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The Trade in Looted Antiquities Endures for One Reason: Demand

news.artnet.com

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Re: The Trade in Looted Antiquities Endures for One Reason: Demand

#11

Post by illliillll »

dmix wrote: post #2

I remember reading a book about an FBI investigator who specialized in recovering stolen art and it mostly turned out to be low-rent sad hucksters. The chase is always more interesting than the stories of who took them. https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/6827652-priceless

I think this is merely a function of the sexiest art thefts being the least lucrative. The market for looted antiques is big because it’s typically extremely difficult to prove that a particular piece was obtained illegally.

Re: The Trade in Looted Antiquities Endures for One Reason: Demand

#12

Post by derbOac »

libertine wrote: post #10

In the end isn't this just the long tail of signaling wealth? Having what others don't. Not only they don't have, but they can't have it, and faking it won't cut it. Like a lot of luxury brands, fine dining, even traveling are catering to a virtue signaling middle class on social media. Apparently the ultra wealthy are now going to the stratosphere, having weird meetings, building bunkers, and playing politics.

I think the message I've often heard is that looted objects are so obviously looted and subject to confiscation that there's now little demand for them. I took this article as a pushback against that idea. (Others are joking at the circularity of the title, but I think it's directly countering two assertions often made: that there's little actual trade in looted antiquities and art, and there's little trade because there's little demand, because the objects are obviously illegal and would have to be hidden, which defeats the purpose of having them.)

Whether there's been a change over time in this (signaling is now "I'm so wealthy and powerful I can own this without fear of reprisal or loss") or the message has always been incorrect, I'm not knowledgeable enough to say.

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