Jailed for Stealing

Handyman Jailed for Stealing $623,000 in Paintings from Alan Davie

Jackson Pollock and Mark Rothko were great fans of the British artist, who died in 2014.

A man who was hired to wash windows for the late Scottish artist Alan Davie has been jailed for stealing £500,000 (about $623,000) worth of artwork from the artist’s home following his 2014 death.
Daniel Pressland, 42, from Billericay, Essex in the UK, had been Davie’s regular window washer since 2002. He stood accused of having burglarized the artist’s Hertford home several times in the months after he died, nicking a total of 31 paintings in the process. Only nine of the missing works have been recovered thus far.
Recommended Reading

Picasso’s Electrician Loses Appeal Over Stashed Artworks

By Lorena Muñoz-Alonso, 
Pressland claimed at a Monday hearing with St Albans Crown Court that he had been given two of the paintings as gifts from Davie, the BBC reported.
The window washer explains that he arrived one day at the artist’s house to find him in the front yard “just in his underpants and looking confused.” He brought Davie inside and helped “tidy up.” Some five or six weeks later, Davie thanked Pressland for his kindness with the gift.
“He said ‘This is for you.’ I appreciate what you did and I would appreciate if we could keep it between ourselves,” Mr Pressland asserts.
Recommended Reading

Antiques Dealer Sent to Jail for Stealing the Cathedral Painting He Fell in Love With

By Sarah Cascone, 
Titled Toothbrush and Message Sticks, the paintings sold at auction for £12,000 ($15,000), according to the BBC. The handyman says he had “no idea” how much the works were worth when he received them.
But Pressland was eventually sent to jail for returning to the artist’s home after his death and stealing more paintings. He reportedly considered using them as skateboard ramps, but a judge assumed more exploitative intentions.
“You happened on an opportunity to get rich quick by stealing from someone who you had been working for for years … You were like a vulture on a carcass and just helping yourself. You acted disgracefully,” said Judge John Plumstead in court.
Recommended Reading

French Museum Worker in Dire Straits Found Guilty of Stealing 666 Fossils

By Amah-Rose Abrams, 
Alan Davie rose to fame in the 1950s and 60s with a career launched by the support of Peggy Guggenheim, but was forgotten by the art world by the 70s, despite keeping up his incessant studio practice until the end of his life.
His work has been shown at the Tate, and had been admired by fellow painters such as Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko, and David Hockney. According to a text by Tate curator Helen Little, Davie “is celebrated for being one of the first British artists after the Second World War to develop an expressive form of abstraction.” He was 93 at the time of his death.
The current case is reminiscent of that of Picasso’s former electrician, in which 271 works were pilfered and then hidden in an electrician’s garage for four decades.

Comments

Post a Comment

Thank you for your response
Kind regards Pierre

Popular posts from this blog

Venice Biennale

Image
The 5 Biggest Controversies in Venice Biennale History The grand exhibition hasn't always covered itself in glory. Henri Neuendorf ,  May 9, 2017 The Grand Canal in Venice. Photo: MIGUEL MEDINA/AFP/Getty Images. The Venice Biennale is the grandest event in the art calendar—an international exhibition designed to compare and contrast world cultures through visual art. Yet the Biennale’s stature has not inoculated it against controversy over the years. The exhibition has suffered several dust-ups in its 114-year history, from vexing grand prize winners to derogatory showcases of “primitive” African art. On the eve of the opening of the 57th edition of the Biennale, we examine the historic festival’s five most contentious controversies. The Icelandic Pavilion at the 2015 Venice Biennale. Photo: alvendia1 via Instagram. Christoph Büchel Turns a Deconsecrated 10th Century Church Into a Mosque (2015) Police in Venice shut down Swi...
Read more

Radical Women

Image
‘Radical Women’ at the Hammer Museum Is the Kind of Show That Art Critics Live For It leaves you wanting more, and asking questions. “ Radical Women: Latin American Art, 1960-1985 ” at the  Hammer Museum  in Los Angeles, is not just a fantastic exhibition. It’s the kind of exhibition that people always  say  we need more of—as regular as a ticking clock—every time the latest selfie-courting contemporary-art spectacular provokes a new spasm of anguish from critics about the decline of the museum. Based on six years of research, “Radical Women” is a serious and scholarly show. And yet at the same time it feels like its own kind of crowd-pleaser. You don’t have to choose between being smart and being popular if you’re telling a story that feels necessary. And “Radical Women” has necessary stories to spare. Installation view of “Radical Women.” Image: Ben Davis. The show brings together 116 female artists hailing from ...
Read more

Up to $31 Million

Image
Sotheby’s Snags Turner Landscape, to Be Offered This Summer for Up to $31 Million If it makes its high estimate, it will be among Turner's top-selling canvases. Sotheby’s London  will test the heights of the market for British art this July with what could be one of the top-selling paintings by  Joseph Mallord William Turner , currently the best-selling British-born artist on the market. Measuring four feet wide,  Ehrenbreitstein  (1835) shows the ruins of the titular fortress, near the German city of Coblenz, and is estimated at £15–25 million ($18.7–31.2 million). If the canvas makes its high estimate, it will rank as the English painter’s fourth-priciest work at auction, according to the  artnet Price Database . Turner’s two highest prices have come in just the last seven years; the artist’s current auction high is $47.6 million, achieved at  Sotheby’s London  in December 2014 with  Rome (from Mount Aventine) , also of 1835; ...
Read more