SWANSEA, Wales, PRNewswire -- David Gill, archaeologist, reflects on the impact of the Association of Art Museum Directors (AAMD) policy on the acquisition of antiquities.
In June 2008 the AAMD adopted a "New Report on Acquisition of Archaeological Materials and Ancient Art". The reports stated that AAMD members -- 193 at present -- "should not acquire a work unless research substantiates that the work was outside its country of probable modern discovery before 1970 or was legally exported from its probable country of modern discovery after 1970". The choice of 1970 is significant because this coincides with the UNESCO Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property.
The position was in part prompted by the recent return to Italy of more than 100 antiquities -- among them the Euphronios krater showing the dead Sarpedon -- from several North American museums. Five AAMD institutions were among them.
The AAMD strengthened its position by launching an "Object Registry" that would place in the public domain "all relevant information" about newly acquired antiquities that had no recorded collecting histories prior to 1970.
The AAMD's position seems to be causing concern. The Cultural Property Research Institute, based in Santa Fe (NM), has launched a project to determine "the number of artistically and academically significant, privately-owned objects in the United States that are currently excluded from acquisition by US museums."
This suggests that a number of private collectors in the United States feel that archaeological items that they presently own would no longer be welcomed either as gifts, purchases, or bequests. The AAMD's concerns are probably well-founded: a number of high profile collectors were represented among the returns to Italy (and also to Greece).
The CPRI has raised an important issue. Have private collectors in North America been continuing to acquire recently surfaced antiquities in spite of high profile publicity given to the looting of archaeological sites?
But what will happen to those objects that do not have a documented collecting history that can be traced back to before 1970? Would private collectors consider donating them to museums in the countries where the pieces are likely to have been found or made?

WILMINGTON, Del., PRNewswire-USNewswire – Delaware’s Acting U.S. Attorney David C. Weiss announced today the unsealing of an indictment charging Marcus Patmon with wire fraud in the attempted sale of a stolen Pablo Picasso etching entitled "Le Repas Frugal."

The indictment charges that Patmon devised a scheme to defraud a victim identified as "C.E.B." by falsely claiming to be the true owner of "Le Repas Frugal" in connection with its attempted sale. In fact, as Patmon knew, "Le Repas Frugal" had been previously stolen from a West Palm Beach, Fla., art gallery, on May 22, 2008. From July through September 2008, an FBI special agent, acting in an undercover capacity, engaged Patmon in negotiations concerning the sale of the etching, which has an estimated value of $300,000.

Patmon, 38, is a resident of Miami, Fla. He faces a maximum statutory sentence of 20 years in prison, a $250,000 fine, three years of supervised release, restitution, and a $100 mandatory special assessment.

Acting U.S. Attorney David C. Weiss said, "This investigation and prosecution demonstrate our commitment to addressing the illicit sale of stolen art, a problem that is international in scope. I applaud our law enforcement partners, the FBI Art Crime Team and the Palm Beach Police Department, for the thorough investigation that exposed this scheme. Our office will continue to vigorously investigate and prosecute art crime in the future."

An estate auction starting Monday in Paris is being described as the "sale of the century", but is generating political waves after China demanded the return of a pair of bronze animal statues. We have more on the controversy surrounding the sale from the French capital.
The auction taking place between February 25 and 27 involves a staggering collection of prized paintings, furniture, knick-knacks and other cultural objects belonging to deceased French fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent and his partner Pierre Berger.
Christie's auction house will be selling more than 700 art objects to some of the world's top buyers - museums and wealthy collectors. Experts say the three-day auction could make nearly $400 million.
But the auction has political undertones, notably a pair of bronze busts of a rabbit and a rat believed to have been looted by British and French troops in China 150 years ago.
Beijing wants the two pieces to be returned China and Chinese lawyers recently launched legal action to stop the auction. Christie's says the sale is legal and will go on.
French businessman Berger, who collected the artwork with Saint Laurent over the years, says he would return the bronzes to China if Beijing recognizes human-rights issues.
The political wrangling has not prevented thousands of people from flocking to the Grand Palais museum in Paris, where the items were on display until midnight Saturday and Sunday.
Kouma Kouanvih waited 2.5 hours in line to get in Saturday night, but she said it was worth it.
Kouanvih did not see the bronzes, but she believes China is wrong to be asking for their return. She said with so many foreign artifacts acquired legally or illegally by various countries, the process of returning them would be endless.
Cecile Pascual, who also saw the display, weighed in on the debate.
"I kind of understand how the Chinese government feels about this but at the same time, if it was less money I would say they would not care about it," said Cecile Pascual.
While the Chinese dispute over the bronzes involves a personal collection, it follows several incidents straining French-Chinese relations. That includes the disruption of the Olympic torch relay through Paris last year by pro-Tibetan protesters. China also canceled a European Union summit after French President Nicolas Sarkozy met with Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama.

The Boston Globe

Rocked by a budget crisis, Brandeis University will close its Rose Art Museum and sell off a 6,000-object collection that includes work by such contemporary masters as Roy Lichtenstein, Andy Warhol, and Nam June Paik.
The move drew harsh criticism from the Association of College and University Museums and Galleries.

BBC NEWS

An artist has created a usable public toilet in a glass cube to challenge the curiosity - and bravery - of people passing London's Tate Britain gallery.
Italian-born Monica Bonvicini said visitors would have to "defy their own embarrassment" to use the minimalist cubicle, made from one-way mirrored glass.

BBC NEWS

Asia's contemporary art market suffered a blow at the weekend as bidders failed to buy several paintings at a major Sotheby's auction in Hong Kong.
Nineteen of the 47 prominent works under the hammer were left unsold, while others barely hit low estimates.

Liverpool Daily Post

New Ends, Old Beginnings is on view at the Bluecoat, featuring eleven artists from Middle Eastern countries such as Morocco, Iraq, Egypt, Syria and Lebanon. Can Altay, Ziad Antar, Lara Baladi, Cevdet Erek, Tarek Al Ghoussein, Chourouk Hriech, Randa Mirza, Michael Rakowitz, Hrair Sarkissian, Sharif Waked and Tarek Zaki.
Curated by November Paynter, New Ends, Old Beginnings looks at the varied and complex cultures across the cities of the Arab region. While cities like Baghdad struggle to protect their museums and architectural heritage, others like Abu Dhabi are creating a space for the arts from scratch.
New Ends, Old Beginnings investigates the region through artists' responses to the many layers of local and everyday culture, a perspective often overlooked by the world's media, which prefers instead to present images that shock and manipulate viewers.
Using photography, video, sculpture, installation and performance, the exhibiting artists question how hundreds of years of history can co-exist with current and future cultural practice, what tourism means for cities of the region, and the extent of the media's shaping of the topography of the Middle East.
New Ends, Old Beginnings closes on 3 September. Bluecoat, School Lane, Liverpool L1 3BX. Telephone 0151 709 5297.

Bluecoat

Wall Street Journal

Robert Wittman is one of the world's top art-crime investigators. His specialty is going undercover. The 52-year-old FBI agent has spent two decades impersonating shady dealers and befriending thieves. In all, he's tracked down $225 million in missing objects, including a Rembrandt self-portrait and an original copy of the Bill of Rights.

Slide show: world's most valuable stolen masterpieces (click to view)

The Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University presents "El Greco to Velázquez: Art during the Reign of Philip III," the first exhibition to show both Spanish masters in context with other accomplished painters of their time.

The exhibition features 53 paintings, including seven late works by El Greco, three early works by Velázquez and works by their contemporaries, lesser known but talented artists. One of the most important old master exhibitions ever presented in the Southeast, "El Greco to Velázquez" will feature monumental altar pieces, life-size portraits, some of the earliest still-life paintings in Europe, full-length carved and painted wooden sculptures of Spanish mystics and more than 50 pieces of Spanish glass and ceramics. Many works are traveling to this country for the first time, some from the churches for which they were originally commissioned.

The work of these overlooked painters - among them Juan Sánchez Cotán, Gregorio Fernández, Juan Bautista Maino and Luis Tristán - formed the foundation for the Spanish Golden Age. The show brings to life the little-known period of 23 years (1598-1621) when Philip III ruled Spain, and when Spain dominated the world with holdings greater than the Roman Empire. This period of Spanish history - with its pageantry, religious passion, art patronage, fashions, political intrigue and literary accomplishments - rivals the eras of Elizabethan England and France under King Louis XIV of France.

"El Greco to Velázquez: Art during the Reign of Philip III" will be on view at the Nasher Museum for 11 weeks, from August 21 through November 9, 2008. Viewing hours are Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday 10 a.m. - 5 p.m.Thursday 10 a.m. - 10 p.m. Sunday 12 p.m. - 5 p.m. The Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University is located at 2001 Campus Drive, Durham, NC 27705. At Anderson Street and Duke University Road, adjacent to the Sarah P. Duke Gardens on Duke University's central campus.

Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University
Nasher Museum of Art reaches for the big leagues
Slide show: installation of the exhibit (click to play)