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Ancient Rome gets a modern building for Ara Pacis

The Ara Pacis (Altar of Peace) is one of the greatest ancient Roman monuments to survive because it left an enduring impression about the deeds of Rome's first Emperor, Augustus. Augustus is remembered through propaganda like this as having brought peace, prosperity, a renewed interest in Roman religion, and a return to Roman moral virtues. Commissioned by the Roman Senate, it commemorates Augustus through a series of relief panels including a continuous freize showing Augustus and his family walking in a religious procession. This week, a new Ara Pacis museum opened to controversy as the first modern building since the 1930's erected in the ancient city's center. A dozen protesters decried it as an "eyesore". Others will certainly proclaim it as a much needed "protector" of this ancient treasure.

Link: Ancient Rome gets a modern building .

Statue replicas and a poster of Augustus at eMuseumStore.com.

British art theft reported at $142M

The thieves are at it again making off with the largest art heist in British history. In February, thieves stole over 100 museum quality artifacts valued at $142M from a 17th century house, Ramsbury Manor, owned by Harry Hyams. Mr. Hyams, 78, is ranked as 204th in the 2006 Times newspaper survey of Britain's richest people. He amassed his wealth from an immense real estate fortune.

Link: British art theft reported at $142M.

Also, for updates about Art Loss and Art Theft or to report a theft, visit: Art Loss Register.

Five Rare Klimt Paintings on Display at LACMA

The Los Angeles County Museum of Art currently has a rare show of five Gustav Klimt paintings including the mega star Adele Bloch-Bauer I, 1907 estimated value of $120 million. (Photo insert: Adele Bloch-Bauer I, 1907, Oil, silver, and gold on canvas, 55 1/8 x 55 1/8 in. (140 x 140 cm), Estate of Ferdinand Bloch-Bauer, Photo © 2006 Museum Associates/LACMA). The paintings have been returned to Maria Altmann and other heirs of the Jewish family -- after a seven year legal battle -- who had owned the paintings before the Nazis took over Austria in 1938. The Austrian government had hoped to buy the back the paintings but couldn't afford the $300 million value of these important Viennese Secession art works.

One Los Angeles Times Critic comments on the rarity of having this collection here in Los Angeles: "Luck, according to the Roman dramatist Seneca, is what happens when preparation meets opportunity. If so, Los Angeles is the luckiest city in the world for Modern art right now. Preparation just met opportunity, and the stunning result is Gustav Klimt: Five Paintings From the Collection of Ferdinand and Adele Bloch-Bauer, which opened this week to a jostling media throng at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art ... As a group their power radiates outward, like ripples from a stone dropped into the pond of Modern art. At the center is the singular 1907 tour de force, Adele Bloch-Bauer I, among the greatest early Modern paintings now in the U.S. For LACMA it ranks as a destination work — the kind one travels just to see — comparable to Pablo Picasso's Les Demoiselles d'Avignon at New York's Museum of Modern Art ... " Christopher Knight, The Los Angeles Times

Links:
1) View Art replicas with Gustav Klimt images such as The Kiss at eMuseumStore.com
2) Read more about Gustav Klimt's life: Talaria Enterprises Teach Newsletter
3) "Stolen Klimt paintings sent to California: Austria releases master works looted by Nazis in World War II." MSNBC.com on the Web 15 March 2006. 15 March 2006 http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11840343/
4)LACMA Gustav Klimt Show: "Five Paintings from the Collection of Ferdinand and Adele Bloch-Bauer". View the Klimt show