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International |
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The Nemesis of the Art World : Michel Van Rijn
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Report by Rachel Le Goff Archaeologists reluctantly thanked him for the restitution of treasures, the Cypriot Greek Orthodox church greeted him as a cultural saviour, but death threats have been issued and he lives in fear for his life. Just what did Michel Van Rijn do to inspire such extremes? "The Lost Treasures of Cyprus" exhibition opened at Haags Gemeentmuseum with 32 frescoes from Antiphonitis and the Kanakariá mosaic of St. Thaddeus on November 8, 1997. Despite all the vitriol aimed at Van Rijn, these precious Cypriot works of art would probably not have been there without him. News broke in October 1997
of an international smuggling ring that for over a decade had been selling
off mosaics, frescoes and byzantine artefacts stripped from the churches
of Turkish occupied Northern Cyprus. Van Rijn was a Dutch art dealer who
by his own admission was also an art smuggler. He knew of the wretched
provenance these works carried but nevertheless traded in them openly with
considerable success.
Perhaps with this episode
in mind Van Rijn took the plunge and presented himself in February 1997
to the honorary consul of Cyprus in The Hague and representative of the
Autocephalous Church of Cyprus for stolen art. Van Rijn told the Cypriots
he would help buy back three mosaics and 44 frescoes for them. To clinch
the deal he brought the missing St. Thaddeus mosaic stolen from the by
then famous Kanakariá cycle to the Cypriot Consulate in Hague on
September 5, 1997 and was paid a first installment. There was no shortage
of wealthy Greek Cypriots willing to help the Orthodox Church fund the
restitution of the mosaics and $500,000 was soon raised. Van Rijn is so
proud of his success in this deal that he has published the hand-written
cheques on his website.
Van Rijn had been dealing in byzantine works of art for a long time and he is viewed as a cog in the wheel which meant the tragic desecration and dispersal of these precious relics. However he was virtually absolved of any guilt the moment he helped bring the works back to Cyprus before turning in his supplier, the Turkish smuggler 60-year-old Aydin Dikman now serving a sentence in prison. Van Rijn collaborated with the police to set up a sting enabling them to videotape Dikman selling the stolen goods. Once the police had Dikman, they were able to retrieve hundreds of stolen treasures that were hoarded in three Munich apartments, ready to be traded off to collectors worldwide. If Van Rijn became enemy number one on the list for Dikman and his associates he also scored a host of enemies among the international ring of dealers and collectors who now lost their source of supply. More smugglers have been arrested since Dikman, the Van Rijn operation has frozen the slick trade in Cypriot antiquities. Needless to say this immediately terminated his own career as an art dealer. Smug in his new role as 'saviour' Van Rijn basked in the limelight posing proudly next to the Cypriot heads of church.
His Beatitude Chrysostomos I, center, Minister of Education Hadjinicolaou, and Michel and Frederique van Rijn view newly returned frescoes and mosaics at the Archiespiscopal Palace in December 1997. There are an entire cast of other dealers who could have supplied the evidence against Dikman but none did. Van Rijn has been criticized particularly by archaeologists (who spend their entire lives working for peanuts and resisting a thousand opportunities to benefit financially from their finds), for the fact he profited from the operation. If his motives were truly noble they claim, why did he need to make a profit? The Cypriots are not happy either as after the sting, it eventuated that Van Rijn would not agree to give evidence in court against Dikman. Van Rijn is now boasting that he has had "the last laugh" at the expense of the Cypriots and that one of the mosaics he resold to them showing The Holy Andreas is a fake. He has published a photograph of what he claims is the real mosaic on his website and intimates it may still be in his possession. Spurned by the art world
for turning 'screw' and for other nefarious activities Van Rijn proceeded
to unlatch Pandora's box. Van Rijn knew the location of dozens of stolen
works and he knew all the names of collectors and dealers who had bought
them. His wrath has reached frightening proportions. Disenchanted with
Scotland Yard and upset they did not give him recognition for his work
on the Sevso silver saga he has published confidential letters from the
Yard on the internet and now threatens to release thirty cassette tapes
of taped conversations with the Yard that prove they urged him to give
false evidence in court. The Sunday Times have taken his side against the
Yard in a review published 20/2/00 and Van Rijn is revelling in the publicitiy.
It is difficult to determine if all his ire is earnest crusading against corruption or whether he is using exile to launch personal vendettas against those that crossed him in his years as an art dealer. He seems angry at the entire
world. He will probably even start an invective against ARTnewsroom for
publishing this story.
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