Hot this week: [Very obviously] stolen antiquities in the MET [finally] returned to Nepal.
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General
In the Thorny Questions of Authenticity, Who Decides?
(27 March 2018; Blouin Artinfo)
How to Tell if your Artwork is Fake
(4 April 2018; Mutual Art)
The insurance reality of a disappearing Picasso
(6 April 2018; Insurance Business Magazine)
Africa
Egypt retrieves mummy parts smuggled to U.S. over 90 years ago (Egypt, USA)
(27 March 2018; New China)
72 officials charged with theft after turning ancient archaeological site into parking lot (Egypt)
(5 April 2018; Egypt Independent)
Looted Ethiopian treasures in UK could be returned on loan (Ethiopia, UK)
(3 April 2018; The Guardian)
British museums and looted treasures (Ethiopia, UK)
(5 April 2018; The Guardian)
Looted is a loaded word — but shouldn’t the cultural wonders of the ancient world be admired in their country of origin? (Ethiopia, UK)
(5 April 2018; The National)
Ethiopia Rejects Claims Of Agreeing To Take Treasures On Loan Basis (Ethiopia, UK)
(7 April 2018; Ethiosports)
Sabha’s historic castle hit with rockets as tribal tension continues (Libya)
(2 April 2018; The Libya Observer)
U.S. Embassy holds training to safeguard Libya’s rich cultural heritage (Libya, USA)
(7 April 2018; The Libya Observer)
World heritage in Syria and Libya agonising under the world’s idle eyes (Libya, Syria)
(8 April 2018; The Arab Weekly)
Stolen artefacts: Oba of Benin, Obaseki to build world-class Museum (Nigeria)
(5 April 2018; The Nation)
No breakthrough in Thulamela artefact theft (South Africa)
(7 April 2018; Lowvelder)
Americas
Toronto police investigating after rock valued at more than $17,000 stolen from Toronto’s Gardiner Museum (Canada)
(7 April 2018; The Star)
Federal agents take Baby Jesus (Mexico, USA)
(25 March 2017; Mad River Union)
Recuperan una talla del siglo XVIII robada en una iglesia de Santa Fe (Mexico)
(28 March 2018; Ideal)
Protegen el patrimonio cultural (Mexico)
(29 March 2018; Excelsior)
Here’s What Protects Shipwrecks From Looters and Hacks (USA)
(27 March 2018; Gizmodo)
Fort Smith Museum To Increase Security After Artifact Was Stolen (USA)
(28 March 2018; 5 News)
Bellstone believed missing is at Kauai Museum (USA)
(28 March 2018; The Garden Island)
Native American artifacts recovered, police say (USA)
(2 April 2018; Record Searchlight)
Art of the theft: Book illustrates Boston museum heist (USA)
(2 April 2018; WTOP)
Lawyer: Guantanamo Bay detainee has right to make, show art (USA)
(4 April 2018; Fox News)
Carnegie Library warned in 1991 to move rare books to libraries with tighter security, better climate control — but never did (USA)
(4 April 2018; Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)
Art Stolen by Nazis must be Returned to Holocaust Victim’s Heirs 80 Years Later, Court Rules (USA)
(4 April 2018; Newsweek)
Art Dealers Strike Back at Artist Cady Noland in an Increasingly Philosophical Legal Dispute About a Restored Sculpture (USA)
(5 April 2018; ArtNet News)
SJC ruling clears Berkshire Museum to sell artworks (USA)
(5 April 2018; The Berkshire Eagle)
Man confesses to museum theft of Civil War antiques (USA)
(5 April 2018; Fox)
Police search for missing paintings in Old Main art heist (USA)
(5 April 2018; Baylor Lariat)
‘There Are Black People in the Future’ – tale of a billboard (USA)
(6 April 2018; Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)
Dismissing Suit Against Agnes Martin Catalogue Raisonné Committee, Judge Bolsters Embattled Art-Authentication Field (USA)
(6 April 2018; Art News)
Antique store sees $50,000 in Alaska Native art and carvings stolen (USA)
(7 April 2018; KTUU)
In Utah canyons where an ancient civilization once flourished, the feds are now inviting oil and gas drilling (USA)
(7 April 2018; The Salt Lake Tribune)
DNA evidence connects Cold Lake prolific offender with theft of art (USA)
(1 April 2018; Cold Lake Sun)
A man accused of stealing a gold bar from Keys museum has a dark past, feds say (USA)
(2 April 2018; Miami Herald)
Europe
How Gustav Klimt’s Unfinished `Ria Munk III’ Finally Escaped the Nazis (Austria)
(7 April 2018; The Daily Beast)
Louvre says ‘non’ to minister’s Mona Lisa grand tour (France)
(27 March 2018; The Art Newspaper)
UNESCO, EU and art market together ramp up fight against illicit trafficking of cultural objects (France)
(28 March 2018; UNESCO)
Report lashes France’s ‘lack of ambition’ to return looted Jewish art (France)
(3 April 2018; The Times of Israel)
Four artworks vanish from walls of French parliament (France)
(4 April 2018; The Guardian)
Christian Jankowski fills Berlin auction house with ‘fakes’ (Germany)
(27 March 2018; The Art Newspaper)
Hildebrand Gurlitt’s Disputed Henry Moore Will Have a Starring Role in the BBC’s Hit Art Detective Series (Germany)
(29 March 2018; ArtNet News)
German couple nabbed with antiquities, replica workshop (Greece)
(3 April 2018; eKathimerini)
Greek police recovers Hellenistic-era statue from antiquities smugglers (Greece)
(27 March 2018; Xinhua)
Three smugglers of precious Hellenic and Roman antiquities arrested (Greece)
(29 March 2018; Neos Kosmos)
Dutch probe of stolen artefacts delves into colonial history (Netherlands)
(27 March 2018; Al Jazeera)
Unknown or Unreal? The Shadow on Some Russian Avant-Garde Art (Russia, Germany)
(6 April 2018; The New York Times)
‘I’ve Regained a Part of My Family’: Unusual Swiss Restitution Case Brings John Constable Painting Home to Heirs in France (Switzerland)
(3 April 2018; Art News)
High costs and terror fears keep Britons from museums (UK)
(24 March 2018; The Guardian)
‘Priceless’ paintings slashed inside town hall after gang ‘failed to find any cash’ (UK)
(3 April 2018; Metro)
Thieves scale scaffolding to steal lead at Allerton Park (UK)
(4 April 2018; The Press)
Bookseller who stole signed Harry Potter book worth £1,675 avoids jail sentence (UK)
(4 April 2018; Dumbarton and Vale of Leven Reporter)
London Dealer Richard Nagy Ordered To Return Stolen Egon Schiele Drawings (UK)
(6 April 2018; Artlyst)
Police detain 2 residents of Kyiv on suspicion of stealing bust of Lesya Ukrainka (Ukraine)
(25 March 2018; Kyiv Post)
Oceania
‘Cultural genocide’: Flood of fake art threatens Indigenous artists and communities (Australia)
(5 April 2018; NITV)
Security stepped up ahead of Dame Kiri art auction (New Zealand)
(3 April 2018; Radio New Zealand)
Re-united with the bones of their ancestors (New Zealand)
(8 April 2018; Maori Television)
South and East Asia
Philadelphia apologizes to China for damaged terracotta warrior (China, USA)
(8 April 2018; ECNS)
Chinese netizens call for return of stolen ancient bronze vessel set for auction in UK (China, UK)
(28 March 2018; Global Times)
China probes if ancient bronze vessel to be auctioned in UK was looted (China, UK)
(29 March 2018; South China Morning Post)
Cleaners accidentally throw away Swiss artist’s ‘Unhappy Meal’ sculpture (Hong Kong)
(4 April 2018; The Local)
1,000-year-old Apsara to Return Home from US (India)
(3 April 2018; The Pioneer)
Kundapur: Theft at Uppunda Venkataramana temple, ornaments worth lacs stolen (India)
(7 April 2018; Daiji World)
TN police begin Palani idol ‘theft’ case investigation (India)
(29 March 2018; News Today)
Inquiry into ‘irregularities’ in manufacture of temple idols begins (India)
(29 March 2018; Business Standard)
Palani Temple Case Transferred Out Of Idol Wing (India)
(3 April 2018; Swarajya Magazine)
An Instagram-Baiting Museum in Indonesia Is Ripping Off Chris Burden and Yayoi Kusama (Indonesia)
(26 March 2018; ArtNet News)
Stolen idols returned to Nepal (Nepal, USA)
(4 April 2018; The Himalayan Times)
The Met Will Return Looted Statues of Sages and Goddesses to Both India and Nepal (Nepal, India, USA)
(5 April 2018; ArtNet News)
New York Met returns stolen idols to Nepal (Nepal, USA)
(5 April 2018; The Nation)
Bringing our Gods home (Nepal, USA)
(6 April 2018; Nepali Times)
The Decades-Long Dispute Over Artwork Owned by Filipino President Ferdinand Marcos Is Going to Trial (Philippines)
(3 April 2018; ArtNet News)
West and Central Asia
`Jordan Codices’ proven fake — DoA (Jordan)
(7 April 2018; The Jordan Times)
Missing artefacts back on display in Beirut after decades (Lebanon)
(4 April 2018; TRT World)
Syria: `We received money for documentation but not restoration’ (Syria)
(5 April 2018; The Irish Times)
In Other News
Australian ivory trade’s role in encouraging poaching to come under scrutiny (Australia)
(8 April 2018; ABC Australia)
The Ghost of Iraq’s Lost Heritage Comes to Trafalgar Square as Michael Rakowitz Unveils His Fourth Plinth Sculpture (Iraq)
(27 March 2018; ArtNet News)
Nelson Mandela’s golden hand casts sell for $10m in bitcoin (South Africa)
(27 March 2018; BBC News)
The world’s most expensive painting cost $450 MILLION because two Arab princes bid against each other by mistake and wouldn’t back down (but settled by swapping it for a yacht) (UAE)
(29 March 2018; The Daily Mail)
Oxford will not reconsider Sackler donations despite opioid link (UK)
(2 April 2018; Cherwell)
People Want To Know Why Brooklyn Museum’s New African Art Curator Is White (USA)
(28 March 2018; Huffington Post)
US Government Can No Longer Fund Official Portrait Paintings (USA)
(28 March 2018; Hyperallergic)
A Lost Painting Is Rediscovered. Have You Checked Your Closets Lately? (USA)
(5 April 2018; The New York Times)