September 30th, 2008 by Sergio Muñoz Sarmiento in
Free Speech
Score one for Turkey. From last week’s Guardian:
A British artist walked free yesterday after being cleared of insulting Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the Turkish prime minister, by portraying him as a dog in a case seen as a test of Turkey’s tolerance of free speech. A Turkish court acquitted Michael Dickinson of criminal charges despite citing “some insulting elements” in his depiction of Erdogan as a dog attached to a leash in the colours of the US flag. But the court ruled that the artwork was “within the limits of criticism”.
The Fruitlands Museum “has taken a series of steps to improve its bookkeeping procedures and is confident it will successfully weather the $1 million embezzlement scheme that officials allege was carried out for seven years by Peggy Kempton, former deputy director and chief financial officer.”
The museum has filed a lawsuit in Worcester Superior Court against Kempton and her children, Bunker Kempton, Kristen Kempton, and Robert Kempton, all of Hollis, N.H.
The suit alleges that Kempton and her children obtained credit cards in the museum’s name and made personal purchases. It also alleges that Kempton used museum funds to pay for personal credit cards; violated her lease by not paying monthly rent for a museum-owned cottage; used Fruitlands funds to pay for utilities at the cottage; and diverted museum funds to her children. The suit alleges that Kempton concealed the financial charges and payments by falsely adjusting Fruitlands’ financial books and records.
The nonprofit museum has an annual budget of $1.2 million. More from the Boston Globe.
September 25th, 2008 by Sergio Muñoz Sarmiento in
Criminal
The New York Post reports today that a NY judge has ordered Degas’ sculpture, “Dancer Looking at Her Right Foot,” to be returned to retired businessman Norman Alexander. Alexander was reportedly conned out of his dance four years ago.
According to the Post:
Alexander, 80, had just suffered a stroke and was in very ill health when he considered selling off his estimated $10 million art collection back in 2004. At the urging of his financial adviser, he gave the Edgar Degas sculpture to a man named Thomas Doyle III to be authenticated. Within 24 hours, Doyle had sold the sculpture for $225,000.