James Cuno on loans from Italy

Richard Lacayo has interviewed James Cuno again ("More Talk with Jim Cuno", Time May 21, 2009). Although the main thrust of the interview is about charging to museums, the interview closes with the topic of antiquities and the encyclopedic museum. Lacayo asks, in the light of the returns to Italy, "Are there still developments in this area you'd like to see?"

Cuno expresses slight scepticism about the new attitude of the Italian authorities to make loans to North American museums.

What I hear about loans, it seems to be that those are going to particular museums with which the Italians had problematic relationships [that were mostly settled to their satisfaction] — Boston, the Getty, the Met. But I don't know if I were in Omaha that the Italian government would respond as generously. We need to see the extent to which they are generous generally.

There are, of course, still some outstanding concerns about pieces in a number of museums.