“We kept hoping the statue would be restored, but it never was”

March 23, 2023 2:48 PM

In the 1950s, the Met began acquiring pieces from Robert E. Hecht, an American-born antiquities dealer who spent decades running afoul of authorities and was ultimately tried on charges of antiquities smuggling in Italy. In 1959 and 1961, Italian prosecutors charged Hecht with antiquities smuggling, and in 1973, they issued an arrest warrant for him that was later revoked. But the Met kept buying from him.

–In search of stolen gods at the Met, the latest in a series on looted statues by the Nepali Times, focuses on the Metropolitan Museum of Art, which owns “at least 1,109 pieces previously owned by people who had been either indicted or convicted of antiquities crimes”.
posted by Kattullus (12 comments total)

Huh, I hadn't noticed the previous post on lost gods before I made this one.
posted by Kattullus at 2:49 PM on March 23, 2023

You would not believe how absolutely stuffed with antique sculpture the Kathmandu valley is, despite the enormous amount that has "gone visiting" in the last century. And every single statue, or stupa, or worn rock, is the focus of a dedicated community and a living tradition. There can't be a more cut and dried example of "just give it the fuck back"
posted by doiheartwentyone at 3:14 PM on March 23, 2023 [6 favorites]

Worth noting that the Matthew Bogdanos mentioned in the article, who heads up the first of its kind antiquities unit, is a Marine colonel who got his start being outraged by cultural looting in Iraq. All of these recoverables can largely be chalked up to his passion for stopping this on a grander scale.
posted by corb at 3:17 PM on March 23, 2023 [12 favorites]

Here's the report from the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists: More than 1000 artifacts in Metropolitan Museum of Art catalog linked to alleged looting and trafficking figures
posted by Ahmad Khani at 4:03 PM on March 23, 2023 [1 favorite]

I just read a similar article about the Art Institute of Chicago's looted artifacts.
posted by goatdog at 4:03 PM on March 23, 2023 [3 favorites]

Decades ago I worked in a major museum and then for a major dealer in antique maps and prints and I decided back them that the entire business is heinous from bottom to top.
posted by Peach at 4:41 PM on March 23, 2023 [2 favorites]

Erin Thompson (@artcrimeprof on twitter) is a great follow for this sort of stuff.
posted by deadbilly at 5:26 PM on March 23, 2023 [2 favorites]

They can't ALL be in the back room of Hobby Lobby.
posted by delfin at 5:31 PM on March 23, 2023 [9 favorites]

Q: "What feels British but really isn't?" A: "The contents of the British Museum."
posted by Pyrogenesis at 10:37 PM on March 23, 2023 [2 favorites]

From John McPhee's 1967 profile of Thomas Hoving, published when Hoving was in his pomp as the youngest ever director of the Met:

"The Museum has never done anything slightly illegal," he said. "And you had better believe that. We are no more illegal in anything we have done than Napoleon was when he brought all the treasures to the Louvre."

After Hoving left the Met he published a tell-all memoir in which he boasted of knowingly buying looted and smuggled art. And when it comes to Asian art, the Met wasn't even the worst offender.
posted by verstegan at 8:34 AM on March 24, 2023 [3 favorites]

I just read a similar article about the Art Institute of Chicago's looted artifacts.

Yes, don’t miss this one.
posted by chimpsonfilm at 7:46 PM on March 24, 2023 [1 favorite]

John McPhee's 1967 profile of Thomas Hoving

One of the best McPhee pieces. [I have read all of McPhee's published work.]

I'm a 46 regular.
posted by neuron at 10:52 AM on March 25, 2023