ISIS tried to sell me a Mosaic looted from a Syrian Museum.

In January 2016 I received through Facebook Messenger a message from Turkey. The author was offering to sell me a mosaic - supposedly excavated from the area of Hatay Antakya (Ancient Antioch) - which had been discarded by the archaeologists. The offer came with pictures. 

Screenshot messenger offer

When I saw how beautiful the mosaic was I could not believe anybody with common sense could have discarded it ! 

Mosaic offered to me through Messenger

I quickly suspected this piece had been stolen. 

I tried to engage the man trying to sell this piece.
He answered to me in Italian and suggested I get in touch with him though a WhatsApp telephone number.

Messenger Communication

In the meantime a search for "Roman Mosaic of Syria" brought up the description of the actual mosaic in the book "Mosaics of the Greek and Roman World" by Katherine M.D.Dunbabin.

Thetys from Shahba Museum

To Balty’s later group (of mosaics) from Shahba belongs an astonishing bust of the Sea-Goddess Tethys... Fish entangled in her hair, a sea dragon coiled around her neck, and she holds a steering oar. The figure of the Sea Goddess occurs frequently on mosaics of the region of Antioch, but never with the power shown here: almost to large for the frame, the figure dominates the small room where it is set. The characteristics of the «Constantinian renascence» are apparent in the broad smooth surfaces and the careful delineation, for instance of the wide opened eyes; but the combination of the massive force of the face and the restlessness of the dark hair makes this work of exceptional quality. Around it, a wide border shows Erotes in boats and fishing, on a sea marked by broad bands of colour.

From there I was able to find professional pictures of the mosaic and confirmed the piece had actually been looted from the museum.

Thetys mosaic stolen from the Shahba Museum in Syria

Detail of the stolen Thetys mosaic.

CBS News' article Following the trail of Syria's looted history describes how artifacts looted by ISIS or under the authority of ISIS regularly end up on the antiquities markets in London, Paris or even New York.

I went to the FBI website to report this matter and have not heard anything about it.

I am a French mosaicist living in Headland, Alabama, USA. My Art is about inspiring people. You can see some of my work  at www.mosaicblues.com 

You can contact me at (334) 798 1639 

or by email at  

frederic.lecut@mosaicblues.com

You can also subscribe to my

MosaicBlues Newsletter

 

Eyes of the Yezidis - Les Yeux des Yezidis

Early in 2015 I started working on a series of Portraits of the Eyes of Yezidis Refugees. I built 8 huge dramatic mosaics, using my new exclusive Opus Pixellatum Technique.

Here is the story behind these Mosaics. I hope this will get you interested in the Yezidi people.

To see more of my mosaics and learn about the work of the Free Yezidi Foundation to help the Yezidi on site, please visit our website : 

www.mosaicblues.com

www.freeyezidi.org

Debut 2015, j'ai commence a travailler sur une série de portraits d'yeux de refugies Yezidis. J'ai construit 8 grands et impressionnants portraits, en utilisant une technique révolutionnaire : Opus Pixellatum, mise au point pour cette occasion.

Voici l'histoire de cette collection. J’espère que cela vous intéressera au peuple Yézidi.

Si vous souhaitez voir plus de ces mosaïques ou découvrir comment la Free Yezidi Foundation aide les Yézidi sur le terrain, visitez nos sites : 

www.mosaicblues.com

www.freeyezidi.org

Yezidi 21 : Original Photograph / Photographie orginale

I m a French mosaic artist based in Alabama. My Art is about Inspiring people, I am presently working on these huge portraits of the eyes of Yezidi Refugees. If you are interested by my work, please contact me by phone at (334) 798 1639 or by email at frederic.lecut@mosaicblues.com

You can also subscribe to my NEWSLETTER

Je suis un Artiste Mosaïste installe en Alabama. Mon Art est a propos de l'Inspiration. Présentement, je travaille a ces grands portraits des Yeux de réfugiés Yézidis. 

  Si mon travail vous intéresse vous pouvez me contacter par téléphone au 334 798 1639 (aux Etats Unis), ou par email a frederic.lecut@mosaicblues.com

 

Vous pouvez aussi souscrire a ma Lettre d'Information

Genocide

Today, August 3 marks the second anniversary of the beginning of a Genocide.
On August 3, 2014, the forces of ISIS attacked Mount Shinjal and the barbarians began their campaign of Annihilation and Enslavement of the Yezidi people.
I build huge mosaic portraits of the eyes of Yezidi refugees to help them.


Yezidi 11 - English from Frederic Lecut on Vimeo.

Aujourd'hui le 3 Aout est le 2eme anniversaire du debut d'un Genocide. 

Le 3 Aout 2014 les forces de DAESH attaquerent le Mont Shinjal et commencerent leur campagne d'annihilation et de reduction en esclavage du peuple Yezidi.
Je construis de grandes mosaiques des Yeux de refugies Yezidi pour les aider.

Yezidi 02 - Francais from Frederic Lecut on Vimeo.



If you are interested by my Yezidi mosaics, please contact me by phone at (334) 798 1639 or by email at frederic.lecut@mosaicblues.com

You can also subscribe to my NEWSLETTER

Si mes mosaiques des Yezidis vous interessent vous pouvez me contacter par telephone au 334 798 1639 (aux Etats Unis), ou par email a frederic.lecut@mosaicblues.com

  Vous pouvez aussi souscrire a ma Lettre d'Information

Flipping Yezidi 36

A Dream Team of assistants - the whole Wiregrass Museum of Art Staff ! - helped me flip Yezidi 36 this afternoon !

Ichi

Ni

 San

Shi

Et Voila ! 

Yezidi 36 is a 18 x 50" Opus Pixellatum mosaic made of thousands of glass tesserae. It is part of my Yezidi portraits collection. 

This collection will be sold or auctioned  this summer to raise funds for the Free Yezidi Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to protect and support the most vulnerable members of the Yezidi community in Kurdistan.

I am a modern mosaic artist with a deep admiration for ancient Greek, Roman and Byzantine Arts. You can see other of my own mosaics on my site mosaicblues.

I believe artists should be deeply involved in their community, being local or global, and try to help people in need through their art.

 

To see more of these Yezidi mosaics and keep in touch with this project please follow my page Yezidi Mosaics Project.

You can also

SUBSCRIBE to my

NEWSLETTER

Yezidi 021 - All tiles laid

I completed this week end the laying of the black and white tesserae of Yezidi 021. This mosaic is part of a set of Yezidi Kids Eyes I am creating to raise awareness of the suffering of Yezidi Children persecuted in Iraq and Syria.

I am still to lay some different colours tiles for the border. I will do this in January, for I should find some really cool tiles in Europe for this ! 

Now, because I am using a different technique for these sets of eyes, I perfectly know the number of tiles I have used on this piece. And so I have a question for you :  

How many tiles did I use to create this mosaic ?

Answer Next January...

I am a modern mosaic artist with a deep admiration for ancient Greek, Roman and Byzantine Arts. You can see some of my own mosaics on my site mosaicblues.

 

If you are interested by this project or by my work in general 

or if you would simply like to drop me a line, please 

contact me by email at frederic.lecut@gmail.com  

or by phone at (334) 798 1639. 

 

   You can also

SUBSCRIBE to my

NEWSLETTER

to receive regular updates on 

these Yezidi Eyes Mosaics  
& my other projects.

YEZIDI Eyes

In Syria and Northern Iraq, Yezidi mens and boys are being massacred while Yezidi women and girls, some as young as 9 years old, are being sold, raped and enslaved by Islamic State terrorists who consider they are Devil worshippers.

Some of the Yezidi have been able to flee the horrors of the genocide, some are still in sexual slavery; some were killed; some committed suicide to escape their ordeal. 

The idea of these women and girls suffering is very distressing. The victims could be our wives, our sisters or our daughters.  But just lamenting the situation from my comfortable home in Alabama does not do much good. So I wondered if I could use my art to actually help.

2 month ago, I contacted a number of NGO involved in helping the refugees from Iraq and Syria. I  proposed to realize mosaic portraits of Yezidi Children. These portraits would then be auctioned to raise money. I would give 50 % of the profit to the cause. We would need lots of publicity around the event to raise public awareness of the situation of the Yezidi people.

The Free Yezidi Foundation in an international organization hosted in the Netherlands. It was started by Ms Pari Ibrahim, a remarkable Iraqi woman, and they are doing an amazing work. I have been in regular contact with their contact in the USA. 

I decided I had to do something special, something that had not been done before. I conceived a different way to build mosaics. I do not think anybody has ever worked like this before. The look of these mosaics will be unique. 

However, like for any new process, it requires experimentations and adjustments, discussion with various people. A friend helped me greatly to drastically improve my initial design process...

I realized a First prototype early in October. 

The first prototype.

Because the colours of some of the tiles I received from my supplier were slightly different from what I had ordered, I was not satisfied by the result. However, I realized that my concept was valid - the Right eye is beautiful.  I just needed to solve the problem of the tiles colours, 

I am now presently working on a Second prototype, I have increased the definition of my design.

The second prototype under construction.

I am building this mosaic following my regular reverse method. I decided to work in black and white at this time as it is a little easier to control the 

actual colours of the tiles. Hopefully I should have this second mosaic mounted by the end of November. 

I have learned a lot with these 2 first  prototypes. This type of mosaic has to be laid differently from what I usually do with bigger tesserae. 

If all goes well I will design several models in December and start working on them in January 2016.

 


My goal is to organize a sale by the end of Spring. I have no idea of the way we will be able to organize this, and all help will be welcome. If you like this project and would like to participate, please let me know at frederic.lecut@gmail.com, or call me at (334) 798 1639.

You can also visit the Free Yezidi Foundation site to lean more about their remarkable work, about the Yezidi themselves, their religion, their culture, the challenges ahead of them, and possibly make a small donation.

 

I am a modern mosaic artist with a deep admiration for ancient Greek, Roman and Byzantine Arts. You can see some of my own mosaics on my site mosaicblues.

 

If you are interested by this project or by my work in general 

or if you would simply like to drop me a line, please 

contact me by email at frederic.lecut@gmail.com  

or by phone at (334) 798 1639. 

 

   You can also

SUBSCRIBE to my

NEWSLETTER

to receive regular updates on this

Yezidi Eyes Mosaic Project, 

and my other projects,

The Oldest Mosaic.

Cone Mosaic are the oldest type of mosaics known in the World. They were used in Southern Mesopotamia (present day Iraq) to decorate monumental raw mud-brick Palaces and Temples built between 3500 and 3000 BC.

This Cone Mosaic is formed by small cones made of baked clay which, pointed end first, were pressed tightly together into a wall coated with a thick layer of wet plaster. The flat ends of the cones were painted black, red, and white. 

Some of the most impressive examples are found at Uruk but this technique of decoration has also been found in many other cities such as Ur and Eridu as well as sites like Habuba Kabira in modern Syria.

The decorative patterns generally basic geometric shapes : lozenges, triangles, and straight and zigzag bands. 

It has been suggested that such designs were possibly based on patterns found in wickerwork and on textiles.

Such work was not only decorative but protective. The cones made of hard baked clay were protecting the raw mud-brick outer walls and pillars against erosion from wind and water during the cool and wet winters of Mesopotamia.

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