US museum to return Ganesha idol stolen from TN by Kapoor
Chennai:
TNN & AGENCIES
India is set to get back more artefacts stolen by US-based art dealer Subhash Kapoor. The Toledo Museum of Art in Ohio announced on September 22 that it would return four objects it purchased from Kapoor, who is under investigation by the US departments of Justice and Homeland Security for illegally importing and selling stolen antiquities and other art objects and for providing false histories of prior ownership (or provenance) to buyers.
“The four objects to be returned to India are: A stone statue of Varaha Rescuing the Earth (acquired in 2001); a previously announced re turn of a nearly 1,000-yearold bronze sculpture of the Hindu God Ganesha, Tamil Nadu (acquired in 2006); an 18th-century gold with enamel pandan box, described as being of Mughal origin (acquired in 2008); and Rasikapriya from the Samdehi Ragini, an 18thcentury watercolor with gold on paper (acquired in 2010),“ said the museum in a press release.
The Ganesha idol belongs to Sripuranthan, a village in Ariyalur district in Tamil Nadu.
The good news about the return of stolen artefacts comes exactly a year after two idols stolen by Kapoor from Sripuranthan and Vriddhachalam were returned by Australia. A Nataraja idol from Sripuranthan and a stone idol of Ardhanareeswara from Vriddachalam were returned to India during the visit of Australian PM Tony Abott to India in September last year. “We conducted an investigation into all objects that we obtained from Kapoor, Freedman (Kapoor's gallery manager) and the Art of the Past gallery . The museum has cooperated fully with the government's investigation of Kapoor and Freedman, and has independently reached out to the Indian government through diplomatic channels to request assistance in determining the provenance of certain objects in our collection,“ said the press release.
As a result of the probe, the museum determined that the prove nance papers of four of the objects that it purchased from Kapoor, Freedman and Art of the Past were false.
In 2013, a blogger matched the photograph of the Ganesha at Sripuranthan taken by the French Institute of Pondicherry with that of the Ganesha at Toledo. Journalist Jason Felch, then of the Los Angeles Times, contacted the museum about the Ganesha.
India is set to get back more artefacts stolen by US-based art dealer Subhash Kapoor. The Toledo Museum of Art in Ohio announced on September 22 that it would return four objects it purchased from Kapoor, who is under investigation by the US departments of Justice and Homeland Security for illegally importing and selling stolen antiquities and other art objects and for providing false histories of prior ownership (or provenance) to buyers.
“The four objects to be returned to India are: A stone statue of Varaha Rescuing the Earth (acquired in 2001); a previously announced re turn of a nearly 1,000-yearold bronze sculpture of the Hindu God Ganesha, Tamil Nadu (acquired in 2006); an 18th-century gold with enamel pandan box, described as being of Mughal origin (acquired in 2008); and Rasikapriya from the Samdehi Ragini, an 18thcentury watercolor with gold on paper (acquired in 2010),“ said the museum in a press release.
The Ganesha idol belongs to Sripuranthan, a village in Ariyalur district in Tamil Nadu.
The good news about the return of stolen artefacts comes exactly a year after two idols stolen by Kapoor from Sripuranthan and Vriddhachalam were returned by Australia. A Nataraja idol from Sripuranthan and a stone idol of Ardhanareeswara from Vriddachalam were returned to India during the visit of Australian PM Tony Abott to India in September last year. “We conducted an investigation into all objects that we obtained from Kapoor, Freedman (Kapoor's gallery manager) and the Art of the Past gallery . The museum has cooperated fully with the government's investigation of Kapoor and Freedman, and has independently reached out to the Indian government through diplomatic channels to request assistance in determining the provenance of certain objects in our collection,“ said the press release.
As a result of the probe, the museum determined that the prove nance papers of four of the objects that it purchased from Kapoor, Freedman and Art of the Past were false.
In 2013, a blogger matched the photograph of the Ganesha at Sripuranthan taken by the French Institute of Pondicherry with that of the Ganesha at Toledo. Journalist Jason Felch, then of the Los Angeles Times, contacted the museum about the Ganesha.
