The Met and the Art Smuggler
An interview about a notorious antiquities trafficker with Matthew Campbell, plus an exclusive excerpt of William Kentridge’s new book.
The title of The Man Who Stole the Gods is far from hyperbolic. Matthew Campbell’s new book follows Douglas Latchford, a British art smuggler, who spent four decades illegally funneling sculptures of Cambodian deities into the halls of Western museums.
Art crime scholar Erin L. Thompson has spent years following the looting of Khmer cultural heritage. She sat down with Campbell to discuss the violence inherent to stealing sacred sculptures — and the formidable task of writing about a trafficker who furnished the collections of institutions including the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
More in this edition, from James Cahill’s art-world character study to a must-read excerpt from artist William Kentridge’s new book on his delightfully meandering creative process, where you can expect gems like “the studio is a safe space for stupidity” and “if words are so light, so ephemeral, how does one tie them down, give them a weight, which we know they should have?”
—Lakshmi Rivera Amin, associate editor
A Natural History of William Kentridge’s Studio
Some years ago, two friends gave me a block of watercolour, pure lapis lazuli from Afghanistan. Lapis lazuli is a precious pigment used sparingly in Renaissance painting, now more generally replaced by French ultramarine. But there is an intense blueness in lapis, a colour coming off the paper towards you that is unmatched by any synthetic colour. In projections and photography and printing, this blue always loses its power.
I don’t use colour in my drawings. But I painted some squares and circles to see the colour I was given. I was caught, wanting to devour the blue and not knowing how to bring it into anything I was drawing. While waiting to solve what I should do with the blue, I started painting texts and phrases with it | William Kentridge
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Shop the Archive Book Sale
Shop rare finds, out-of-print editions, and recently published titles at special prices, online and in store at David Zwirner Books.
Interview
Inside the Mind of an Antiquities Looter
“The Man Who Stole the Gods” author Matthew Campbell discusses Western collectors’ rapacious hunger for ancient Cambodian art and the sheer violence it took to satiate it. | Erin L. Thompson
Read MoreFrom Our Critics
Every Dog Has Its Artist
A compassionate new book explores how canine companions across Western art history break down the emotional boundaries between species. | Alisyn Amant
Read MoreJames Cahill’s Character Study of the Art World
“The Violet Hour” is a dreamy chronicle of fame, greed, and ambition, full of cartoonish personalities you’ve likely had the misfortune of encountering firsthand. | Alex Bowditch
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Featuring both iconic and never-before-published images, Marching Westexplores how photography captured and propelled the civil rights movement in Los Angeles.
ICYMI
7 Art Books You Should Read This Pride Month
A joint biography of Peter Hujar and Paul Thek, a catalog on Martin Wong’s Chinatowns, Catherine Opie’s portraiture, queer nightlife through the ages, and more.
Read More12 Art Books to Kick Off Summer
A novel lampooning the art world, Megan O’Grady’s meditation on art and living, the man who defined color in the dictionary, Nan Goldin’s tender photo essay, and more.
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