Homecoming! National Gallery of Australia to return stolen 14 artworks worth $3m to India
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New Delhi, July 29: In the major development, the National Gallery of Australia is going to return 14 Indian antiquities including the 9th-century Chola-period bronze statue of a dancing child-saint Sambandar to India.
The Indian antiquities that are being repatriated, include 13 antiquities that were illegally smuggled by the criminal Subhash Kapoor from 2002 to 2010. It also consists of one artwork that was acquired from art dealer William Wolff.
They comprise six stone or bronze sculptures, most dating back to the 11th or 12th century, as well as a brass processional standard, or “Alam”, from Hyderabad dated 1851. There is a painted invitation scroll, or vijnaptipatra, from Rajasthan dated around 1835, and six photographs. The collection is composed largely of "religious and cultural artifacts" valued at around AU $3 million.
"The decision to return the works is the culmination of years of research, due diligence, and an evolving framework for decision-making that includes both legal principles and ethical considerations," the NGA said.
This announcement comes as the gallery adopts a new provenance assessment that will consider both the legal and ethical aspects of a work of art’s history. If, on the balance of probability, it is likely that work was stolen, illegally excavated, exported in contravention of the law of a foreign country, or unethically acquired, the NGA states it will initiate steps to deaccession and repatriate the work.
NGA Director Nick Mitzevich said these actions demonstrated the National Gallery’s commitment to being a leader in the ethical management of collections.
"This is the right thing to do, it's culturally responsible and the result of collaboration between Australia and India. We are grateful to the Indian Government for their support and are pleased we can now return these culturally significant objects," Mitzevich added. He said the Gallery would continue its provenance research, including for the Asian art collection, and resolve the status of any works of concern.
This is the fourth time the NGA has returned to India looted or illegally exported works purchased from Kapoor and his associates. The NGA spent nearly AU $11 million on 22 works from Subhash Kapoor's Art of the Past gallery in New York over a period of several years.
Kapoor is alleged to have masterminded the global smuggling ring between 1986 and 2016, trafficking more than 2,600 looted objects worth US$145m into the US.
Kapoor was arrested at Frankfurt International Airport and on 14 July 2012 extradited to Chennai, Kapoor is currently jailed in India where he has been awaiting trial under the Indian criminal code for nearly 8 years.