Book Exposes Stendahl Galleries' Role in Looting Ancient American Art for Los Angeles Museums

Key facts

• A 1940 Man Ray photograph features Academy Award-winning actor Teresa Wright with an ancient Chacmool sculpture.
• The Minneapolis Institute of Art purchased a "King Chak Mool" for $10,000 in 1947.
• That sculpture toured Europe in an exhibition from 1958 to 1960 and became a cornerstone of the museum's collection.
• A decade later, a specialist discovered the sculpture was a forgery.
• Artifacts to Art: Collecting Ancient America in Midcentury L.A. (2026) is by Andrew D. Turner, Mary E. Miller, and Khristaan D. Villela.
• The Stendahl Art Galleries drove illegal looting, smuggling, and sale of ancient Central and South American objects to Los Angeles clients.
• The Galleries' archive is housed at the Getty Research Institute, which published the book.
• The authors conducted five years of research into the archive for the book.
• The book's non-chronological chapters describe forces that created a market for these objects, including international museums, Hollywood actors, and looters across Mexico.
• A caption identifies Earl Stendahl in his workshop on Hillside Avenue, Los Angeles, from April Dammann's Exhibitionist: Earl Stendahl, Art Dealer as Impresario (2011).