Hip Hop Culture Infiltrates the Art World

Nothing says, “My bad,” like a quarter million dollar payoff. It appears that when the folks over at the J Paul Getty Museum are not trafficking in the stolen artifacts of Greece and Rome, they are otherwise misusing the big money that flows through this nation’s largest art house.

It seems that Barry Munitz had some extra cash lying around…about $250k. All is forgiven.

“The US Council on Foundations – the nation’s leading
group of charitable organisations – began an inquiry into the trust’s
financial practices, after a Los Angeles Times report that detailed
alleged extravagant spending by Mr Munitz.

In December the council placed the trust on a 60-day probation for failing to provide adequate documentation for its review.

Last year trust curator Marion True resigned a month
before she appeared in a Rome court charged with trafficking stolen
antiquities. Ms True, together with art dealer Robert Hecht, denies
two separate charges involving 35 artefacts bought between 1986 and the
late 1990s. They include bronze Etruscan pieces, frescoes, and painted Greek Vessels.

The Getty museum has stood by Ms True’s work. She left the court after the hearing without comment.”

Scandalous. Ms. True has clearly spent too much time in the Dirty South of France and West side of Greece and Rome.

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