In the 1999 film Three Kings, cited by President Bill Clinton as one of his favorites, a small group of rogue American soldiers attempt to loot Saddam Hussein’s Iraq of a secret cache of gold bullion. It made for a compelling story, but it’s all fantasy, right? Not quite. In fact, the recent discovery of a Picasso painting stolen during the first Gulf War is casting an interesting shadow over an unfortunate byproducy of the Iraqi conflict. And the group trying to solve the problem may surprise you.
This past week, Iraqi forces revealed the Picasso, entitled “the Naked Woman,” which was allegedly stolen from the Kuwait National Museum in the invasion leading up to the first Gulf War. While the art world is already questioning the piece’s authenticity and the Louvre has basically disowned it, the finding is another valuable piece of artwork stolen from the region.
In Iraq, art looting was almost immediate during this most recent conflict. While American forces stormed the capital, Iraq’s National Museum, made up of 12 buildings housing countless ancient artworks, were left unguarded. In the subsequent months and years, American forces have raided enemy bunkers housing not just guns and ammunitions, but works of art as well. Marine Reserve and New York prosecutor Col. Matthew Bogdanos eventually led a federal probe into the looting of what he called “the finest collection of antiquities the world has ever seen.” According to the Unviersity of Pennsylvania’s Richard Zettler, some 10,000-15,000 items from the National Museum are still missing.
But it wasn’t just the museum that was pilfered. That same year, 2003, a Fox News engineer was accused of smuggling paintings into the United States after they were stolen from the palatial home of Uday Hussein. Now UNESCO, the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization, is working to stop the problem of looting Iraq of its considerable art resources. After years of following the looting, earlier this year, UNESCO began meeting with the world’s foremost art experts to assess the damage done in Iraq, also conferring with dealers to confirm they wouldn’t deal in stolen Iraqi antiquities, some of which date up to 5000 years before Christ. According to their findings, up to 170,000 items were taken from the National Gallery. A concrete solution hasn’t been reached yet, but the first steps have been taken to try to undo some serious, and mostly unacknowledged, damage of the war in Iraq.
Discuss
yang yang on August 28, 2009, 11:52 PM
Summer still goes on, but the dresses for autumn have been put onto store shelves. Generally, the clothes for this autumn are much more commercial, which, to some extend, is affected by economic recession. From the fall fashion show of 2009, we could find that all the designs are exactly right to the taste of customers. Ranging from ED hardy distinctive caps, comfortable UGG boots, to Paul Smith gloves, all kinds of designs are outstanding. That’s because these designs widen the range of wearers. As a result, it is possible for mother and daughter to find their sound clothes at the same time. Firstly, spare some time to watch the advertising film of Ed hardy fall series in 2009. The captivating queen Madonna acted the leading role. With the amazing coat and T-shirt, she couldn’t be more wild, sexy, and glamorous. Actually, Ed hardy clothing are much easy to match since people can wear them at any seasons. Therefore, it is understandable for you to find that its sales is much better than sales of clothes in season. Ed hardy shirt is much sought after by the public, though many of them are not for now. This year, Ed hardy’s another highlight lies in its children series since various coats for children are so wonderful that even an adult wants to buy. Watching these lovely clothes, you may wonder to return back to your childhood or just have a baby at once so you can dress him or her with Ed hardy clothes.
Add a Comment
You must be logged in to comment. Log in or Register