Stolen Art Works Contribution to Bring More Participants into Art World - Essay Example

?Art World Essay By Client’s Here Department 4 December Introduction The art market is of importance when it comes to a network of international economic activity. Art market is predominant in cities such as New York, London, Paris, Berlin, Geneva, Milan, Tokyo, Hong Kong. Financial and cultural capital is important for a city in order to have an art market and the above mentioned cities have it in abundance. The United States of America has over 50% of sales when it comes to contemporary art market and this is an impressive figure considering the fact that there are other major players in the art market. There has been a recent influx of young buyers in the art market and this has brought about significant changes. It is good for the economy because a lot of money has been pumped by these young buyers into the art market. “The art world is structured as an interdependent network of social-economic actors who cooperate--often contentiously or unknowingly--to enact and perpetuate the art world, while at the same time negotiating kinds and levels of cooperation in a mutually understood careerist and competitive context.” (Art Economics) Dealers and galleries play a pivotal role in displaying the art works to prospective buyers, without these display art galleries it would be hard for buyers to see and get what they want. Auction houses also play a key role in displaying art work to prospective buyers. In addition to this there are art consultants and advisors who bridge the gap between sellers and potential buyers of art work. Art fairs are also being organized on a regular basis to attract more buyers interested in buying contemporary art work. The economy of the art world is being affected because more and more thieves are trying to get their hands on valuable works of arts so that they can sell it and make good money on these contemporary art works. It is a win win situation for the thieves because most valuable pieces of art weigh only a few pounds and they are sold for millions of dollars in the market. It is very easy to transport such expensive works of art because thieves usually steal art works that are easy to carry and transport hence, it is a very trivial job for them to get it transported. In the year 2011 artworks worth $1 billion were recovered from a home in Munich, Germany. These art works were believed to have stolen by the Nazis through the end of World War II. It has become a very lucrative business for thieves, there is no investment required and the returns are unbelievable this is precisely why more and more cases of burglary of these art works has been reported in the last few years. Stolen artwork fetches a lot of money and it is well over a billion dollar industry. This practice is illegal and also highly unethical, but people still involve themselves in this lucrative trade because there is easy money to be made. It promotes corruption in society, in addition to this famous paintings fetch a lot of money and this is precisely why many people eye these famous paintings and when an opportunity presents itself they steal it and sell it on to make a nice quick buck. There are two categories of people who steal these famous painting in an endeavor to make a quick buck. The first is called the naif. A naif typically steals a painting but after sometime upon being unable to sell it, a naif realizes that the work of art has become extremely burdensome because of their inability to sell it and the same results in the work of art becoming worthless at least to the person who has stolen it. The second category represents sophisticated criminals who do not think like typical naifs. They understand and value the worth of stolen art work and come up with appropriate strategies to sell it and in the process make good money. The FBI each year reports that several high-profile paintings go missing and they also understand and realize that these high-profile paintings are being sold and the stolen artwork industry is thriving because of the same. “While an open-market sale of works taken in such circumstances is impossible, there continues to be demand for the product, because the rightful owner — a collector, a museum, an insurer — wants the art back. That desire, however nebulous, is what is truly being traded when noteworthy artworks are exchanged on the black market. As long as there is a belief among criminals in the enduring willingness of parties from the legitimate art world to retrieve their property, a stolen painting has currency.” (CAESAR, 2013) The Kunsthal Museum in Rotterdam witnessed a burglary last year in the wee hours of morning. It seemed liked an expert group was responsible for the stolen art work. It was hard to believe that several paintings were stolen within 2 minutes. This left the detectives completely discombobulated. They did not know what to make of it but a few months later those who were responsible for the burglary were caught but the artwork was most likely destroyed, it was a sheer waste. The burglars could not make money nor could they preserve the artwork. The stolen artwork included paintings by Gauguin, Picasso, Matisse, Lucian Freud and Jacob Meyer de Haan. Rhino horns kept in art museums usually sell for around $2,000 per ounce in the black market, and this is more than the value of goal and even cocaine. This goes to show that stealing artwork is a very lucrative practice and this is precisely why there are so many people who have involved themselves in this unhealthy and illegal practice. “Not since 2003, when an Austrian named Robert Mang stole Benvenuto Cellini’s “Salt Cellar” — a small sculpture that a Sotheby’s auctioneer estimated would be worth between $60 million and “nine figures” — from the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna, have works of such importance been stolen with such ease. (Mang, a security-alarm specialist with no criminal record, noticed scaffolding around the museum, climbed up, broke a window and escaped with the “Salt Cellar” in less than a minute. He then hid it under his bed for two years and was arrested after a failed attempt to ransom it.)” (CAESAR, 2013) Stolen art works’ contribution to bring more participants into art world Claude Monet is renowned for his art work, The Waterloo Bridge is one of many famous artworks. The Waterloo Bridge was stolen in 2012 in Rotterdam, Netherlands. Below is a picture of the artwork. (The Waterloo Bridge) This artwork was stolen by a Romanian and it was later burnt to ashes by his mother to cover-up in an attempt to save her son but it was in complete vain. The thief is serving jail time in Romania. This work of art is exceptional because Monet used a unique technique called high illumination in creating it. Obscured light can also be seen in the work of art which makes it even more exceptional. It is believed that the artists grew frustrated with the weather in London and decided to work on this piece of art and finally managed to vent out all his frustration by creating this marvelous piece of art that was subsequently stolen from a museum and later burnt to ashes. Calude Monet wrote letters to his friend in Alice and it was found that he constantly kept writing about the disgusting weather in London, in his letters he also mentioned that the damp was playing a key role in hindering his progress. He was largely restricted to his hotel room not being able to move freely because of the weather in London. He hated the fog, the rain and the damp in London. He used to look out of his window because moving out of his hotel room was just not plausible. One day he had a canvas and saw an ideal opportunity to vent out his frustration and this was how this painting came into being. Monet had his sights firmly set on the rural landscapes but this work of art was an exception because it was urban and not rural. The motif or the theme of the painting is the fog and his growing frustration about the weather in London. It has been exceptionally presented in the painting. There are no buildings seen in the painting because Monet is suggesting that the fog in London has swallowed up all the buildings and there is nothing left to see except the domineering presence of the fog all around the London Bridge. It is a pity that such an exceptional piece of art was stolen and burnt to ashes. “The artist’s trips to London in 1889, 1900 and 1901 seemed to fall always in the foggy season. From his room in the Savoy Hotel, Monet had a view over the Thames towards Waterloo Bridge. The Hermitage canvas comes from a series showing this very view, works which were completed in the artist’s studio at Giverny.” (Monet, 2013) Analysis of Second Work of Art and Comparison of Theories The Charing Cross Bridge by Monet is very similar to The Waterloo Bridge that has been discussed in the earlier section of the paper. Below is a picture of the piece of art. (Charing Cross Bridge by Claude Monet) The two pieces of art are very similar and painted by the same artist in Claude Monet. Within no time Monet had over 65 canvases ready. Many of them depicted the weather in London and these two pieces of art juxtapose the weather in London. Misty atmosphere is the motif or the theme of this painting. This painting is also similar to the classic painted by Monet in “Impression Sunrise” The boats in the painting especially remind of “Impression Sunrise” “On a late winter afternoon, London’s frenzied activity seems to have drawn to a halt. Only a few barges move slowly under Charing Cross Bridge, with the hazy silhouette of the Houses of Parliament barely visible in the background. This painting is one of a series of views of the Thames produced by Monet between 1899 and 1901 from the Savoy Hotel, overlooking the gardens of the Victoria Embankment. Though varying in subject-matter, these paintings share a common aim: to capture the light filtering through the winter fog.” (Charing Cross Bridge) Conclusion Such priceless pieces of art have been stolen in the past and destroyed. This goes to show that the society is changing and philandering is being encouraged by those who run the black market. A close tab must be kept on this to dissuade thieves from stealing classic works of art and they must also be prevented from inflicting damage on these classic pieces of art. Thieves get highly motivated upon seeing the returns that they might get by selling classic art work. This urges them to try their hand at stealing and when they succeed once it becomes a recurring habit almost impossible to stop. Like the thief who is serving jail time in Romania the laws must be made stricter to ensure that classic art work can be saved for future generations. At the current rate it is impossible to save such magnificent pieces of art for the future generations. Theft of such work is becoming increasingly common and the need of the hour is to keep a close check on this and to come up with ideas to prevent it from happening. “Until recently, when computerized databases of stolen art — managed by, among others, the Carabinieri in Italy, Interpol and the Art Loss Register, a private service — became widely used, it was simple to move art around, de Vries said. If he stole a painting, he could launder its reputation by sending it to America and then flying it back to Europe, he said, where he would reintroduce it to the art market through friendly dealers. He stole only from private homes and never from a museum, he claimed, and he never took a piece worth more than around 100,000 euros.” (CAESAR, 2013) It is time to act and be resilient. Stricter laws must be made to ensure that theft does not take place and an example must be set so that no one tries to get their hands on such classic pieces of art. References Art Economics. 2013. The Art Market. [online] Available at: http://www9.georgetown.edu/faculty/irvinem/visualarts/artmarket/artmarketstructure.html [Accessed: 4 Dec 2013]. Caesar, E. 2013. Untitled. [online] Available at: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/17/magazine/what-is-the-value-of-stolen-art.html?_r=0 [Accessed: 4 Dec 2013]. Monet, C. 2013. Waterloo Bridge. [online] Available at: http://www.arthermitage.org/Claude-Monet/Waterloo-Bridge-Effect-of-Fog.html [Accessed: 4 Dec 2013]. Monet, C. 2013. Charing Cross Bridge. [online] Available at: http://www.museothyssen.org/en/thyssen/ficha_obra/677 [Accessed: 4 Dec 2013]. Bibliography Harnischfeger, Uta and Nicholas Kulish. At Zurich Museum, a Theft of 4 Masterworks. The New York Times. February 12, 2008. Retrieved 4 December 2013 Houpt, Simon et al. (2006). Museum of the Missing, p. 49. Goldfarb, Hilliard T. (1995). The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum: A Companion Guide and History. Yale University. pp. 97–98. Samuel, Henry (February 11, 2008). "Paintings worth ?85 million stolen in Zurich". The Daily Telegraph (London). "Vincent van Gogh. Letter to Theo van Gogh. Written c. 24 January 1884 in Nuenen.". Van Gogh Paintings. Van Gogh Gallery. 2011. Retrieved 4 December 2013 Read More