The Woman in Gold (2015): Helen Mirren, Ryan Reynolds and Looted Art Restitution

     Directed by Simon Curtis, and written by Alexi Kaye Campbell, Woman in Gold (2015) tells the true story of the efforts of lawyer E. Randol Schoenberg to restitute Gustav Klimpt's famous "Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer" to Maria Altmann, the niece of the painting's subject. During the arduous legal process beginning in 1998, Schoenberg and Altmann sued the Austrian government for ownership of the $100 Million masterpiece and won the 2006 verdict, despite the odds being against them. Five Klimpt paintings had been taken from Mrs. Altmann's childhood home in Vienna by the Nazis during World War II, and had hung in Austria's Belvedere Gallery for the subsequent 50 years. The production provides a good platform, drawing attention to the many unresolved cases of artwork looted by the Nazis, and the restitution process of reuniting these works with their rightful owners. The film offers a great sense of time and place, alternating between WWII Austria and 1990's Los Angeles, with vibrant and well-composed cinematography. Helen Mirren is superb as Maria Altmann. Ryan Reynolds is good as E. Randol Schoenberg. The supporting cast does a fine job as well, including Katie Holmes, Daniel Bruhl, Tatiana Maslany, Max Irons, Charles Dance, Elizabeth McGovern and Jonathan Pryce.

Adele Bloch-Bauer by Gustav Klimpt: The Woman in Gold

Adele Bloch-Bauer by Gustav Klimpt: The Woman in Gold

Adele Bloch-Bauer by Gustav Klimpt: The Woman in Gold

Adele Bloch-Bauer by Gustav Klimpt: The Woman in Gold

Helen Mirren: The Woman in Gold

Adele Bloch-Bauer by Gustav Klimpt: The Woman in Gold

Ryan Reynolds and Helen Mirren: The Woman in Gold

Adele Bloch-Bauer: The Woman in Gold

Ryan Reynolds: The Woman in Gold

Adele Bloch-Bauer by Gustav Klimpt: The Woman in Gold

Ryan Reynolds and Helen Mirren: The Woman in Gold

Adele Bloch-Bauer: The Woman in Gold

Helen Mirren: The Woman in Gold

: The Woman in Gold

: The Woman in Gold

: The Woman in Gold

Adele Bloch-Bauer: The Woman in Gold

Ryan Reynolds and Katie Holmes: The Woman in Gold

: The Woman in Gold

Ryan Reynolds and Helen Mirren: The Woman in Gold

Adele Bloch-Bauer by Gustav Klimpt: The Woman in Gold

Helen Mirren: The Woman in Gold

: The Woman in Gold

Helen Mirren: The Woman in Gold

Helen Mirren: The Woman in Gold

Ryan Reynolds: The Woman in Gold

Ryan Reynolds: The Woman in Gold

Ryan Reynolds, Helen Mirren and Katie Holmes: The Woman in Gold

Ryan Reynolds and Helen Mirren: The Woman in Gold

Ryan Reynolds and Helen Mirren: The Woman in Gold

Helen Mirren: The Woman in Gold

Adele Bloch-Bauer by Gustav Klimpt: The Woman in Gold

Ryan Reynolds and Helen Mirren: The Woman in Gold

Helen Mirren: The Woman in Gold

Ryan Reynolds and Helen Mirren: The Woman in Gold

Ryan Reynolds and Helen Mirren: The Woman in Gold

Helen Mirren: The Woman in Gold

Adele Bloch-Bauer by Gustav Klimpt: The Woman in Gold

Maria Altmann: The Woman in Gold

: The Woman in Gold

"Woman in Gold"- movie trailer

Loot: The Battle Over the Stolen Treasures of the Ancient World. by Sharon Waxman (2008)

Loot. by Sharon Waxman

     This tome contains a great overview on the debate of looting and restitution as it pertains to modern museums. This thoughtful and well-researched book deals with the source nations of Egypt, Turkey, Greece and Italy. And points it's attention at the collections of world-renowned museums like the Louvre, the British Museum, the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Getty Museum...

The Egyptian Zodiac Ceiling- the Louvre

     "A journey across four continents to the heart of the conflict over who should own the great works of ancient art
     Why are the Elgin Marbles in London and not on the Acropolis? Why do there seem to be as many mummies in France as there are in Egypt? Why are so many Etruscan masterworks in America? For the past two centuries, the West has been plundering the treasures of the ancient world to fill its great museums, but in recent years, the countries where ancient civilizations originated have begun to push back, taking museums to court, prosecuting curators, and threatening to force the return of these priceless objects.
     Where do these treasures rightly belong? Sharon Waxman, a former culture reporter for The New York Times and a longtime foreign correspondent, brings us inside this high-stakes conflict, examining the implications for the preservation of the objects themselves and for how we understand our shared cultural heritage. Her journey takes readers from the great cities of Europe and America to Egypt, Turkey, Greece, and Italy, as these countries face down the Louvre, the Metropolitan Museum, the British Museum, and the J. Paul Getty Museum. She also introduces a cast of determined and implacable characters whose battles may strip these museums of some of their most cherished treasures.
     For readers who are fascinated by antiquity, who love to frequent museums, and who believe in the value of cultural exchange, Loot opens a new window on an enduring conflict." -amazon.com

The Lydian Hoarde

The Euphronios Krater

Bust of Nefertiti

Cellini's "Worthless" $60 Million Salt Cellar

The Cellini Salt Cellar, 1543. by Travis Simpkins

Cellini's "Worthless" $60 Million Salt Cellar

by Travis Simpkins

     Meticulously hand-crafted in gold, ivory and enamel, Benvetuto Cellini’s Saliera (Salt Cellar) is the epitome of opulence, a masterpiece by any standard. It’s elegant design, consisting of a male figure representing the sea facing a nude female figure that personifies earth, is unmistakable and unique. The sea figure rests beside a boat-shaped vessel for salt, while the earth figure reclines next to a temple shaped receptacle for pepper. Completed in 1543 for Francis I of France, the Saliera passed through the Habsburg Collection before finding a place in the vast galleries of Vienna’s Kunsthistorisches Museum in the 19th Century. It is considered to be the only work of precious metal by Cellini in existence, currently valued at nearly $60,000,000.
     The highly recognizable Cellini Saliera became the target of an unwise thief at 4:00 a.m. on May 11, 2003. The museum was partly covered by scaffolding, which further aided the thief in an already easy job of breaking into the building. A security alarm was set off during the heist, and the thief hurriedly exited with the Saliera. However, he didn’t need to be so rushed. The security guard on duty disregarded the alarm as a glitch and reset it, never bothering to investigate the source. It took four hours before anyone realized the irreplaceable Saliera was gone.
Three slow years passed without word.
     Stealing the Cellini Saliera was laughably simple. However, the cold reality of disposing of such a hot object surely proved problematic for the thief right away. Quickly realizing that the Saliera was unsellable and worthless to him, it was then hidden. A break in the case came in January of 2006, when the thief was identified using video footage. Robert Mang, a “specialist in security alarms”, turned himself in to police in the wake of the media attention. He led investigators to a wooded area north of Vienna, where the Saliera was found buried in a lead box. Mang was sentenced to four years in prison for the theft.
     Benvenuto Cellini’s golden Saliera was returned to the Kunsthistorisches Museum, where it stands not only as a remarkable one-of-a-kind masterpiece, but as testament to lax security and the futility of art theft.

Robert Mang stole the Cellini Saliera in 2003. Photo: European Press Agency