Christie's tightlipped about stolen paintings
Christie's tightlipped about stolen paintings
JAKARTA (JP): Christie's International Singapore Pte. Ltd.
says no officials from Indonesia or Singapore have contacted the
auction house about the two Indonesian paintings reportedly
stolen from the National Museum here.
"No one has approached us so far," Billie, secretary to
Christie's Singapore general manager Irene Lee, told The Jakarta
Post over the phone.
The statement contradicts recent remarks made by Indonesian
police officers to the effect that Jakarta has started working to
get back the paintings, which were hastily withdrawn by
Christie's from its Oct. 6 auction in Singapore.
Speaking to reporters on Sunday in Batam Island in Riau
province, close to Singapore, National Police Chief Lt. Gen.
Dibyo Widodo said that the Indonesian police have asked the
Singaporean police, through Interpol, to help investigate the
stolen paintings and trace the perpetrators.
Late last week, Indonesian art curators and relatives of the
famous portrait master R. Basoeki Abdullah called on Christie's
to return the paintings.
They also wanted the Indonesian government to take immediate
action through diplomatic channels to get back the paintings.
Billie refused to say what happened to the two paintings and
the identity of their owners.
The paintings are A Nude, completed in 1992, by Basoeki
Abdullah and Portrait of a Dutch Governor Wearing the Willems
Order, completed in 1867, by Raden Sarief Bustaman Saleh, better
known as Raden Saleh.
They are said to be among six works by Indonesian artists
allegedly stolen here recently.
Christie's announced the abrupt withdrawal of the paintings on
Friday, following reports from Jakarta newspapers about the
theft.
Lawyer
Despite the clamor to return the paintings to Jakarta, many
experts have expressed pessimism due to the strict rules of
privilege at Christie's.
"It's not easy to get back the paintings because Christie's
has to protect the identity of its clients," said art curator Jim
Supangkat.
However, lawyer Amir Syamsuddin said "there's no reason for
anyone, including Christie's, to hide the identities of anyone
who is strongly believed to have be involved in a crime."
"Thus our government, through our embassy there, must soon
submit a report to the Singaporean authorities," Amir told the
Post last night.
Indonesia could hire a local lawyer to try for a "temporary"
confiscation of the paintings, said the lawyer.
"It does need extra money to do this but the government has to
take this case seriously, to preserve our national assets," Amir
said.
"Correspondence will gain us nothing," he said.
The confiscation of the paintings could help the local police
to find the owner, which in turn would lead to the whereabouts of
the other four paintings.
In another related development yesterday, police chief Dibyo
speculated that the perpetrators were professional criminals.
Police have started to question a number of staffers of the
museum.
Minister of Education and Culture Wardiman Djojonegoro said
Monday that the theft also involved some insiders. (bsr)