The great paint robbers escape
CONFUSION SURROUNDSS the lengthy investigation into the Millennium theft of the Cezanne painting Auvers-sur-Oise from the Ashmolean Museum. The nature of the theft, the relations between the Oxford Police and the Ashmolean, as well as the relative value of the painting are all under question.
Oxfordshire Police spokesman Duncan McGraw has expressed the view that the painting was stolen to order an opinion shared by the editor of Art Review, who suggested that it would have been selected to fill a gap in a private collection. But Alexandra Smith from the Art Loss Register felt strongly that such assumptions could not be made. "We never have any proof that paintings are stolen to order and if that is indeed the case, then they never surface again," she said. She also stressed that the theft took place on New Year's Eve and felt that the possible effect of the Millennium Bug on the Ashmolean's security system should not be ignored. She also linked the smoke bombs used during the theft to the film The Thomas Crown Affair, in which the security system is foiled by a similar technique.
Although the painting is undoubtedly valuable to many - its worth is estimated at £3 million - there seems to be disagreement concerning its particular significance within Cezanne's works .A spokesperson from the Ashmolean Press Office said it was a "very exciting piece" which marked a breakthrough in the artist's work, as he abandoned his previous conventional style for experimentation with the new idea of flat perspective. But Ms Smith referred to the painting as a "mere sketch" and pointed out that its value is relatively low compared with the rest of the paintings, which are valued at £18-£25 million.
Further conflict was revealed when the Ashmolean's spokesperson revealed that the museum had not heard anything from the police "for a while." She was unaware whether the investigation had in fact been closed. McGraw contested this, saying that the police and the museum had been in constant contact and that the police representatives had kept the museum aware of any developments.
All those concerned with the incident remain positive and feel that hope is not yet lost. "We have worked extremely hard in trying to trace this painting," said McGraw. "So far we have had little success in tracing it, but this is despite lots of hard work and we do believe that the painting will be found." Smith agreed, saying that it "has a great chance of being recovered," but pointed out that if it had fallen into the hands of a private collector then the mystery might not be solved until that person's death brought it to light.
27th Apr 2000