For those who missed it, Charlie Rose had a segment last night on the looting and theft in Iraq. His guests were Philippe de Montebello, director of the Met, Frank Rich from the New York Times, and Timothy Potts, director of the Kimbell Art Museum, Forth Worth (who did his graduate research in Iraq). The discussion centered around the looting itself, and nothing was really said about art market ethics. De Montebello did say he thought most of the stolen pieces must still be in Iraq as they could not be sold outside that country, and they should be recovered by giving amnesty for their return or even a monetary reward so looters would not destroy them. He believes private collectors who hoard art "in a cave" so they can look at it from time to time exist only in bad movie scripts. Rich expressed concern about smaller pieces which may end up as "knick-knacks" for sale on eBay.
Frank Rich has written an article on the looting which will appear in the New York Times this weekend. Also, Rose plugged the Metropolitan Museum of Art's timely exhibition, "Art of the First Cities," which opens May 8th.
Peggy Runge
Mary R. Schiff Library
Cincinnati Art Museum
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