Dallas and Almagia

Maxwell L. Anderson, Director of the Dallas Museum of Art, appears to be concerned about some of the acquisitions made by the museum before his appointment. He has placed a number of recent acquisitions on the AAMD's object register. Among them is a volute-krater, attributed to the Underworld painter, purchased from Edoardo Almagià in 1998 (inv. 1998.74). The krater first surfaced 1989, and it is claimed ("reputedly") that it had previously formed part of an (anonymous) English private collection.

Dallas also has a pair of Etruscan bronze shields with head of Acheloos (Inv. 1998.115.1-2.M), "Reputedly in a European collection prior to sale by Edoardo Almagia. Purchased by the Munger Fund from Mr. Almagia." [AAMD] What is the name of the anonymous European collection?

Almagià is directly associated with objects returned to Italy from the Cleveland Museum of Art and Princeton University Art Museum. Almagià should be able to supply Dallas with the name of the specific English and European private collections. This is important as it is known that North American museums were acquiring objects with this type of "history" that had been derived from specific dealers.

Credit must be given to Anderson for the level of transparency that he is providing.