Returns Stolen Relics to Egypt

Met Museum Repatriates the Naos Egyptian Artifact

CAIRO -- Egypt's Head of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, Zahi Hawass, is continuing his scavenger hunt through the world's most prestigious museums. Since taking office in 2002, Hawass has been on an archaeological quest for so-called stolen Egyptian antiquities. Earlier this month, there was a dispute between Hawass and the Louvre Museum in Paris, ending only after the museum agreed to return 5 fresco fragments. On Monday, New York's Metropolitan Museum confirmed it will be the next institution to send an artifact back to Egypt.

The Met acquired its Egyptian relic from a private collector about a year ago, making this the first time a museum has purchased an item solely to repatriate it. The object is a red granite fragment belonging to the ancient "Naos," a pharoanic shrine honoring the 12th Dynasty King Amenemhat I, who ruled 4,000 years ago.

Hawass claims to have recovered 5,000 Egyptian artifacts thus far, however not all of his campaigns have been successful. Berlin's Neues Museum is refusing to hand over its bust of Queen Nefertiti, and the Rosetta Stone is still housed in London's British Museum.

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[Read More - The Met Returns Egyptian Artifact | AP]

Met Museum Repatriates the Naos Egyptian Artifact

British Museum Has Two Months to Return Artifact to Iran, Or Else

TEHRAN -- A clay artifact dating from the 6th century BC is the center of a dispute between Iran and London's British Museum. The Cyrus Cylinder, currently in the British Museum's possession, is an object relating to the conquest of Babylon by Cyrus of Persia, who Iranians consider a great historical hero. Iran's Cultural Heritage Organization has given the British Museum a deadline of two months within which to return the cultural relic to Iran.

Iran Foreign Ministry spokesman Hassan Qashqavi explained, "There was an agreement between Iran and the London museum to the effect that the...cylinder would be lent to Iran for display." Qashqavi believes the controversy over Iran's spring election caused the museum to reconsider the arrangement.

A spokeswoman for the British Museum said they intend to send the item to Iran citing "a number of practicalities" as reason for the delay. But Iran is sticking to its two month deadline. "If within this period this pledge is not honored then all agreements in archaeological research, trade fairs and so on with Britain might be harmed," Qashqavi threatened.

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[Read More - Iran Says Museum Broke Pledge on Artifact | Reuters]

British Museum Has Two Months to Return Artifact to Iran, Or Else

Egypt and the Louvre End Their Rift Over Relics

The argument over artifacts between France and Egypt may finally be over. The countries have been in a standoff as the Louvre Museum debated whether to return antiques that Egypt says were stolen - or else, the country threatened,  Egypt would cut all ties with the French museum indefinitely.

PARIS /Bloomberg/ -- France said it is returning to Egypt five fresco fragments acquired by the Louvre Museum, saying there were “serious doubts” about their provenance, and responding to Egyptian demands for their return. The 35-member commission overseeing France’s national museum collections unanimously agreed that the fresco fragments from the wall of a prince’s tomb must be given back. Culture Minister Frederic Mitterrand has decided to return them.

The mural fragments, from the tomb of a prince of the XVIIIth dynasty, “were acquired in good faith by the Louvre in 2000 and 2003,” the ministry said. “In November 2008, following the rediscovery by archaeologists of the tomb from which the frescoes seemed to originate, serious doubts emerged as to the legality of their exit from Egyptian territory.”

Earlier this week, Egypt suspended co-operation with the Louvre, saying the Paris museum was not returning the mural paintings removed from Luxor in the 1980s. The Supreme Council of Antiquities said the Louvre was refusing to honor an agreement to give back all stolen and smuggled Egyptian antiquities to the Arab country.

Zahi Hawass, the head of the antiquities council, has been on a campaign since 2002 to recover Egyptian antiquities located abroad, including the bust of Queen Nefertiti in Berlin’s Neues Museum, which opens next week, and the Rosetta stone at the British Museum in London.

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[Read More - France to Give Back to Egypt Five Artifacts Bought by Louvre | Bloomberg]

Egypt and the Louvre End Their Rift Over Relics