ENGLAND: TWO TURNER MASTERPIECES STOLEN EIGHT YEARS AGO IN A RAID ON A GERMAN GALLERY HAVE RETURNED TO THE TATE GALLERY

Record ID: 645620

  • Title: ENGLAND: TWO TURNER MASTERPIECES STOLEN EIGHT YEARS AGO IN A RAID ON A GERMAN GALLERY HAVE RETURNED TO THE TATE GALLERY
  • Date: 7th January 2003
  • Summary: (W5) LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM (JANUARY 07, 2003) (REUTERS) SV/CU OF TURNER PAINTING, LIGHT AND COLOUR, BEING PUT ON DISPLAY (3 SHOTS) CLOSE-UPS OF PAINTING (2 SHOTS) MCU (English) NICHOLAS SEROTA, DIRECTOR OF TATE, SAYING: "Well these two paintings were made by Turner in the early 1840s, in the final decade of his career. They were shown in 1843 . They show him at the height of his powers and they show him very interested in Goethe's colour theories." SV SECOND RECOVERED TURNER PAINTING, SHADE AND DARKNESS, BEING PUT ON DISPLAY CLOSE-UPS OF PAINTING (2 SHOTS) MCU (English) SANDY NAIRNE, FORMER DIRECTOR OF PROGRAMMES AT TATE, SAYING: "It was an absolute tragedy. This criminal act meant that the paintings might never come back and they might indeed have been destroyed. So there was a very strong determination, both from the Tate - from myself - but also from the authorities in Britain and Germany to see whether it might be possible - and it took us a long time - to see whether they might ever come back." CU OF CORNERS OF THE PAINTING WHERE ORIGINAL FRAME WAS PLACED (2 SHOTS) MCU (English) SANDY NAIRNE, FORMER DIRECTOR OF PROGRAMMES AT TATE, SAYING: "There was an extortion attempt, here in London, of someone claiming to have access to the paintings, who didn't, and tried to convince us here at the Tate that they would give us a lead and, for some money, to offer us access to the paintings. Well, this was a complete distraction. Later on in 2001, in Antwerp, two copies of the paintings turned up in the underworld, in the underground and two men were convicted there for, in a sense, a con act, for trying to pass these off as the real Turners. So there was a lot of distracting information." SLV OF GALLERY SV/SLV OF PAINTINGS IN TURNER GALLERY AND PEOPLE VIEWING EXHIBIT (4 SHOTS) MCU (English) NICHOLAS SEROTA, DIRECTOR OF TATE, SAYING: "It feels fantastic to have them back. For the past eight years, every time we've come to hang this gallery these two paintings have been missing and you haven't been able to tell the complete story of Turner's career. So now we're able to do so again and people can come and enjoy them at Tate Britain." CU OF SECURITY CAMERAS AT GALLERY (2 SHOTS)
  • Embargoed: 22nd January 2003 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM AND FRANKFURT, GERMANY
  • City:
  • Country: Germany
  • Topics: Arts / Culture / Entertainment / Showbiz
  • Reuters ID: LVA52E5OMZ5EHJZZVVATJLS7BVYG
  • Story Text: Two 19th Century Turner masterpieces, stolen eight years ago in a daring art raid on a German gallery, have returned to the Tate Britain.
    The Tate Gallery unveiled the recovered paintings for the first time on Tuesday (January 7).
    'Shade and Darkness - the Evening of the Deluge' was stolen in July 1994 with its companion painting 'Light and Colour (Goethe's Theory) - the Morning after the Deluge - Moses writing the book of Genesis'.
    The pair by Joseph Mallord William Turner are based on the Biblical flood and are meant to show that evil had not been washed from the earth entirely. The paintings, worth millions of dollars (USD) each, are viewed as some of the artist's most significant work.
    "These two paintings were made by Turner in the early 1840s, in the final decade of his career. They were shown in 1843. They show him at the height of his powers and they show him very interested in Goethe's colour theories," said Nicholas Serota, Director of the Tate.
    Turner is considered an early "Impressionist" painter with his best works exhibiting a hazy wash of light, and shapes merely suggested.
    Despite popular acceptance of his work, Turner was a reclusive man, with few friends. He always worked and travelled alone. He would exhibit his paintings, but often refused to sell them, plunging into deep depression when he did.
    Turner died on December 19, 1851, and at his own request was buried in St. Paul's Cathedral.
    His collection of over 300 paintings, 20,000 water-colours, and 19,000 drawings were bequeathed to Britain.
    The Clore Gallery at the Tate Gallery was opened in 1987 to display his collection, according to the terms of Turner's will.
    The Tate Gallery - which owns the recovered works, loaned the paintings to the Schirn Kunsthalle for the 1994 exhibit and insured the paintings for £12 million ($7.4 million USD) each.
    When they were stolen, insurers paid the full £24 million ($15 million USD) for the theft but, in doing so, also obtained the title of the art works if they were ever found.
    "It was an absolute tragedy. This criminal act meant that the paintings might never come back and they might indeed have been destroyed. So there was a very strong determination, both from the Tate - from myself - but also from the authorities in Britain and Germany to see whether it might be possible - and it took us a long time - to see whether they might ever come back," said Sandy Nairne, the Former Director of Programmes at the Tate, who co-ordinated the recovery operation with police authorities in Germany and Britain.
    The Tate gambled £8 million ($5 million USD) buying the rights to the pictures back, hoping they would one day be found.
    But those chasing them faced a series of stumbling blocks, including false leads, before the authentic paintings were actually recovered.
    "There was an extortion attempt, here in London, of someone claiming to have access to the paintings, who didn't, and tried to convince us here at the Tate that they would give us a lead and, for some money, to offer us access to the paintings. Well, this was a complete distraction. Later on in 2001, in Antwerp, two copies of the paintings turned up in the underworld in the underground and two men were convicted there for, in a sense, a con act, for trying to pass these off as the real Turners. So there was a lot of distracting information," Nairne said.
    The first of the paintings, Shade and Darkness, was finally recovered on July 19 2000. But its retrieval was kept secret for fear it might jeopardise the recovery of the second painting. Light and Colour was recovered on December 16, 2002 and returned to Britain two days later.
    Both paintings were still in Germany when they were recovered in good condition and undamaged, although missing their original frames.
    Serota says visible marks on the corners of the paintings are from when Turner himself was undecided on whether to frame the pieces in a simple square frame or whether to simply mask the corners of the paintings, which he did with other works.
    It's rumoured the paintings were stolen to order and there have been suggestions of Serbian warlords and organised crime using the paintings for collateral, but the Tate says it has no idea whose hands they fell into over the eight years.
    For now the Tate is just happy to have them back under the safety and security of its gallery, and on display for public viewing.
    "It feels fantastic to have them back. For the past eight years, every time we've come to hang this gallery these two paintings have been missing and you haven't been able to tell the complete story of Turner's career. So now we're able to do so again and people can come and enjoy them at Tate Britain,"
    Serota said.
    Turner's paintings were among three 19th Century art works stolen from the Schirn Kunsthalle, in Frankfurt, in one raid.
    The third work, Wafting Mist - a landscape by German master Caspar David Friedrich, was on loan from a Hamburg gallery.
    German police said paintings were stolen by at least two thieves who hid in the gallery until it was closed.
    They said the thieves overpowered the lone night watchman, handcuffed and gagged him and used his keys to unlock the room where the art works were exhibited before escaping through the rear entrance.
    The thieves and their driver were arrested in 1995 and convicted in Germany in 1999 but they have refused to reveal who obtained the paintings from them. All three are still serving their jail terms.
    Scotland Yard completed forensic tests on the paintings before they were handed back to the Tate.
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