This article looks at beliefs of collectors about archaeology and antiquities in order to explain why modern collectors are willing to tolerate a certain amount of illegality in the process of getting antiquities from the ground to their collections. These justifications for purchasing potentially looted artifacts work by providing reasons to explain why the collector is a better owner for the antiquity than the government of its country of origin. The justifications fall into two main strands: first, that the country of origin does not deserve to own the antiquity; and second, that the collector possesses some special power of understanding of the object that gives him or her the right to own it.
Erin Thompson is Assistant Professor of Art Crime at John
Jay College of Law. Her research focuses on the damage done
to humanity’s shared heritage by the looting and smuggling of
antiquities and other instances of the deliberate destruction of
art. In addition to her traditional scholarly production during
her time as a faculty member, she has published two editorials
in the New York Times: “Restrict Imports of Antiquities from
Syria to Cut Down on Looting” (October 9, 2014) and “Egypt’s
Looted Antiquities” (May 30, 2014), as well as one in the
Los Angeles Times: “To protect Syria’s antiquities, don’t buy
them” (September29, 2013). She has responded to requests
for background information on art crime from 60 Minutes,
CBS Evening News, and NewsHour (PBS), and has been
interviewed on Public Radio International’s The Takeaway
and Al Jazeera America’s evening news. She has also appeared
on the Freakonomics podcast, which has 3 million listeners
per episode, to discuss the economic paradoxes of museum
security.
Here's a link to ARCA's website about access to The Journal of Art Crime.
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