The Friday Afternoon Challenge’s latest headbanger! Today: Art in the News!

[CTyankee]

41. wasn't that a great story in the NYT? You would think the Met would have enough money to have

staff who check this stuff out pretty thoroughly before going ahead with the acquisition. I get it that maybe the Denver museum didn't have the staffing, but I don't give a pass to the Met.

I think that the reason that there is an awful lot of looting now is the stupendous amount of money that the very rich have to spend on art and antiquities. Then they can give them away if it gives them their jollies and "buys" them maybe a named wing in the museum (and hence immortality, since this is the only way to achieve it!). I used to raise money from very wealthy people in Greenwich, CT and I can tell you that "naming opportunities" are a big thing in major donor fundraising. The most prestigious schools do this all the time. After rich people have acquired all the toys they want, they realize they aren't going to live forever, but that named new wing or building or foundation they hope WILL.

Along with this immense wealth concentrated in fewer hands is a vastly improved communication technology. Stories like the big one in the NYT can be amassed using the Internet. Very quick and containing huge amounts of information.

I am a huge despiser of the robbing of countries' patrimony. If you've ever read about the Germans in Florence in WW2, you become absolutely appalled that when the Germans retreated in the face of the approaching Allied forces, they blew up every old bridge except the Ponte Vecchio! Hitler himself spared that bridge, thinking it was the real prize, when actually it was the Santa Trinita (designed by Michelangelo) but Hitler was showing his wretched ignorance. I nearly cried when I read that a few years ago. If you ever get a chance, read the account of what happened to the art there both during the war and also during the great flood of 1966. It is a fascinating study. I highly recommend: http://www.amazon.com/Dark-Water-Disaster-Redemption-Florence/dp/0767926498

See ya after I return on June 2!