"Stolen from Gardner Museum: Chez Tortoni;" Fingerprint Ink on card; 1994.
Stolen Manet: Chez Tortoni
“…In Sabba’s version of the stolen painting, the eyes of the gentleman were
large and round and dark. He looked sadder and more contemplative than in
the original. The fingerprint card asked for the arrestee’s name, height,
weight, and social security number, but the spaces were blank except for the
daubed re-creation of the stolen image, which rose above the form’s lines
and boxes, as if it couldn’t be restricted by categorization. But the work
could also be read as an argument that art itself was an illegal act, a way
to transgress and transform, to keep ideas alive through robbery and
rip-offs. Thieves swiped the original-Sabba made a copy.”
–Written by Ulrich Boser in his outstanding new book: The Gardner Heist;
Harpers Collins; 2009; ISBN: 978-0-06-145183-6 .
You may buy this book at local bookstores, on amazon.com,
barnesnadnobles.com or visit this site:
http://www.harpercollins.com/books/9780061772962/The_Gardner_Heist/index.aspx
You may learn more about the author of this book at his website:
http://ulrichboser.com/
"Stolen From Gardner Museum: Rembrandt Self Portrait;" Fingerprint Ink on
Card; 1994.
"Stolen From Gardner Museum: Chinese Ku from the Shang era, 1200 BCE";
Fingerprint ink on card; 1994.
"Salvador Dali': Artist genius and prankster/fraudster;" Fingerprint ink on
card; 1994.
Sabba’s Statement
I am a firm believer that Don Quixote was right and those
confounded windmills were very, very wrong. That being said- I am a cop and
an artist, as well as a self declared bohemian (a race of obstinate
dreamers for whom art has remained a faith and not a profession), who
self consciously practices an internal, secretive bohemianism of thought and
spirit that cannot be detected in my daily life. This duality in my life has
caused a lot of friction and frustration. Indeed, it is hard to imagine the
two lives co-existing. I once thought that one made the other a little less
valid: A cop cannot be an artist and an artist cannot be a cop. I am an
artist living in two opposite worlds: conservative, austere, uptight police
culture, where individualism and creative personality is suppressed; and the
radical, creative art world, where every day is a feast day and uniqueness
and creativity are respected and rewarded. As a cop, the world is black,
white and grey. Imagination must give way to realistic, logical thinking. A
cop must allow himself to be regimented and conform to the conventional
standards that society dictates. An artist gets drunk on color, ideas and
beauty! I’ve learned to fuse life and art in a seamless unity, putting on a
false face while fulfilling my daily police duties, all the while internally
rejecting the limitations of ordinary existence. A sort of “Barresian”
individual who lives and survives within the narrow margins of conventional
society while simultaneously practicing two sets of moral values. It was
Henri Muger who wrote back in the 1840s “…it would suffice for them to make
a few concessions to the stern laws of necessity; for them to know how to
duplicate their being, to have within themselves two natures, the poet ever
dreaming on the lofty summits where the choir of inspired voices are
warbling, and the man, worker- out of his life, able to knead his daily
bread.” Charles Baudelaire stated “The poet enjoys this incomparable
privilege, that he can be at once himself and someone else.” So, fortified
by these heartening words of our poetic ancestors, my artistic soul rests
comfortably while imprisoned in a policeman’s body.
Clarification of my use of the term “Barresian individual” (refer to Roll Call 19 March 2009 for further on Barres and his trial by a Surrealist court). I am not referring to the anti-Semitic viewpoints, or the right wing nationalism of Maurice Barrès.
Barrès was the standard bearer of young, anti-authoritarian rebels and anarchists when Aragon, Breton and Soupault were young. These surrealists praised Barrès’ early writings, but felt a deep sense of betrayal when he changed his philosophical tone.
Barrès, as a close minded far right conservative, still held a dear sentimental love for Bohemia. His tenderness towards Bohemia managed to coexist with his right wing nationalism. This duality in his soul is what is being referred to here.
www.cvsabba.com
www.studio753bc.blogspot.com
"In the dining room of the Salmagundi artist Club in N.Y.
My dear artist friend, Robert "Art Cop" Volpe, sponsored my membership prior
to his passing; this makes the club all the more special for me!
I will be a life long member!"
"Scream; oil paint and duct tape on FBI wanted poster"
Stolen: The Scream; finger print ink on police fingerprint
card done in the artist's prints; Charlie Sabba.
"Wanted: Whitey Bulger (suspected of possessing the
Gardner art works for a short time);
oil, pastel, on FBI wanted card"
"Dali'; pastel on New Scotland Yards art theft detail
wanted poster"
"Vincenzo Peruggia: Stole the Monalisa from the Louvre in
1911;
fingerprint ink on fingerprint card done in the artist's prints"
Jenny Doole
A
project of
McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research
Downing Street
Cambridge
CB2 3ER
In November and December 2005, SVA Sculpture
Building, New York
presented a solo exhibition by Charles Vicent Sabba Jr
Designed as a ‘visual investigation into the global art markets underworld’, it comprised oil paintings, sculptures, video and various mixed media. In the large street-front window space was an installation which recreated an illegal archaeological dig, with a harpy tearing pages out of a history book. Behind the ‘dig’ an oil painting featured another harpy, depicted as a parody of Marion True, and a dragon symbolizing the Italian police. Letters between Marion True and her co-defendant Robert Hecht surrounded the painting. Inside, another installation recreated a crime scene symbolizing the theft of the Euphronios krater and its subsequent sale to the Metropolitan Museum of New York.
"Illicit Dig Installation on 17th Street, Manhattan"
"Illicit Dig Installation on 17th Street, Manhattan"
