Australian National Art Museum brings stolen art back to India

The National Gallery announced on Thursday that Australia will return 14 works of art to India, of which at least 6 are suspected of being stolen or smuggled. Canberra Gallery has determined that works including sculptures, photographs and scrolls have been stolen, looted or of unknown origin.

The collection mainly includes “religious and cultural relics” with a total value of approximately US$2.2 million, some of which are from the 12th century. Gallery curator Nick Mizwich told AFP that the work should be returned to the Indian government within a few months.

“They can return to the people of India, and the National Gallery’s decision to end a very difficult chapter in our history is a relief,” he said.

13 works are related to the so-called dealer Subhash Kapoor. Subhash Kapoor is a former Manhattan art dealer who is the subject of a large-scale federal investigation called “Hidden Idol Operation.” Kapoor, awaiting trial, denies all charges.

The National Gallery of Australia has returned several other works obtained through Kapoor, including a $5 million Hindu statue of Shiva, which was stolen from a temple in Tamil Nadu. itsevich said that he has established rules for evaluating legal and ethical issues and studied three other sculptures in his Asian collection.

“This is a very active issue for galleries all over the world. We want to make sure that we can resolve these issues in time,” he said.

Many artifacts handled by Kapoor date back to the 11th and 12th centuries, when the Chora Dynasty presided over the prosperity of Hindu art in Tamil Nadu.

Since his arrest in 2011, the United States has returned hundreds of cultural relics