FBI tracing owners of huge art hoard

The FBI are attempting to track down the rightful owners of 137 works of art, discovered in a New York apartment, which are thought to have been stolen in the 1960s and 70s.

The artworks were found in the Upper East Side apartment of an occasional art writer and genealogist known as William M.V. Kingsland, after he died in March 2006, aged 62, without leaving a will.

His collection of around 300 sketches, paintings and sculptures, including works by Picasso, Giacometti, Morandi and Redon, was then handed to Stair Galleries and Christie's to sell.

But over the past 18 months a complicated story of theft and double identities has emerged, after a gallery owner bought a portrait of the Second Earl of Bessborough by John Singleton Copley for $85,000 (£42,000) from Stair Galleries only to discover that it had been stolen from Harvard University in 1971.

Christie's discovered through their research into the provenance of other works that they too had been reported stolen in the 1960s and 70s.

The FBI's art crime unit then investigated and revealed more stolen works, including a bust by Giacometti, thought to be worth around $1m, which Kingsland used as a doorstop. The sale of a still-life by Giorgio Morandi in London for $600,000 was also halted after it was found to be stolen.

Ironically, two sketches by Picasso, worth around $30,000 apiece, were stolen by removal workers whilst being transported from Kingsland's apartment to Christie's. When recovered, it was discovered that they had already been stolen - from a New York gallery in 1967.

The FBI have now identified 20 stolen works and suspect that, amongst the 137 with shady provenance, there could be many more.

Kingsland was well known within New York society and art circles, but never invited people to his Manhattan apartment, preferring to tell them that he lived on Fifth Avenue. He was actually born Melvyn Kohn, the son of Jewish refugees from Europe who lived in the Bronx, but he changed his name at the age of 17 to something more "literary sounding".

There are pictures of all the works thought to be stolen on the FBI website at www.fbi.gov/page2/august08/arttheft_081108.html or contact Agent Wynne on Tel: +1 718 286 7302 or email: James.Wynne@ic.fbi.gov

FBI追踪大批艺术藏品的主人

FBI正试图追踪出137件艺术品的合法主人，这些艺术品发现于纽约的一间公寓，并被认为是在20世纪60及70年代遭窃的。
在一个叫做William M.V. Kingsland的兼职艺术作家及系谱学家于2006年3月去世后，这一批艺术品在他位于东上区的公寓内被发现，Kingsland享年62岁，没有留下任何遗嘱。
他的藏品包括大约300幅素描、油画和雕塑，其中含有Picasso、Giacometti、Morandi和 Redon的作品，他们被移交至Stair美术馆和Christie's拍卖行以待出售。
但是，在过去18个多月里，出现了一个有关盗窃和双重身份的复杂故事。这发生在一个画廊主以8万5千美元（4万2千英镑）的价格从Stair美术馆购买到John Singleton Copley的Bessborough伯爵二世的肖像之后，他仅仅是想探明这幅画是在1971年从哈佛大学偷走的。
Christie's 通过调查其他作品的出处后发现，它们同样在20世纪60及70年代被报告失窃。
其后，FBI艺术品犯罪小组调查证实了更多的被盗作品，这包括Giacometti创作的一个半身塑像，其价值预计1百万美元左右，而Kingsland曾把它用作门挡。Giorgio Morandi的一幅静物画在伦敦被卖出60万美元，但该售卖应其被发现是盗窃品而终止了。
具有讽刺意味的是，Picasso的两幅素描（每幅大约值3万美元），是在由Kingsland的公寓转移至Christie's 的途中被搬运工偷走的。当它们被重新找到时，又被发现是在1967自纽约美术馆遭盗的。
FBI现已确定了20件被盗作品，同时怀疑，在那137件出处可疑的艺术品中，会有更多的被盗品。
在纽约社会和艺术圈里，Kingsland是很出名的，但他从未邀请人们去过他位于Manhattan的公寓，而他更愿意告诉他人自己住在第五大道。实际上，他出生时叫做Melvyn Kohn，是一个住在Bronx的来自欧洲的犹太难民的儿子，但他在17岁为了追求"更具文艺气质的发音"而改了名。
FBI网站上有所有被认为是盗窃品的作品照片，
见www.fbi.gov/page2/august08/arttheft_081108.html；也可以通过电话联系Wynne中介：+1 718 286 7302 或者通过email: James.Wynne@ic.fbi.gov。

• apartment [ə´pɑ:tmənt] n.一套房间 (初中英语单词)
• stolen [´stəulən] steal 的过去分词 (初中英语单词)
• occasional [ə´keiʒənəl] a.偶然的；临时的 (初中英语单词)
• writer [´raitə] n.作者；作家 (初中英语单词)
• collection [kə´lekʃən] n.收集；征收；募捐 (初中英语单词)
• complicated [´kɔmplikeitid] a.结构复杂的；难懂的 (初中英语单词)
• gallery [´gæləri] n.画廊；美术馆；长廊 (初中英语单词)
• research [ri´sə:tʃ] n.&vi.调查；探究；研究 (初中英语单词)
• suspect [´sʌspekt, sə´spekt] v.怀疑；觉得 n.嫌疑犯 (初中英语单词)
• actually [´æktʃuəli] ad.事实上；实际上 (初中英语单词)
• contact [´kɔntækt] n.接触；联系 v.联络 (初中英语单词)
• portrait [´pɔ:trit] n.肖像；相片；雕像 (高中英语单词)
• harvard [´hɑ:vəd] n.哈佛大学 (高中英语单词)
• removal [ri´mu:vəl] a.可移动的；可去除的 (高中英语单词)
• whilst [wailst] conj.当...时候；虽然 (高中英语单词)
• amongst [ə´mʌŋst] prep.其中之一 =among (高中英语单词)
• jewish [´dʒu:iʃ] a.犹太人(似)的 (高中英语单词)
• apiece [ə´pi:s] ad.每个，每件，每人 (英语四级单词)
• manhattan [mæn´hætən] n.曼哈顿 (英语四级单词)
• rightful [´raitfəl] a.正义的；合法的 (英语六级单词)