Free Republic

VIENNA, Austria (AP) - Austria's government said Thursday it cannot afford to buy back five Gustav Klimt paintings that a court has ordered returned to a California woman who says the Nazis stole them from her Jewish family. Elisabeth Gehrer, Austria's minister in charge of education and culture, said the government wanted to acquire the masterpieces but decided it could not afford the $300 million pricetag. Last month, an arbitration court awarded the paintings to Maria Altmann of Los Angeles, who says they were looted from her family by the Nazis. "Therefore the paintings are immediately available for her to...

>>> John Collomosse research pages >>> Video demo of the technology [may be slow for dial-up users] The family portrait is set to become a great work of art thanks to new computer software that can turn photographs into cubist artworks in the style of Picasso.The Picasso-effect software is part of a unique suite of imaging technologies developed by computer scientists at the University of Bath that turns photo albums, videos and movies into drawings, paintings, and cartoons. The software could also revolutionise the way that animations are made.In order to create the software, the researchers had to teach...