A Convicted Antiquities Dealer’s Web
Hyperallergic reported that the Metropolitan Museum of Art returned a Roman marble portrait bust to Turkey in February after questions about its provenance and its purchase from Phoenix Ancient Art, a Geneva antiquities gallery. The article notes that Phoenix Ancient Art’s founder, Ali Aboutaam, was convicted by a Swiss court of illegally importing antiquities, raising broader questions about why many museums still hold objects acquired from the gallery. Art crime scholar Erin L. Thompson examined the Met case and the gallery’s claims of rigorous due diligence and long-established ownership histories for its artifacts. The same Hyperallergic edition also mentioned related news items, including the Bennett Prize’s fifth call for entries offering $75,000 with applications open through September 19, and that New York City health officials found Legionella in the Guggenheim Museum’s cooling tower.
From This Briefing
This story was covered in Restitution Reckonings and Museum Scandals Unravel