New York antiquities dealer Subhash Kapoor (right)

Major Museums Reel as the Extent of Subhash Kapoor's Alleged

Smuggling Ring Is Uncovered
Published: August 6, 2012
Two weeks ago, federal authorities broke open a
Manhattan storage unit to discover $20 million
worth of allegedly looted ancient bronze and
sandstone statues. The cache of suspicious
treasure belongs to Subhash Kapoor, an
Indian-born, New York-based art dealer who has
sold and donated hundreds of Indian antiquities
to museums around the world through his
now-defunct Madison Avenue gallery Art of the
Past. The news has sent a chill through
museums worldwide.
At least 230 objects have been traced from
Kapoor to prominent museums across the globe,
including the Norton Simon Museum in
Pasadena, Bostons Museum of Fine Arts, and
the Art Institute of Chicago, according to a tally on the website Chasing Aphrodite, which specializes in tracking looted antiquities. Several
institutions have more than a dozen works from Kapoor. According to multiple reports, the Metropolitan Museum of Art has 81, the Los
Angeles County Museum of Art has 62, the Toledo Museum of Art, 44, and the National Gallery of Art in Australia, 21.
Last week, federal authorities asked American museums to look closely at their collections for works
once owned by Kapoor. Pieces that match those listed as stolen are still openly on display in some
museums, the ICE Homeland Security Investigations team wrote in a press release. HSI
will aggressively pursue the illicit pieces not yet recovered. Authorities will be looking for
antiquities that were removed from India after 1972, the year the country passed a law forbidding
the exportation of art objects over 100 years old.
Museums appear to be cooperating with the authorities. The MFA Boston, which purchased a
17th-century illustrated manuscript page from Art of the Past in 1995, has not yet been contacted
by investigators, but representative Karen Frascona told ARTINFO that they are aware we
have this object in our collection it is posted on our website with provenance information. We
have no reason to believe that it was looted, and would, of course, cooperate with any
investigation.
When news broke of the investigation, the museums director instructed our chief curator to review the collection records to determine if we
obtained items from Mr. Kapoor. We are still reviewing the files (our holdings include more than 18,000 artworks), the Asian Art Museum of
San Franciscos spokesman Tim Hallman told Chasing Aphrodite. Despite museums' stated willingness to cooperate, it is worth noting that
Kapoor has been under investigation in Germany and India for almost a year, while institutions are only now searching their collections for
suspect pieces acquired from him.
Not all museums that bought artwork from Kapoor are under fire. The only thing we own that the Freer-Sackler purchased either from Kapoor
or the gallery Art of the Past is a 20th-century necklace from India, acquired in 1992, Allison Peck, a spokesperson, told the New York Times.
Fortunately neither an antiquity nor sculpture. The Metropolitan Museum of Art has also deflected questions about its holdings, noting that
the bulk of Kapoors donations to the museum were works on paper. They do not appear to be the type of items that they are worried about, rep
Harold Holzer told the Times. (Chasing Aphrodite notes that the Met also owns several works the authorities will be interested in antiquities
lacking documented ownership histories before 1972.)
The investigation may have implications beyond the fate of the antiquities themselves, according to cultural heritage lawyer Rick St. Hiliare.
Examining the import and export methods surrounding the Kapoor case not only can aid police in the United States and India in their current
investigations targeting the alleged idol thief, but it can help policymakers, criminologists, and scholars think about better ways to detect, uncover,
interdict, and prosecute future crimes of heritage trafficking, he wrote on his website last week. St. Hilaire also warned that modern and
legitimately imported items in museum collections may have been used to mask Kapoor's illegal shipments.
And what of Kapoor himself? The disgraced dealer is currently facing charges in India for allegedly masterminding a network of temple looters.
by Julia Halperin
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United States authorities have issued a warrant for his arrest. His lawyer Christopher Kane told the New York Post that he has no reason to
think Kapoor is not a legitimate businessman.
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