More on the Goudstikker case

For the moment, they are still on the walls or in the vaults. The Rembrandts, Van Dycks, Ruysdaels and Cranachs continue to draw visitors to Holland's greatest museums and galleries.

But not for much longer. Under a landmark ruling by the Dutch government, more than 200 pieces, including scores of major masterpieces tracked down by a team of top art detectives, will be stripped from cultural institutions and returned to the family of Jacques Goudstikker, a Jewish collector and dealer who died during the Second World War.

What is especially interesting is the broader story of what happened in the occupied Netherlands:

A new book claiming Dutch people had known about mass deportation and extermination of Jews has provoked a bitter controversy. 'There was some resistance [to the German occupation] of course, and many can be justly proud of what they did,' said Ies Vuysje, the author. 'But most people just got on with their lives and did nothing, despite knowing what was going on.'

This article, in the Observer, also notes the shameful treatment of Goudstikker's widow by the postwar Dutch government, and similar treatment of returning Jews not allowed back into their own houses -- as well as the fact that the death rate of Jews in occupied Holland was one of the highest in Europe, around 90%.

Lantern slides

Over breakfast this weekend, the conversation turned to what Mom and Dad watched in school back before videos, which in turn led to an explanation of fimstrips (more here and here) -- upon reflection, a medium close enough to Victorian magic lantern shows to make this Dad feel thoroughly antique.

Which may serve as an introduction to the subject of the old fashioned glass lantern slides that art historians have relied upon for decades, and which many institutions have been dumping in recent years as obsolete.

Now some lantern slides were shot from books, or are nth generation copies of decidedly substandard quality. A not insignificant number, however, are high quality medium-format photographs, either originals or direct copies -- with resolution that puts the best 35mm slides (let alone most digital files) to shame -- many depicting things and places no longer extant or drastically changed. So even when old glass slide collections are copied onto 35mm or digitized before being disposed of, there is inevitably significant loss of resolution -- not to mention archival integrity.

Though I cannot provide a link at the moment, I understand there is now a Berlin-based effort promoting preservation of lantern slides. High time, it would appear, since all my online searches on the topic lead to one program after another of digitization, with little mention of what is being done with the originals after they have been scanned. And I wonder if this may end up being yet another case where we will end up discarding in haste and regretting at leisure. Will Smith College's recycling of its art history lantern slides into votive candleholders -- sold through its museum, no less -- at some future date be held up as a parallel to a previous generation's recycling of damaged and fragmentary late medieval antiphonal leaves into lampshades?

Red lights in Providence

Why are our insurance rates so high? And are the complaints about Rhode Island drivers really justified? Looks like we are getting red light cameras, and they have a story to tell:

When Affiliated Computer Services, the company that installs and monitors the cameras, was testing the system, [Providence Mayor] Cicilline said, its employees were thunderstruck . . .

". . . They reported back that they had not been in a city that had this many violations," Cicilline said. "I think that anyone who has been through some of the intersections in this city would not be surprised."

Full article here -- or you can just walk around town and watch (but be sure to look both ways before crossing).

Walking on water

Hey, if lizards can do it, why not robots?