Police have recovered a pair of Gottfried Lindauer paintings stolen in a burglary five years ago. Photo / NZ Police
Police have recovered a pair of Gottfried Lindauer paintings stolen in a burglary five years ago. Photo / NZ Police
Repairing two stolen Lindauer paintings could take months and cost “thousands and thousands of dollars” according to a leading art conservator.
The paintings, dramatically ripped from a Parnell, Auckland art gallery window in a 2017 ram raid, were yesterday reported recovered by police. No charges have been laid and the artworks’ whereabouts for the past five years is unknown.
At the time of the burglary, Gottfried Lindaur’s Chief and Chieftainess Ngatai-Raure were on display at the International Art Centre and scheduled for auction with a combined value of almost $1m.
Auckland City CIB detective inspector Scott Beard said police had been contacted by an intermediary, who sought to return the paintings “on behalf of others”. DNA and fingerprint testing had been carried out and forensics results were pending. He said minor damage to the paintings - which were still in their frames - was believed to have occurred during the burglary.
The Herald has previously been told there was an insurance pay-out after the burglary. The paintings’ owners have never been identified and Beard said while they didn’t want a fanfare about the paintings’ return, “I know they are happy, I could see from the smile on their faces. They are grateful ... Usually I’m standing here about death and tragedy but this is a good news story”.
The International Art Centre in Parnell, Auckland, after the ram raid where two Lindauer paintings were stolen. Photo / File
The immediate fate of the paintings is unknown. Richard Thomson, International Art Centre director, said he understood they would be examined by an art conservator.
Meanwhile, Sarah Hillary, principal conservator at Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, confirmed to the New Zealand Herald she had twice previously inspected the stolen Lindauers - once in 2008 when they were brought into Auckland Art Gallery for conservation treatment, and again in 2014.
“So that’s really useful - we have condition reports ... [back then] they were looking good. Particularly the woman had had a few repairs before - just a few tiny ones. Anybody who was just looking at them would think they looked perfect.”
Based on the post-burglary photographs she’d seen online, the paintings “do look pretty scratched up and there are a few tears and holes ...fortunately, they are not completely ruined”.
In 1998, when a James Tissot painting was very badly damaged in an Auckland Art Gallery burglary, Hillary spent two years on its conservation, and insurers paid a reported $140,000 for the work.
“You can’t necessarily work on it full time, you need to work on it when the light’s right, when you’re in the right headspace. You might need to leave something to dry ... it’s quite intense. In conservation, taking your time will have the best outcome.”
Sarah Hillary, principal conservator at Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, has twice previously examined the recovered Lindauer paintings. Photo / Doug Sherring
Hillary said conservation of the recovered Lindauer works would be challenging because of the artist’s painting techniques.
“One of the problems with Lindauer works is they are actually really thinly painted. And these works are painted on a twill-weave canvas. Diagonal, like a denim weave. That pattern is quite distinctive and you can generally see it over most of the painting’s surface. If there is any disruption in that when you do a repair it is much more noticeable.
“The most important thing is to allow as much time as possible - I think months would be required - and I think it would be an expensive process.”
Thousands and thousands of dollars? “Absolutely. Definitely, if you want a good job.”
Conservators were bound by a code of ethics that required their work to be detectable and, if necessary, reversible, said Hillary.
“I’m sure that nobody would want to purchase a painting that’s been completely repainted by a restorer - you really want to know, what has the artist done? You’d want to know this is actually by the hand of Lindaur ... it’s that idea that you’re really looking at the artwork, not the restorer’s work.
“When we did a lot of private work through the gallery, we often came across works that had been really ruined by bad conservation. It’s like someone doing a really bad job on your car. You get all that bog on the outside and I suppose you can sand it down. But we can’t sand paintings down.”
Hillary described the recovery of the paintings after five years as “wonderful news” and said the fact that they’d apparently been stored in their frames was a good thing.
“With the Tissot, it was cut around the edges and they tried to roll it up and basically the paint just started falling off. That would have happened with these as well.”
Detective Inspector Scott Beard fronts a media conference about the return of two stolen Lindauer paintings. Photo / Dean Purcell
While the original investigation into the Lindaur burglary was wound down some years ago, police confirmed they would follow up any new information or forensics investigation results.
“Loyalties change over time and there may be people out there that know those responsible for the burglary,” said detective inspector Scott Beard.
There was no statutory limit for the offence of burglary.
“No matter how much time passes we remain open to the fact we can hold a person, or people, to account for the burglary in 2017,” Beard said.
People can contact police via the 105 phone service or online (reference file number 170401/6755) or anonymously through Crime Stoppers on 0800 555 111.
