When people think of a piece of art, the first thing that they generally think of is its appearance. The appearance alone is not what gives the art its value though.
If a (visually) identical copy was produced, would it have the same value as the original? In a few isolated cases it might, but generally the value comes from the story behind the piece – its provenance. Provenance has become more important in recent years, as it also defines the legality of the owner’s entitlement to the piece. How was it acquired & when was it acquired? If it can not be proved that it was originally acquired legally from a archaeological site, then the piece can not easily be traded on the open market. Institutions might want to turn a blind eye to this, but the problem is still there, as evidenced by the current troubles faced by the Getty.
If you want to find out more about the issues associated with unprovenanced antiquities, then the journal of the Illicit Antiquities Research Centre, Culture Without Context is one of the best places to start.

From:
International Herald Tribune

Beauty or provenance: Which counts more?
By Souren Melikian International Herald Tribune
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2005

LONDON Collectors of antiquities from the ancient world and the dealers who cater to their needs have been reading the writing on the wall for some time. The Unesco Unidroit convention has changed the ballgame once and for all, even if very few countries have signed it. Gone are the good old days when you bought, without asking questions, any sculpture and pot dug up from an underground cache or any fragment removed from some field of ancient ruins.
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Italian authorities have long claimed that the Euphronios krater vase in New York’s Metropolitan Museum was looted. Italian prosecutors now believe that they have irrefutable proof that the artefact was illegally acquired. The memoirs of Robert E. Hecht Jr. (the art dealer who sold the piece to the Met) state that he acquired the vase from Giacomo Medici, who was last year convicted of trafficking looted art. This story is different to the explanation that was given by Hecht in a memo previously.

From:
Los Angeles Times

October 28, 2005
Italy Says It’s Proven Vase at Met Was Looted
By Jason Felch and Ralph Frammolino, Times Staff Writers

ROME — In their decade-long investigation of the illicit antiquities trade, Italian authorities have amassed the strongest evidence to date that the most prized ancient Greek vase in New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art was looted.

The Euphronios krater, described as one of the finest antiquities ever obtained by the Met, has been a source of controversy since the museum acquired it 33 years ago.
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An announcement was made earlier this week, that Ethiopia has reached an agreement for the tenth major artefact to be returned to the country since 2001. Ethiopia’s success in securing the restitution of such items is giving hope to many other African countries that have lost important pieces of the heritage, such as the Benin Bronzes & the Ashanti Gold.

From:
Angola Press

Luanda – Friday, October 28, 2005 – 4:13:21 PM
Ethiopia slowly recovers plundered artefacts

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 10/26 – A 16th century soldier`s helmet stolen from Ethiopia by invading British troops nearly 140 years ago will be returned to the country on Saturday, official sources confirmed here Wednesday.

This will be the 10th major piece of plunder that has been handed back to Ethiopia since 2001 when a Scottish priest returned a sacred Tabot (or holy altar slab), also taken in the Battle of Magdala in 1868.
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Another article that adds a few additional details on the Greek request for the return of looted artefacts held by the Getty.

From:
BBC News

Greece demands ‘stolen artefacts’
Last Updated: Tuesday, 25 October 2005, 08:55 GMT 09:55 UK

Greece is renewing calls for the return of artefacts from Los Angeles’ J Paul Getty Museum it claims were stolen, according to the Los Angeles Times.

The request follows the museum’s agreement to return three antiquities to Italy that were allegedly stolen.
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Following the Italian indictment of Getty curator Marion True, there have been various other related problems at the museum. The latest issue is that the Greek Government has now demanded that the museum returns four artefacts that were acquired illegally.

From:
The Independent

26 October 2005 13:29
Greece seeks return of ‘looted’ works from Getty
By Nikolas Zirganos and Elinda Labropoulou
Published: 26 October 2005

The J. Paul Getty Museum, already embroiled in a dispute with Italy over looted art, now faces demands by Greece over the return of allegedly stolen antiquities.

Greece has backed its claims by presenting archaeological evidence proving the Greek origin of three items ranking among the masterpieces of the Getty’s antiquities collection. A gold funerary wreath, an inscribed tombstone and a marble torso were all purchased in 1993. The fourth item, an archaic votive relief, was bought in 1955 by the museum’s founder, J. Paul Getty himself.
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The troubles surrounding the Getty continue to be highlighted in the press. Directors of other local museums are trying to distance themselves from the institution. At the same time however, Steven Thomas an expert in art law at UCLA points out that the acquisitions policies of the Getty were no different to those of many other museums around the world.
The example of the Elgin Marbles is cited here, along with the recent Egyptian requests for the return of artefacts, although the items in these cases were acquired by museums long before those that are currently under scrutiny at the Getty.
If nothing else comes of this case, it has done a lot to raise public awareness of the issues surrounding many of the artefacts held in museums.

From:
The Globe & Mail (Canada)

October 14, 2005
Troubles at the Getty Museum ripple through the art world

LOS ANGELES — A plot fit for a Hollywood thriller has been unfolding at the venerable J. Paul Getty Museum, a gleaming hilltop refuge that Italian authorities claim houses pilfered art.

A decade after leading efforts against the illegal trade of artifacts, the museum’s recently departed antiquities curator faces trial next month in Rome over allegations that she knowingly received dozens of stolen items.
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A sword looted by British troops 137 years ago has been returned to Ethiopia. Campaigners say that this should be repeated by the numerous museums in Britain that hold Ethiopian artefacts such as the Kebra Negast held in the British Library.

From:
Independent online (South Africa)

Lost treasure returned to Ethiopia
October 12 2005 at 11:03AM
By Anthony Mitchell

Addis Ababa – A sword looted by British troops who defeated an Ethiopian army 137 years ago has been returned, a leading scholar on Ethiopia says, adding that Britain is holding many more treasures it should hand over.

Tony Watts of Bapty Limited, a theatrical props company in London, said the sword that had been in the family-owned firm for years but never used as a prop, said historian Richard Pankhurst, who returned to Ethiopia with it on Friday.
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I have mentioned before, China’s campaign to buy back much of their heritage that has been lost to museums & private collectors around the world.

This article gives a different perspective of the process & gives a better understanding of some of the reasons behind it.

From:
Bloomberg News

China’s Military Mounts Global Assault on $1 Billion Art Market
Oct. 13

The soft voice of Chinese relic hunter Gisele Croes rises, drowning out the rainstorm that pelts the smoked windows of her black limousine.

“Drive inside,” the 63-year-old Belgian art broker and appraiser orders as her chauffeur accelerates past the green cranes along Hong Kong’s Chai Wan docklands and into the concrete warehouse of Michelle International Transport Co.
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The implementation of Section 47 of the Human Tissue Act 2004 has been covered extensively by the international press, although there has been surprisingly little about it in the British media. The following two articles cover a few details that were not in the previous post.

From:
artdaily.com

Friday, October 7, 2005
UK National Museums Get New Powers

LONDON, ENGLAD.-Nine national UK museums, including the British Museum and the Natural History Museum, have this week acquired powers to move human remains out of their collections as the Government brought section 47 of the Human Tissue Act 2004 into force.

The nine national museums listed in section 47 now have the power to move out of their collections human remains which are reasonably believed to be under 1,000 years in age. This means that these national museums can respond to claims for the return of human remains by indigenous communities.
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Section 47 of the Human Tissue Act 2004 came into force in the UK last week. Although most of the act deals with storage of human tissue by hospitals, this specific section covers a change in the law that gives nine specified museums the discretionary right to de-accession human remains in their collections if it is believed that these remains were less than one thousand years old at the time the act came into force. In short, museums will be allowed to return items such as Aboriginal remains to their place of origin, without being prevented from doing so by the Museum’s Act 1964, which this act now supersedes (where human remains are involved).
Whether or not any human remains are returned as a result of this change in the law remains to be seen. However, no longer can institutions avoid the issue by suggest that they would love to return the items if they were allowed to.
Gradually cases such as this, that of the Feldmann paintings & the Benevento Missal. are highlighting how flawed the Museums Act is in its anti de-accessioning provisions. Rather than tacking individual issues (human remains, Nazi looting) as they become a problem, surely the whole act needs to be reconsidered as a whole & rewritten in a way that is more appropriate for the values of today’s society?

From:
Sydney Morning Herald

UK museums to return Aboriginal remains
October 6, 2005 – 8:54PM

British museums have welcomed a change in law that is expected to lead to Aboriginal remains being returned from their collections to Australia.

Implementation of the 2004 Human Tissue Act will allow nine museums to repatriate remains, superseding the British Museums Act of 1964 which forbade such returns even if the museums believed the remains to be of little scientific value.
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Over the last few months, the Getty museum has received extensive negative publicity in the press. First of all there was the indictment in Italy of Marion True, one of the Museum’s curators, alleged to have purchased looted artefacts. More recently documents have been obtained by the Los Angeles Times suggesting that the museum was aware that many of the artefacts that it was purchasing from countries such as Italy had been looted.
Now, in what the Getty describes as a goodwill gesture (is there a subtle difference between this & damage limitation?) the museum has offered to return to Italy, three artefacts that were allegedly stolen. These artefacts however only represent a very small proportion of the total number of the cases disputed by the Italians. Although the Italian authorities are accepting the return of these artefacts, they are continuing to pursue the other cases against the Getty.
This return of antiquities by the Getty could be seen as a step in the right direction, but is only one tiny step towards negating many years of dubious acquisition policies.

From:
Los Angeles Times

October 4, 2005
latimes.com : California
Getty to Return Three Ancient Pieces to Italy
The nation will continue to seek repatriation of dozens more artifacts it believes were looted.
By Jason Felch, Times Staff Writer

Italian authorities have agreed to accept an offer from the J. Paul Getty Museum to return three ancient objects allegedly stolen from Italy, but say they will continue to pursue dozens more artifacts in a separate criminal case against the museum’s former antiquities curator.

The Getty’s offer came after protracted negotiations with Italian authorities, and it figures prominently in the museum’s strategy of building goodwill with the Italian government, records show.
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The LA Times has an interesting article on the acquisition policies of museums. This follows on directly from the previous articles on the legal problems that the Getty is currently suffering from, relating to one of the curators, Marion True & to their acquisitions policy.
The point that they make though, is that despite various regulations to try & prevent such cases from occurring, the number of cases involving supposedly ethical accademic institutions & museums does not seem to be diminishing.

From:
Los Angeles Times

October 1, 2005
latimes.com : Opinion : Editorials
STATE OF THE ART
Just say no to plunder

THE ILLICIT TRADE IN ART and antiquities has often been compared to trafficking in drugs or guns. Both trades are international in scope, require a sophisticated smuggling operation and are driven by demand in wealthy nations. But the analogy ends there.

Art enriches society. Furthermore, the vast majority of U.S. and European museums are respectable institutions run by conscientious professionals who do their best to act responsibly under what are often challenging circumstances. But the best intentions, as recent revelations about the Getty Museum illustrate, are no protection against questionable or even criminal behavior. The Getty should not merely take a stand against smuggling; it should return any illgotten parts of its collection.
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