Tuesday, June 29, 2021

A Picasso and a Mondrian stolen in Athens in 2012 have been recovered.

 


The Headlines
ANOTHER WIN FOR THE GREEK POLICE. Hot on the heels of arresting two on allegations of illegally attempting to sell an ancient Roman sculpture, they have recovered a Picasso portrait and a Mondrian landscape that were stolen almost a decade ago, the Guardian reports. The pieces were plucked from the National Art Gallery in Athens in 2012 in a daring seven-minute heist. The pieces were found in a crypt in the town of East Attica, according to the Washington Post. Back in February, authorities revealed that an investigation had led them to believe that at least the Picasso, titled Head of a Woman, was still in the country. BBC News says that there is a report of an arrest of one man in connection with the case.





Greek police recover two stolen paintings by Picasso and Mondrian

Works by 20th-century masters found nearly a decade after audacious theft at Athens gallery

The recovered Picasso painting, which the artist gifted to the Greek people.
The recovered Picasso painting, which the artist gifted to the Greek people. Photograph: Eurokinissi/Rex/Shutterstock
 in Athens

A Picasso gifted to the Greek people by the artist in honour of their resistance to Nazi rule has been found in a gorge after a builder admitted to stealing the masterpiece and two other artworks in an audacious theft from the National Gallery in Athens nearly a decade ago.

For nine years, Head of a Woman had lain hidden in the home of the self-described art lover alongside Stammer Windmill, a work by the Dutch painter Piet Mondrian, also stolen during the overnight raid on 9 January 2012.

Fearing authorities were about to trace him, the thief transferred the priceless pieces to a warehouse before concealing both in protective wrapping and hiding them in a gorge south-east of the capital in the spring.

Their recovery was greeted with elation in Athens. The National Gallery, Greece’s biggest public collection, only recently reopened after being closed for years for renovation.

The culture minister, Lina Mendoni, described the presentation of the retrieved works as “a special day, [a day of] great joy and emotion”. Pablo Picasso, she said, had personally donated the Cubist painting to the nation in 1949 five years after Hitler’s troops withdrew from the country, inscribing the words “for the Greek people, a tribute. Picasso” on the back of the canvas.

A Greek police officer presents the stolen Mondrian painting at a press conference in Athens
A Greek police officer presents the stolen Mondrian painting at a press conference in Athens on Monday. Photograph: Pantelis Saitas/EPA

“This painting is of particular importance and sentimental value … as it was personally dedicated by the great painter to the Greek people for their fight against fascist and Nazi forces,” she told a news conference. “It would have been impossible to sell.”

Praising Greek police for solving the crime, the country’s citizens’ protection minister, Michalis Chrisohoidis, said it “took a Greek to deprive” the nation of the masterpiece and “Greeks to bring it back”.

The incident had been called the theft of the century, shocking the nation and leaving police astonished by its audacity. The burglary took no more than seven minutes. In that time the paintings were stripped of their frames before being spirited out of the gallery through a smashed balcony door after the alarm system was manipulated to send the sole guard, then on duty, in another direction.

A sketch by the 16th-century Italian artist Guglielmo Caccia, better known as Moncalvo, was also snatched but the arrested builder allegedly told police that after it was damaged in the robbery he decided to discard it in a toilet.

A fourth work, another Mondrian, was similarly targeted but dropped as he fled the scene.

The 2012 break-in occurred at the height of the country’s economic crisis. The gallery’s poor security system and lack of guards were attributed to the punitive austerity measures Athens was forced to implement in return for international loans to keep bankruptcy at bay.

An inquiry subsequently found that the National Gallery’s alarm system had not been upgraded for more than a decade. Several areas of the museum, which hosts more than 20,000 art pieces, were out of range of security cameras.

The theft appeared so well organised that for years authorities had worked on the assumption an experienced gang was behind the crime. The revelation on Tuesday that it had instead been the work of “an art lover” who, according to Skai TV, simply wanted “to possess the pieces”, took many by surprise.

The builder, described by Greek media as a 49-year-old divorcee, allegedly denied having an accomplice, reportedly telling police he had planned the burglary for six months and had even travelled to and from the gallery on the night of the raid by public transport.

During that period he had visited the gallery on an almost daily basis, he claimed, so he could scout it out and watch the movement of the guards “down to when they took cigarette breaks”, according to extracts of his testimony published by news outlets.

“I have a passion for art,” he is reported to have told investigators when brought in for questioning, rejecting suggestions he had wanted to sell the artworks.

Skai TV reported the builder had also told police he regularly travelled to Britain for the sole purpose of going to exhibitions and “seeing art”.

Sakis Kehayioglou, a veteran lawyer acting for the accused, said he had shown “real remorse” for his actions.

“It is an indisputable fact that in the discovery and recovery [of the works] my client played a decisive role,” he said, adding he had cooperated fully with the authorities and ultimately helped them unearth the paintings.

You've read 8 articles in the last year

new clubs or more swing lessons?

 

Should you buy new clubs or get more swing instruction? Here’s what the numbers say

Xander Schauffele hits a tee shot

Even big-hitters like Xander Schauffele know, adding distance off the tee is about striking a balance between gear and instruction.

GETTY IMAGES

I’m not sure I have an opinion on the “chicken or egg” argument, but I am sure I’ve thought about it plenty.

At GOLFTEC, I see golf ’s version of the paradox all the time: Should I buy new clubs or invest in swing instruction? And, if I’m being honest, I’m not sure there’s a right answer to that question, either.

At the highest levels of golf, game improvement is a sliding scale between equipment and instruction. For the pros, some fixes require a swing adjustment, some dictate a gear shift and some require a little of both. Most average golfers think they need to invest their time and money into working only on their swing, without considering their equipment could be holding back gains in their technique. GOLFTEC coaches, myself included, know that game improvement lives in understanding where our students fall in the gray area between these two elements.

Take the example below, where Dan, a GOLFTEC student, saw a radical improvement in his performance after going through a fitting.

Dan’s tweaks paid major dividends, with 8 mph added to ball speed, 1,000 fewer rpm of backspin and a 5-degree improvement in descent angle — oh, and 51 more yards!

GOLFTEC

Even big-hitters like Xander Schauffele know, adding distance off the tee is about striking a balance between gear and instruction.

GETTY IMAGES

I’m not sure I have an opinion on the “chicken or egg” argument, but I am sure I’ve thought about it plenty.

At GOLFTEC, I see golf ’s version of the paradox all the time: Should I buy new clubs or invest in swing instruction? And, if I’m being honest, I’m not sure there’s a right answer to that question, either.

At the highest levels of golf, game improvement is a sliding scale between equipment and instruction. For the pros, some fixes require a swing adjustment, some dictate a gear shift and some require a little of both. Most average golfers think they need to invest their time and money into working only on their swing, without considering their equipment could be holding back gains in their technique. GOLFTEC coaches, myself included, know that game improvement lives in understanding where our students fall in the gray area between these two elements.

Take the example below, where Dan, a GOLFTEC student, saw a radical improvement in his performance after going through a fitting.

Dan’s tweaks paid major dividends, with 8 mph added to ball speed, 1,000 fewer rpm of backspin and a 5-degree improvement in descent angle — oh, and 51 more yards!

GOLFTEC

Check out the colored launch bars from Dan’s gamer. Tour players typically look for 2,000 to 2,500 rpm of spin off the tee—Dan’s normal driver had more than 3,000. His launch angle was usable, but his spin greatly affected his descent angle. His drives struck the ground like a 9-iron, not a driver.




Check out the colored launch bars from Dan’s gamer. Tour players typically look for 2,000 to 2,500 rpm of spin off the tee—Dan’s normal driver had more than 3,000. His launch angle was usable, but his spin greatly affected his descent angle. His drives struck the ground like a 9-iron, not a driver.

Dan’s gamer had 10.5 degrees of loft and a stock stiff shaft. Based on his launch monitor numbers and ball speed, both the loft and shaft were holding back his driving performance. Using Dan’s data, GOLFTEC coach Clint Lackey got to work putting together three custom drivers. Lackey shifted the loft to 9 degrees, tried an extra stiff shaft and used a Callaway Epic Max LS head to help cut down on spin.

The changes resulted in an 8 mph increase in ball speed, 1,000 fewer rpm of backspin and a 5-degree improvement in descent angle. In Dan’s game, that shift equated to 51 (!) yards of additional distance and an average ballflight that traveled close to 20 yards straighter than his previous gamer. And, since Lackey used stock components in building Dan’s new club, the setup came at no additional cost to the manufacturer’s sticker price.

Dan’s improvements, while eye-popping, are far from extraordinary. On average, players gain 18 yards over their old clubs in GOLFTEC driver fittings — to say nothing of overall performance improvements.

Perhaps it’s better to view a fitting as more of a checkup for your golf game than a sick visit. Remember, the point isn’t to get fit for the perfect club every time, it’s to make sure your current equipment isn’t holding you back. As for which part of the gear or instruction argument is going to improve your game? Stop by your nearest GOLFTEC to find out.

All of our market picks are independently selected and curated by the editorial team. If you buy a linked product, GOLF.COM may earn a fee. Pricing may vary.

Swing Evaluation for GOLF.com Readers

Ready to jump in and start your GOLFTEC journey? Fill out this form to book a swing evaluation or club fitting! A local GOLFTEC coach will contact you to discuss your game and goals.
BOOK NOW
Current Time 0:15
Duration 4:51
Loaded23.76%
 

Room for Improvement: Self Assessments

At GOLF.com, we live and breathe golf, but this game still leaves us all perplexed at times, just like you. We sent eight GOLF staffers on a journey for game improvement, in partnership with GOLFTEC and its locations all over the country.

generic profile image
GOLF.COM PHOTOGRAPHER