Art World Becomes the Easy Theft World
Now we know that art is becoming mainstream, as theft is becoming the order of the day, as thieves in hoodies target prints by Banksy the anonymous and faceless graffiti artist. Then a few days later; the conviction of the boyfriend of the Olympian Myriam Bédard, for theft of paintings of the late Ghitta Caiserman-Roth. Nima Mazhari was convicted on the 5th of June of stealing the paintings worth $100,000. And in Milwaukee a Delacroix drawing has been returned to the gallery from where it was stolen two years ago, by a man who said he found the drawing in the trash. Director Michael Goforth said "I was literally crying when he returned this ? It's irreplaceable." The drawing worth over $45,000 was of The entry of the Crusaders into Constantinople. Mr Goforth added "It is a French National treasure."
As works become more popular and expensive thieves who previously would have thought a Mondrian was a new alco-pop are unfortunately starting to take an interest in some of the more popular works of art available today. The hype of the anonymous Banksy have clearly increased visibility of his works to such an extent that an exhibition of his work has been closed. Stuart Hobday, Director said "It's a real shame that this exhibition is not going ahead, but the risk of the art being stolen was fairly high and we understand the concern raised by the owner of the works."
Because Banksy's works are graffiti they are often easier to steal than traditional works, because of their public nature. Last year a work was cut from a section of wall in Paddington and later auctioned on eBay for £20,000. Murals were also ruined in Whitechapel last month when thieves tried to chisel the works from the wall.
Mary Jane Ansell a figurative painter based a few doors away on the North Laines has said; "Yes, the Artrepublic is very close to my studio, but I don't know anyone involved: - honest!" She then continues to say that. Banksy is a hugely popular artist locally and obviously his work is becoming ever more attractive to investors and the public alike so no doubt there will be a way to move them on easily, certainly I wouldn't be surprised if they were stolen to order.
As any buyer will clearly be aware that the works are genuine the question must be why such a viable market is available for these works. Whilst the works may not actually be being sold on eBay there is clearly a market for sale and even more importantly re-sale of such "known to be stolen" works. This is important because if such a market did not exist works would not be stolen in the first place.
Now that the Banksy show has been canceled at Norwich the question is now being asked as to whether the publics' access to such works will now be compromised. Of course these works will be seen again in public but the necessary security barriers will surely damage the viewers' experience. Further problems will also arise as city underwriters re-assess the already punitive insurance premiums for such shows.
The conclusion though Mary Jane states is that in a perverse way it actually illustrates how much more mainstream art is becoming these days and could actually be encouraging for young artists wishing to make their name. Banksy's work has acquired such celebrity status partly because of the sales of several works to stars such as Brad Pitt, Jude Law and Angelina Jolie who is reported to have paid over £200,000 for one of his works.
http://www.fairfaxgallery.com http://www.art4aid.org.uk http://www.gofour.co.uk Art consultation: Mark Brassington and Sandra Hodgson See: Admin@art4aid.org.uk
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