Museums Turn Blind Eye To Stolen Art

A New York Times article suggests that museum curators are so greedy to build their collections that they will accept artifacts even though they might be tainted. One deputy director of collections admitted to an undercover investigator that she was supposed to feign resistance, but eventually accept antiquities, even without proper paperwork.

“Museums are in a sense just turning a blind eye to what everybody knows in their heart of hearts is going on,” said the specialist, Patty Gerstenblith, a professor of law at DePaul University.

“By not thinking about what they buy, they are putting money into an international network of smugglers, looters, thieves and destroyers. As educational institutions, museums have a responsibility to look beyond that particular object” that they may be acquiring.

I could not agree more.