[CPProt.net] From Rome to N.J., art world watches antiquities trial

[MSN CPPnet (Ton Cremers)]

>From Rome to N.J., art world watches antiquities trial 
Sunday, November 20, 2005

BY PEGGY McGLONE When Italian authorities resume the trial against former J.
Paul Getty Museum curator Marion True in Rome in two weeks, they will spin a
tale of looted antiquities that touches art museums in New Jersey and around
the world. 
Star-Ledger Staff 
Ten years in the making, the case charges True and co-defendant Robert Hecht
Jr. with trafficking in illicit antiquities, including some 42 items in the
Getty's renowned collection. The trial -- which began on Wednesday and
resumes Dec. 5 -- comes on the heels of the conviction of their codefendant,
Roman antiquities dealer Giacomo Medici, last year. 

Although the trial focuses on the collecting practices of the wealthy Getty
museum, it raises questions about the legitimacy of dozens of acquisitions
by the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston and --
closer to home -- the Princeton University Art Museum. 

Italian authorities have questioned the provenance, or history of ownership,
of two ancient Greek vases from 2,200 to 2,500 years old that were acquired
by the museum in 1989. 

The case has troubling implications for the entire museum world, said Mary
Sue Sweeney Price, director of the Newark Museum and president of the
Association of Art Museum Directors. 

"It would be very upsetting if the method of settling a cultural property
dispute becomes putting American citizens or museum professions into a trial
situation," Sweeney said. "That would be extremely unfortunate." 

The case against True represents a shift in attitudes toward museums and
their acquisitions of ancient objects. The issue of provenance of works
included in collections is both highly charged and evolving. Increasing
respect for a country's own patrimony has reduced the appeal of removing
antiquities from their native land. Mounting calls for the repatriation of
art work stolen from Jewish families during World War II is another concern.


At the heart of the case against True and Hecht is a 1995 police raid on a
Swiss warehouse containing hundreds of Polaroids of antiquities still dirty
from being dug out of the soil. Evidence includes a handwritten memoir by
Hecht, the 86-year-old Paris-based American dealer who has been involved in
sales with museums around the world. The memoir details an impromptu trip
from Rome to a Switzerland bank vault to purchase a 2,500-year-old bowl that
Medici kept in pieces in a safe deposit box. 

Medici, who is appealing his 10-year sentence, has claimed that Italian
prosecutor Paolo Ferri has asked him to cooperate against Hecht and True in
return for leniency. 

Although Americans, Hecht and True are subject to Italian laws and can be
tried in Italian courts, according to Sabrina Safin, professor of
international law at Rutgers University School of Law in Newark. "United
States citizens are not immune, just by virtue of being United States
citizens, for crimes committed overseas," she said, noting that the United
States and Italy have an extradition treaty that describes an "extractable
offense" as one punishable under the laws of both countries by more than a
year in prison. 

True appeared in court Wednesday, Hecht did not. Both entered pleas of not
guilty and are expected in court when the trial resumes. It remains unclear
what penalty Ferri will seek if they are convicted. 

But what is clear is that the Italian authorities are using the trial as
leverage for negotiations with museums for the safe return of the objects.
Last week, Getty Museum officials turned over three items -- a
2,300-year-old vase signed by the Italian painter Asteas, a bronze Etruscan
candelabrum and a Greek funerary stone -- to Italian authorities. They are
among the 42 items involved in the criminal trial. 

Officials at the Metropolitan Museum of Art -- owner of seven objects that
match Polaroids from the case -- confirmed that its director, Philippe de
Montebello, will travel to Italy next week to meet with Italian authorities
about their investigation. Met spokesman Harold Holzer said the museum
requested the meeting in February. 

Princeton University Art Museum officials confirmed that Italian authorities
contacted them last December requesting details of the 1989 acquisition of
the two ancient Greek painted ceramic vases. 

One is an Athenian red-figure wine cooler, also known as a psykter, that
stands about 13 inches tall and dates back 2,500 years. 

The other, an Apulian loutrophoros -- a large pot for carrying water -- is
estimated to be 2,200 years old. 

"The museum purchased these vases in good faith and has no knowledge of any
wrongdoing associated with their acquisition," said Princeton's director
Susan Taylor. The requested information was supplied a month later,
according to the statement. 

"If proof of illegality is presented to the museum, the vases will be
returned, as we have returned other items in the past," she said. 

The Association of Art Museum Directors -- representing some 175 of the
county's major art institutions -- has adopted guidelines for the
international exchange of cultural artifacts that mandates "utmost caution"
and respect. The American Association of Museum has a similar document to
help its members navigate these shoals. 

But the guidelines provide ample wiggle room for unsavory deals --
especially in areas such as Greek and Roman antiquities -- because they rely
on good faith efforts of officials to verify provenance of often ancient
objects. For very old archeological items, that might prove impossible. 

"Having been a curator for 16 years, I understand the fire of acquisitions,"
said Steven Miller of the Morris Museum, which has an extensive collection
of ethnographic and archaeological artifacts. "There's great competition
among museums ... and it's very hard to follow the provenance of something
for 2,000 years." 

"What's interesting is the vehemence with which the Italian government is
pursuing this," added Miller. "It sends two signals to museums, better check
what's in your collection and to be careful in the future." 

Princeton University Art Museum spokeswoman Ruta Smithson would not say from
whom the museum purchased the two vases in question or how much they paid
for them. However, a review of the collection showed the museum never
acquired anything directly or indirectly, from Medici, she said. 

Dealing with suspect items is not new to the museum. In 2002, museum
officials volunteered to return an ancient Roman sculptural relief to the
Italian government after its own research determined the item was removed
from Italy without legal permit. 

The piece -- a marble pediment of a funerary monument with a Latin
inscription dating from the reign of Hadrian (117-138 AD) -- was purchased
from a New York dealer in 1985 and put on display a year later. 

While offering to transfer ownership to Italian authorities, Princeton
officials requested they keep the item on long-term loan to the museum.
Italian authorities declined, and the work was returned to Italy in 2002. 

The fate of the two vases of interest to Italian prosecutors remains
uncertain. 

"The Princeton University Art Museum has a long history of cooperating with
Italy in matters of disputed provenance and we trust that this will
continue," Taylor said. 

http://www.nj.com/