Happy Halloween:The Phantom of the Opera (1925)

Frankenstein (1910)

I posted this earlier in the year but thought I would re-post it for Halloween. I love the birth of the monster scene.

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1920)

Here we have the classic movie from 1920 Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.

Nosferatu (1922)

Here we have the 1922 classic Nosferatu for a Halloween weekend.

The Miracle of Fatima 1917

Campaign to Preserve Mamilla Cemetery

Over the past few years a travesty continues with the excavations of Jerusalem's Muslim Mamilla cemetery which part of is being dug up to build a "Museum of Tolerance" by the Simon Wiesenthal Center. Archaeologists from around the world are protesting this hypocracy of tolerance and the destruction of a 1400 year old Muslim cemetery.

The following link is a most recent update to the Campaign to preserve Mamilla cemetery.

The Murder of Vincent Van Gogh

A recent publication has put forward the idea that the gunshot wound which killed Vincent Van Gogh was not an act of suicide as Van Gogh claimed on his deathbed but the work of local bullies who had been harassing the mentally fragile artist who appears to have been suicidal or at least did not want to live anymore.

In a 1956 interview a guilt ridden man confessed that he and his brother had mercilessly tormented Van Gogh and that a gun was obtained from the owner of the inn where Van Gogh was staying but the tormentor claims Van Gogh stole it from him.

At the age of 37 Vincent Van Gogh died on July 29, 1890, thirty hours later. The authors of the book believe that Van Gogh covered up for the two boys because they had done him a favour by killing him so that he did not have to kill himself.

In our modern society this phenomena exists in an act known as "death by cop" where a suicidal person commits a crime with the intention of a police officer killing them. Whether Van Gogh was murdered or died at his own hands may be unanswerable.

Turkey Seeks Return of Knidos Lion

Turkish officials are creating a campaign for the repatriation of a statue of Demeter and the famous six ton marble Knidos lion which is believed was erected in 394 bce to celebrate a military victory.

In 1859 the lion was discovered by Richard Pullen  a member of Sir Charles Newton's expedition to Asia minor. Sir Newton asked the Ottoman government for the statues and was given permission to take them away and so the statues were brought back to England on a war ship.

Today they reside in The British Museum, the Knidos lion greats the visitors at the entrance to the museum. Turkish officials admit Sir Newton was given permission but are running a campaign to get the public to shame The British Museum to give the statues back.

Good luck to them with that!

Image: Tango22

The Coral Island Theft

Here we have Pablo Picasso's 1938 portrait of his lover Dora Maar which Picasso kept in his own collection and though he dated the painting he never signed it. In port in the Antibe,s on the french Riviera she was stolen from the 75m yacht called "Coral Island" that she was on during maintenance on the Yacht. 

The painting was protected by a special alarm but was removed from this alarm and placed in a room on the yacht with a Matisse hanging near by still protected by it's alarm and as a result not stolen. The art and artifacts on board the yacht were being packed up to be put into a vault while the yacht was refurbished.

The painting was last seen on March 6, 1999 by the art packer when he came back on March 11 to gather objects to be sent to the vault the painting was gone. To the Arab owner of the Yacht the paintings value is pocket change though a half million pound reward is offered for it's return.

Online Picasso Project

Weary Heracles

 The return of the upper half of the statue known as "Weary Heracles" to Turkey by Boston's Museum of Fine Arts has allowed it to be joined with what some wish to believe is it's lower half discovered in 1980. I do not know but the awful picture does not look right to me.

The Gardner's Stolen Manet

Here we have Edouard Manet's work" Chez Tortino" painted between 1878-1880 and yet sadly another of the paintings stolen from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum on March 18, 1990. A pair of thieves dressed up as Boston police officers entered the museum stealing thirteen works of art including works by Vermeer, Rembrandt and this Manet.

There is a 5 million dollar reward for the return of the art. If you have any information please contact:

Director of security Anthony Amore 617-278-5114, aamore@isgm.org