Who are the current owners of the art? Why was the art taken? Was it taken through legal or illegal means? Who should be the rightful owner?
As we have seen this quarter, art changes hands by legal means of purchasing artwork and by illegal means of acquiring through unethical ways during archaeological digs and during times of war. The textbook cites artworks acquired by these means, including Moctezuma’s Headdress (Fig. 9.34) and other Aztec valuables taken by the Spaniards; the dissemination of Egyptian treasures taken by the ancient Romans, Napoleon, and the British; Greek treasures taken by the British; and Nazis taking works from Jewish collectors during WWII. This controversy has been addressed in recent issues of art magazines.
Before writing this assignment, you should read this BBC essay (Links to an external site.) on returning indigenous art, review the textbook and lessons on this subject, and select at least two examples of artworks from Exploring Art to support the ideas in your essay. In your paper, you should discuss both sides (pros and cons) of these issues:
Who are the current owners of the art? Why was the art taken? Was it taken through legal or illegal means? Who should be the rightful owner? How can the rightful owner be determined?
Be sure to identify artworks from the text with the artist’s name (if known), italicized title, etc., and try to select examples of art that you feel best to illustrate your ideas about controversies surrounding unethical art collecting and returning art objects to their culture of origin. Though you should read the BBC essay (link above), you need not do additional online research, as the textbook will remain your main resource for information on this topic. When referring to information from outside sources please be sure to use numbered footnotes for citations with URLs; you also need to include citations for information from the BBC article.
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