Anderson Cooper on "60 minutes" uncovers looted, ancient art on billionaire's mansion
@60minutes A missing Cambodian sculpture was discovered in a billionaire’s home in Florida after it was featured in Architectural Digest. #cambodia #stolenartifacts #60minutes #architecturaldigest ♬ original sound - 60 Minutes
On a resurfaced 2008 issue of Architectural Digest, featuring the mansion of Douglas Latchford in Florida, a series of long-lost Cambodian artifacts could be seen as decorations on the premises, among them were a life-size general stone statue, a reclining Lord Shiva, among others. Latchford also published art books because of his love to Asian art, more so the Cambodian one, but most of those pieces featured on the books, are identified as being from suspicious origins as well.
As such, Anderson Cooper traveled to Cambodia and with the help of one of the former looters who supplied many of those same pieces to Douglas himself, started to unveil how Douglas operated an illegal art trade Network spanning the whole region of South East Asia. The looters would spend weeks on the jungles and temples, using chisels, shovels, metal detectors and even dynamite to unearth and discover the treasures that would end up on Latchford's hands.
Douglas Latchford was a pharmaceutical entrepreneur and art dealer, deemed as a cultured accumulator of museum-quality sculptures and jewels, but in reality was a leading position in the illegal antiquities trade worldwide, ultimately never being charged. Latchford liked to see himself as saving works of art that had been abandoned and were at risk during Cambodia's turbulent civil wars, although this viewpoint was contrasted by academics who alleged that several of Latchford's antiquities lacked a clear provenance.
@60minutes Investigation using former looters results in stolen art being returned to Cambodia. #cambodia #stolenartifacts #60minutes #andersoncooper ♬ original sound - 60 Minutes
Due to revisiting this controversial character's history, a few days ago, the USA Attorney for the Southern District of New York got involved, finally announcing the return of 13 pieces originally belonging to the Kingdom of Cambodia, that were donated a few years back to the Met by Latchford.
Among the statutes being returned are statutes from the Koh Ker archaeological site, including a 10th century goddess sandstone statute. Koh Ker and the illicit trafficking in Cambodian cultural patrimony is described in prior forfeiture actions filed in the Southern District of New York, including United States v. A Late 12th Century Khmer Sandstone Sculpture Depicting Standing Prajnaparamita, et al., 21 Civ. 9217; United States v. A Late 12th Century Bayon-Style Sandstone Sculpture Depicting Eight-Armed Avalokiteshvara, 22 Civ. 229; United States v. A 10th Century Cambodian Sandstone Sculpture, 12 Civ. 2600; and United States v. A 10th Century Cambodian Sandstone Sculpture Depicting Skanda on a Peacock, 21 Civ. 6065. In September 2023, Koh Ker - the 10th Century former royal capital of the Angkorian empire - was officially added to the United Nations Education, Scientific, and Cultural Organization’s World Heritage List. Other statutes being returned date from as far back as the 7th Century, including an over-life-size head of Buddha.
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On a resurfaced 2008 issue of Architectural Digest, featuring the mansion of Douglas Latchford in Florida, a series of long-lost Cambodian artifacts could be seen as decorations on the premises, among them were a life-size general stone statue, a reclining Lord Shiva, among others. Latchford also published art books because of his love to Asian art, more so the Cambodian one, but most of those pieces featured on the books, are identified as being from suspicious origins as well.
As such, Anderson Cooper traveled to Cambodia and with the help of one of the former looters who supplied many of those same pieces to Douglas himself, started to unveil how Douglas operated an illegal art trade Network spanning the whole region of South East Asia. The looters would spend weeks on the jungles and temples, using chisels, shovels, metal detectors and even dynamite to unearth and discover the treasures that would end up on Latchford's hands.
Douglas Latchford was a pharmaceutical entrepreneur and art dealer, deemed as a cultured accumulator of museum-quality sculptures and jewels, but in reality was a leading position in the illegal antiquities trade worldwide, ultimately never being charged. Latchford liked to see himself as saving works of art that had been abandoned and were at risk during Cambodia's turbulent civil wars, although this viewpoint was contrasted by academics who alleged that several of Latchford's antiquities lacked a clear provenance.
@60minutes Investigation using former looters results in stolen art being returned to Cambodia. #cambodia #stolenartifacts #60minutes #andersoncooper ♬ original sound - 60 Minutes
Due to revisiting this controversial character's history, a few days ago, the USA Attorney for the Southern District of New York got involved, finally announcing the return of 13 pieces originally belonging to the Kingdom of Cambodia, that were donated a few years back to the Met by Latchford.
Among the statutes being returned are statutes from the Koh Ker archaeological site, including a 10th century goddess sandstone statute. Koh Ker and the illicit trafficking in Cambodian cultural patrimony is described in prior forfeiture actions filed in the Southern District of New York, including United States v. A Late 12th Century Khmer Sandstone Sculpture Depicting Standing Prajnaparamita, et al., 21 Civ. 9217; United States v. A Late 12th Century Bayon-Style Sandstone Sculpture Depicting Eight-Armed Avalokiteshvara, 22 Civ. 229; United States v. A 10th Century Cambodian Sandstone Sculpture, 12 Civ. 2600; and United States v. A 10th Century Cambodian Sandstone Sculpture Depicting Skanda on a Peacock, 21 Civ. 6065. In September 2023, Koh Ker - the 10th Century former royal capital of the Angkorian empire - was officially added to the United Nations Education, Scientific, and Cultural Organization’s World Heritage List. Other statutes being returned date from as far back as the 7th Century, including an over-life-size head of Buddha.
Sources 1 2