Real Clear about ISIS Antiquities

Judy Dobrzynski

Judith H. Dobrzynski tackles the misleading propaganda of the anti-collector gang: "Antiquities and ISIS: Something Doesn’t Add Up", Real Clear Art January 10, 2016. The basis is the article by Steven Lee Myers and Nicholas Kulish in Sunday’s New York Times, ‘Broken System’ Allows ISIS to Profit From Looted Antiquities' which I and others have discussed earlier. She says she found no new information that she could check:

But some things just don’t add up. I think too many of the sources contacted by journalists may be peddling opinion here, not fact [...] actual examples of ISIS-looted antiquities on the market are slim to none. True, it may be that objects looted now are being kept in warehouses, for later sale–but that doesn’t finance ISIS now. Also true. the goods may not be coming into the U.S. market. The antiquities dealers I spoke with said they had not seen anything on these shores from looted areas since ISIS began its jihad. [...] It may also be true that the loot may all be going into other Middle Eastern countries, or Russia, as many have speculated. In which case, it’s a problem our museums, our dealers, our collectors, our prosecutors can’t do much about.

Dobrzynski notes that many sources seem to be exaggerating the scale of this trade. The Times piece assigns a value to the trade in illicit antiquities by ISIS as " worth billions of dollars a year". Other articles, and sources, have also thrown around the b-word.

But I cannot fathom where that number comes from. Contemporary art may sell billions a year (lately), but antiquities? No. In 2015, Christie’s and Sotheby’s combined sales for antiquities (April, June and December sales) totaled less than $25 million. In 2014, the total was jut over $25 million. Add in other auction houses. Add in private dealers, whose books we never see. It is really hard to get to “billions” a year in this category. So what is the source of that number? Is it an exaggeration on purpose or from ignorance? If it’s real, I’d like to know how it was derived.

Her conclusion is that we are being misled by those whose duty it is to inform us:

Clearly something is going on–I’m not suggesting that there’s no trade in illicit antiquities. It has happened in the past, and it’s likely happening now. Furthermore, satellite photos show destruction in ISIS-occupied territory, unquestionably. How much of that has been saved and designated for resale now on the world’s markets remains a mystery. To me, at least. I would hope we are putting our resources where it can do the most good to save cultural heritage, rather than wasting them chasing a mirage.

What she does not mention is that, instead of the effects of looting, Peter Tompa has shown that the so-called satellite photos which "unquestionably show destruction in ISIS-occupied territory", in fact could show military foxholes dug by Assad troops.