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Saqueo. El Arte De Robar Arte (2012)

by Sharon Waxman(Favorite Author)

3.9 of 5 Votes: 3

languge

English

genre

History & Biography

publisher

Turner

review 1: I read LOOT mid-summer in preparation for a reading group that caved. More's the pity that we did not get to discuss this rich and astoundingly researched chronicle because it brought up numerous questions for me. The basic premise of the work is PLUNDER and how colonizing nations have ripped the treasures from the lands that they have conquered. From ancient wars to present day, tales of antiquities ripped, sawed, jack-hammered and dynamited from their original place in their cultures to other more "civilized" places, Waxman, "waxes" eloquent about stolen treasures. Waxman is a journalist and a very good writer. She chooses her adjectives with precision so that we can actually replicate the splendor of the items she writes about. So many of the treasures have ended u... morep in the United States that it is unconscionable. She includes the fights by countries seeking to have their riches returned from such cultural beacons as the Getty and the Metropolitan Museum in New York. Other countries have raped and plundered too, like Britain and France, but U.S. citizens have a responsibility to see to it that these ill gotten gains are returned. Which brings up so much controversy about repatriation and why and why not. Great pictures,but needs a better bibliography.
review 2: I read this book for a book club...and probably wouldn't have picked it up otherwise. However, I was pleasantly surprised at how interesting it was, and what an enjoyable read it was. Sharon Waxman examines the controversies surrounding the acquisition and preservation of antiquities in museums across the globe which have been taken from their countries of origin. Although most people have at least seen pictures of many of these treasures from Greece, Egypt, Turkey, etc., I wonder how many people actually wonder about how these pieces came to be in museums in England, France, German, and the United States. The stories of how this came to be are really fascinating, and sometimes shameful. The efforts of the countries of origin to get these pieces back are thought-provoking. Ms Waxman raises many questions about the means used to acquire antiquities, the legitimacy of such acquisitions, and whether they should be returned to the countries where they were found, and demands for restitution. In the end, it seems there are no correct answers. The currently stated policies of most museums of not accepting pieces without a complete provenance are meant to stop the looting of antiquities, but do those policies really accomplish that goal, or do they merely drive the sale of antiquities underground to private buyers from which they will never be seen again? I'm glad I read this book. I don't think I'll ever look at a piece in a museum again without wondering how it came to be there. less

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