Stolen Art Alert

Private U.S. collector returns three bronzes stolen from Nigerian Museum, Lagos, and is compensated by the Nigerian government. However, other objects stolen from the Museum are still at large and potential buyers are warned to be cautious

U.S. Customs Service recovered antiquities stolen in 1981 from the archeological collections of New York University and Columbia University, as well as $500,000 worth of books from the University of London; Greek national and former Columbia student John Papanastassiou was convicted in July. Howley collection paintings (works by Picasso, Henri, Monet and others); argillite pipe, from the Carnegie Museum of Natural History, Pittsburgh, in 1976-7.

14 modern master prints taken in strong-arm robbery recovered; three men arrested (principal suspect’s description published in SAA, May/June 1981).

700 objects recovered from three American dealers exhibited at Washington reception. Majority of objects ceded to Peru by private dealer David Bernstein (see “Focus on Peru,” SAA, January/February 1982).