ABOVE: from yesterday’s L.A. Times, Marion True, the Getty’s antiquities curator, who resigned over the weekend after disclosing financial dealings with one of the museum’s art suppliers.

Sing along, everybody!: (to the tune of Gilligan’s Island)

Just sit right back and you’ll hear a tale, / a tale of a fateful trip. / To purchase ancient statuettes / in return for a handsome tip.
The Getty was a fine new yacht, / and its collection grew— / with Romanesque antiquities / too good to be true…too good to be true….
Later the curators found / that while their horns they tooted, / the Times had dug the real dirt: / the statues, they were looted—the statues, they were looted!
Italy was furious / and quickly called the cops / the Getty gave back three antiques / to their rightful wops, to their rightful wops….

OK, we don’t normally use such racial slurs to describe Italians, but it rhymed, OK? Anyway, it’s been another unpleasantly eventful week for the Getty Museum—they’ve agreed to return three items to the Italians, although the separate lawsuits for dozens more allegedly looted articles (see last week) will still go ahead. Add to this the fact that the antiquities curator of the Getty, Marion True (who is trying not to be extradited to Italy on the above looting charges) resigned over the weekend after it came out that she had accepted a $400,000 loan in 1995 from a lawyer introduced to her by a supplier of art to the museum. Such mixing and matching of personal and business finance is verboten, so True resigned her post. Tune in each week for the adventures of the wacky crew of the U.S.S. Getty!

LINK: L.A. Times > Getty to Return Three Ancient Pieces to Italy
LINK: Telegraph > Getty art curator quits in loan row