An examination of the collection of New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art calls into question the origins of many of its antiquities holdings, with more than 1,000 works that once belonged to individuals either indicted or convicted of antiquities crimes.
“The Met sets the tone for museums around the world,” Tess Davis, executive director of the Antiquities Coalition, which looks to put an end to the trafficking of cultural artifacts, told the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists. “If the Met is letting all of these things fall through the cracks, what hope do we have for the rest of the art market?”
The ICIJ report investigated the origins of the Met’s antiquities collection, as well as the acquisition practices that allowed it to build up its holdings even after many nations introduced laws preventing the export of its historic cultural artifacts.
In full: https://news.artnet.com/art-world/met-museum-looted-antiquities-icij-report-2273884
