Brazilian police are seeking the arrest of six people accused of involvement in stealing 16 artworks, together valued at more than $190 million, with some recovered.
Key points:
Police said in a statement that the group stole the works from an 82-year-old widow who had been married to an art collector
The haul included museum-quality pieces from Brazilian masters Tarsila do Amaral and Emiliano Di Cavalcanti
Police found more than 10 works underneath a bed and at the bottom of the pile was Sol Poente — a do Amaral painting of a brilliant-hued sunset
Police said in a statement that the group stole the works from an 82-year-old widow who had been married to an art collector and dealer.
The haul included museum-quality pieces from Brazilian masters Tarsila do Amaral and Emiliano Di Cavalcanti.
Police found more than 10 works underneath a bed and at the bottom of the pile was Sol Poente — a do Amaral painting of a brilliant-hued sunset.
“Wow! Look who’s here!” one officer said in a video recording as she removed bubble wrap from the work.
“Oh, little beauty. Glory!”
The theft was orchestrated by the widow’s daughter, according to the statement, which didn’t provide either of their names.
The daughter was among those arrested Wednesday, according to local media, which also showed images of a woman attempting to escape through a window as police arrived.
It’s alleged the paintings weren’t stolen in a heist, but rather through a bizarre con.
Space to play or pause, M to mute, left and right arrows to seek, up and down arrows for volume.
Brazil police recover stolen art masterpieces valued at $139 million
In January 2020, a self-proclaimed soothsayer approached the widow in the Copacabana neighborhood and informed her that her daughter was sick and soon to die, according to the police statement.
The widow, who holds mystical beliefs, was compelled to make bank transfers totaling 5 million reais ($1.38 million) over the course of two weeks for supposed spiritual treatment.
Her daughter, who allegedly encouraged the payments, proceeded to fire domestic employees so her accomplices could enter the residence unimpeded and remove the artworks.
It’s alleged that upon receiving threats from her daughter and the accomplices, the widow made additional bank transfers.
Three of the artworks, collectively worth more than 300 million reais ($82.9 million), were recovered in an art gallery in São Paulo.
The gallery’s owner told police he had purchased them directly from the widow’s daughter, and sold two others to the Museum of Latin American Art in Buenos Aires, according to the statement.
A press officer for the world-renowned museum said that its founder, Eduardo Costantini, purchased the works for his personal collection, and possible display at the museum in the future.
The museum identified the widow as Genevieve Boghici and said Costantini has maintained direct contact with her throughout the acquisition of the paintings and since
Pottery, paintings and pandanus mats detailing stories from First Nations artists across the country have drawn large crowds at the Darwin Aboriginal Art Fair (DAAF).
A major event for art lovers around Australia, the fair is held every year at the Darwin Convention Center as a way for talented Indigenous artists to bring their unique pieces to one central location and share their stories with the public.
This year’s event is expected to bring in millions of dollars for the 78 art centers represented at the fair, delivering an economic boost to remote communities around the country.
Hand-dyed fabrics from Anindilyakwa Arts. (ABC News: Peter Garnish)
DAAF attracted crowds over the weekend. (ABC News: Peter Garnish)
DAAF chair Franchesca Cubillo said arts and culture in remote regions were the “lifeblood of any community”.
“They are the place where opportunities flourish, be it textile design and fashion, or artists sharing the rich history of bark painting or western desert painting,” she said.
Franchesca Cubillo is a Larrakia, Bardi, Wardaman and Yanuwa woman.(ABC News: Peter Garnish)
Ceramics by Hermannsburg Potters — a crowd favourite.(ABC News: Peter Garnish)
But the fair was not just a chance to “share our culture as a gift to the nation”, Ms Cubillo said.
It also allowed artists to earn a wage.
The Darwin Aboriginal Art Fair (DAAF) has seen $11 million in sales over the past five years.(ABC News: Peter Garnish)
Attendees admired the intricacy of desert styles.(ABC News: Peter Garnish)
“They’re able to secure an economic return, and that will allow that next generation of First Nations people to feel empowered — to actually start to think about, ‘What might a business look like, operating out of my community?'” she said.
“We’ve got remarkable artists working out of art centres, but what if we had a modeling agency operating out at Gapuwiyak, for those remarkable young men who were a part of our Country to Couture [fashion show]?”
A woven turtle sculpture from Erub Arts.(ABC News: Peter Garnish)
Art fairs provide much-needed economic opportunities in remote communities.(ABC News: Peter Garnish)
Knowledge shared between cultures and generations
For Karen Rogers, an artist from Ngukurr Arts Centre, the fair was also a chance to pass down skills to family.
“We’ve got my son at the moment, just teaching him how to do lino printing, printing on material,” she said.
“He’s been doing a good job, like framing canvas. I reckon art centers can offer a lot of things for young people, career pathways.”
Karen Rogers, an artist from Ngukurr Arts.(ABC News: Peter Garnish)
Pandanus mats from East Arnhem Land.(ABC News: Peter Garnish)
Ms Rogers said it was fascinating learning about other Indigenous cultures through art, and finding common links.
“This one from Torres Strait, I was really interested because I speak Kriol and they speak different Kriol,” she said.
“They’ve got a dictionary. It was amazing seeing it, because they speak a little bit different to our way of speaking. It was inspiring.”
The Abai Sagulau Buai Dance Team from Badu Island in the Torres Strait performing at the fair. (ABC News: Peter Garnish)
Pandanus jewelery is always popular with visitors.(ABC News: Peter Garnish)
Diversity on display
From the tropics to the desert, each art center brought its own languages, styles and practices to the floor of the convention centre.
Lex Namponan, from Wik and Kugu Arts Centre, said his father was a major source of inspiration.
“We [saw] our dad when we were 14, 15 doing sculptures and bark painting and everything,” he said.
Lex Namponan, a sculptor with Wik and Kugu Arts. (ABC News: Peter Garnish)
“As we were growing [up] … it gave us the idea for what we’re doing, and now we’re here, traveling around with all our colleagues.
“I’ve got a big show coming up from this moment, back to home, going out country collecting timbers – milky pine, clays, white clay, red clay – from the ground.”
The art fair runs until 4pm today.
Lex Namponan’s dingo sculptures.(ABC News: Peter Garnish)
Among the lovelier lyrics in Don McLean’s song about Vincent van Gogh are those that refer to “faces lined in pain” being “soothed beneath the artist’s loving hand.”
Key points:
The Spirit of SA collection showcases people, places and objects with strong ties to SA
The works will be auctioned off to raise $100,000 to support children with cancer
At the forefront is artist Mark Lobert, who volunteered his time to produce 42 works in about 30 weeks
Something of that tender spirit is reflected at Mark Lobert’s Port Adelaide studio, where, for the past few months, an impressive act of artistic altruism has been taking shape.
“Hopefully we’ve done SA proud because we’re very proud of this collection,” Lobert said when describing the project.
Painting is a paintaking business, but these portraits and landscapes are about alleviating pain — specifically, the pain of very sick children.
Collectively, the 42 canvases will comprise the Spirit of SA exhibition, and they depict prominent South Australian faces, places and icons.
The Granite Island horse-drawn tram is popular with tourists at Victor Harbor.(Supplied: Phil Hodgson and Mark Lobert)
From Monday, they will be on display at Adelaide’s Westpac House, and will be auctioned online to raise at least $100,000 for the Childhood Cancer Association (CCA), to support children battling the illness.
Subjects include rock legend Jimmy Barnes, actress Theresa Palmer, the Hills Hoist, Kangaroo Island’s Remarkable Rocks, chef Maggie Beer, and pop singer Guy Sebastian.
There are also the ABC’s Collinswood building, AFLW star Chelsea Randall and former prime minister Julia Gillard.
Born in the UK, former Prime Minister Julia Gillard moved to Adelaide at a young age.(Supplied: Phil Hodgson and Mark Lobert)
“As a female in politics, and in general, she’s an amazing person,” Lobert said of Gillard.
“The painting that has been done by Barnesy is linked in with the Largs Pier Hotel.
Australian rock legend Jimmy Barnes with the Largs Pier Hotel.(Supplied: Phil Hodgson and Mark Lobert)
“That image would have to be one of my favourites.”
The project has evolved collaboratively — fellow artist Phil Hodgson has worked closely with Lobert, and it is testament to their commitment to the cause that both have volunteered their time.
Each has brought different and complementary skills.
Hodgson’s talents include the ability to capture the lineaments of a human face, while Lobert has focused on non-human subjects, as well as color schemes and other touches.
42 paintings in 30 weeks
In person, Lobert can look a little like a canvas himself—his arms are impressively inked, and his paint-stained shirt resembles a palette for mixing colors.
His studio is every bit the artist’s den.
Lobert’s shirt, like the floor of his studio, is suitably stained with paint.(ABC Radio Adelaide: Daniel Keane)
It is brimming with brushes, paint pots, blank canvases, and works in progress, and its floor is so densely covered with splashes of pigment that it resembles an example of Jackson Pollock’s abstract expressionism.
But the paintings themselves suggest other suitably eclectic influences.
A carton of Farmers Union Iced Coffee, a packet of FruChocs and a selection of frog cakes evoke Andy Warhol’s soup cans, while the blues and yellows of an image of Adelaide’s skyline bring to mind van Gogh’s Starry Night.
An Andy Warhol-esque painting of a packet of FruChocs.(Supplied: Phil Hodgson and Mark Lobert)
“I kind of love colour, I’m always trying to chase color — I need to have color all around me,” Lobert said.
Despite that passion, he admits the production of 42 sizeable works in about 30 weeks has been a challenge.
Kangaroo Island’s Remarkable Rocks were among Hodgson and Lobert’s subjects.(Supplied: Phil Hodgson and Mark Lobert)
But when he admitted, “I won’t lie — it’s been very stressful”, he spoke with the smile of someone who knows the finish line is in sight.
“They have taken a lot of time,” he said.
“Originally, we were going to start off with about 14 — then it went to 20, and 25 went to 30, then it bloomed out to 38 and shot out to 42.”
The Hills Hoist clothes line was produced in South Australia.(Supplied: Phil Hodgson and Mark Lobert)
‘The fight of his life’
The driving force behind the project has been media identity and CCA ambassador Mark Soderstrom.
By auctioning the paintings, Soderstrom hopes to raise $100,000.(ABC Radio Adelaide: Daniel Keane)
“I thought, we’ve got to be grateful for where we live, what can we do to raise $70,000 to $100,000?” he said.
“What if we try and showcase the best part of South Australia, and then auction them off for Childhood Cancer?
“They need something like $1.3 million a year to function and provide their services, so if we could put a dent in that, it’d be bloody brilliant.”
Chosen subjects also included Port Lincoln’s tuna industry.(Supplied: Phil Hodgson and Mark Lobert)
Soderstrom admits he is not “arty” himself — but he is impressed by the power of art not only to raise funds but to provide respite.
Through CCA, he struck up a friendship with Lobert.
Their work has put them in contact with some harrowing stories.
Three-time AFLW premiership player and two-time premiership co-captain Chelsea Randall.(Supplied: Phil Hodgson and Mark Lobert)
Soderstrom recalled the case of Jaxon, “an unbelievably brave little boy” who was undergoing palliative care at the Women’s and Children’s Hospital.
“He was in the fight of his life, and his parents called him Iron Man because he was so strong,” Soderstrom said.
Soderstrom asked Lobert to paint a picture of the superhero for Jaxon, to go over his hospital bed.
“Every time he woke up, with the time he had left, all he could see was Iron Man.”
Easing the burden on children like Jaxon is at the heart of the Spirit of SA.
“Our father passed away with cancer,” Lobert said.
“So whenever I hear of any [fundraiser] that’s to do with cancer, it’s always going to be a ‘yes’.
“I love to be able to give.”
Assistant Leandra McKay and artist Mark Lobert at Lobert’s studio, where he has been working on a painting of CCA mascot Elliot.(ABC Radio Adelaide: Daniel Keane)
