iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Erin L. Thompson @artcrimeprof.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

I HAVE A COVER! And a pub date - July 6, 2027! If you want six true stories of antiquities fraud, from a California college convinced that Hong Kong tourist trinkets were worth millions, to an entire fake museum, to the titular mummy carved from styrofoam, preorder at www.amazon.com/Styrofoam-Mu...

Cover of the book The Styrofoam Mummy https://www.amazon.com/Styrofoam-Mummy-Tales-Antiquities-Market/dp/1324035870

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Erin L. Thompson @artcrimeprof.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

I’m trying to do the short form video thing over on Instagram (@artcrimeprofessor) and… it’s a steep learning curve. Definitely on the verge of being too old for this!

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Erin L. Thompson @artcrimeprof.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

My 10-year-old asked for a book recommendation “for a really funny book, but not for kids” and I’m freezing up. It’s for a school project, and can be a novel or a memoir. What should I recommend? (Am just now remembering Wodehouse, so obviously that’s going on the list.)

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Erin L. Thompson @artcrimeprof.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

Just read and you all should, too.

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Erin L. Thompson @artcrimeprof.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

Where did the sacred artifacts smuggled out of Nepal by Mary Slusser end up? One answer is... a flea market. I explain in this video.

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Erin L. Thompson @artcrimeprof.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

In 1965, an American scholar bought her first stolen god from two boys outside a Kathmandu temple. Grains of rice were still stuck to it — offerings from worshippers. She paid less than $2 and wrote in her diary: "I don't think the temple will miss it at all." 🧵 www.himalmag.com/mary-slusser...

himalmag.com

Mary Slusser’s secret loot of Nepal’s sacred art and heritage

A US scholar made her name as an expert on Nepal’s cultural heritage – while illicitly buying sacred artefacts and smuggling them out to the United States

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Erin L. Thompson @artcrimeprof.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

My latest investigation on stolen cultural heritage now out from @himalsouthasian.bsky.social. I followed the tracks of Mary Slusser, an American academic who thought she was “saving” Nepal’s culture by smuggling sacred artifacts out of the country - killing at least one ritual.

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Erin L. Thompson @artcrimeprof.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

Teaser reel for my big investigation, out tomorrow!

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Erin L. Thompson @artcrimeprof.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

A lot of yikes in this article about someone who bought $6.7 million worth of fake Warhols, but the attempt to continue the deception by sending fake appraisers is... chef's kiss www.wsj.com/arts-culture...

"The forgery came to light in late 2023, when the Perlman family invited experts from Christie’s to view their collection, which included famous Warhol subjects like Queen Elizabeth II, Debbie Harry and Superman. After Christie’s raised doubts about the works’ authenticity, Roberts told the family they should get a second opinion, according to the lawsuit. Two people purporting to be from the auction house Phillips showed up at the Perlmans’ home with business cards to reassure them the works were genuine. Phillips later confirmed that the people were not their employees, the auction house said. The Perlmans demanded Roberts produce records proving his connection to the Warhol Foundation and the authenticity of the works they bought, according to the complaint. They sued him after he was unable to do so."

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Erin L. Thompson @artcrimeprof.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

It was great fun writing a book for middle schoolers about art heists - and Kirkus Reviews seems to have agreed! It’s out soon - www.panmacmillan.com/authors/dr-e...

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Erin L. Thompson @artcrimeprof.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

Look at the dissolving shadows and snappy high heels and subtle striped pants in Gustave Caillebotte’s “Paris Street; Rainy Day” at @artinstitutechi.bsky.social

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Erin L. Thompson @artcrimeprof.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

There will be many who’ll tell you about the importance of @rozinaali.bsky.social ‘s new book, Seasons of Fury, and its profiles of families shaped by Islamophobia in the US. What I’ll add: it also reads like a great multigenerational novel. Not everyone’s idea of a beach read… but certainly mine!

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Erin L. Thompson @artcrimeprof.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

I’ve always found being a “this notebook will change my life!” person expensive, but raising my children in this religion means that back-to-school season practically requires me to direct deposit my paycheck at the Japanese stationary store…

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Erin L. Thompson @artcrimeprof.bsky.social · 16/08/2026

Hot tip for art thieves: find buyers before you steal art! Or else you'll steal it, find that no collectors are stupid enough to buy hot masterpieces, and live in a state of increasing state of panic before a sting operation catches your ass. Today's case in point: www.nytimes.com/2026/08/14/w...

nytimes.com

Five Arrested in Connection to Stolen Works by Cézanne, Renoir and Matisse, Prosecutors Say

The Italian military police said that art collectively valued at more than $10 million had been found five months after being taken in a nighttime heist near Parma.

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Erin L. Thompson @artcrimeprof.bsky.social · 14/08/2026

About to publish an investigation into stolen art that is the greatest possible demonstration of this core research principle:

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Erin L. Thompson @artcrimeprof.bsky.social · 12/08/2026

Only took me several decades to realize that 90% of the crushes I thought I had on high school boys were just because I wanted their haircut… and that I could just, ya know, have it. Maximum swoopage today!

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Erin L. Thompson @artcrimeprof.bsky.social · 10/08/2026

Like, I don’t know if this man’s crimes are financial or just aesthetic but there must be crimes happening

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Erin L. Thompson @artcrimeprof.bsky.social · 10/08/2026

This is like the bat signal for art crime investigators www.nytimes.com/2026/08/09/s...

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Erin L. Thompson @artcrimeprof.bsky.social · 07/08/2026

I love this sign from the entrance to Mexico City's Murals Museum. Clear rules about no food, no touching, etc. with explanations about why that's necessary to preserve the art - along with a joyful plea to visit and share your photos, since that's equally necessary to preserve the living tradition!

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Erin L. Thompson @artcrimeprof.bsky.social · 31/07/2026

Highly recommend Karla Ceceña’s literary tours of Mexico City! We did the Centro Historico tour and learned about 17th c. female printers, authors inspired by archeology, and ended up in this secret back room of a storied used bookshop! She’s @ciudadliterariacdmx on Instagram.

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Erin L. Thompson @artcrimeprof.bsky.social · 31/07/2026

Did they really need the “no touching” sign for this terrifying god of death with his liver hanging out of the bottom of his rib cage, from Mexico City’s Templo Mayor? The holes in his skull would have held locks of curly hair. Whoever touches him gets what they deserve!

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Erin L. Thompson @artcrimeprof.bsky.social · 26/07/2026

Mexico City’s anthropology museum remains unrivaled in its display of both masterpieces and lil’ guys

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Erin L. Thompson @artcrimeprof.bsky.social · 15/07/2026

If you like art law - I mean, if you really like art law - head on down to Berkeley Law School this November for four jam-packed days with some top experts (and me): www.law.berkeley.edu/research/bus...

Screenshot with text reading:
Berkeley Center for Law and Business

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Three weeks ago we announced the Berkeley Art, Law, and Finance Intensive Seminar. Since then, the faculty has been coming together — and we want to share who's in the room.

Led by Professor Sonia Katyal, Roger J. Traynor Distinguished Chair at UC Berkeley School of Law.

Judge Simon Frankel and Adine Varah, General Counsel of SFMOMA San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, open the program on the forces reshaping art law. Erin Thompson, the nation's only art crime law professor, lectures on theft, forgery, and trafficking. Professor Patty Gerstenblith — former Chair of the President's Cultural Property Advisory Committee — covers international frameworks for cultural property, joined by Professor Antoinette Maget Dominicé, Director of the Centre du Droit de l’Art / Art-Law Centre at the University of Geneva.

Rosemary Ringwald of Bank of America Private Bank and Joe Baratta of Bonhams lecture on estate planning and wealth management for collectors. Sharon Cohen Levin of Sullivan & Cromwell LLP — who spent years leading the Money Laundering and Asset Forfeiture Unit at SDNY — teaches title disputes, authentication, and due diligence.

Channah Norman, former General Counsel of the National Museum of the U.S. Army and former INTERPOL attorney, lectures on restitution and return claims. Professor Sonia Katyal leads a session on digital repatriation, NAGPRA, and tribal sovereignty.

And Day 4 brings AI copyright litigation, digital ownership, and the future of creative IP — with practitioners who have been inside the companies and courtrooms where these questions are being decided.

This is not a conference with panels and moderators. These are lectures by the people doing the work.

📅 November 30 – December 3, 2026
📍 UC Berkeley & Bay Area institutions — BAMPFA, Minnesota Street Project, Asian Art Museum, and more

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Erin L. Thompson @artcrimeprof.bsky.social · 15/07/2026

Thoroughly unglamorous shot of the NY Board of Elections warehouse where I spent hours this week to observe a recount. My friend won their race - by 15 votes! And boy oh boy is the work of democracy boring (complimentary).

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Erin L. Thompson @artcrimeprof.bsky.social · 11/07/2026

A few days before Christmas 2016, a grey Land Rover paused in front of a bank of mirrored windows at this checkpoint on the border between France and Switzerland. What happened next revealed just how looted art worms its way into museums. A 🧵 about my article: hyperallergic.com/why-do-so-ma...

Screencap from a "Chasseur de Trésor et Fouilles Illégales: Genève au Cœur d’un Trafic d’Antiquités,” RTS, February 12, 2023, www.rts.ch/info/regions/geneve/13760278-chasseur-de-tresor-et-fouilles-illegales-geneve-au-cur-dun-trafic-dantiquites.html

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Erin L. Thompson @artcrimeprof.bsky.social · 11/07/2026

Should I do a 🧵 on my just-published article on how one of the most trusted - and most expensive - antiquities dealers was faking the paperwork to make freshly looted artifacts look like they had long, legal ownership histories? I should. But I'm so tired. Tomorrow! hyperallergic.com/why-do-so-ma...

hyperallergic.com

Why Do So Many Museums Hold a Convicted Antiquity Dealer’s Treasures?

After The Met returned a Roman bust connected to Phoenix Ancient Art, the question of what will happen to other works sold by the gallery to dozens of US institutions remains open.

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Erin L. Thompson @artcrimeprof.bsky.social · 09/07/2026

At the @nychistory.bsky.social for the reenactment of the toppling of the statue of George III by New Yorkers who’d just listened to the Declaration of Independence. T minus 20. Historically accurate “getting pumped by listening to a drum and fife” is happening.

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Erin L. Thompson @artcrimeprof.bsky.social · 09/07/2026

Fantastic detective work from @michaeldpress.bsky.social - tracking down the forged letter used to fake an old provenance for recently looted cuneiform tablets! www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

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Erin L. Thompson @artcrimeprof.bsky.social · 09/07/2026

Among the details in the DA's latest repatriation press release is that an auction house disguised a red-flag name of a known trafficker of Iraqi antiquities (Hassan Rihani) by describing pieces as from the "R. Family Collection." Genius! They'll never know! manhattanda.org/d-a-bragg-an...

Screenshot of text reading "A Sumerian Gypsum Male Worshipper and the Sumerian Gypsum Female Worshipper, dating to Iraq’s Early Dynastic II Period, approximately 2750–2600 B.C.E., are among the earliest known sculptural depictions of the human figure in the round. Both sculptures first appeared on the market in 2015 after Ariadne Galleries sold them as part of the “Rihani Family Collection.”Thereafter, this Office seized and repatriated eleven antiquities smuggled by Hassan Rihani from Iraq, Jordan, Israel, and Syria. Earlier this year, an auction house offered both statues for sale, changing the provenance to “R. Family Collection.”Nonetheless, this Office identified both statues as stolen and received a warrant for their seizure in June 2026."

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Erin L. Thompson @artcrimeprof.bsky.social · 08/07/2026

new open access publication - free for download! - on digital approaches to tracing the illicit trade in cultural objects: link.springer.com/book/10.1007...

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Erin L. Thompson @artcrimeprof.bsky.social · 08/07/2026

Behind-the-scenes 🧵 on this story revealing that the American Museum of Natural History in New York is holding thousands of hair samples taken from Native Americans, including children at residential schools - despite knowing their names. www.nytimes.com/2026/07/08/a...

nytimes.com

Decades Late, Museum Scrambles to Return 2,700 Native Remains

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Erin L. Thompson @artcrimeprof.bsky.social · 28/06/2026

Dyke March NYC was incredible! (Photo by my friend, the wonderful www.instagram.com/stas.ginzburg/).

Me, looking sweaty but proud at Dyke March.

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Erin L. Thompson @artcrimeprof.bsky.social · 25/06/2026

How did flailing US efforts to fight communism in SE Asia fill American museums with looted Cambodian antiquities? How have these museums fought their return? I discussed these questions with the author of a thrilling book on Cambodia's fight to reclaim its past: hyperallergic.com/inside-the-m...

hyperallergic.com

Inside the Mind of an Antiquities Looter

"The Man Who Stole the Gods" author Matthew Campbell discusses Western collectors' rapacious hunger for ancient Cambodian art and the sheer violence it took to satiate it.

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Reposted by Erin L. Thompson

Erin L. Thompson @artcrimeprof.bsky.social · 23/06/2026

Repatriation story time! Aka, how a stolen goddess of dance went from the photo on the left (on display for worship at a Nepali monastery in 1969) to the photo on the right (patiently posing with a dorky admirer in the Nepali consulate in NYC in 2026).

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Erin L. Thompson @artcrimeprof.bsky.social · 23/06/2026

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Erin L. Thompson @artcrimeprof.bsky.social · 23/06/2026

Headed to a repatriation ceremony for stolen images of deities - will tell you what/where/how when I can! (Yes I know this whole post is “Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego” coded)

Me, holding a large iced coffee in a cafe, looking like an international woman of mystery

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Erin L. Thompson @artcrimeprof.bsky.social · 22/06/2026

Looking back through photos of my 2022 trip to Cambodia (for... reasons) and - phew. So many spectacular artworks and sites.

Sculpture of a horse-headed deity in the Cambodian national museum in Phnom Penh.

Pyramid at Koh Ker, a Khmer imperial capital.

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Erin L. Thompson @artcrimeprof.bsky.social · 18/06/2026

Three photos with me in them (research, removed from display, and repatriation ceremony) and one from today without me - the god finally back with his family in Nepal! For the story of this recovery, check out the fantastic episode from @planetmoney.bsky.social: www.npr.org/2024/04/26/1...

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Erin L. Thompson @artcrimeprof.bsky.social · 10/06/2026

Geoguessr and historical design friends: any ideas whether the below 1923 photos were taken in Geneva, Glasgow, or Athens? There's a book spine and a map, both barely legible (this is the highest res I have). Argh!

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Erin L. Thompson @artcrimeprof.bsky.social · 09/06/2026

Tell me you don't look at this painting and hear the soundtrack that all the little rainbow sculptures are dancing to! Jean Léon Gérôme's "Sculpturæ vitam insufflat pictura (Painting Breathes Life into Sculpture)," 1893, Art Gallery of Ontario.

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Erin L. Thompson @artcrimeprof.bsky.social · 07/06/2026

Sometimes you find an especially perky ancient little guy and you need to make a gif to express it, ok?

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Erin L. Thompson @artcrimeprof.bsky.social · 04/06/2026

My daughter's beloved child is the one I hold here. The one that I held on my lap While we looked at the light of the sun when we were alive, And that I still hold, now that we are both dead. - inscription on this c. 400 BCE Greek grave marker, carved with a grandmother holding a swaddled baby

Fragmentary marble sculpture of a woman and baby now in the Metropolitan Museum (https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/254695)

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Erin L. Thompson @artcrimeprof.bsky.social · 04/06/2026

Weirdly reassuring to give a talk in front of a giant Bierstadt painting - if I was tedious, the audience could just look at a badass waterfall!

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