It is Sad to Think How Much Fine Art is Lost Every Year to Improper Care and Faulty Handling.
Virtually every museum in the world has had to deal at one time or another with art that has had to undergo major restoration or that has been irrevocably lost due to theft or damage. In a very real sense it is a violation of public trust, for this art has been granted to these museums, not merely to display, but to assure that it will be available to provide pleasure and insight to future generations.
Yet, due to the lack of proper storage conditions along with inadequate security, the art in many museums, as well as that in private collections, has succumbed to damage by light, humidity, pests and even humans. And many masterworks by renowned artists have disappeared without a trace.
The works on these pages all too vividly demonstrate a mere handful of the problems and concerns that can afflict artwork and challenge those entrusted with their care.
In 1990, two men dressed in police uniforms were admitted to Boston’s Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, under the pretext that they had been called to deal with a “disturbance” in the grounds. In a few minutes, they succeeded in handcuffing the museum guards and making off with a number of priceless paintings including a Vermeer, a Manet and “The Storm on the Sea of Galilee” –– Rembrandt’s only seascape. None of the stolen artwork has yet been recovered.
And it isn’t merely paintings that tempt thieves.
Even monumental sculpture, such as Henry Moore’s “Reclining Figure”, a work in bronze weighing in at some 4629 pounds, was stolen by truck and crane from its honored place in The Henry Moore Foundation in Hertfordshire, England. The point is, if the work has value, it also has a market in the shadier realms of the art world. And when an event like this occurs, its repercussions are considerable, The Foundation’s director sadly reported the incident by saying, “This work is of great importance and to have it taken from us is devastating.”
