Three of the art pieces returned by the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts: (from left) a Gnathian askos, a red-figure lekythos and a vessel in the form of the Egyptian god Bes (Photos courtesy Virginia Museum of Fine Arts)
As part of an international effort to right the wrongs of the art world’s past, the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts last year returned 44 pieces of ancient art from Egypt, Turkey and Italy that had been stolen, looted or illegally obtained.
The ancient works were repatriated as the result of an investigation into antiquities traffickers, smugglers and art dealers by the Department of Homeland Security and the Manhattan District Attorney’s Antiquities Trafficking Unit.
What sounds like something out of a movie is a reality facing many museums today as governments are reclaiming art plundered in wartime or taken in illicit deals. Not only do countries want to take back what’s rightfully theirs and preserve their culture, there’s a lot of money at stake — the global art market totaled $67.8 billion in 2022.
“VMFA could have bought these items perfectly legally, but somewhere in the chain they were stolen without that country’s permission to do so,” says Jamie Gregory, a Richmond insurance executive and former fine art underwriter.
As part of the investigation last spring, VMFA was asked to show provenance of 57 pieces of ancient art, and the museum submitted information on four others. After reviewing sales receipts, photos, invoices, storage records and other documents, the Manhattan district attorney and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security found irrefutable evidence that the museum did not hold clear title to 44 of the 61 pieces. The other 17 works are allowed to remain in the museum’s permanent collection.
“The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts returns any works in its collection that are discovered to be unlawfully held. The museum takes seriously, and responds to, all restitution claims for works in our collection,” VMFA Director and CEO Alex Nyerges said in a press release. “This is not just our policy. It is the right thing to do. We fully support the decision to repatriate these 44 works of ancient art.”
While VMFA officials would not comment further on the investigation, the museum said it acquired the pieces in the 1970s, 1980s and early 1990s and that no current employees were linked to criminal activity.
VMFA’s holdings encompass nearly 50,000 works of art. Once a major expansion set to open in 2028 is completed, VMFA expects it will be the fifth-largest art museum in the United States. VMFA owns the largest public collection of works by Fabergé outside of Russia, along with other notable pieces of art from around the world. In addition, the museum’s McGlothlin Collection of American Art is worth $200 million.
Among the works returned is a 2,500-year-old bronze Etruscan warrior that was stolen in 1963 from the archaeological museum in Bologna, Italy. Other significant pieces included a terra cotta wine flask dating to 330 B.C. and believed to have been looted from Italy, three coins stolen from Turkey, and a cosmetics container dating to 650-550 B.C. that was taken from Egypt. Since 2004, the museum has repatriated three European paintings stolen during World War II by Nazi soldiers and three works belonging to Alaska’s Tlingit tribe.
How did illicit art find its way into the collection of a museum owned and operated by Virginia, anyway? Gregory says that, unlike buying a home or a car where there’s an official title, the art world can be super murky. “Every piece of art should have provenance, a clear paper trail from the day it was created. But you have some people hand-writing receipts, paying in cash and doing sketchy deals out of the trunks of cars. Curators and dealers can bend the law.”
As an example, Gregory points to the Getty Center in Los Angeles, where disgraced curator Marion True was indicted in Italy in 2005 on charges of laundering art, falsifying receipts and participating in other criminal activities. While she was never found guilty, the case ruined her career and reputation and put prestigious museums under closer scrutiny.
The ownership of a collection called the Elgin Marbles is still bitterly contested between Greece and the British Museum in London. Great Britain claims that, in the early 1800s, Thomas Bruce, known as Lord Elgin, lawfully brought back marble sculptures from the Parthenon, while Greece believes the Ottoman Empire ambassador abused his position and took more than what was agreed upon.
To increase its accountability and transparency for new acquisitions of ancient art, VMFA has added 91 works to the Association of Art Museum Directors’ Object Registry, a shared database established in 2008. VMFA says it also adheres to guidelines and standards set by the American Alliance of Museums.
“Stolen or looted art has no place in our galleries or collection,” Michael R. Taylor, VMFA’s chief curator and deputy director for art and education, said in the press release, “so we are delighted to return these works to their countries of origin.”
