When I Steal My Masterpiece, or, Dublin: the home of the discerning art thief
Tiernan Henry
appear that there is a new target for Irish art thieves. From today's Irish
Times:
Dylan portrait taken in gallery raid
By Sorcha Crowley
A "true once-off" portrait of Bob Dylan by the Irish artist William
Mulhallwas stolen from a Dublin art gallery yesterday.
Thieves smashed the front window of the Apollo Gallery in the city centre in
the early hours of yesterday, seizing one object only, a portrait of Dylan
painted on a large ceramic plate.
The theft left gallery employees puzzled as nearby paintings by artists
suchas Louis Le Brocquy and Ronnie Wood worth large sums were untouched.
"When you're attracted to a piece of art, it's what speaks to you
personally," said a gallery representative. "The thieves' own personal taste
came to the fore here, otherwise they would have stolen a Le Brocquy," he
told The Irish Times.
Mr Mulhall was obviously very upset. "An artist's main fear is that their
work is damaged. They're terrified when works of art are stolen," he said.
The heavy handthrown earthenware plate is 24 inches in diameter and was
specially created by a ceramicist, Tim Goodman, in a collaboration with
MrMulhall. It is believed to be worth EUR1,500.
It had previously been in the back of the gallery but two months ago had
been moved into the front window. The gallery is now reviewing security.
The portrait forms part of a series of Dylan called Access All Areas. The
singer-songwriter invited Mr Mulhall to do a variety of paintings in
celebration of his 60th birthday last year. Mr Mulhall was also on tour with
Dylan and was backstage at the concert in Nolan Park in Kilkenny last year.
_________________________________________________________________
STOP MORE SPAM with the new MSN 8 and get 2 months FREE*
http://join.msn.com/?page=features/junkmail