September 8, 2000

Archaeologists Don't Dig Moynihan's Art Collector Pal for Stolen-Treasures Post

Statues of Limitations

by Ward Harkavy

More on Shelby White controversy

http://www.villagevoice.com/
Retiring senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan's legacy is one for the ages, according to those who bow and scrape before him. But one of his last official acts has reignited an age-old, worldwide controversy over stolen art.
The dispute is over President Clinton's recent announcement that he is appointing big-time art collector Shelby White to the Cultural Property Advisory Committee, which is supposed to help stop the flow of ancient foreign artifacts into the hands of private collectors.
The high-society, big-spending White and her husband, financier Leon Levy, own a cache of Greek and Roman art that Women's Wear Daily has dubbed "the finest collection of ancient art in the world."
Obsessed with ancient senators, the couple have taken quite a liking to some modern-day ones as well. They and their associates have pumped thousands of dollars into Moynihan's campaign coffers over the past 20 years. The couple, who are consistent donors to Democratic candidates-with occasional contributions to Republicans-also have strong personal and political connections to Moynihan, and for many years he has carried their water in the international dispute over suspected looting.
Moynihan's clout apparently trumped opposition to White by the 11,500-member Archaeological Institute of America, whose president, Nancy Wilkie, was quoted in The New York Times last week as saying of White's appointment: "It's like putting a fox in charge of the chicken coop."
Art has long been a plaything of the rich, but in the raging dispute over the plundering of ancient treasures from around the globe by private collectors, the Times is, too. In a lengthy story last week about the controversial appointment of White, the Gray Lady, who's partial to patrician Democrats, did lay out the facts-but not all of them. It neglected to point out that White herself writes for the paper about the superrich and their philanthropy-though not about her husband's or her own financial affairs. And though the paper named Moynihan as the "sponsor" of White's appointment, and noted that Moynihan has fought on the side of art dealers against countries whose ancient objects are being pillaged, it neglected to note the closeness of Moynihan's personal and financial connections with White and Levy and their buddies.
Levy, whose personal fortune topped $600 million as recently as two years ago, according to press accounts, can well afford to spend not only thousands on political campaigns but millions on art. Fourteen years ago, White and Levy paid $1.32 million for a 6000-year-old statuette of a Greek goddess; at the time, it was the highest price ever paid at auction for an antiquity.
And now the center of the ancient world has shifted from Greece and Italy to the couple's Sutton Place South palace, which, judging from press accounts, resembles Xanadu-if Citizen Kane had ever unpacked and displayed his booty. Countries like Great Britain, Italy, and Turkey aren't impressed. They've long protested the looting of their treasures-literally dug up by grave robbers in some cases-and subsequent selling to private collectors.
White and Levy have not been accused of thievery, and White has strongly defended their purchases as aboveboard, legitimate, and legal. In addition, the couple have been quoted as saying they only have temporary control over the treasures and are merely loving caretakers. But some archaeologists claim that most of their treasures have suspect origins; they, on the other hand, stoutly deny buying looted treasures.
But somebody is. In the past 20 years, they and other collectors have pushed the prices of overseas objects beyond the reach of even the richest museums, according to press accounts. Groups ranging from Guatemalan peasants to Turkish villagers to Italian government officials have pleaded with U.S. officials to impose import restrictions that would clamp down on the soaring antiquities market.
The U.S., however, has dragged its heels, not signing a 1970 worldwide UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization) pact on the issue until 1983. And even then, according to press reports, Moynihan (himself the owner of valuable art from overseas) led the charge on behalf of art dealers and collectors to water down the U.S. restrictions.
In bidding wars at art auctions, museums have little chance against wealthy collectors and, in some cases, have forged alliances with them. A political contribution here and there couldn't hurt, either. Live politicians cost a lot less than statues of dead ones, but campaign records reveal an impressive string of donations by White and Levy and their friends to Moynihan and other Democratic senators.
Levy gave Moynihan's campaign $1000 back in February 1979-when $1000 really meant something. His contributions to politicians have increased, the records show, but not at the rate his fortune has. Worth only $310 million in 1994, according to Forbes, he was estimated to have more than $600 million by 1998, when his longtime business partner Jack Nash's personal fortune was estimated to be $550 million.
Despite that growth, Levy still continued to give Moynihan chunks of money in $1000 increments over the years. But he also gave similar chunks to Senator Charles "Chuck" Schumer and Democratic senatorial candidates in other states. (In a rare outburst, he gave a total of $25,000 in 1995 and 1996 to the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.) Of course, Shelby White gave Moynihan like amounts. And so did Nash. And so did longtime Levy-Nash lawyer R. Todd Lang Jr. And so did Levy relative S. Jay Levy of the Jerome Levy Economics Institute, a Bard College think tank that Leon Levy founded. In the logrolling spirit, Moynihan was named to the institute's board.
In 1995, Levy introduced Moynihan at an institute conference conducted at the National Press Club in D.C., proclaiming him "the most brilliant and independent member of the Senate." Moynihan returned the warm feelings, prefacing his speech by proclaiming, "I'm in love with Shelby White-say it anywhere. I want the world to hear it."
Levy, though, has other pals besides Moynihan and is a member of more-prestigious panels than the institute that he himself founded. He's the vice chairman of the Institute for Advanced Study (IAS), the Princeton, New Jersey, think tank where Albert Einstein once thought. And one of Levy's underlings at Odyssey (the Levy-Nash investment powerhouse), Brian Wruble, is also on the institute's board.
Which puts a different cast on a quote in last week's Times attributed to Glen W. Bowersock, one of White's supporters, described in the article as "an internationally respected" professor of ancient history at the IAS; he called White "an admirable representative of the nonprofessional community of collectors." A strong endorsement from a guy who, essentially, works for her husband.
Meanwhile, Hillary Rodham Clinton may have stepped into something unpleasant in her quest to succeed Moynihan. On a trip to Turkey last year, The Boston Globe reported, she did something that Moynihan would never do: She publicly sympathized with the locals by railing against the pillaging of their treasures. One of the most noted possessions of White and Levy, it turns out, is the top half of a statue called "Weary Herakles." The Turks, who have the bottom half, want the top back.

(Hillary also supports the Greek in there request to have the Parthenon Marbles returned to Athens:
http://www.codoh.com/newsdesk/2000/000523r.html
Hillary Clinton asks Britain to return Elgin marbles.
More links on this matter at the end of this message
Ton C.)

This dispute has dragged on for years; White and Levy maintain that they purchased it legally and won't oblige. Where Hillary would stand on all this, if elected, isn't known. She didn't return calls seeking comment. But it's worth noting that White and Levy contributed campaign funds not only to Moynihan but to Bill Clinton's presidential runs. White, however, must have heard about Hillary's Turkey talk. She's giving money to Rick Lazio.

Some relevant links to Weary Herakles, or Shelby White:

MFA'S HERAKLES IS CONTRABAND ANTIQUITY, MAGAZINE SAYS

Stealing History Jenny Doole

BOSTON GLOBE GOES AFTER BOSTON MFA

ART COLLECTION SAID TO BRAKE APPOINTMENT Author: By Walter V. Robinson, Globe Staff Date: 06/29/2000 Page: A7 Section: National/Foreign

GETTING TO THE BOTTOM OF SPLIT STATUE Author: By Anne E. Kornblut, Globe Staff

NEW MFA LINK SEEN TO LOOTED ARTIFACTS SCHOLARS CITE WORKS ACQUIRED SINCE 1984

HARVARD MUSEUM ACQUISITIONS SHOCK SCHOLARS Author: By Walter V. Robinson and John Yemma, Globe Staff

A NOT-SO-CLASSIC CURATOR Author: By Christine Temin, Globe Staff

Parthenon (Elgin) Marbles links:

http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/ent/A0817058.html

http://encarta.msn.com/index/conciseindex/50/050BC000.htm

Neuer Streit um "Elgin Marbles" Athenische Marmorfriese sind im Britischen Museum beschädigt worden

Elgin Marbles 'cover-up' by museum

What's going on? Interactive guide to the history of the Elgin marbles

Washington, December 12: Talk on the Elgin Marbles

Bas-relief A sculpture executed upon and attached to a flat surface. The usual impression produced by an artistic relief is that about one-half of the actual proportions of the object are being seen in their third dimension of depth.

Increasingly, however, "victim" countries are refusing to view history as a closed book. Greece has long demanded the return of the Elgin Marbles, the 253 sculptures from the Parthenon that are in the British Museum. Turkey, China, Cambodia, Nigeria, Mali and Bangladesh say their cultural heritage was ransacked. Mexicans lament that the feathered headdress of the Aztec Emperor Moctezuma is in a Vienna museum

Key Exhibits include the Egyptian Hall, the Tomb of Payava, the Elgin Marbles & the Sutton Hoo treasure (British Museum). The Magna Carta (British Library)

We all know the story: In 1802, Thomas Bruce, 7th Earl of Elgin (1766-1841) decided to remove the marble friezes from the Parthenon and ship them back to Scotland as an ornament for his new country home. Ever since then, the marbles have been the center of an impassioned argument about whether they should stay in London, where they are now housed in the British Museum, or be returned to Greece. Opinions about Lord Elgin range from the title of this page to the not un-founded theory that he was a hero who saved the friezes from further decay and perhaps destruction.

The Elgin Marbles by Christopher Hitchens

BIOGRAPHY OF LORD ELGIN

The Elgin Marbles Game If you would like to fling marble at Lord Elgin, go here.

The Parthenon Marbles is an excellent site devoted to getting the marbles returned to Greece. Includes a history of the friezes, the poem by Keats, and many other very interesting sections.

Parthenon Day was 5 December. If you would like the marbles returned, visit this site.

the British Museum's reason for not returning the Parthenon friezes.

provides a sentence in defense of Lord Elgin. The Clan Bruce is Lord Elgin's family and numbers many, many distinguished members throughout Scotland's history.

More esoteric discussion of Lord Elgin.

Illustrated guided tour of the Parthenon Frieze with groundbreaking research deriving from computer analysis of the classical literature and reference to the complete copy of the Parthenon Frieze at Hammerwood Park. The symbolism of the Parthenon with the Athena statue on the Acropolis of Athens suggests that stories told by Plato were (1) common knowledge among the Athenian intelligensia (2) universally held to be true and (3) resulted in the building of the greatest temple ever built.

"Blind are the eyes that do not shed tears while seeing, O, Greece beloved, your sacred objects plundered by profane English hands that have again wounded your aching bosom and snatched your gods, gods that hate England's abominable north climate." Lord Byron, "Childe Harold"

Elgin marbles, museums, etc.

Elgin Marbles Theory Arises By Rossella Lorenzi, Discovery.com News

The Parthenon Frieze and the relevance today of the wisdom of the Greek Gods

The Elgin Marbles

On Seeing the Elgin Marbles for the First Time by John Keats

The Columbia Encyclopedia: Sixth Edition. 2000. Elgin Marbles

British may come clean on Elgin Marbles vandalism

Public and MPs would return the Elgin Marbles!

"Elgin Marbles are here to stay," says British PM THE ELGIN MARBLES Should They Be Returned to Greece?

Elgin Marbles to Greece

Elgin marbles 'stay in UK'

KARL E. MEYER: Let Greece have the Elgin Marbles

Elgin Marbles ancient sculpture taken from the Acropolis of Athens to England in 1806 by Thomas Bruce, 7th earl of Elgin. The PARTHENON frieze by PHIDIAS and sculpture from the ERECHTHEUM are on view at the British Museum.

ELGIN MARBLES, collection of Greek marble sculptures brought from Athens to London in 1806 by the British diplomat Thomas Bruce, 7th earl of Elgin (1766-1841). He had purchased the sculptures from the Turks, who then ruled Greece, to prevent their being pulverized to make building materials. Elgin was criticized nevertheless by some for depriving Greece of priceless national treasures. After a long struggle he persuaded the British government to buy the marbles in 1816 and place them in the British Museum. The chief pieces, by the 5th-century BC master Phidias, are from the frieze and tympani of the Parthenon. The first examples of high classical Greek sculpture to be seen in England, the Elgin Marbles inspired an enthusiasm for Greece and its art in both the romantic poets and the English public.

Website dedicated to the (return of) the Parthenon (Elgin) Marbles

Greece may share Elgin Marbles

Hillary Clinton asks Britain to return Elgin marbles

Greeks urge Prince Charles to support Elgin Marble return

British committee to investigate "Elgin Marbles" dispute

Elgin Marbles, Greek marble sculptures brought from Athens to London in 1806 by British diplomat Thomas Bruce, 7th Earl of Elgin. He purchased them from the Turks, who then ruled Greece, to prevent their destruction. The British government bought the marbles and placed them in the British Museum. The chief pieces, by 5th-century BC master Phidias, are from the Parthenon.

Here you can download the complete pamphlet "The Parthenon and the Elgin Marbles" by Epaminondas Vranopoulos. This is still a copyright work. You will not be charged for downloading the pamphlet but we do ask you to make a voluntary contribution to the Acropolis Museum Fund which is being run by the Melina Mercouri Foundation.

ORDER OF AHEPA and the American - Hellenic Community Petition the United States of America Government

"Elgin Marbles" fight continues Greece calls for inquiry into Marbles JESSE WENTE/RAFFI VIGOD - The Arts Report

ENCYCLOPÆDIA BRITANNICA

Elgin, Thomas Bruce, 7th earl of, 11th Earl Of Kincardine

b. July 20, 1766
d. Nov. 14, 1841, Paris

Mapping out a crime of cartographic proportions

The Island of Lost Maps: A True Story of Cartographic Crime.

Miles Harvey.
Random. 405 pages. $24.95.
(-------------------------------) On Dec. 7, 1995, a slight, ordinary-looking man in his mid-forties entered the Grand Stack Room of the George Peabody Library in Baltimore. After signing in as James Perry with a fake University of Florida ID, he ordered some old books and was quietly leafing through them when another patron grew suspicious: ``I thought I saw him tear a page out . . . ,'' Jennifer Bryan later recalled. Bryan, a manuscripts curator for the Maryland Historical Society possesses a curator's natural vigilance, and after stewing for a few minutes (``[D]id I just imagine that?'') she tipped off Peabody officials. Confronted, the man fled, leading library security officers on a jog through downtown Baltimore until they finally cornered him. From some bushes, the officers retrieved the man's notebook. Folded inside were three maps from one of the Peabody's treasures, John Entick's The General History of the Late War, published in 1763.

MORE HEISTS

An hour later, the man, who admitted his real name was Gilbert Joseph Bland Jr., was released after quickly coughing up $700 in cash to pay for restoring the book he had mutilated. Only later, after a staff member posted an alert on an Internet site for librarians, would Peabody officials and the FBI suspect that the aptly named Bland -- then owner of an antiquarian map and collectibles store in Tamarac -- was responsible for a coast-to-coast swath of similar heists. Bland stole what? Bits of paper? Yet his crimes would rattle the musty complacence of those entrusted with preserving our cultural heritage and lure Harvey into a years-long expedition into the unsettling terra incognita of character malformed.
(-------------------------------------------------------)
read full review at:
http://www.herald.com/content/tue/entertainment/books/digdocs/071422.htm