#Alexander helios bust for sale license
The gallery’s Complaint notes that the Italian Republic’s claim that the head was stolen is based on its assertion that (1) the bust was excavated after 1909 and was and remains Italian property because of a national patrimony law, and (2) that Italy can find no record of an export license authorizing its removal from Italy. The Safani Gallery makes the point that export without an export license does not by itself turn an object into stolen property or lead to a legal conclusion that it is stolen property. It further states that Italy has no evidence that it required or issued export licenses for similar objects, and that Italy has not retained any record of any export license from the time period. The Safani Gallery countered in its Complaint that the Head was not the type of object covered by Italian patrimony law at that time. The Manhattan DA’s office asserted in court filings in 2018 that the lack of a paper trail or an export permit authorizing the statue’s removal from Italy from 50-100 years before marks it as a typical clandestine export in violation of Italy’s national patrimony law. Italy has argued that the Head of Alexander was likely taken from the Forense Museum (Antiquarum Forense) in Rome but has not presented evidence that it was ever in any museum or museum inventory. A Sotheby’s 2011 auction listing also attests to both Kevorkian’s ownership and date when he is thought to have acquired it. Auction records also show that on multiple occasions since 1958, the Head of Alexander appeared in illustrated catalogs and was on public display at auction houses. Research performed by the Art Loss Registry showed that the bust had been in the Kevorkian Collection, most likely dating prior to WWII. It notes that despite the statue being publicly sold and published several times, Italy made no complaint and never challenged a prior sale. The lawsuit details the history of legitimate, public sales of the statue before it was purchased by the gallery. The gallery’s Complaint, filed on November 12, 2019, seeks the immediate return of the marble bust and damages for losses caused as a result of Italy’s wrongful action.
(The Manhattan DA was acting as agent of the Italian Republic in the seizure action.) The gallery’s lawsuit states that the head was improperly seized and that there is no actual evidence that it had ever been stolen or unlawfully exported. It is seeking a declaratory judgment from the court that the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office wrongfully seized the marble bust from the gallery. The gallery claims that it is the sole and legal owner of the statue. laws regarding the import of the statue into New York. The Safani Gallery states that it followed all U.K and U.S. The Complaint filed by the gallery notes that it was given express representations and warranties of the authenticity, ownership, export licensing, and other attributes of the provenance from the Foundation that sold it. The Safani Gallery paid $152,625 for the statue, which was previously in the world-renowned collection of Hagop Kevorkian, and was known to have circulated in the international market for many decades afterwards, and to have been sold at public auction. The Safani Gallery purchased a statue dating to about 300 BCE, known as the Head of Alexander from a Foundation through a London-based dealer, Classical Galleries Ltd., in June 2017. District Court for the Southern District of New York. If repatriated, the Head of Alexander will join a number of other antiquities returned to their home countries, including a Greek krater restituted to Italy and a limestone bas-relief ordered back to Iran by a New York judge in late July 2018.The Safani Gallery, one of the oldest antiquities galleries in New York, has filed a lawsuit against the Italian Republic in the U.S. This case underscores the need for increased transparency in the art market to ensure that patrimony is not plundered. Without an official export license the Head of Alexander therefore automatically constitutes a stolen work since it is property of the Italian government. Italy’s 1909 patrimony law requires an export license for any object removed from the country and declares that any artifact found on Italian soil is property of the state. The DA’s petition claims lack of a paper trail is a telltale sign of looting and argues Sotheby’s failed to practice sufficient due diligence both in its 19 sales. The head ultimately ended up at the Safani Gallery in New York, where it was seized in February 2018. It was again put up for auction there in 2011, this time bearing false provenance. In 1974 the head resurfaced at a Sotheby’s auction in New York lacking ownership history. The head’s journey is a classic case of an antiquity taken from its source country, vanishing without a trace for decades only to reappear later on the market.
Source: Association for Research into Crimes against Art blog
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