(c)George Goodwin

   The night air is damp and the street lights are on. The industrial stacks pour three times their usual pollution out then they do during daylight hours. The smell of urine emanates from the doorways and corners along the sidewalks. The dumpsters behind the Chinese restaurants reek of fish heads, as a multitude of alley cats fight to secure their piece of the game board. A drug addict, with his mind on his next fix and a used hypodermic needle tucked snuggly in the band of his sock, desperately smashes the glass on the front door of a store. This burglar enters and grabs $500 worth of phone cards off of a display rack, and $100 start-up money out of the cash register drawer. He flees into the night, his greedy habit about to be temporarily satisfied.

   Sunday, May 11, 2003, at approx. 0400 hrs., Vienna, Austria. The night air was damp, etc., etc., etc. A burglar climbed up work scaffolding that was conveniently placed against the walls of the Museum of Art History, smashed the window and entered the premises. Once inside, the thief smashed a glass case that held Benvenuto Cellini's Saliera, took the piece and fled out of the window in less then sixty seconds. The Saliera is the only remaining authenticated example of the Italian sculptor's work as a goldsmith. It is worth fifty million Euros. This villain's greedy mind was satisfied by a simple "smash and grab" burglary.

The Saliera

   There are similarities in both of these scenarios, as well as the culprits. Only the burglary proceeds differ. All stolen items can be replaced or the victims can receive the equivalent monetary compensation. Original art, of course, can not be replaced and insurance payoffs do not heal the wounds of a collector who loses a beloved possession, or a nation that loses its cultural patrimony.

   I begin with the Saliera theft first of all, because of the amazing simplicity with which it was perpetrated. Second, and most importantly, to stress the effect that a loss of this magnitude has on the history of art, and on both Italian and European, indeed the world's patrimony.

   Benvenuto Cellini (1500-1571) was born in Florence and later apprenticed to a goldsmith at the age of thirteen. He led an adventurous life, which he wrote about in his famous biography, an interesting, although exaggerated, glimpse into Italian life during that epoch. He worked as a master goldsmith and in later years, turned to sculpture. One of his most famous sculptures, Perseus and Medusa, stands in the Loggia dei Lanzi in Florence. His Saliera, an exquisite example of his genius, was commissioned by King Francis I of France. It is the only remaining piece of his gold work, which we might never have the privilege of seeing again.

Perseus and the head of Medusa

   According to Interpol, art and antiquities crime is the third largest money making racket in the world, following drugs and arms trade. Italy possesses a large portion of the world's artistic treasures and has thirty-nine properties listed on the UNESCO cultural heritage list. It is easy to comprehend that artistically rich Italy, with its abundance of artistic treasures, is the largest victim of these crimes. There are over 20,000 pieces, with an estimated value of between $96 million and $144 million U.S. dollars, registered missing with the Italian Carabinieri.

   The Italian Carabinieri are extremely efficient in fighting this type of criminal activity and has an elite full time branch dedicated to art crimes called the Tutela Patrimonio Culturale (TPC). The TPC is 250 men strong and works diligently to recover pieces that are known to be stolen or smuggled out of Italy. Since its beginnings as an eight man unit back in 1969, it has recovered over 185,000 stolen art objects. Examples of recent recoveries are three paintings by Vincent Van Gogh and Cezanne, which were stolen from the Modern Museum of Art in Rome by masked gunmen; and the 4th century b.c.e gold phiale which was in a Sicilian private collection. This piece exchanged hands numerous times before being bought in good faith by an American multi-millionaire in Manhattan for $1.2 million. The Italian authorities discovered the transaction, which was a violation of Italian law that regulates the exportation of antiquities and art. With the help of U.S. Customs (now called Homeland Security I.C.E.) the piece was seized. I.C.E. in Manhattan, which has its main offices in the art gallery district of Chelsea, works closely with the Italian TPC.

San Ignazio

   Theses Italian crime fighters are very efficient at recovering art objects that have been documented and registered missing. Where they are less effective, not because of any shortcoming of their own, is in cases of antiquities sold on the illicit market that have been freshly unearthed by looters and grave robbers. These items have never before been seen by experts, nor have they ever been photographed or documented. They cannot be labeled stolen, because until the looters dug them up their existence was unknown to the modern world. The looters sell the objects to middlemen for very low sums, who falsify provenance for them and sell them to dealers, collectors, and unfortunately, even museums, for extremely high prices. In fact, it is common for the looters to earn a pittance, while the middlemen and dealers make 95% of the final price of a looted artifact. A Manhattan art dealer, who wishes to remain anonymous for obvious reasons, stated that in the past, unscrupulous museum curators who have orchestrated the purchase of artifacts with questionable provenances received kickbacks of up to 10 to 20% of the final price.

   There are many instances in which U.S. museums have purchased antiquities which the Italian government believed to have been dug up from illicit archeological sites and smuggled illegally out of Italy. A prime example of this, according to Italian authorities, is the attic-red figured krater, known as the Euphronious Krater, which was bought by the Metropolitan Museum of Art in the early seventies. The Italian government claimed that the krater had been looted from an Etruscan tomb in Tuscany, Italy, by grave robbers known as Tombaroli and smuggled out of Italy. The museum insisted that they bought the piece from a dealer in Zurich (for one million dollars) and that the dealer provided a good provenance. The Italians demanded that the krater be repatriated and the Met refused. The Museum still possesses, and proudly exhibits, this precious treaure.

Euphronious Krater

   Another example is the Hellenistic silver horde, now known as the Morgantina Silver, which was purchased by the Met in 1981. The dealer who sold the silver to the Met for $2.74 million was also involved in the Euphronious Krater deal. The Italian Government insists it has proof that the silver was unearthed from an illicit archaeological dig in Aidone, Sicily, by looters and illegally smuggled out of the country. Again, the Italian Government demanded repatriation. Once again, the museum resisted the Italian effort to repatriate its cultural property.

   The carabinieri has stated in the past that many large American museums possess archeological objects that were obtained illegally. These museums, which include the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles, the Cleveland Museum of Art, and the St. Louis Art Museum, were asked to return these objects to Italy. The Princeton University Art Museum possessed a Roman relief, which the Italians stated was smuggled out of Italy. Credit must be given to this little museum for voluntarily restituting this object.

   80% of the artworks seized by U.S. Customs are seized in New York City. There are numerous mechanisms in place here that move illicit artifacts from point A to point B. The temptation of these big money sales doesn't only reach dealers, but our large auction houses as well. Both of the aforementioned are rarely investigated, let alone convicted.

   One successful conviction of a Manhattan dealer in 2002 was the result of a joint investigation conducted by London's New Scotland Yards and the F.B.I. The N.Y. target, Frederick Schultz, was the owner of Frederick Scultz Ancient Art on 57th St. Schultz was also the president of the National Association of Dealers in Ancient, Oriental, and Primitive Art and he used this position to vocally defend the antiquities trade against accusations that it promoted looting of archaeological items. Schultz's British partner in crime, Jonathan Tokely-Parry, is an antiquities restorer who used his skills to disguise items looted out of Egypt as cheap tourist souvenirs. These items were transferred to Schultz in N.Y., where he created false provenance and sold them. Tokely-Parry was convicted in the United Kingdom to a six year sentence, of which he served only half. Schultz was convicted in federal district court in Manhattan, was fined $50,000 and sentenced to thirty three months in federal prison; he is now known as #50723-054 and resides at F.C.I. Fort Dix, New Jersey.

   Another N.Y. conviction, albeit smaller, was of an uptown dealer involved in the importation of a looted Iranian antiquity dated from 700 bc and valued at close to $1 million. This Lebanese dealer, Hicham Aboutaam, co-owner of Phoenix Ancient Art, which is located on E. 66th St., was arrested for knowingly importing the artifact into the U.S. with falsified commercial invoices. Hicham plead guilty to this in June of 2004. Agents from I.C.E. began their investigation of Phoenix Ancient Art after it came to their attention that the owners were trafficking in illicit antiquities. Hicham's brother and partner, Ali Aboutaam, who runs Phoenix Ancient Art in Geneva, Switzerland, was convicted in absentia in Egypt to fifteen years in prison for an unrelated crime of smuggling artifacts.

   Manhattan is home to several small auction houses, as well as to two of the world's largest, Christies and Sothebys. It is becoming much more common that items of an illicit nature are found at these institutions. Paintings, archeological artifacts, and antiques, often end up at the N.Y. auctions with false provenance because the N.Y. market is flourishing, and the level of sensitivity to these problems, as well as the controls, are much lower than in Europe.

   The United States of America, the United Kingdom, and Japan, are the world's largest buyers in the illicit art and antiquities market. Suprisingly enough in the U.S., a country known as one of the biggest consumers, there is only one full-time art sleuth in a municipal police department.

   Today, the only city in the U.S. that can boast about having a full-time art crimes unit is Los Angeles. The LAPD art crimes unit is run by Detective Donald Hrycyk. Det. Hrycyk, who served his city for years as a homicide detective before being assigned to the art unit, investigates all art crimes, including theft, fakes, forgeries, dealer fraud, and so on. He has recovered over $52,000,000 worth of stolen art since 1993.

   The New York Police Department had an art crimes unit that was run by now retired Detective Robert Volpe. Volpe ran the unit from 1972 until 1982. Volpe wasn't only a street wise cop, he was an artist as well, and being such, actually connected to art world habitués with ease (people who don't usually feel comfortable around law enforcement). This approach to the artworld facilitated numerous high-profile recoveries.

   Joel Perlman, a Manhattan based sculptor, remembers Volpe as "A tough New York cop persona, wearing a Giorgio Armani suit and a Salvador Dali' moustache, attending art openings all over the city." He gained people's trust because they knew he loved art and more importantly, that he wasn't out to hurt anyone. Volpe believed that in art crime investigations, recovering the object was more important than making an arrest. If a dealer or collector passed him info, they could be sure that it would be held in the strictest confidentiality and their good reputations would be upheld. He knew that dealers could not afford bad press, many of whom, to avoid the negative publicity, wouldn't even report when their artworks were stolen. Volpe served NY honorably and is respected as America's first, finest, and most colorful art cop.

   The Federal Bureau of Investigation has just created a new eight man task force dedicated to art theft investigations. This unit is supervised by Special Agent Robert K. Wittman, who has conducted several art related investigations in his career. This specialized unit has a powerful fighter in their corner named Lynn Chaffinch. Lynn is not an agent, but is an expert on art and directs the F.B.I.'s art loss program and National Stolen Art File (NSAF). The NSAF is a computerized index of stolen art and cultural property that consists of physical descriptions and photos. This file serves as an analytical database for law enforcement. Lynn has worked closely with federal agents assigned to art related investigations. She has numerous international law enforcement contacts and is well respected in the art community.

   A Virginia University Professor of Classical Studies, Dr. Malcolm Bell, was an advisor to the Italian Government on implementing U.S. restrictions on antiquities from 1998-1999. This resulted in an agreement being signed by both the Italian and United States Governments in 2001, which bans certain items from entering the U.S. without Italian approval. While speaking to me via telephone from Aidone, Sicily, Dr. Bell stated: "There is no way to measure cause and effect, but looting of archaeological artifacts appears to have decreased."

   Italians can be proud of their officials efforts in solving and preventing these art crimes. They may also rest assured that here in the U.S., home to some of the illicit markets most voracious predators, there are dedicated individuals such as Det. Donald Hrycyk, Lynn Chaffinch, and Dr. Malcolm Bell, as well as dedicated agents from the F.B.I. and I.C.E., who are taking the problem seriously and are working tirelessly to protect the world's history, tradition, and patrimony.

   Only with an aggressive approach to art and antiquities crimes investigations by U.S. authorities, can we show our European allies, and the rest of the world, that we hold mankind's cultural patrimony in the highest regard.