SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA, August 3, 2012 (Sydney Morning Herald): The National Gallery of Australia has been embroiled in a drama over the alleged trafficking of artefacts and antiquities. Subhash Kapoor, 63, an American citizen who deals in Indian artefacts and owns two galleries in Manhattan, is being held in prison in Tamil Nadu, southern India, accused of trafficking antiques and antiquities. One of the works alleged to have been stolen is a statue of Shiva as Nataraja, Lord of the Dance, dating from the 11th to 12th centuries, which the NGA bought from Mr Kapoor in 2008. The gallery said in a statement it had done all the required provenance checks before acquiring the piece from Mr Kapoor, owner of the Art of the Past gallery on Madison Avenue. “As with all leading art institutions around the world, the gallery is committed to strict due diligence when acquiring works of art, particularly with regard to determining provenance,” Mr Radford said.
With only fuzzy internet images to go on, the gallery cannot confirm if the Shiva statue in question is the one in its collection. “It is yet to be determined if this work is one of the stolen works as has been speculated about in certain media outlets The New York Post quoted the Tamil Nadu deputy inspector general, A.G. Pon Manickavel, as saying: “From what Kapoor told us, he earned more than $US11 million by selling ancient idols stolen from temples in Tamil Nadu.” The allegations have reverberated around the international art world. Dozens of high-profile museums and galleries have acquired works of art through gifts or purchased from Mr Kapoor, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, the Musee des Arts Asiatiques-Guimet in Paris and the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto.