Northwestern’s Block Museum of Art has not been affected by a recent antiquities looting scandal involving several public and private art collections across the United States, said David Alan Robertson, one of the museum’s directors.

But the issue of acquiring legitimate artwork is gaining prominence among museums in general, he said.

“More and more of these situations have been revealed in both private collections and public holdings,” Robertson said.

Former antiquities curator Marion True of Los Angeles’ J. Paul Getty Museum is on trial in Rome for knowingly accepting ancient artworks looted from archaeological sites. Antiquities dealers with ties to American art museums are on trial as well.

Block Museum always has been vigilant about accepting works and deals primarily with printed artwork instead of antiquities, such as ancient statues and vases, Robertson said. The museum does house a collection of European modernist sculptures donated by its founders, but their legitimacy has been guaranteed.

Robertson said most art institutions implemented policies in the 1970s to investigate the origins of any incoming artworks, and the University of Pennsylvania was the first to have such a policy. But works at some museums might have been acquired before such policies were in place, he said.

“I do know that the field was much more lax in the past and that objects were collected for their intrinsic value and beauty,” Robertson said.

Block Museum was founded in 1980. Even though the museum collects prints, photos and drawings, not antiquities, officials have always investigated histories of donations, Robertson said.

An acquisitions committee reviews potential donations to Block Museum and discusses their origins, Robertson explained.

“We’ve always been very rigorous in that regard,” he said.

Communication freshman Jason Klorfein said he usually doesn’t think about the legitimacy of artwork but might be more inquisitive in light of the recent scandal.

“If this happens to (the big museums), lesser-known museums will probably be even more thorough,” he said.

Medill senior Alicia Ontiveros said she cares mostly about the legitimacy of works she’s studied. She got to see Pablo Picasso’s mural “Guernica” while she studied in Spain last fall.

“It’s important to know that what I’m looking at is indeed what I think I’m seeing,” she said. “The history of the Guernica has everything to do with its importance.”

By taking works from their original sites, antiquities dealers take the works out of their original context, Robertson said. Little can then be deduced about their origins or functions, according to the New York Times .

“The whole idea is that the context of these objects is as important in as many ways as the objects themselves in informing us about the past,” Robertson said.

But Klorfein said artwork, looted or not, never means the same thing in a museum as it did in its original context.

Of greater consequence is what artwork can teach people, no matter its origins, Klorfein said.

“Getting education out of it would be the best thing,” he said.

Reach Lauren Pond at [email protected].