Prosecutors have arrested a top official in Egypt's culture ministry and some museum security guards pending an investigation into the theft of a van Gogh painting over the weekend, Reuters reported.
Savvy collectors of the ARTKABINETT social network may recall that this painting has gone missing before from the same museum!
The painting, a depiction of a vase filled with yellow poppies, known as "Poppy Flowers" or "Vase and Flowers" and valued at more thanr $50 million, remains missing after it was stolen Saturday from the Mohamed Mahmoud Khalil Museum in Giza, where none of the alarms and only some of the security cameras were working at the time.
Egypt's minister of culture, Farouk Hosni, retracted an announcement that the painting was recovered at the Cairo airport, saying the announcement was based on faulty information.
{In 1987, Hosny was appointed the Minister of Culture in Egypt from his position in Rome. During his tenure, he expanded state-run exhibition spaces and initiated various cultural programs, including the Horizon One Gallery, the Palace of Arts, Gezira Arts Center, Alexandria Center of Arts, the Modern Dance Troupe and School, the Cairo History Rehabilitation Project (which included a number of Jewish synagogue the Nubian Museum in Aswan and the Alexandria National Museum (under construction are the Grand Egyptian Museum and the National Museum of Civilisation in Fustat) and the Cultural Development Fund.
In 2005, Hosny (seen here) tendered his resignation to President Hosni Mubarak in the wake of the Beni Suef Cultural Palace fire, in which 48 spectators were killed and more injured.
Mubarak rejected Hosny's resignation, in response to the pleas of some 400 high-profile intellectuals.}
On Monday Mohsen Shalaan, a deputy culture minister who heads the departmentís fine arts division, was detained, and he and the guards were accused of "negligence and failing to carry out their employment duties," according to the Egyptian state news agency, though no formal charges have been filed.
Reuters said nine other officials from the culture ministry had been prevented from traveling while the investigation continues.
In an interview Monday with Agence France-Presse, Mr. Hosni said: "The search is ongoing. We still haven't found the painting."
He added that Interpol and the police at Egyptís borders and airports had been alerted to the theft. ìThe robber will not be able to sell the painting,î Mr. Hosni said.
Mohamed Mahmoud Khalil was one of the public figures who significantly affected the fine arts movement during the second quarter of the 20 th century. He was born in 1877 and died in 1953.
In 1901, he went to France to study the Law at the Sorbone university. In 1903, he married Ms. Emiline Lock, who was studying music in Paris's Conservatory. She shared his interests in fine arts, especially painting. In 1937, he supervised the Egyptian pavilion in the International Exhibition of Paris. From 1938-1940, he was the chairman of the Egyptian Senate Council. Mr. Khalil and Prince Youssef Kamal co-established the Society of Fine
Arts Lovers, and Mr. Khalil became the chairman of the society from 1942 to 1952. In 1960 , his wife died after donating the palace and its contents of masterpieces and rare artifacts to the State to become a museum, carrying the name of Mahmoud Mohamed Khalil and his wife
Mohamed Mahmoud Khalil's palace (seen here) was constructed in Giza around 1920, on the French style (Ardico), which was well known in France at that time.
The eastern side of the palace, overlooking the Nile, carries some features of the (Arnoveau) Style that appeared in France in 1875, as evident from the metal and glass skeleton above the entrance of the palace.
The surface area of the palace is 1400 squared meters, and the palace has four levels. The palace was inaugurated for the first time as a museum on July 23rd,1962. The museum was moved to the Prince Amr Ibrahimís palace in Zamalek, Cairo, in July 1971. After remodeling, the museum was moved back to Mr. Khalilís palac
courtesy,Dave Itzkoff, New York Times and other sources
