Customer Reviews

Chasing Aphrodite: The Hunt for Looted Antiquities at the World's Richest Museum

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

For hundreds of years collectors and museums have been buying pieces of ancient art looted from tombs and other archaeological sites in Greece, and Italy. The Getty Museum was no exception. With their almost unlimited acquisitions budget, the curators tried to grab the best pieces that came on the market whether they had provenance or not. Provenance is the chain of ownership that determines whether piece of art is legitimate, or the product of looting and smuggling.

The book was well written, fast paced, and hard to put down. The authors, reporters for the LA Times who led the investigation into the Getty Museum's misdeeds, present an almost incredible picture of greed, egotism and ambition. The Getty was blessed, or cursed, with an enormous amount of money to buy masterpieces. This led the curators into the murky underworld of illegal trade in antiquities. From the book, it's clear that the museum officials knew they were wrong to deal with the criminal underworld, but there was an issue that allowed them to save face. They believed they were saving the art from destruction. Ultimately, all they were doing was increasing the criminal activity of the looters.

I found the book completely fascinating. It gave me a glimpse of the underbelly of the art world I didn't realize existed. I literally couldn't put it down. I highly recommend the book to anyone who loves a good detective story. The authors present a shocking picture of what ambition can do to a supposedly ethical organization. Well worth the read.

I reviewed this book as part of the Amazon Vine Program.

This book examines museum acquisitions, and how ancient artifacts acquire value and are looted and trafficked. As far as the Getty and the Italian prosecutions, much has been written, but this book has a fascinating insight into the corporate board mentality that gives a sense of entitlement to wealthy individuals and institutions. Particularly fascinating were the authors access to inside documents and notes. The reader can have no doubt about the complicit nature of the Getty, and its board members and staff.

I have to say, I absolutely loved this book. What isn't there to like? The rich and the famous's dirty secrets revealed, scandalous sex, endless money, and fabulous art... this book traces the at best questionable and often flat out illegal fashion in which the Getty Museum (and other prominent museums) gathered some of the museum treasures. You'll learn about endless financial scandals and flat out tax fraud, a trail of non stop affairs by the museum executives, the board that ignored the problems, and much more at America's wealthiest museum. And all of this corruption because of, or in spite of, being extremely well endowed.

THe book is very well written, essentially as investigative journalism. It is thoroughly researched, well written, and will plunge you into the lives of the museum workers who were actively performing misdeeds and the detectives (mostly Italian) trying to stop them. It is part mystery, part history, and 100% fun.

If you enjoy museums, or live in LA, or just want a great story, read this book. It is one of my favorite books from this year so far.

Admittedly I've never really cared where museums' antiques come from - I just haven't put that much thought into it. The Getty Museum is rare in the fact that it has seemingly unlimited wealth to buy items from, and they've done so over the years. Chasing Aphrodite brings up the shadowy world of looted antiques, forgeries and brings us into the underground of acquiring works over the last 50+ years.

At the center of the book is a 7 foot tall limestone statue of Aphrodite that was purchased for $18 million back in 1988. The Getty was told that it was a family-owned statue for the last 50 years, and after investigation, was led to believe that the statue's backstory was false, but had ties to organized crime. But it's not the only item that's questioned.

The book is well written, albeit a bit dry, but it catches you and brings you into the behind the scenes of what it was like to "save" antiques that were obtained illegally or at the very least, under a cloud of suspicion. It's obvious that the curators of the Getty were getting dirty in order to accumulate antiquities. It certainly makes collecting seem more like The Sopranos instead of the nice and polite world we might anticipate. It will make you question how your local museums acquired their collection.

4.5 stars.

The focus of "Chasing Aphrodite" is on the Getty Museum in Los Angeles, after two Los Angeles Times reporters wrote a series of articles highlighting several pieces in the Getty's collection that were believed to be stolen by tomb robbers and sold on the black market. Jason Felch and Ralph Frammolino were named finalists for the 2006 Pulitzer Prize because of their investigation. "Chasing Aphrodite" takes their earlier work and digs even deeper into the suspicious activities of the Getty, weaving a complex narrative full of politics, intrigue and scandalous behavior from America's greatest cultural institutions.

For a book that covers a long period of time - over fifty years - "Chasing Aphrodite" feels very fast-paced. The authors did a great job of cutting the story down to its essentials. For example, although Italian officials must have spent countless hours meticulously researching each contested piece of art, a few key scenes deliver a sense of their effort without belaboring it. The suspense and sense of urgency is retained throughout, so rather than reading a dry report this almost reads more like a thriller.

Indeed, like many thrillers the book has its larger-than-life characters. One CEO of the Getty Trust made more than a million dollars a year (after the Getty reimbursed him for all his tax expenses), had a personal driver and car, and a generous retirement package. All this, he felt, wasn't nearly enough - even though, according to employees, he was very much an absentee boss. Or there's the two-faced curator who decries the "avarice" of museums that buy art of dubious origin while she purchases looted antiquities again and again. While the reporters do highlight the good each man or woman brought to the institution, it's quickly forgotten next to the outrageous improprieties they committed.

Every year, I hear about "source countries" - Italy, Greece, Egypt, etc - asking for the return of stolen objects from museums around the world. I've always wondered how valid the demands are. "Chasing Aphrodite" certainly proved that in the case of the Getty, curators knowingly bought stolen goods. It makes me wonder what other objects I've seen in glass museum cases that were acquired in shady circumstances.

I seriously couldn't stop reading this book once I started... I thought I'd read a chapter or two before bed, but before I knew it, 4 hours had passed... it was 3 a.m. and I still didn't want to stop... This is fascinating and engaging book, well written and a window into a different world. Everything you think you know about museums, or assumed you knew, you discover is false. A fascinating look at greed, hypocrisy and venal self-serving among the "elite." Thanks for writing this book.

"Chasing Aphrodite: The Hunt for Looted Antiquities at the World's Richest Museum" by Ralph Frammolino is a true story of looted antiquities that found their way to the richest leading museum.

Since I was a little girl, I always assumed those antiquities where found by archeologists on a major dig at various sites around the world then lovingly given to the museums who backed the dig. Or sold to the most deserving museum. Like we've all seen in the movies. Apparently not.

This book will take you through the extensive labyrinth of the looters, the scammers, the dealers, the museums, the authorities, etc. etc. etc. I found myself shaking my head in disbelief more than once while reading this book. Sometimes from reading about what happened and other times for the fact that it really did happen.

I loved this well, written, intense, and exciting book.

Who knew a book about forgery and the Getty Museum could be so fascinating? Having visited the Getty Museum numerous times, I have always been astounded at the treasures that the museum holds. However, as I have gotten older, and have visited great ancient sites, I have also realized that many of the greatest museums have come to acquire some of the greatest works of the ancient world with dubious provenance, if not outright thievery, and as this book explains, that perception is certainly not incorrect.

In this book, the intersection of the two is what is described ably and in a narrative that held my attention throughout the book. The people and insights the authors make made me really analyze just exactly who `owns' the great art we often see in great museums, and that also included modern paintings by famous authors, since many of these works were lifted during World War II and never returned.

This book starts with a fateful fishing trip in the Adriatic Sea, and goes through tax schemes; the endowment of a wealthy man who gave an art museum in death what he never wanted to purchase in life; the downfall of several dishonest people, and a statute that may be a legitimate work of art or a forgery. The book grabbed me from the first chapter and didn't lose my attention for a moment. The many twists and turns are filled with some pretty amazing revelations about the sterilized atmosphere of great museums. It is also a journey through how compromised ethics get people into trouble without realizing that taking short cuts can come back to haunt a person years later.

I truly enjoyed this book, and it is very well-written. It is a certainly fascinating subject, and the journalistic eye brought this story to life with descriptions of many interesting people involved in the intersection described above. A great read.

Straight from the headlines. Every day you read about anther transfer of a museum art piece or artifact from one nation to the other. How does this occur after so many years of ownership at one location?
How can nations such as Italy and Greece have these pieces of work returned to them uncontested?
The answer lies with the Getty museum and the authors take you on the inside of the workings and dealings of one the richest and highly scandalous museum today.

Reads like a fictional thriller with characters that are too true to be true. The wording" stranger than fiction "came to mind as I read this wonderful book. Highly recommended.

The story behind the secret dealings of the Getty Museum in obtaining priceless works of art from Italy and Greece. Leaves me wondering how much art on display in various museums throughout the world is either stolen or even forgeries. This book goes into detail of the inner workings and criminal nature of people who don't seem to care or have any morals whatsoever when it comes to filling their museum with antiquities.

Interesting read!