Why The Met Returned a Roman Bust
Erin Thompson on the convicted dealer behind many museum artifacts, an artist tattoos Arabic calligraphy, Peter Hujar’s contact sheets, and more.
To paraphrase an infamous quote by former Mayor Eric Adams: New York — this is a place where every day you wake up, you can experience everything from a looted Roman antiquity at The Met to an artist selling the trash outside Taylor Swift's wedding.
In fact, The Met recently repatriated said Roman bust, which had been sold to the museum by the notorious gallery Phoenix Ancient Art. You absolutely must read Erin Thompson’s piece following the trail of its co-founder, a convicted antiquities dealer whose artifacts still sit in museums all over the country despite their dubious provenances.
Over in Brooklyn, meet Noore Yazigi, an artist lovingly tattooing Arabic calligraphy, ranging from excerpts of the Quran to the lines of late Palestinian poet Refaat Alareer. Randa Jumean has that story.
Of course, in New York, you might also wake up to find yourself ensconced in yet another heat wave. Find a cooling center near you — some include cultural institutions, such as the Museum of the City of New York, so you can maybe even see some art while you’re at it. As always, stay cool, NYC.—Lisa Yin Zhang, associate editor
When I went to the Metropolitan Museum of Art a few weeks ago in search of a marble portrait bust of an imperious-looking Roman man, both the sculpture and its pedestal had vanished. Only the label dating the piece to the 2nd century CE remained, marooned on the gallery wall. The sculpture had been purchased from Phoenix Ancient Art, a gallery purporting to follow “the antiquities trade’s most vigorous and stringent procedures of due diligence.” The gallery touted the effort it put into finding evidence that its artifacts had left their countries of origin long before the enactment of export bans. Equipped with these good provenances, or ownership histories, Phoenix boasted that its antiquities could be “collected in full compliance with all legal and ethical rules.” | Erin L. Thompson
New York-based artist Noore Yazigi’s designs reference everything from the Quran to the poetry of the late Palestinian writer Refaat Alareer. | Randa Jumean
Nearly six decades since its founding, the legacy of the beloved program is explored in an exhibition at Columbia University’s Wallach Art Gallery. | Jerry Elengical
"The contact sheets reveal that his portraits were the product of ongoing interactions — excerpts of a conversation, rather than memories snatched from the ether."
Kathy Butterly: Assume Yes at the Frances Young Tang Teaching Museum and Art Gallery
"Butterly has a remarkable way of channeling nuanced spirit, keen emotions, and complex psychological states into her innovative and riveting creations .... Wonders abound throughout the exhibition — each sculpture both a beckoning event and a voyage."
