Displaying items by tag: Greece

Greece’s debt crisis is not limited to its banks. In fact, its reach extends to the nation’s publicly-funded museums, according to a recent article in The Art Newspaper. After seven years of austerity policies and recent heightened economic uncertainty following the public’s rejection of bailout proposals, Greek art professionals are reporting that museums are running out of money to stay in operation.

“The first things to suffer under the government’s austerity plan have been culture, education, and health,” Denys Zacaropoulos, artistic director of the Macedonian Museum of Contemporary Art, told The Art Newspaper

Last Saturday, a hapless museum-goer was taking in the ancient exhibits at the Heraklion Archaeological Museum on the Greek island of Crete, when she suddenly tripped and fell. In doing so she, grabbed onto a 4,000 year-old Minoan vase to break her fall and shamefully smashed the prehistoric artifact, the "Daily Mail" reports.

The Greek Culture Ministry said the culprit suffered minor injuries to her legs, while the vase on the other hand, was completely destroyed. Restorers at the institution are optimistic, however.

Archaeologists unearthing a huge ancient burial site at Amphipolis in northern Greece have uncovered a large floor mosaic. The mosaic - 3m (10ft) wide and 4.5m (15ft) long - depicts a man with a laurel wreath driving a chariot drawn by horses and led by the god Hermes.

The burial site is said to be the largest ever found in Greece. It dates from the late 4th Century BC, spurring speculation that it is linked to Alexander the Great of Macedon.

A Greek police officer was among nine people arrested for the suspected smuggling of ancient artefacts, including a statue valued at about one million euros, police said Thursday, AFP reported.

The 49-year-old officer was employed by the department in charge of the protection of the country's antiquities.

Two Chicago museums are partnering to bring an exhibit about ancient Greece to the city.

The Field Museum and National Hellenic Museum announced "The Greeks: From Agamemnon to Alexander the Great" will premiere at the Field Museum in November 2015. The exhibit will feature more than 500 pieces and artifacts from nearly two dozen Greek museums.

Phivos Istavrioglou, a resident of Athens, Greece, has been arrested in connection to the botched theft of a Salvador Dalí (1904-1989) painting from a New York gallery last June. Security cameras captured Istavrioglou as he made off with the watercolor and ink work, which is valued at approximately $150,000. After surveillance images were released to the public, a panicked Istavrioglou mailed the Dalí painting back to the Upper East Side gallery in a cardboard tube.

 Fingerprints left on the returned painting helped officials track down Istavrioglou, 29, and he was arrested on Tuesday, February 19, 2013 at John F. Kennedy airport in a sting that lured him to the United States from Italy. After his arrest, Istavrioglou appeared briefly in a Manhattan court where he pleaded not guilty to grand larceny in the second degree. Istavrioglou’s bail was set at $100,000.

 The stolen painting, Cartel de Don Juan Tenorio (1949), was on view at the Venus Over Manhattan gallery as part of its inaugural exhibition, which opened in May 2012.

For years, Italy, Greece, and other ancient lands have accused American museums of ignoring evidence that antiquities in their collections were looted from archaeological sites. Five years ago, the Association of Art Museum Directors (AAMD) responded by making the requirements for acquiring ancient works much more stringent. The revised guidelines advised American museums against acquiring works unless solid proof existed that the artifact, prior to 1970, was outside the country where it was discovered in modern times, or was legally exported from that country after 1970.

 1970 remains an important date, as it marks the year UNESCO put a stop to the illicit trafficking of antiquities. The year is now regarded as the standard cutoff for collecting. Works that appear on the market without documentation dating back that far are much more likely to have been stolen, looted, or smuggled out of their countries.

 On Wednesday, January 30, 2013 the AAMD announced a few additional restrictions for American museums. The AAMD, which has 217 member museums in North America, now requires institutions to post a public explanation on the AAMD’s website if they acquire any ancient works with spotty ownership records. In addition, the museum much provide an image of the object, any known provenance information, and an explanation as to why they decided to acquire the work. If an institution fails to comply, they will be subject to ethical scrutiny and possible expulsion from the AAMD.

 Officials hope that the tighter acquisition regulations will discourage American museums from obtaining questionable artifacts while supporting transparency between the United States and nations of origin who may lay claim to the antiquities.

Burglars broke into Greece's biggest art museum this morning and stole two paintings and a sketch.

Pablo Picasso's 1939 Woman's Head and Dutch painter Piet Mondrian's Mill were taken in the dawn raid at Athens' National Art Gallery.

They also took a sketch by Italian painter Guglielmo Caccia, donated to the gallery in 1907.

The value of the pieces have not been revealed. But the Picasso, given to the Greeks by the artist himself in 1949, is thought to be worth at least several hundred thousands pounds.

Mondrian's 1905 painting Landscape was dropped on the floor as the thieves made their getaway, police said. 

The burglars entered through a balcony door. They had intentionally set off alarms on several occasions, at 4.30am, without actually entering the building, prompting guards to disable at least one.

The burglars still triggered a sensor in the exhibition area, but a guard only got there in time to see a man running off.