BlogBack: Christian Kleinbub Takes the Getty’s Side

Christian Kleinbub, assistant professor of art history at Ohio State University, published a pro-Getty letter to the editor in yesterday’s LA Times. Here’s a somewhat more pointed letter that he wrote on Tuesday to CultureGrrl:
I write to share my own feelings on the recent negotiations between [Italian Culture Minister Francesco] Rutelli and American museums, for I believe it has gone too far. Too many members of the Italian elites view Americans (as many do) as barbarians, unworthy and uncomprehending of their art. It is ironic that, given the many things that Americans have done to enhance the accessibility of artworks in Italy, the Italian Cultural Ministry cannot work itself towards a compromise over a statue on which it has dubious claims. I, like many of my colleagues, sniff opportunism and even nationalism at work here.
I hope that I am not the only person who finds it ironic that the Getty Bronze, a Greek
statue, sank while being borne to Italy—the spoils of Roman power.
COMING NEXT: Tom Hoving blogs back on the Getty.