The collection worth total of about USD 2.2 million, is mostly related to religious and cultural artefacts including sculptures, photographs & scroll.
In a piece of good news, the National Gallery of Australia announced Thursday that it will return 14 artworks to India, including at least six believed to have been stolen or illegally exported to the country. These include sculptures, photographs, and a scroll.
These artworks include 13 works acquired from jailed Manhattan art dealer Subhash Kapoor, who is now in prison for allegedly running an international smuggling racket. One was acquired from late New York-based art dealer William Wolff.
The collection worth a total of about USD 2.2 million, is mostly related to religious and cultural artefacts including six bronze or stone sculptures, a brass processional standard, a painted scroll, and six photographs some of them dating back to the 12th century.
They were acquired by the museum between 1989 and 2009, and some date back to the Chola dynasty. The museum said that many of the works were likely looted or stolen in India.
Gallery director Nick Mitzevich told AFP, "It's a relief that they can be returned to the Indian people, and it's a resolution for the National Gallery to close a very difficult chapter of our history," he said. The National Gallery of Australia has already returned several other works it acquired via Kapoor, including a USD 5 million bronze statue of the Hindu god Shiva that had been stolen from a Tamil Nadu temple.
Meanwhile, the Indian High Commissioner to Australia, Manpreet Vohra has welcomed the National Gallery of Australia's decision. He said, "The Government of India is grateful for this extraordinary act of goodwill and gesture of friendship from Australia."
The physical handover of the works will be negotiated over the next couple of months, said Nick Mitzevich.
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 "Australia to return 14 artworks including Chola-era Sambandar Murthi")
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