Southern California Museum Raid Reaches To Chicago

A high profile collector in Chicago named Barry MacLean has been implicated in the federal investigation of looted antiquities and four Southern California museums, including the Mingei.  MacLean is a trustee of one of the most respected and prestigious art schools in the country - the Art Institute of Chicago.

MacLean's private collection was searched by federal investigators last week, the same day the four museums were searched. The reason?  He purchased a significant amount of his collection from Robert Olson.  Olson really is the connective thread so far in this ongoing story. 

The LA Times reports:  In a phone interview Monday, Olson confirmed that MacLean was his biggest client, saying the Chicago collector purchased as much as $50,000 to $100,000 in Asian antiquities a year during the eight to 10 years they did business.

I guess we're going to find out how many collectors and collections Olson has been involved with beyond Southern California.  

One other thing, MacLean is chief executive of MacLean-Fogg, an $800-million-a-year multinational company.  Once guys like this start to be implicated in the investigation and the press, this story is going to get more and more interesting.

Alleged Art Smuggler Talks About Raids

Robert Olson, the "art smuggler" identified in affadavits from the federal investigation of four Southern California museums, including the Mingei International Museum in Balboa Park, was recently interviewed by the Orange County Register. 

The interview paints a detailed portrait of the man and his trade, which is more than shady.  Olson bragged at one point about having more antiquities from Thailand than Thailand itself.  The article says of Olson: "He started making trips to Thailand every two or three months to buy antiquities; over time, he developed a network of about half a dozen dealers whom he would visit in person. He said he even had a house in Thailand for some time in the 1980s." 

How did Olson get these items out of Thailand and into the United States?  He told the OC Register he would pay a shipping company to ship the items to the US and never asked questions as to how they accomplished it.  But according to the affadavit, Olson told the undercover agent he would have the shipper affix a "Made in Thailand" label on the items to make them look like replicas.