Chasing Aphrodite

Chasing Aphrodite:
The Hunt for Looted Antiquities
at the World's Richest Museum

Chasing Aphrodite is a book about the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles. The title refers to a statue of the Greek goddess, which the museum bought in 1988, despite obvious signs that it had been looted from an ancient Greek site on the Italian island of Sicily. The subtitle explains the scope: The Hunt for Looted Antiquities at the World's Richest Museum. 

The book is written by Jason Felch, an investigative reporter with the Los Angeles Times, and Ralph Frammolino, who was an investigative reporter with the Los Angeles Times for more than twenty years. Shortly before the publication of this book, he moved to South Asia, where he trains other journalists in investigative reporting.

Their book is the culmination of an investigation that began in 2005. Its origin was a series of articles published in the Los Angeles Times between 2005 and 2007. But many aspects could not be explored in the newspaper articles, and therefore the authors decided to write a more comprehensive account, which was published in 2011.

The book is well-written and well-researched. The authors provide some basic historical background, such as the UNESCO convention of 1970. They also provide some historical context, for instance the controversial episode concerning the Euphronios krater and the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

J. Paul Getty (1892-1976), the founder of the museum, is presented in chapter 1.

Jiri Frel (1923-2006), the first curator of the antiquities collection, was hired by Getty himself in 1973. His almost incredible career is covered in chapter 2. His amazing departure from the museum (1984-1986) is covered in chapter 3.

Marion True (born 1948), the second curator, was hired in 1986 and asked to resign in 2005. Several chapters are devoted to her career (the rise and fall of Marion True). When we read the book, we discover that this curator had two faces: the official face said the Getty and other American museums should stop buying (and accepting) ancient objects which had been looted. The official face was very vocal on this point. But the unofficial face (which only appeared behind closed doors) was ready to buy (and accept) any ancient object, as long as it was beautiful and valuable. The question of looting was not relevant. Here are two examples:

(1) In 1992 a funerary wreath was offered to the museum. The official face turned down the offer saying it was “too dangerous for us” to handle. A few months later the unofficial face decided to buy the object, and in 1993 the acquisition was confirmed by the board (pp. 121-122).

(2) In 1995 the official face was instrumental in setting up a new and strict policy regarding acquisitions. The Getty would not no longer buy or accept anything that was looted. Shortly after this the Fleischman collection was offered to the museum. Most items in this collection were beautiful and looted. How would the Getty respond to this offer? Would they focus on the looting and say no, or would they focus on the beauty and say yes? The unofficial face discovered a loophole in the new policy: the Getty would not buy or accept any objects which had not been published; fortunately, the Fleischman collection had just been published, and therefore the offer could be accepted. Who was the publisher? The Getty! (pp. 140-145).

In 2005 the Italian authorities opened a case against True. The Getty paid for her legal representation, even though they had fired her in 2005. The case dragged on for years. It finally ended without a verdict in 2010, when an Italian court decided the statute of limitations had expired.

However, long before the case came to an end, American museums started to give back some of their “hot” items. The Met returned several items to Italy, including the Euphronios krater it had bought in 1972. The Museum of Fine Arts in Boston did something similar. The Getty also returned some items to Greece and some to Italy. The statue of Aphrodite became a symbol of the conflict between the American museum and the source country. In 2011 the statue was returned to Sicily. As the last line of the last chapter says, “The chase is finally over.”

Chasing Aphrodite is based on a wide range of evidence: (1) interviews with many of the persons who are portrayed in the book; (2) numerous photos of ancient objects taken by the looters themselves; (3) numerous internal documents from the Getty. Since the items in categories (2) and (3) were never meant to be seen by the public, their credibility is extremely high.

On the dust jacket of the hardcover version there are statements by five authors who have covered similar topics. For reasons of space I can quote only one of them here:

Roger Atwood, author of Stealing History, says:

“A brilliantly told, richly detailed, and vitally important account of how one of America’s top cultural institutions spent millions buying treasures stolen from ancient graves and then spent millions more trying to deny it. Even if you think you know the story of the Getty, read this book. You won’t know whether to laugh or cry, but you will be enthralled.”

Statements like these are composed in order to promote the sale of the book, but in this case there is no exaggeration. This book is the first full-scale study to give the inside story of the Getty Museum, and I have to say that the authors really know how to captivate an audience: as soon as you have finished one chapter, you will want to continue with the next one. That is how good it is.

PS # 1. James Cuno - author of Who Owns Antiquity? - is mentioned briefly on page 301. In May 2011 (after this book went to press) it was announced that he was going to be the new CEO of the Getty Trust.

PS # 2. For information about the classical collection in the Getty Museum see my blog: A Museum in Los Angeles

PS # 3. For information about the classical collection in the Met see my blog: A Museum in New York 

PS # 4. For more details about the looting of ancient sites see my blog: The Medici Conspiracy

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Jason Felch and Ralph Frammolino,

Chasing Aphrodite: 
The Hunt for Looted Antiquities at the World's Richest Museum,

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2011, 375 pages

 

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