11/04/2011
The Secret History of Art, Noah Charney on Art Crimes and Art Historical Mysteries
Art Info, International Edition, Monday 11 April 2011
The Secret History of Art is fresh back from a business trip to London which included some projects relevant to art crime and art historical mysteries. I was in London to give a pair of talks, to meet with a publisher, to give an interview, and to film a pilot for television. So before we resume our regular programming I thought I would fill you in.
On 2 April I spoke at the V&A Museum, along with Vernon Rapley, now head of security at the V&A and for ten years head of Scotland Yard's Arts and Antiques Unit, and Sandy Nairne, director of the National Portrait Gallery. It was illustrious company and I was thrilled to participate. I spoke on art theft and investigation, Vernon on investigating art forgery, and Sandy told the story of his own involvement in recovering the pair of Turner paintings stolen while on loan in Frankfurt from the Tate. Sandy has a much-anticipated book coming out on the case, entitled "Art Theft and the Case of the Stolen Turners" which will be published by Reaktion. I recommend ordering your copies in advance.
On the 3rd Vernon and I filmed a short pilot for a TV series on art crime, which we will co-present and co-write.We spent the whole day filming at the V&A and had good fun in the process. Can't say any more for the time being, but I will keep you posted.
April 4 was technically my day off, but I had an extended interview for a feature article in Wired Magazine which will come out in the Fall. The editor who is writing the piece was fascinating and we wound up speaking for four hours, which included a brief tour of the National Gallery where we did an impromptu security screening and discussed museum security strategy. I then took in the Jan Gossaert exhibition at the National Gallery-I'll write an exhibition review at a later date. I also got a request to appear on an upcoming BBC show called The One Show, which will have a feature on art crime, but they could only film April 12-six days after my London trip ends. After some talks I've agreed to fly back to London for the filming next week, as I will appear to discuss the only successful art theft from London's National Gallery-this will be the subject of a future post, as well.
The last event was on April 5, where Vernon and I gave another pair of talks, this time in support of the wonderful charity Venice in Peril, at the Royal Geographical Society. Earlier in the day I had met with Phaidon about an illustrated book project and was somewhat in fear of losing my voice from talking too much. But the venue of the Geographical Society is storied and majestic (this was the old explorers' club to which Shackleton and Livingstone belonged). Vernon and I had spoken there in the past, also to raise money for Venice in Peril, and it was a pleasure to be back. I was, frankly, a bit star-struck as we were introduced by the great historian, John Julius Norwich, whose book "A Short History of Byzantium" was one of the reasons why I wanted to write about history. I spoke on the history of art forgery and Vernon gave a variation on his previous talk, describing his own successful investigations into art forgery. There was a sell-out crowd of 450, and a lovely party afterward at the home of one of the benefactors.
So back to London in a few days for one more filming, but otherwise The Secret History of Art will resume its regular service. Best wishes and happy art-hunting.
The Secret History of Art is fresh back from a business trip to London which included some projects relevant to art crime and art historical mysteries. I was in London to give a pair of talks, to meet with a publisher, to give an interview, and to film a pilot for television. So before we resume our regular programming I thought I would fill you in.
On 2 April I spoke at the V&A Museum, along with Vernon Rapley, now head of security at the V&A and for ten years head of Scotland Yard's Arts and Antiques Unit, and Sandy Nairne, director of the National Portrait Gallery. It was illustrious company and I was thrilled to participate. I spoke on art theft and investigation, Vernon on investigating art forgery, and Sandy told the story of his own involvement in recovering the pair of Turner paintings stolen while on loan in Frankfurt from the Tate. Sandy has a much-anticipated book coming out on the case, entitled "Art Theft and the Case of the Stolen Turners" which will be published by Reaktion. I recommend ordering your copies in advance.
On the 3rd Vernon and I filmed a short pilot for a TV series on art crime, which we will co-present and co-write.We spent the whole day filming at the V&A and had good fun in the process. Can't say any more for the time being, but I will keep you posted.
April 4 was technically my day off, but I had an extended interview for a feature article in Wired Magazine which will come out in the Fall. The editor who is writing the piece was fascinating and we wound up speaking for four hours, which included a brief tour of the National Gallery where we did an impromptu security screening and discussed museum security strategy. I then took in the Jan Gossaert exhibition at the National Gallery-I'll write an exhibition review at a later date. I also got a request to appear on an upcoming BBC show called The One Show, which will have a feature on art crime, but they could only film April 12-six days after my London trip ends. After some talks I've agreed to fly back to London for the filming next week, as I will appear to discuss the only successful art theft from London's National Gallery-this will be the subject of a future post, as well.
The last event was on April 5, where Vernon and I gave another pair of talks, this time in support of the wonderful charity Venice in Peril, at the Royal Geographical Society. Earlier in the day I had met with Phaidon about an illustrated book project and was somewhat in fear of losing my voice from talking too much. But the venue of the Geographical Society is storied and majestic (this was the old explorers' club to which Shackleton and Livingstone belonged). Vernon and I had spoken there in the past, also to raise money for Venice in Peril, and it was a pleasure to be back. I was, frankly, a bit star-struck as we were introduced by the great historian, John Julius Norwich, whose book "A Short History of Byzantium" was one of the reasons why I wanted to write about history. I spoke on the history of art forgery and Vernon gave a variation on his previous talk, describing his own successful investigations into art forgery. There was a sell-out crowd of 450, and a lovely party afterward at the home of one of the benefactors.
So back to London in a few days for one more filming, but otherwise The Secret History of Art will resume its regular service. Best wishes and happy art-hunting.
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