Sculptures stolen from cemetery

Sculptures stolen from cemetery
Thieves may sell pieces for scrap

By Milton J. Valencia, Globe Staff | August 15, 2008

Thieves have looted several sculptures, including the work of a famed South End artist, from the Forest Hills Cemetery, possibly to sell as scrap metal, in a sign that the theft of bronze and copper has spread to the serenity of cemeteries.

The work of Kahlil Gibran, "Seated Ceres," and two sculptures by other artists were taken over the past week from the Contemporary Sculpture Path, a nationally renowned walking trail of more than 30 works, cemetery officials said.

The thefts have prompted the officials to remove at least three other bronze sculptures from the heavily traveled walking path, fearing that the theft was not for art's sake but for the commodity in the hot metals market. Some other pieces were loosened at the base, as if someone has tried, but failed, to remove them, the officials said.

"These pieces of work were great for everyone, and someone has taken them," said George Milley, president and chief executive of the privately run cemetery. "Anything they think they can scrap for quick cash and that they can easily remove can be targeted."

The "Seated Ceres" piece was a favorite of Gibran, a renowned artist from the South End and cousin of the poet bearing the same name. He died in April and was buried in Forest Hills. A separate bronze sculpture by Gibran, "Boy With a Dove," was removed from his gravestone out of fear it, too, could be stolen.

Gibran's pieces were unique, not made with a casting, so they can't be duplicated, and the loss of "Seated Ceres" is like a second bereavement for a family still in mourning.

"An artist's work is an artist's legacy," said his wife, Jean English Gibran. "If it gets sold and melted down, it vanishes."

Gibran made "Seated Ceres" as a tribute to the Roman goddess of harvest, as part of a series devoted to the goddess that he made more than a decade ago. The sculpture was placed in the first exhibition in the cemetery to celebrate its 150th anniversary in 1998, and the piece had remained there as a permanent display.

Cecily Miller, executive director of the Forest Hills Educational Trust, said the piece was fitting for the cemetery, with its symbolism of the harvest. The goddess is holding wheat on her lap, and visitors have placed flowers there before, she said.

The piece was part of an overall collection that served as a tribute to the serenity of the 275 acres of Forest Hills Cemetery, built as a grieving site but also one of the city's first areas dedicated to nature, Miller said.

Thieves also took "Garden's Edge," a bronze sculpture of a rabbit by Tim Cherry of Missouri, that was also part of the original display. Also stolen was "Bark Balls," by Carol Spack of Framingham. The work included three bronze spheres with a surface cast in bark that were meant to represent the spirits of the trees in the cemetery, Miller said.

"Everybody has favorite pieces in the contemporary sculpture path," Miller said, "but I know all three of those works were very much loved."

The cemetery has offered a $2,000 reward for information leading to the recovery of any of the pieces.

The sculptures are worth more in the arts community and for visitors to the cemetery than on the streets. One arts agent estimated the "Seated Ceres" piece could fetch $75,000.

But as the market for medals heats up, the commodity has become the target of thieves who will break into basements and warehouses or loot wiring and manhole covers to melt them for cash.

At arts foundries, a pound of bronze can sell for nearly $5, when it was worth $1.50 a few years ago, said Reno Pisano, a Nahant-based sculptor who helped Gibran develop a park project along Columbus Avenue in the South End. Gibran's friends estimate the "Seated Ceres" piece weighed about 100 pounds, and so it would sell for far less than its art worth.

Stuart Denenberg, California-based agent for Gibran and his family, said the theft of bronze artwork has plagued other arts communities in recent years. In England, thieves took a multiton statue from the Henry Moore Foundation; authorities believe they were after the metal. In California, where thieves are brazenly stealing bronze pieces, lawmakers are proposing a law that would require anyone selling scrap metal to show identification to a dealer.

Milley, who is also president of the Massachusetts Cemetery Association, said cemeteries throughout the state have reported thefts of copper or bronze materials, but he has never heard of renowned artwork being taken.

Miller said that the Forest Hills Cemetery was unique in that it risked displaying artwork that was fitting for a museum. She said the cemetery will have to decide whether to keep bronze as part of the display.

"One of the wonderful things about this environment was that people normally treated it with respect because it is a cemetery," she said. "It just seems particularly terrible that thieves would violate that space and destroy something that has much larger value."

Milton Valencia can be reached at mvalencia@globe.com.