Suzan Mazur has another lengthy piece in Scoop on the thickening plot in the 'Museum Case' ... here's the incipit:
It is not totally surprising that New York antiquities dealer Ed Merrin appears to be caught in the dragnet of Italian prosecutors who are conducting a criminal trial in Rome, having already charged dealer Bob Hecht and former Getty Museum curator Marion True with conspiracy to traffic in ancient art. Merrin testified before US Congress in the 1970s in opposition to H.R. 5643, a bill designed to implement the UNESCO convention protecting cultural property. He has said "prohibition never worked and never will work".
He has also made the claim that there was only one other person dealing at his level of quality -- Robin Symes. And Symes has been on the Italians' dealer hit list since 1999 -- following the accidental death of Symes' partner Christos Michaelides, who fell down the stairs at the rented Italian villa of collectors Shelby White and Leon Levy [Michel van Rijn -- Symes Special].
Symes has been a supplier of ancient treasures to diamond & political influence peddler Maurice Tempelsman (beau of the late Jackie Kennedy Onassis) and fianancier Michael Steinhardt, for example.
The announcement last week that the Italians may seek a Merrin indictment -- alleging Merrin Galllery has been a "conduit" for antiquities smuggled out of Italy and sold to US museums -- sent me back into my Merrin files and an interview I did with Ed Merrin for The Economist magazine: "Museums and Galleries: Unholy Alliance?" in the Spring of 1990 to see where Merrin possibly first lost his footing.
Peter Watson in his new book, The Medici Conspiracy, cites Merrin Gallery writing a letter to European dealer Gianfranco Becchina, who Italian prosecutors have also initiated proceedings against as one of the antiquities smuggling kingpins. Watson reports Becchina was asked in the letter not to write his name on the back of photos of antiquities he sent to Merrin Gallery.
But it seems Ed Merrin first gained notoriety in the summer of 1989 when he outbid Robin Symes for a Cycladic marble head at Sotheby's. Symes was shopping for the Getty Museum at the time (although Merrin said he didn't know that). The idea that a dealer could outbid a museum caused a stir.
Merrin had a $10 million Wall Street investor at the time -- Asher Edelman, the man thought to have been the inspiration for Michael Douglas' character in the film Wall Street. Edelman's own art collection was valued at $100 million.
[...]
The whole thing includes some photos of items sold through the gallery, including some rather nice Roman statuary of the 'warts and all' variety (which were underpriced?).
Meanwhile, check out the conclusion of a piece in today's Guardian:
Could be an exciting week ...
It is not totally surprising that New York antiquities dealer Ed Merrin appears to be caught in the dragnet of Italian prosecutors who are conducting a criminal trial in Rome, having already charged dealer Bob Hecht and former Getty Museum curator Marion True with conspiracy to traffic in ancient art. Merrin testified before US Congress in the 1970s in opposition to H.R. 5643, a bill designed to implement the UNESCO convention protecting cultural property. He has said "prohibition never worked and never will work".
He has also made the claim that there was only one other person dealing at his level of quality -- Robin Symes. And Symes has been on the Italians' dealer hit list since 1999 -- following the accidental death of Symes' partner Christos Michaelides, who fell down the stairs at the rented Italian villa of collectors Shelby White and Leon Levy [Michel van Rijn -- Symes Special].
Symes has been a supplier of ancient treasures to diamond & political influence peddler Maurice Tempelsman (beau of the late Jackie Kennedy Onassis) and fianancier Michael Steinhardt, for example.
The announcement last week that the Italians may seek a Merrin indictment -- alleging Merrin Galllery has been a "conduit" for antiquities smuggled out of Italy and sold to US museums -- sent me back into my Merrin files and an interview I did with Ed Merrin for The Economist magazine: "Museums and Galleries: Unholy Alliance?" in the Spring of 1990 to see where Merrin possibly first lost his footing.
Peter Watson in his new book, The Medici Conspiracy, cites Merrin Gallery writing a letter to European dealer Gianfranco Becchina, who Italian prosecutors have also initiated proceedings against as one of the antiquities smuggling kingpins. Watson reports Becchina was asked in the letter not to write his name on the back of photos of antiquities he sent to Merrin Gallery.
But it seems Ed Merrin first gained notoriety in the summer of 1989 when he outbid Robin Symes for a Cycladic marble head at Sotheby's. Symes was shopping for the Getty Museum at the time (although Merrin said he didn't know that). The idea that a dealer could outbid a museum caused a stir.
Merrin had a $10 million Wall Street investor at the time -- Asher Edelman, the man thought to have been the inspiration for Michael Douglas' character in the film Wall Street. Edelman's own art collection was valued at $100 million.
[...]
The whole thing includes some photos of items sold through the gallery, including some rather nice Roman statuary of the 'warts and all' variety (which were underpriced?).
Meanwhile, check out the conclusion of a piece in today's Guardian:
Greek officials say police are poised to raid houses thought to contain plundered antiquities in the UK and across Europe. "There must be a lot of frightened people in Athens and elsewhere because they know we're homing in," one insider said. "There are rich families, members of Athenian high society, who have been involved in this for decades."
Could be an exciting week ...