2023-08-25 17:31:26
CARLOS FRESNEDA
Correspondent
London
Updated Friday, August 25, 2023 – 17:31
Hartwig Fischer has resigned from his position immediately
Hartwig Fischer with Peter Higgs, the expert accused of looting, in Madrid in 2017. WORLD
Hartwig Fischer has submitted his resignation as director of the british museum due to the scandal of the more than 2,000 pieces stolen in the last decade.
The 61-year-old German historian, who took office in 2015, has precipitated his departure from the British institution (initially announced for January 2024), by transcending the scope of the theft of jewelry, precious pieces and ceramic pieces allegedly attributed to the curator of Mediterranean art of the museum, Peter Higgs.
“Over the past few days I have reviewed the details of the thefts and the ongoing investigation,” Fischer said in his resignation letter. “It is evident that the British Museum did not respond appropriately when I received the first warnings in 2021, and it is now when the problem has fully emerged.”
“Responsibility for that ruling ultimately rests with the director,” he added. “I have also made an error of judgment in the comments I have made this week about Dr. Ittai Gradel (the Dutch antiquarian who gave the first sign of alasmar), I want to express my sincere regret and withdraw those words.”
“I have offered my resign to the president and administrators and interim leadership will soon be established until a new director is elected,” added Fischer.
“The situation facing the museum is of the utmost gravity. I hope there will come a time when the institution will emerge stronger from this situation, but I have come to the conclusion that my tenure in office is a distraction.”
Fischer admitted that his early resignation “is the last thing I wanted” and welcomed the privilege of having directed the institution for seven years, the first foreign director in more than a century. “The British Museum is an amazing institution and it has been an honor to have been at the helm,” he concluded.
Fischer’s resignation came days after the accusations of the antique dealer Ittai Gradel, who came to buy several pieces online and claimed to have warned the British Museum two years ago. Gradel went so far as to publicly accuse the museum management of “sweeping the scandal under the rug” and called for the resignation of Fischer and his deputy, Jonathan Williams.
According to The Daily Telegraph, Gradel bought the first stolen pieces on eBay in 2014 and resold some at a much higher price. Others were returned directly to the museum after finding out their provenance.
Fischer tried to minimize the scandal last week by claiming that the disappearance of “a small number of objects” in 2021. Days later he corrected his statements and confirmed that the true scope of the thefts was discovered during an audit carried out in 2022.
The museum reported the thefts to the police and opened an internal investigation that concluded with the dismissal of Peter Higgsthe curator of Mediterranean art, who had been at the museum for 35 years and had been put in charge of the conservation of the Parthenon marbles (during his tenure, Fishcher also reignited tensions with the Greek government, which is demanding the return of the marbles). pieces to the Acropolis Museum).
“We have every reason to believe that this person has even more objects in his possession,” Fischer came to declare, pointing again to Peter Higgs, who denies having been the author of the thefts and has been defended by his own son, Greg Higgs. , in statements to The Times: “My father has nothing to do with the disappearance of the pieces. His work was his passion and his life.”
Scotland Yard has been investigating the “looting” of the British Museum for eight months, although until this week it has not directly questioned the main suspect, according to various British media. The “missing” piecesup to 3,500 years old, belonged to collections not on display in the museum, with exclusive access to experts and academics.
As revealed by The Daily Telegraph several of them were offered on eBay for a value up to a thousand times lower than estimated. The Art Newspaper reported for its part that Peter Higgs was identified as the main suspect by using a pseudonym on eBay linked to a Paypal account also linked to his Twitter account where his real name and his position at the Museum appeared. british.
The museum is attempting to assess the full value of the stolen items, though inventory gaps are making the task difficult. The Briton hoards up to eight million artifacts, of which only 80,000 are on public display in his galleries in central London.
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