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Friday, September 9, 2011
Thursday, June 23, 2011
Whitey Bulger Captured!!
I couldn't believe it when I opened my FB today and saw a post from NPR announcing the capture and arrest of the notorious Boston crime boss, Whitey Bulger! If you remember from our last unit in class, The Gardner Art Theft, he was the FBI's #2 most wanted man behind Osama Bin Laden and believed at a time to know something about the big art theft at Boston's Isabella Stewart Gardner art Museum. I wonder now if we will learn more about the whodunnit or if the Gardner theft will still remain a mystery.
Here's a link to the short blurb I first saw this morning...NPR - Gangster Whitey Bulger CAPTURED!
Wow!
Here's a link to the short blurb I first saw this morning...NPR - Gangster Whitey Bulger CAPTURED!
Wow!
Monday, May 16, 2011
Graffiti - Art or Vandalism? New exhibit
At Los Angeles' Museum of Contemporary Art (LA MOCA), a big new survey called Art in the Streets looks at the last forty years of graffiti. Not coincidentally, the LAPD arrested several graffiti artists the same week of the exhibit's opening — some of them, artists with work in the show. Arts writer Carolina Miranda tells Kurt Andersen she thinks the reaction by the authorities is overblown.
http://www.studio360.org/2011/apr/29/graffiti-art-or-vandalism/
http://www.studio360.org/2011/apr/29/graffiti-art-or-vandalism/
Mona Lisa's identity revealed under concrete?
The model and inspiration for Da Vinci's masterpiece may be in bones of neighbor's wife
By Jennifer Welsh, LiveScience Staff Writer
LiveScience
updated 5/16/2011 4:30:23 PM ET
Louvre Museum, Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain
This is a retouched picture of the Mona Lisa, a painting by Leonardo DaVinci, currently housed at the Louvre museum in Paris, France. It has been digitally altered from its original version by modifying it's colors.
The mysterious face of the Mona Lisa may be lying under a few feet of cement in a decrepit convent in Florence, Italy. Researchers are currently searching for the bones of what might turn out to be Lisa Gherardini Del Giocondo, the woman many art historians believe to be the inspiration of the iconic painting.
And while they haven't hit pay dirt, last week they took a leap in the right direction: The team members announced they had discovered what may be steps leading down to a crypt where the model is thought to be buried, according to historical documents.
The convent above the stairs, called St. Ursula in Florence, was where Gherardini died in 1542. It was built in 1309 and was used by the church until 1810 when it was converted into a tobacco factory, then used as a shelter during World War II, before it housed university classrooms. Since a failed attempt to turn it into a barracks in the 1980s, the compound has remained empty.
Researchers, including historian Giuseppe Pallanti who published the book "Mona Lisa Revealed: The True Identity of Leonardo's Model" (Skira, 2006), believe that Gherardini's husband, Francesco del Giocondo, commissioned their neighbor Leonardo Da Vinci to paint a portrait of his wife in 1502, around the time she was pregnant with their second child. Da Vinci took until 1519 to hand over the painting, carrying it around with him on his travels and not giving it up until his death, according to the theory. The painting currently hangs in the Louvre museum in Paris.
Historical records, including Gherardini's death certificate discovered a few years ago, place her death at St. Ursula's, where she spent her last two years after her husband's death. The documents note that there is a crypt beneath the church floor, where Gherardini would have been buried.
Excavating and exhumation
The work of excavating the dilapidated building started in late April, led by Silvano Vinceti, the chairman of the nongovernmental organization National Committee for the Promotion of Historical Heritage, Culture and Environment. The group has also uncovered the supposed remains of Italian artist Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggioand reconstructed the face of Dante Alighieri, an Italian poet known for writing the "Divine Comedy" about a fictional journey through hell.
The team first scanned the floor of the nunnery using ground-penetrating radar, which could "see through" the cement floor poured during renovations in the 1980s. They used this data to identify the area where the crypts could be located in and around the church and convent.
The team started excavating the site on May 9; they've uncovered a few inches of the floor and have discovered a layer of ancient bricks, each about 35 inches (90 centimeters) wide, possibly steps leading to the tombs or a series of crypts.
"The finding is consistent with our records," Vinceti said in a statement to Italian news agency ANSA. "We should be where the altar once stood, and where a trapdoor led to the crypt we saw on the georadar scan."
Finding her bones
They need to continue excavating the area for possible bones. If they find enough skull bones, Francesco Mallegni, a paleoanthropologist at the University of Pisa, will attempt to reconstruct Gherardini's face, providing extra clues to who was really the subject of the painting, according to ANSA English.
"The excavation is still just the beginning, we made a few inches," Vinceti said to ANSA. "We should go for at least two feet and will serve at least a week of work to get a better picture of the situation."
They will also test the genetic material of the bones and compare it to DNA from Gherardini's children, who are buried in Florence's Santissima Annunziata church. This would prove that the bones found at the convent were actually hers.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/43051171/ns/technology_and_science-science/?GT1=43001
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
The Largest Theft of All Time
Stolen Vermeer: The largest theft of all time
The Dutch Room of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston is lined with green silk wallpaper, from terracotta cobbled floor to oak timbered ceiling.
On one wall hangs a Van Dyck, on another a Rubens but these artworks are not the first things one notices in the first floor gallery.
It is the empty frames that stop you in your tracks.
One, an ornate gilded rectangle framing nothing but green wallpaper, once held Storm On The Sea of Galilee, Rembrandt’s only known seascape.
And, next to the window, there is an easel on which was propped The Concert, one of only 36 Vermeer paintings known to exist.
In the early hours of 18 March 1990, both paintings were ripped from their frames.
They disappeared, along with two other works by Rembrandt, five sketches by Degas, a Manet painting, a landscape by Flink and – bizarrely – a bronze finial from a Napoleonic battle flag.
Largest theft
Not one of the artworks – worth an estimated $500 million (£350m) today – has ever been seen again.
Now, 20 years on, the Gardner robbery remains the largest single property theft of all time.
Built by Boston heiress Isabella Stewart Gardner in 1903, the museum was modelled on a 15th Century Venetian palazzo.
“I spend an inordinate amount of time in this room, looking at these empty frames,” says Anthony Amore, the director of security at the museum.
“If you were a homicide detective, you’d go to the scene and once the bodies were removed you’d see the taped outline of the person on the floor. I come in here every day and these are my taped impressions.”
The reason the frames remain is due to Mrs Gardner herself. An avid 19th Century collector, she scoured the auction rooms of Europe picking up masterpieces with the help of her personal shopper, esteemed art historian Bernard Berenson.
She curated the museum personally and decreed in her will that nothing should ever be moved. Every frame hangs exactly where she hung it, every ornament exactly where she placed it.
Although Vermeer’s The Concert is probably the world’s most valuable single stolen artwork – estimates value it at around £200m if ever sold – the Gardner Museum holds an even greater treasure.
But at nearly seven feet (2.1m) across, Titian’s The Rape of Europa was probably too big for the swag bag.
Dressed as Boston cops and sporting false moustaches, the thieves spent well over an hour in the Gardner galleries after handcuffing the hapless guards – both young music students doing part-time work – in the basement.
The Vermeer and the Rembrandt were obvious targets for any thief with a rudimentary grasp of art history. But the decision to unscrew five Degas sketches from the wall of a gallery is one that has perplexed every investigator who has worked on the case.
According to Charley Hill, a former Scotland Yard detective turned private investigator, the key to the crime is the time it took place.
“It may technically have been 18 March 1990 but it was just after midnight as St Patrick’s Day celebrations were still going on. And that’s a big, noisy night in an Irish city like Boston,” says Hill.
As an undercover detective, it was Charley Hill who led the sting operation that recovered Edward Munch’s painting The Scream, stolen from the National Museum of Norway in 1994.
Mob boss James "Whitey" Bulger is second on the FBI's most wanted list
In the frame
Hill has been following a network of leads, many provided by underworld contacts, for 16 years. He says they all add up to one name – Irish American mob boss James “Whitey” Bulger.
Number two on the FBI’s most wanted list – behind only Osama Bin Laden – Bulger has a $2m (£1.31m) bounty on his head.
There is also a note on the Bureau website reminding us that – as Whitey is wanted for 19 murders, has a violent temper and carries a knife – we should not approach him.
Thirteen art works were stolen
The thieves were let into the museum through two sets of locked security doors at 1:24am, 18 March 1990
It is believed they spent exactly 81 minutes inside the gallery
A reward of $5 million (£3.28m) has been offered for information leading to the return of the works of art in good condition
There is nothing on the FBI website about Vermeer, Rembrandt and the others.
So what would a man suspected of murder want with the paintings?
Hill believes that – even if Bulger did not order the heist originally – he would have muscled in and taken control of the haul soon after.
“He’s never been interested in the sale of them, he’s interested in using them as barter,” says Hill.
Offering up the long lost art might just buy him, Hill says, “a softer pillow and a better view” in whichever federal penitentiary he would find himself in if he was ever caught.
Hill’s investigations have led him to remote villages in the Republic of Ireland, where – according to his sources – Whitey sought refuge and “laid down” the Gardner art.
Since then, Hill believes, the paintings have been looked after by criminals who owe a debt to Bulger.
October 10th, 2010
Boston art theft remains biggest unsolved mystery
By John Wilson
Vermeer’s The Concert is estimated to be worth around £200m
The Gardner robbery remains the largest single property theft of all time
As crime scenes go, it has got to be one of the most beautiful.
The Dutch Room of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston is lined with green silk wallpaper, from terracotta cobbled floor to oak timbered ceiling.
On one wall hangs a Van Dyck, on another a Rubens but these artworks are not the first things one notices in the first floor gallery.
It is the empty frames that stop you in your tracks.
One, an ornate gilded rectangle framing nothing but green wallpaper, once held Storm On The Sea of Galilee, Rembrandt’s only known seascape.
And, next to the window, there is an easel on which was propped The Concert, one of only 36 Vermeer paintings known to exist.
In the early hours of 18 March 1990, both paintings were ripped from their frames.
They disappeared, along with two other works by Rembrandt, five sketches by Degas, a Manet painting, a landscape by Flink and – bizarrely – a bronze finial from a Napoleonic battle flag.
Largest theft
Not one of the artworks – worth an estimated $500 million (£350m) today – has ever been seen again.
Now, 20 years on, the Gardner robbery remains the largest single property theft of all time.
Built by Boston heiress Isabella Stewart Gardner in 1903, the museum was modelled on a 15th Century Venetian palazzo.
“I spend an inordinate amount of time in this room, looking at these empty frames,” says Anthony Amore, the director of security at the museum.
“If you were a homicide detective, you’d go to the scene and once the bodies were removed you’d see the taped outline of the person on the floor. I come in here every day and these are my taped impressions.”
The reason the frames remain is due to Mrs Gardner herself. An avid 19th Century collector, she scoured the auction rooms of Europe picking up masterpieces with the help of her personal shopper, esteemed art historian Bernard Berenson.
She curated the museum personally and decreed in her will that nothing should ever be moved. Every frame hangs exactly where she hung it, every ornament exactly where she placed it.
Although Vermeer’s The Concert is probably the world’s most valuable single stolen artwork – estimates value it at around £200m if ever sold – the Gardner Museum holds an even greater treasure.
But at nearly seven feet (2.1m) across, Titian’s The Rape of Europa was probably too big for the swag bag.
Dressed as Boston cops and sporting false moustaches, the thieves spent well over an hour in the Gardner galleries after handcuffing the hapless guards – both young music students doing part-time work – in the basement.
The Vermeer and the Rembrandt were obvious targets for any thief with a rudimentary grasp of art history. But the decision to unscrew five Degas sketches from the wall of a gallery is one that has perplexed every investigator who has worked on the case.
According to Charley Hill, a former Scotland Yard detective turned private investigator, the key to the crime is the time it took place.
“It may technically have been 18 March 1990 but it was just after midnight as St Patrick’s Day celebrations were still going on. And that’s a big, noisy night in an Irish city like Boston,” says Hill.
As an undercover detective, it was Charley Hill who led the sting operation that recovered Edward Munch’s painting The Scream, stolen from the National Museum of Norway in 1994.
Mob boss James "Whitey" Bulger is second on the FBI's most wanted listIn the frame
Hill has been following a network of leads, many provided by underworld contacts, for 16 years. He says they all add up to one name – Irish American mob boss James “Whitey” Bulger.
Number two on the FBI’s most wanted list – behind only Osama Bin Laden – Bulger has a $2m (£1.31m) bounty on his head.
There is also a note on the Bureau website reminding us that – as Whitey is wanted for 19 murders, has a violent temper and carries a knife – we should not approach him.
Thirteen art works were stolen
The thieves were let into the museum through two sets of locked security doors at 1:24am, 18 March 1990
It is believed they spent exactly 81 minutes inside the gallery
A reward of $5 million (£3.28m) has been offered for information leading to the return of the works of art in good condition
There is nothing on the FBI website about Vermeer, Rembrandt and the others.
So what would a man suspected of murder want with the paintings?
Hill believes that – even if Bulger did not order the heist originally – he would have muscled in and taken control of the haul soon after.
“He’s never been interested in the sale of them, he’s interested in using them as barter,” says Hill.
Offering up the long lost art might just buy him, Hill says, “a softer pillow and a better view” in whichever federal penitentiary he would find himself in if he was ever caught.
Hill’s investigations have led him to remote villages in the Republic of Ireland, where – according to his sources – Whitey sought refuge and “laid down” the Gardner art.
Since then, Hill believes, the paintings have been looked after by criminals who owe a debt to Bulger.
FBI Special agent Jeffrey Kelly confirms that Whitey Bulger is on his list of suspects but won’t reveal whether he concurs with Hill’s theory.
20 years on, the Gardner heist remains one of the great crime mysteries. But – with the theft of genuine masterpieces – it is also an act of appalling cultural vandalism and an artistic tragedy.
Source: news.bbc.co.uk
Friday, December 17, 2010
Final Exams
Final Exams start Friday December 17th.
(regardless of weather this schedule will stay the same)
We will work on a review packet going over EVERYTHING we have discussed this semester.
Complete the entire packet for 100 points - - ALL or NOTHING. Due the day of your final.
Final Exam Schedule:
Final Exam Days Schedule (1 full day and 2 early release @ 11:30)
Friday Dec. 17th:
1st Hour Exam 7:25 – 9:00 Passing 9:00 – 9:10
2nd Hour Exam 9:10 – 10:45 Passing 10:45 - 10:50
4Aor 4B Lunch = Lunch 10:45 – 11:20 * 4th Hour Class 11:25 – 12:00 * 5th Hour Class* 12:05 – 12:40
4C Lunch = 4th Hour Class 10:50 – 11:25 * Lunch 11:25 – 12:00 * 5th Hour Class* 12:05 – 12:40
5AB Lunch = 4th Hour Class 10:50 – 11:25 * 5th Hour Class 11:30 – 12:05 * Lunch 12:05 – 12:40
Passing 12:40 - 12:45
6th Hour Exam 12:45 – 2:20
SCHOOL DISMISSED 2:20
Monday Dec. 20th:
Early Release FINAL EXAM Schedule:
3rd Hour Exam 7:25 -9:00 Passing 9:00 - 9:10
7th Hour Class* 9:10 -9:45 Passing 9:45 -9:55
4th Hour Exam 9:55 -11:30
SCHOOL DISMISSED 11:30
Tuesday Dec. 21st:
Early Release FINAL EXAM Schedule:
5th Hour Exam 7:25 -9:00 Passing 9:00 - 9:10
3rd Hour Class* 9:10 -9:45 Passing 9:45 -9:55
7th Hour Exam 9:55 -11:30
SCHOOL DISMISSED 11:30
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