Blog'Art

A POINT OF VIEW

By Lisa Jardine, BBC News

The theft of art during war has always taken place, says Lisa Jardine. But the recent plundering of historic remains in Iraq and Afghanistan threatens the permanent loss of the record of ancient civilisations.

I went to look at a painting at Christie's on Monday, by the early-20th-Century Austrian artist Egon Schiele. Wilted Sunflowers is a largish landscape - about a metre square.

In the foreground are half-a-dozen tall, withered sunflower stems, silhouetted against distant, daisy-covered hills. Framed by dying leaves, the blackened sunflower heads droop heavily.

Behind them the autumnal air is pale, and a white sun struggles through a wall of grey-brown mist. Painted in 1914, the work is considered to be a sombre homage to Van Gogh's Sunflowers. It hints at decay, and the looming loss and destruction of the first world war.

This is a melancholy painting with a dark history. In the 1930s it belonged to the collector Karl Grünwald, a Viennese art and antiques dealer. During the First World War Grünwald and Schiele had served in the army together, and Grünwald, recognising the younger man's artistic talents, lobbied successfully to have him appointed as a war artist, rather than being sent to the front. Schiele died of influenza in 1918.

In 1938, the year Hitler annexed Austria, Grünwald fled to Paris. His finest art-works were packed up to follow him, but they were intercepted in Strasbourg and auctioned off by the Nazis in 1942.

Looted

Grünwald himself survived, but his wife and a daughter died in a concentration camp. After the war, first Karl Grünwald and then his son devoted much time, money and energy to searching for the stolen art works, with small success.

With the ebb and flow of empires, significant items stolen from one nation have been returned, or moved on, as new players enter the imperial scene
Lisa Jardine
Then, a year ago, Wilted Sunflowers resurfaced in France. On Tuesday, the painting was sold to an anonymous buyer for an astounding £11.8m, the money going to Grünwald's heirs, closing a sombre chapter in the family's history.

War and the pillaging of art and antiquities have always gone hand in hand. The callous accumulation by the Nazis of looted fine-art, in the form of personal possessions seized from Jews, many of whom were rounded up and sent to the gas chambers, is a shameful story of our time.

But it is only one of the most recent and high-profile historical examples of the glories of a nation taken by force by its invaders.

The treaty of Campo Formio, signed in October 1797, marked the successful conclusion to Napoleon Bonaparte's campaigns in Italy and the end of the first phase of the Napoleonic Wars.

As imperial victor, Napoleon considered himself entitled to strip all his conquered Italian territories of their cultural and artistic treasures. "Rome is no longer in Rome," he is said to have announced exultantly. "The whole of Rome is in Paris."

The following year, Napoleon brought his trophies triumphantly back to France. A spectacular cavalcade wound its way through the streets of Paris, while crowds lined the route.

Treasure laden

Antique statuary including the great marble figure of the priest Laocoon (struggling with sea-snakes) and the majestic Roman Apollo Belvedere, with famous paintings by Raphaël, Titian and Tintoretto, all crammed into huge packing cases, were carried into the city on horse-drawn carts.

To add to the sense of occasion, there were also animals from Napoleon's African campaign - a caged lion and a pair of dromedaries. But the parade's centre-piece was a cart bearing - unwrapped and on display - the four huge, antique, gilded bronze horses, which for 600 years had stood high above the great central door of St Mark's basilica in Venice.

In 1808 those Venetian horses provided the crowning glory for the Triumphal Arch erected by Napoleon in the Place du Carrousel, just in front of the Louvre. Today that arch still presides magnificently over one end of a nine-kilometre-long grand vista, running through the Place de La Concorde, and the length of the Champs-Elysée, down to the Arc de Triomphe.

The traffic in priceless antiquities, from defenceless to more powerful nations continues today. Only today the perpetrators of the destruction of a nation's ancient heritage may well be its own people, enticed into selling off their patrimony to the highest bidder, out of the simple need to survive.

Plundering the vanquished, sacking conquered cities, and other such acts of war-related pillaging have occurred throughout history. Till now, though, they have followed a kind of inexorable logic.

With the ebb and flow of empires, significant items stolen from one nation have been returned, or moved on, as new players enter the imperial scene. The bronze horses Napoleon removed from St Mark's basilica and took to Paris, had themselves been looted by Crusaders and brought to Venice after the sack of Constantinople 600 years earlier.

Ransacked

And in 1815, as Napoleon's power waned and he tried to curry favour with the Italians, he returned the horses to Venice, replacing them on the Carrousel arch with casts of the originals.

There is something much more brutally nihilistic about today's cultural theft.

The succession of wars in modern Afghanistan has made its ancient archaeological sites acutely vulnerable to plunder, for objects to sell on the international black market.

The squandering of Afghanistan's heritage began under the Taliban, when mujahideen soldiers systematically ransacked the National Museum in Kabul, passing its contents on - often to order - to dealers in Pakistan and elsewhere.

What is now reaching the West from Afghanistan, however, is not museum exhibits, but recently excavated archaeological treasures. Since the fall of the Taliban, Afghanistan has become a grave-robber's paradise. The country's more than 3,000 historical sites are being systematically plundered.

Experts estimate that there is not an ancient site left in the whole country that has not been partly or fully looted, with the contraband antiquities going to London, Tokyo and New York.

Lost civilisations

As Afghanistan struggles to restore internal order and security, its rich, ancient past is seeping away, like sand between the fingers. As a Unesco spokesman puts it: "To Afghan farmers, digging up antiquities is the same as digging up potatoes" - you harvest what you can, so that your family can eat.

Earlier this year it was reported that almost four tons of illegally acquired ancient Afghan artefacts had been seized here in Britain. They included ceramics, stone sculptures, Buddhist statues, bronze weapons and coins, dating back to the third century BC.

At present these are stored for safety at the British Museum while discussions take place between the Foreign Office and the Afghan government over what to do with them.

Following the invasion of Iraq, the world watched in horror as the National Museum in Baghdad - left vulnerable and unguarded - was ransacked by looters, who removed any artefact that could be carried away, and destroyed or damaged many more in situ.

American troops posted to protect the nearby Oil Ministry and its documents - judged crucial for the functioning of Iraq's oil industry - did nothing.

What is now Iraq was once the cradle of civilisation. The astonishing remains of its ancient peoples are an important part of our western civilisation. Amid the disorder of war they became the West's responsibility. How could we have failed to protect Iraq's unique and precious cultural heritage?

Some commodities on which the West depends, which are currently being rapidly depleted by uncontrolled western consumption, may, over time, be replaced. By the time readily accessible sources of affordable oil have been exhausted, economic necessity will surely have driven the developed world to discover some viable alternative.

Schiele's Wilted Sunflowers, although lost for 70 years, was eventually recovered. The same cannot be said of the archaeological treasures currently pouring out of sites across Iraq and Afghanistan.

The precious remains of peoples and practices long gone, some of which have survived for more than two millennia, are being removed undocumented from unexcavated sites, dispersed and squandered. Once plundered, they are lost for ever from history. And with them vanishes the collective memory of a whole civilisation.

Add your comments on this story, using the form below.

Lets not forget the wanton damage done by invading forces to nonmilitary buildings - such as levelling the ruins of Babylon to make a helipad and truck park. How can we expect the locals to behave when we show such breathtaking barbarity!
Mark, oxford

Frankly, in many areas of the world the legal trade in artifacts is not an option because the governments are so corrupt. If it was accepted that this trade was going on and it was allowed in some areas then it might encourage a semi-commercial opening of sites with less looting and at the very least stop items being lost to the underground of private illegal collections.
Andy, Cleveleys

Always interested to consider how much of the art in the London museums were looted by the Empire....
Jack, UK

As an archaeologist I have worked in the Near and Middle East throughout my career. I had the privilege of working in the international salvage archaeology programme in Iraq in the 1980s. Many archaeologists resented Edward Said's views in his book Orientalism, but old ideas that we western archaeologists and museum curators know best, and that we (whether public museums or private collectors) will look after things better than the nationals in the countries of the Middle East are dying only slowly. Lisa Jardine puts her finger on it when she remarks that coalition forces were quick to guard the buildings of the Iraqi oil ministry, but did nothing to protect the Iraq museum. And she is quite right to ask "How could we have failed to protect Iraq's unique and precious cultural heritage?"

But it was worse than that. Known archaeological sites all around the country have been wantonly damaged through the completely careless location of military facilities. We have to accept that nowadays heads of government and their closest ministers will neither know nor care about such things.
Trevor Watkins, North Queensferry, Fife, Scotland

"The world watched in horror as the National Museum in Baghdad - left vulnerable and unguarded - was ransacked by looters." I can assure you that this was one of the least horrific events to have taken place in Baghdad over the last few years. It sould be pointed out that all the treasures of ancient civilisation are worth nothing without a modern civilisation.
Dave, Glasgow

I recently read several stories about how, during the second world war, Americans forces were given unstructions not to bomb Kyoto in Japan. this was to preserve the cultural heritage of this site, even though it was a dominant city in Japan. This seems to be the only case where the artistic achievements of the enemy are appreciated and preserved by attacking forces. Although the plundering of art and artifacts seems sad, it is the way of the world when war happens. to see the enemy as ones own property is one of the emotions that contributed to the fighting attitude, and this includes the feeling that 'what you own is mine by right'. the fact thet most of these artifacts are lost or kept in secret is a great loss to the world.
Heather, Wolverhampton

the language taught in english schools is french which is just about the most difficult european language. no wonder the english have a reputation for being unable to learn languages. english is essentially a mixsture of french and low german, and in type it is closest to italian, so it is the most obvious language for europeans to use.
robert craig, north somerset/lower wessex

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/5111196.stm

Published: 2006/06/26 15:06:50 GMT

L’objet d’art est le témoin le plus sûr de l’histoire d’une civilisation. Il est l’empreinte de l’homme dans l’espace et dans le temps. À ce titre, il fait donc partie intégrante du patrimoine d’un pays et, a fortiori, du patrimoine de l’humanité. Toutefois, un objet d’art n’apporte d’information pour la connaissance du passé que s’il est étudié dans son contexte archéologique ou historique. Tout objet déplacé sans précaution devient muet sur sa propre histoire et celle des hommes. Pourtant, l’impact ainsi que les conséquences sur l’ordre public économique ne sont pas perçus et surtout, trop rarement dénoncés. Comment changer cet état de fait ?

La criminalité artistique est loin d’être un phénomène nouveau . Monnaie d’échange, butin de guerre, l’objet d’art est aussi un élément de valorisation pour celui qui le possède. Le choix de « l’esthète » est fonction des modes, de la cote de l’œuvre. Car l’objet d’art a également une valeur commerciale. Les biens artistiques sont donc naturellement entrés dans le secteur de l’économie pour devenir peu à peu un placement, un enjeu, objet de transactions légales ou présumées telles. Il ne s’agit plus d’enrichir sa propre collection, mais plutôt son patrimoine et donc de spéculer en tirant le meilleur profit non seulement des opérations d’achat-revente, mais aussi des législations fiscales ou douanières.

Et lorsque des gains importants peuvent être réalisés rapidement et aisément, les trafics illégaux apparaissent, affectant principalement les biens dont la demande est élevée et dont l’offre est limitée ! Le commerce illicite de biens culturels est nourri par la demande en provenance du marché de l’art, mais aussi par la globalisation de l’économie et des marchés financiers, l’ouverture des frontières, l’amélioration des modes de transports et de communication ainsi que par l’instabilité politique de certains États (Kenya, Cambodge) dans lesquels les pillages alimentent une économie parallèle. Mais il est vrai que le marché de l’art, facteur de rayonnement culturel, contribue par ailleurs à l’enrichissement du patrimoine et a des retombées économiques non négligeables avec le développement des métiers de la restauration, des assurances, du transport spécialisé et du tourisme.
Le négoce de l’art permet de blanchir l’argent de la drogue, de réinvestir dans l’économie légale et de la parasiter subtilement. Inversement, l’œuvre d’art peut être convertie en drogue, en armes, utilisée comme moyen de corruption ou de pression économique . Paradoxalement, ces dernières années, la prise de conscience de la nécessité de protéger le patrimoine culturel a renforcé le commerce illicite.

Si bien qu’aujourd’hui, en matière de biens culturels, il convient de remplacer la notion classique de vol par celle de trafic . Il s’agit d’un véritable système, d’une chaîne ou d’un réseau, et non plus d’un acte appréhendé isolément et individuellement : une équipe effectue le repérage, une deuxième procède au vol et la troisième assure en quelques heures à peine le franchissement d’une frontière . Receleurs et revendeurs prennent ensuite la relève dans des pays dont le droit interne ménage le recel, facilite la revente et protège davantage l’acquéreur de bonne foi que le légitime propriétaire. La répression devient alors quasi impossible. Selon les sources policières françaises, les chances de récupération des objets volés ne sont que de 10 % environ.

Géographiquement, le phénomène intéresse presque toutes les régions du monde. Néanmoins, les deux pays les plus particulièrement concernés par ce phénomène restent la France et l’Italie (à cause de la richesse de leur patrimoine et de la forte demande étrangère), bien que de nombreux autres pays soient également touchés. Les vols s’effectuent essentiellement chez les particuliers, mais aussi dans les lieux publics. Les objets les plus recherchés restent les bijoux et métaux précieux, les tableaux, les statuettes, les objets d’art religieux, les meubles, les sculptures et les objets archéologiques.

Il est très difficile d’estimer l’étendue de ce commerce, et ce, pour deux raisons. D’une part, si le vol est réprimé dans tous les États à peu près dans les mêmes termes , les pays ne mesurent pas le phénomène selon les mêmes critères, ce qui pose un problème d’évaluation en matière de trafic d’œuvres d’art. Les uns comptabilisent les vols en valeur (France), les autres établissent le total des objets volés . D’autre part, de nombreux pays ne tiennent pas de statistiques en ce qui concerne cette forme de criminalité. Ainsi, seule une partie des disparitions d’œuvres d’art est connue. Sans oublier que la globalité des vols ne sont pas déclarés, les conservateurs de musée et les particuliers pouvant se montrer assez discrets sur le sujet. Pour prendre conscience du vol ou obliger à sa déclaration, il faut attendre que les pièces réapparaissent dans une collection étrangère, figurent au catalogue d’une maison de ventes aux enchères, ou encore soient exposés dans un musée. D’abord, parce que certains sites n’ont pas encore été explorés et que tous les pays pauvres n’ont pas encore fait l’inventaire de leurs biens culturels. C’est un phénomène encore différent du vol des biens répertoriés puisqu’il est impossible de savoir « ce que les trafiquants sont en train de voler pour alimenter le marché licite ou illicite ». Ensuite, la majeure partie des œuvres signées des plus grands noms reste difficile voire impossible à réintroduire dans le circuit officiel si celui-ci n’est déjà pas complice !

Le trafic de biens culturels étant désormais exercé à l’échelon de la planète, il est évident que leur prévention et leur répression ne peuvent plus être le fait d’un seul État, mais seulement le fruit d’une coopération internationale doublée d’une harmonisation adaptée des différentes législations nationales.

Dans un premier temps, il conviendrait de donner définition unique et unanime de l’œuvre d’art, ce qui n’est pas encore le cas. Ensuite, si des instruments juridiques existent, leurs effets sur les trafics restent limités du fait de leur non-application ou de la quasi-absence de sanction en cas de violation (Italie, Grande-Bretagne, France avec la principauté de Monaco, Andorre et l’île de Saint-Martin). Dans de nombreux pays, les contrôles sont quasi inexistants quand le trafic ne bénéficie pas de complicités internes, comme dans certains pays africains, par le biais de la valise diplomatique. Alors comment restreindre la portée du trafic d’œuvres d’art puisqu’il semble impossible d’y mettre définitivement un terme ?

La nécessité de la lutte contre le trafic international de biens culturels n’est pas encore unanimement affirmée. Certains soutiennent que les restrictions législatives ne font que favoriser le marché noir tandis que d’autres s’interrogent encore sur la nécessité de la répression du trafic international de biens culturels, conseillant de jeter la faute sur l’existence d’une demande et par conséquent de réglementer les échanges dans les « riches » pays importateurs. Or aucun pays n’est à l’abri de la corruption, ce n’est pas la richesse ou la pauvreté d’un pays qui le protégera. Si les pays pauvres sont plus touchés, c’est surtout parce qu’ils n’ont pas les moyens d’investir dans la protection de leurs sites. D’où l’importance de la prévention dans ce domaine.