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Tina Brown:

“Sharon Waxman has written a compelling page turner about the world of antiquities and art-world skulduggery. She manages to combine rigorous, scholarly reporting with a flair for intrigue and personality that gives Loot the fast pace of a novel. I enjoyed it immensely."

Christopher Hitchens:

“Sharon Waxman’s Loot is the most instructive as well as the most intelligent (and the most entertaining) guide through the labyrinth of antiquity and the ways in which the claims of the departed intersect with the rights of the living.”

Douglas Preston, author of The Monster of Florence:

"Loot is a riveting foray into the biggest question facing museums today: who should own the great works of ancient art? Sharon Waxman is a first-rate reporter, a veritable Euphronios of words, who not only explores the legal and moral ambiguities of the conflict but brings to life the colorful -- even outrageous -- personalities facing off for a high noon showdown over some of the world’s iconic works of art. Vivid, witty, and delightful, this book will beguile any reader with an interest in art and museums."

Lucette Lagnado, author of The Man in the White Sharkskin Suit:

“Sharon Waxman approaches her subject with the passion of a great journalist and the rigor of a scholar. It may never again be possible for some of us to walk down the halls of the Louvre or the British Museum or the Metropolitan without a vague sense of disquietude, a frisson of wonder about the provenance of some of their showcase works of ancient art.”

Karl E. Meyer, author of The Plundered Past and co-author of Kingmakers: The Invention of the Modern Middle East:

"Sharon Waxman’s Loot is indispensable for everyone concerned with the illicit trade in smuggled antiquities. She exposes the self-serving humbug that too often afflicts both affluent possessors and righteous nationalists and shows that we all have a stake in getting an honest account of how great objects came to rest in our grandest museums."

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May 2008

May 17, 2008

Fatal Consequences

Who says the battle over stolen antiquities isn't deadly serious? This came in yesterday off the wires:

In Washington State, a renowned Asian antiquities expert has died in a federal jail. Sixty-two-year-old Roxana Brown was the director of the Southeast Asian Ceramics Museum at Bangkok University in Thailand. Brown had been arrested in connection with a probe into illegal art trafficking. She was detained in Seattle as she prepared to speak before an academic conference. Her family says she died of an apparent heart attack brought about by the stress of her arrest. She had been confined to a wheelchair after losing her leg in the 1980s.

Posted at 07:14 PM in General |

May 09, 2008

Italy Strikes Again - in Cleveland... Not so Fast

Sauroktonos Culture Minister Francesco Rutelli has won another battle against an American museum, this time without lawsuits, press conferences or photo ops. The Italian culture ministry announced today that the Cleveland Museum of Art will return 16 pieces of disputed artworks from its permanent collection. This is all a bit cloak and dagger: the museum is entirely mum on its website, and so far Italy has not said which pieces will be returned. The vaunted sculpture of Apollo Sauroktonos, the lizard slayer, acquired in 2004, that they claimed last year?  Their glorious Lucanian crater, acquired in 1991? Still a mystery. The museum collection is temporarily closed anyway while undergoing a major renovation, scheduled for reopening in 2011. Perhaps the museum thought this was a good time to make a deal; perhaps Italy was beginning moves to start another lawsuit, as its representatives have often said in the press without specifying the target. In any event, it is the first major movement on restitution since the settling of accounts with the J. Paul Getty Museum last summer, and the exhibit of returned artifacts in Rome early this year. Rutelli is stepping down and being replaced by a new culture minister, Sandro Bondi. It remains to be seen whether he will be as aggressive in pursuing restitution of artifacts as his two predecessors. UPDATE: Cleveland has just released a statement saying that it was surprised to hear this, and that it is in fact incorrect. "While the Cleveland Museum of Art has held discussions with Italian officials over the past year with respect to works in our collection, no agreement has been reached, nor has the Museum agreed to transfer any objects to Italy," said the statement, released at 4 pm EST. So it seems that the above is premature. Stay tuned for clarification of this muddy matter.

Posted at 12:41 PM in General |