News Intelligence Analysis
Scandal overshadows Getty
Villa reopening
Curator on trial in Italy accused of
exporting looted antiquities
Dan Glaister in Los Angeles
Saturday January 28, 2006
From the Guardian
For some it will be a kitsch wonderland. For others a dazzling
vision of ancient architecture, an archaeological site where
the myths of the ancient world are brought to life. A few may
simply wonder where all the stuff came from.
Today the Getty Villa in Malibu reopens after a closure of more
than eight years. The villa, where the oil tycoon JP Getty lived
and which housed his original collection of art and antiquities,
has remained the spiritual home of the world's richest art institution.
The grandeur of the villa, refurbished at a cost of $275m (£155m), does not disappoint. Marble walls and intricate mosaics frame the 1,200 antiquities from Greece and Rome on show from the Getty Trust's collection of around 44,000 objects.
But overshadowing the opening is a scandal. Marion True, curator of antiquities for the Getty Trust and coordinator of the villa's programmes, is on trial in Italy on charges that she conspired with antiquities dealer Robert Hecht to export illegally excavated treasures.
True resigned in September following revelations that she had failed to tell the Getty that she had accepted a $400,000 loan from an antiquities dealer to help buy a house on a Greek island. But her presence dominates the villa.
"I'm sure she's hugely proud," says Michael Brand, the recently appointed director of the Getty Museum. "She made a huge contribution to the project. It's a sad situation for Marion True and her colleagues, that an individual has been singled out on these issues in Italy."
Several of the disputed antiquities are on show in the villa, most notably the huge marble and limestone Cult Statue of a Goddess, Perhaps Aphrodite, dating from the 5th century BC.
The case against True concerns 35 objects acquired between 1986 and the late 1990s. Her lawyers admit that some may have dubious provenance, but they deny she knowingly acquired items looted from archaeological sites.
In October last year the Getty handed over to Italian authorities three items in its collection that were deemed to have been looted. More are expected to follow.
While other institutions have been implicated in allegations of the looting, none has the financial might of the Getty. Established by a bequest of Getty oil stock worth $700m (£390m) at the tycoon's death in 1976 - two years after the original Getty Villa opened - the trust lives off a $5bn (£2.8bn) endowment. With an additional $4bn in assets, it is the third largest foundation in the US. Its wealth has enabled the Getty to buy art almost with impunity.
But as early as 1986 an acting curator at the Getty warned in a resignation letter that the trust's "cultural avarice" would lead to problems.
The qualms about its power have been heightened by allegations of financial mismanagement.
While the trust's endowment has lost more than $1bn in two years because of declining stock markets, its chief executive, Barry Munitz, has attracted attention for his lavish pay and lifestyle. His annual pay of $1.2m, the trust's gift of a Porsche to him and criticism of his expenses claims have led to various investigations.
Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2006
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