STOLEN PAINTING

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 20033, 4 September 1939, Page 14

STOLEN PAINTING

PARIS DEVELOPMENT SELF-STYLED THIEF SURRENDER TO POLICE LONDON, Aug. 18. A poor Russian painter, Serge David Boguslavsky, walked into the (Law Courts to-day and declared that he was the. man who stole Watteau’s painting “L’indiffereut,” valued at £23,000, from the Louvre Gallery in broad daylight one day last June, says a message from Paris. Before Boguslavsky arrived at the Palais de Justice, anonymous telephone calls had warned the newspapers that something sensational was about to happen there. After waiting for two hours, a crowd of reporters and photographers saw four leading lawyers approaching, accompanied by a man carrying a parcel. One of the 'lawyers announced that Boguslavsky had stolen “L’lndifferent’’ and was returning it. There were shouts of surprise. 'Flashlights flared. 'Cameras clicked. Boguslavsky smiled proudly. He made a long statement. “Frame in Bad Taste” “I have always been.revolted at the way in which masterpieces 'have been handled on the pretext of being restored,” said Boguslavsky. “I visited the picture day after day, always detaching a little of the supporting wire. Then, on June 11, I unhooked it and walked out after wrapping it in an evening pbiper. “I broke the original ' (frame and burned it because it was in singularly, bad taste. I restored the painting, erasing the Diaibolo. It is for/the love of art 'that I have acted. As for going to prison, it is to me a matter of — indifference.”

. Boguslavsky, who sleeps on a carpet in an attic, said 'he had studied restoration and had written a book on the subject. An examination by experts suggests that (Boguslavsky was correct when he declared that the Diabolo was not painted iby 'Watteau, but was inserted by an alien hand. Dojibt as to Authenticity ’Boguslavsky, who was charged with theft, w'as sent to the .Sante prison, , Doubt has been raised as to whether, after all, the Louvre has recovered the original 'Watteau masterpiece,, or whether it has been altered or whether a copy has been substituted. The experts are divided on the authenticity of the picture which the self-styled thief handed over. The correspondent of the Daily Telegraph in Baris says that most of the experts, including the Louvre’s curator, iM. Carle Dreyfus, regard the painting a's the authentic “L’lndifferent,” but others are sceptical. Accused Never Studied Art A decision will be made 'by the Ministry of Fine Aids. Art circles are indignant at Boguslavsky’s allegation of slipshod “restorations” of paintings and demand that he (be given the maximum sentence of five years. The man’s parents declare that he never studied art and is only a secondrate painter. They are not interested ip his escapade or in the consequences to him. The police are seeking a woman with whom a man resembling (Boguslavsky was seen at 'the time of the theft.

A judge has appointed two doctors to determine Boguslavsky’s mental condition, ’ .Boguslavsky’s lawyers said the order, was an insult to a man who had acted from ’the highest motives of art.