July 2011 Archeology - Museums, Crimes, and Looted Goods

[Aisling]

Data mining courtesy of: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Explorator/messages

Mummies of the World (Franklin Institute, Philadelphia):
http://www.delconewsnetwork.com/articles/2011/06/28/entertainment/doc4e0a05a224022027926704.txt

Twombly and Poussin (Dulwich Picture Gallery, London):
http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2011/jun/28/twombly-poussin-arcadian-painters-review
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/01/arts/design/one-exhibition-in-london-for-twombly-and-poussin.html

Treasures of Heaven (The British Museum):
http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/jonathanjonesblog/2011/jun/30/treasures-of-heaven-kiss-relics
 
Splendours of Mesopotamia (Manarat al Saadiyat, Abu Dhabi):
http://www.thenational.ae/arts-culture/art/ancient-wonders

Mystery of the Maya (Musée du Quai Branly, Paris):
http://news.yahoo.com/s/artinfo/20110627/en_artinfo/the_mysteries_of_maya_civilization_are_unveiled_at_pariss_muse_du_quai_branly_1
 
Faberge Revealed (Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond):
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/01/arts/design/faberge-in-virginia-summer-reads-about-collecting.html

The Royal Ontario Museum is opening its refurbished/new Roman and Byzantine galleries:
http://www.artdaily.org/index.asp?int_sec=2&int_new=48721

The British Museum is still the UK's top tourist attraction:
http://www.artdaily.org/index.asp?int_sec=11&int_new=48666
 
That Tang Treasures exhibition at the Smithsonian has been cancelled:
http://www.artmediaagency.com/en/21719/shipwrecked-tang-treasures-and-monsoon-winds-at-smithsonian-cancelled/
 
Brandeis has settled that lawsuit over a sale of some of its art:
http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/06/30/brandeis-settle-suit-over-proposed-art-sale/

More WWII Nazi loot repatriations:
http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/06/30/eight-old-masters-to-be-repatriated-to-the-netherlands/

[veggiewolf]

Data mining courtesy of: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Explorator/messages

Mummies of the World (Franklin Institute, Philadelphia):
http://www.delconewsnetwork.com/articles/2011/06/28/entertainment/doc4e0a05a224022027926704.txt
...

*makes note* Must.Go.See.Exhibit.

[Aisling]

Data mining courtesy of: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Explorator/messages

 
Data mining courtesy of: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Explorator/messages

Some items looted by contractors in Iraq were returned:
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/07/08/us-iraq-usa-artifacts-idUSTRE7667KS20110708?feedType=RSS&feedName=lifestyleMolt
 
The Codex Calixtinus manuscript was stolen from Santiago de Compstela:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jul/07/codex-calixtinus-manuscript-stolen-santiago-compostela
 
I think we've heard this before ... illegal antiquities fund terrorism, apparently:
http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/meast/07/07/iraq.looting.bogdanos/

... in a similar vein:
http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/story.asp?sectioncode=26&storycode=416699

A 17th-century statue stolen from a London church during the Blitz turned up at auction:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2011/jul/10/statue-looted-in-blitz

An art dealer is charged with having all sorts of purloined artworks in a vault in Paris:
http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/07/08/wildenstein-faces-criminal-charge-over-trove-of-artworks/

An erstwhile sommelier is charged with stealing a Picasso:
http://insidescoopsf.sfgate.com/blog/2011/07/07/alleged-picasso-thief-mark-lugo-was-also-a-sommelier-at-blt-fish-staffer-at-per-se/
 
Body Beautiful in Ancient Greece (Museum of Western Art, Tokyo, Japan):
http://www.britishmuseum.org/whats_on/international_tours/the_body_beautiful.aspx

The Etruscans (University of Sydney):
http://www.artdaily.org/index.asp?int_sec=2&int_new=48801

Amazing Egyptians (Bowes Museum):
http://www.artdaily.org/index.asp?int_sec=2&int_new=48799

Mummies of the World (Franklin Institute):
http://weeklypress.com/mummyspeak-unraveling-mysteries-at-the-franklin-institute-p2599-1.htm
 
Lux in Arcana: Vatican Secret Archives (Vatican City):
http://www.artdaily.org/index.asp?int_sec=2&int_new=48840
 
Devotion by Design (National Gallery, London):
http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/gallery/2011/jul/06/devotion-by-design-national-gallery(slideshow)

Treasures of Heaven (British Museum):
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/07/05/british-museum-treasures-_n_890830.html
 
Vishnu (Brooklyn Museum):
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/08/arts/design/vishnu-hinduisms-savior-at-brooklyn-museum-review.html

Shakespeare (Folger Library):
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/08/arts/design/at-folger-library-shakespeare-folios-venerated-as-relics-review.html

Mother India (Metropolitan Museum):
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/08/arts/design/mother-india-at-metropolitan-museum-review.html

James Cuno's 'exit interview':
http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/art/ct-ae-0710-art-institute-cuno-side-20110708,0,3388204.story

Review of *Chasing Aphrodite*:
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/jul/8/book-review-chasing-aphrodite/

... oped arising therefrom:
http://www.artinfo.com/news/story/38057/the-road-from-cicero-to-marion-true-what-chasing-aphrodite-reveals-about-the-gettys-notorious-antiquities-trafficking-controversy/

Peru's next target: Sweden:
http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/entertainment/a/-/entertainment/9785154/peru-to-sue-swedish-city-for-theft-of-ancient-textiles/

Big bucks for a Guardi:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-14059460

... and more results from Christie's Old Masters sale:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/09/arts/09iht-MELIKIAN09.html

Feature on Templetown pottery:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/04/arts/a-niche-of-stylish-power.html

More on the ROM's new Roman and Byzantine galleries:
http://torontoist.com/2011/07/friends_romans_show_us_your_galleries.php

[Aisling]

Data mining courtesy of: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Explorator/messages

An Egyptian smuggling ring was busted this week:
http://www.cnn.com/2011/CRIME/07/15/new.york.antiquities.smuggling/

A smuggler in Florina (Greece) was busted too:
http://www.ana-mpa.gr/anaweb/user/showplain?maindoc=10169698&service=142

Someone attacked a Poussin at the National Gallery:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/jul/17/poussin-attack-national-gallery

Tombs along the Silk Road are being plundered:
http://en.ce.cn/National/culture/201107/12/t20110712_22536678.shtml

The guy accused of stealing a Picasso is going to plead not guilty:
http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/07/12/man-accused-of-stealing-picasso-drawing-to-plead-not-guilty/

A list of items purportedly stolen by him:
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2011/07/15/us/AP-US-Purloined-Picasso-Glance.html

Cleopatra (Milwaukee Public Museum):
http://abcnews.go.com/Travel/wireStory?id=14052701
 
Vasari (Italy):
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/14/arts/14iht-vasari14.html

Body Beautiful in Ancient Greece (National Museum of Western Art, Japan):
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/fa20110714a1.html

Treasures of Heaven (British Museum):
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/art/8639735/Treasures-of-Heaven-at-British-Museum-Seven-magazine-review.html

A top ten list of museums/galleries in Rome:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/travel/2011/jul/13/top-10-museums-galleries-rome

'History of Ireland in 100 Objects' (This series actually began in February and is being run as a weekly feature in the Irish Times.  I've hunted down the links for the previous articles – it’s a long but interesting list):
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/weekend/2011/0212/1224289604473.html
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/weekend/2011/0219/1224290245318.html
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/weekend/2011/0226/1224290900203.html
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/weekend/2011/0305/1224291339401.html
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/weekend/2011/0312/1224291930226.html
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/weekend/2011/0319/1224292564451.html
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/weekend/2011/0326/1224293107155.html
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/weekend/2011/0402/1224293599974.html
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/weekend/2011/0409/1224294264690.html
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/weekend/2011/0423/1224295297503.html
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/weekend/2011/0430/1224295739750.html
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/weekend/2011/0507/1224296351257.html
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/weekend/2011/0514/1224296897381.html
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/weekend/2011/0521/1224297421964.html
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/weekend/2011/0528/1224297912869.html
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/weekend/2011/0604/1224298358231.html
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/weekend/2011/0611/1224298711881.html
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/weekend/2011/0618/1224299108498.html
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/weekend/2011/0625/1224299565883.html
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/weekend/2011/0702/1224299890714.html
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/weekend/2011/0709/1224300361286.html
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/weekend/2011/0716/1224300799309.html

Review of the renovated galleries at the ROM:
http://www.cjnews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=21735&Itemid=86

That 'Lost Leonardo' will be going on display (of course):
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/art/art-news/8632230/Lost-Leonardo-da-Vinci-to-go-on-display-says-National-Gallery.html

A pile of antiquities returned to the Swat Museum:
http://www.dawn.com/2011/07/14/antiquities-to-return-to-swat-museum.html

Big bucks to acquire an African Art Collection:
http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/07/15/newark-museum-gets-1-million-grant-for-african-art-collection/

Feature on Robert S. Duncanson:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/15/arts/design/painter-robert-s-duncanson-and-2-jewelry-exhibitions.html

Feature/interactive tour of the Barnes Foundation:
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2011/07/09/arts/design/20110709-barnes-art-pano.html?hp?hp

The Hermitage has an interesting 'virtual academy' online devoted to assorted objects in their collection:
http://www.hermitagemuseum.org/html_En/06/hm6_2.html

Big bucks for a Jane Austen manuscript:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-14152092
 
Recent auction results:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/16/arts/16iht-MELIKIAN16.html

[Aisling]

 
Data mining courtesy of: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Explorator/messages

A call for museum guards to be armed:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/2011/jul/10/arm-museum-guards-looting-war

I think we mentioned this Poussin vandalism:
http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/07/18/two-poussin-paintings-vandalized-in-london/

A strange art theft situation/case:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/21/arts/design/french-art-dealer-spends-time-in-detention-in-case-of-missing-artworks.html

More on that Brooklyn-based smuggling ring bust:
http://gothamist.com/2011/07/14/mummy_smuggling_ring_busted_in_broo.php

... and some followup at the VMFA:
http://www2.timesdispatch.com/entertainment/2011/jul/22/2/federal-artifacts-smuggling-case-being-felt-at-vir-ar-1189870/

We're still getting sentences in the Utah case:
http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/politics/52213496-90/probation-blanding-smith-artifacts.html.csp

Hajj (British Museum):
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-14214855

Pharaoh: King of Egypt(British Museum):
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/the-northerner/2011/jul/19/great-north-museum-british-museum-egypt-neil-macgregor-shelley-ramses-ii-eximious
 
Twombly and Poussin (Dulwich Picture Gallery):
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/art/art-reviews/8646079/Cy-Twombly-and-Poussin-Arcadian-Painters-Dulwich-Picture-Gallery-review.html

Unmythable (Ashemolean Museum):
http://www.oxfordtimes.co.uk/leisure/9149896.Preview_of_Unmythable__Ashmolean_Museum/

Indian Kalighat Paintings (Cleveland Museum of Art):
http://www.dailyindia.com/show/451373.php

The Elegant Image (Hindu bronzes at the New Orleans Museum of Art):
http://www.greenfieldreporter.com/view/story/96d38998787b4c3ebd939b036aae23e6/LA--NOMA-Hindu-Bronze/
 
Greece is planning to build a museum at the Piraeus:
http://greece.greekreporter.com/2011/07/23/new-museum-of-marine-antiquities-in-piraeus/

The Getty is involved in the conservation of the Berthouville Treasure:
http://www.artdaily.org/index.asp?int_sec=2&int_new=49201

More on antiquities being returned to the Swat Museum:
http://pakobserver.net/detailnews.asp?id=103870

[Aisling]

Data mining courtesy of: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Explorator/messages

Not sure where to put this one ... a man has returned a Second Temple ossuary after realizing that it was just that:
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/man-returns-stolen-second-temple-ossuary-1.375255

I think we mentioned this case of an historian being charged with document theft:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/29/us/29brfs-HISTORIANISI_BRF.html

A collection of 300+ year-old silver has been stolen from a Derbyshire church:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-derbyshire-14345369

An art dealer has been charged with smuggling ivory:
http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/07/26/art-dealer-charged-with-smuggling-ivory-into-u-s/

Columbian authorities recovered a pile of artifacts destined for the black market:
http://www.emol.com/noticias/magazine/2011/07/25/494398/colombia-rescata-seis-mil-piezas-arqueologicas-de-culturas-milenarias.html

More on what we're learning from that big mummy smuggling bust:
http://www.livescience.com/15234-ny-mummy-smugglers-reveal-vast-antiquities-black-market.html
 
Teotihuacan (CaixaForum, Madrid):
http://www.artdaily.org/index.asp?int_sec=2&int_new=49370

Gandhara Art (Asia Society Museum):
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/27/arts/design/asia-society-show-on-buddhist-art-from-pakistan-is-to-open.html

Charles Eastlake's Collection (National Gallery, London):
http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2011/jul/24/national-gallerys-pioneering-collector-exhibition

Great American Hall of Wonders(Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington D. C.):
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/28/arts/design/smithsonian-art-museums-american-hall-of-wonders-review.html

Old Javanese Gold:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/24/nyregion/a-new-look-at-yale-at-old-javanese-gold-review.html

Frans Hals (Metropolitan Museum):
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/29/arts/design/frans-hals-at-metropolitan-museum-review.html

Medieval Illuminations (Musée du Louvre, Paris):
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/30/arts/30iht-melikian30.html

The National Museum is set to reopen after renovations (Scotland):
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-edinburgh-east-fife-14313739

The Textile Museum is moving to GWU:
http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/07/27/textile-museum-to-move-to-george-washington-university/

The Yorkshire Museum just acquired a very nice Viking/Anglo Saxon ring:
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/archaeology/news/sapphire-ring-belonged-to-anglosaxon-or-viking-royalty-2328242.html

The Tudor House Museum in Southampton has been 'saved':
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-hampshire-14043007

Maybe the Or-O'Keefe Museum of Art wasn't such a good idea:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/28/us/28ohr.html

The Met is returning 19 artifacts to Egypt:
http://af.reuters.com/article/egyptNews/idAFL6E7IU02K20110730
 
Germany is returning the Hattusas sphinx to Turkey:
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/Culture/Art/2011/Jul-30/In-isolated-case-Germany-returns-3500-year-old-sphinx-to-Turkey.ashx
 
The Staffordshire Hoard is on tour:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-stoke-staffordshire-14353261
 
Some medals associated with Captain Bligh are coming to auction:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/australiaandthepacific/australia/8659234/Rare-Captain-Bligh-medals-to-be-auctioned-in-Australia.html

Big bucks for a 200 year-old bottle of Chateau d'Yquem:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/foodanddrink/wine/8662962/Worlds-most-expensive-white-wine-sold-for-75000.html

Review of *Chasing Aphrodite*:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/books/chasing-aphrodite/2011/06/08/gIQA5vTafI_story.html

[WarHorse]

I think we've heard this before ... illegal antiquities fund terrorism, apparently:
http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/meast/07/07/iraq.looting.bogdanos/

 
I don't mind reading it again.  UNESCO should get on the ball, IMO.