2024-04-23
Thirteen works of art with an estimated value of over $1 million have been turned over to law enforcement authorities in the state of Connecticut. The objects belong to the collection of the Yale University Art Gallery in New Haven. The entire collection comes from South Asia and is linked to Subhash Kapoor, a former art dealer from Madison Avenue.
An American of Indian origin, art dealer Subhash Kapoor is most likely behind the whole incident. At the height of his career, he ran the Art of the Past gallery in Manhattan. His sister company, Nimbus Import/Exports, specialized in selling antiques from the Indian Subcontinent and Southeast Asia to major museums around the world. The world-renowned trader was extradited from Europe to India in 2012 after being caught by law enforcement in 2011 in Frankfurt. He is currently in the state of Tamil Nadu, where his trial is still ongoing.
The university, upon receiving information about the probable history of the objects, immediately handed over the work to the Manhattan district attorney’s office. In their press release, we can read that: "Yale is pleased to be working with the District Attorney's Office on this important case".
Museums such as the National Gallery of Australia, Toledo Museum of Art and Honolulu Museum of Art have voluntarily returned Kapoor-related artefacts.
Among the items seized by investigators was a statue of Kubera, the god of wealth, made of sandstone in the 10th century. Investigators valued it at $550,000. Another interesting object was a marble arch of ,,Parikara'', dating from the 12th or 13th century and valued at $85,000. It is likely that some works on the list were looted from temples.