Posted on 08/21/2010 9:31:57 PM PDT by nickcarraway
A Van Gogh painting worth $50 million stolen from a Cairo museum is still missing, Egypt's culture minister says.
Earlier Farouk Hosni had said two Italians had been arrested at Cairo airport, and the small canvas found.
But later he said he had been given "inaccurate" information, and the painting was still missing.
The painting - known as both Poppy Flowers and Vase And Flowers - was "cut from its frame" at the Mahmoud Khalil Museum on Saturday, Mr Hosni said.
Two Italians had been arrested at Cairo airport later in the day, after earlier visiting the museum.
The state news agency Mena reported that visitors to the exhibition had been investigated, and the Italian couple had aroused suspicion after they were seen visiting a toilet and then rapidly leaving the premises.
Italy's Ansa news agency said the two Italians were young and had been part of a tour group visiting the gallery.
It is not clear whether the pair are still under arrest.
Mr Hosni said that only 10 people had visited the Mahmoud Khalil Museum on Saturday.
"Measures are still under way to uncover the circumstances of the incident and retrieve the painting," he said in a statement.
He blamed his earlier mistaken statement on erroneous information provided by an official.
Second theft The same painting was previously taken from the same museum in 1978, but recovered a decade later in Kuwait.
Police questioned museum staff and security was tightened at air and sea ports across Egypt in the wake of the theft.
The work, measuring 30cm by 30cm(1ft by 1ft), and depicting yellow and red flowers, is believed to have been painted by Vincent Van Gogh in 1887, three years before his death from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
(Excerpt) Read more at bbc.co.uk ...
Why would a painting by a non believer be in an Islamic country? They would have stoned Van Gogh had he been alive today.
The heist sounds very amateurish. A true theif would not cut it from the frame. Regardless I do not understan why art is so expensive. Much like the works of the hack Jackson Pollock.
It's been recovered. Italian couple arrested.
Yes, in The Netherlands.
Why, that doesn't make any sense at all.
If I had $51mil, I'd spend 50 of it on that painting.
No, there has been an update, They arrested the couple, but they have not recovered the painting.
Figure a few more $million on special storage and security for it over its lifetime in your collection...
Or you can spend a few $thousand on high def large screen TV set / monitor and high quality digitized reproduction of this and/or your other favourite paintings and have them displayed any time you want. It’s good enough for Bill Gates (of M$).
“Poppies”. One can get just as high on these as on van Gogh’s deservedly famous and prized “Irises”.
This guy will find it.
Van Gogh's attacker plunged a dagger into Van Gogh's chest with a note attached that was a death threat against Ayaan Hirsi Ali.
Ali, a feminist who renounced Islam and who once held a position in the Dutch parliament, worked on the film as a voice-over and contributor.
43 minutes ago, it was still missing. If a canvas was recovered from the couple, then what was it?
(see last two episodes of Doctor Who Series 5--they involve stealing a non-existent painting from Van Gogh, who was a friend of the Doctor's)
There is art and then there is hype.
New York is center of the Hype Art market. The stuff is sold. It is considered to be worth buying because so many of the condescending dealers say it is.
They are worse than used car salesmen because they are selling something that is valueless until it is sold and then a set up for the next sucker.
They build expensive galleries to serve as a back drop and stage for the encounter with the suckers. It is all stage craft to give ambiance and a sense of reality to the hype.
For Art, go to Santa Fe
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