George Ortiz

George Ortiz (1927–2013) was a collector who assembled what is considered to be one of the "finest collection of antiquities in private hands".[1]

George Ortiz
Born(1927-05-10)10 May 1927
Paris, France
Died8 October 2013(2013-10-08) (aged 86)
Geneva, Switzerland
OccupationCollector
Spouse(s)Catherine

Biography

George Ortiz was born in Paris May 10, 1927. His father, Jorge Ortiz Linares, was Ambassador of Bolivia to France, and his mother Graziella was the daughter of the Bolivian tin mining magnate Simón I. Patiño.[2] George Ortiz studied in France, UK and USA. In 1949, a trip to Greece revealed a passion for antique objects. He begins collecting and over the ensuing decades forms "one of the world's greatest private collections of ancient and tribal art".[3] He died in Geneva October 8, 2013.[4]

The George Ortiz Collection

The George Ortiz Collection is a selection of some 280 masterpieces from the collection that was exhibited in the Hermitage Museum (Saint Petersburg), the Pushkin Museum (Moscow), the Royal Academy (London) and the Altes Museum (Berlin).[5] At the time he was criticized by some for having exported works from their countries of origin.[4]

In 1961 he was accused of having stolen property in his collection. This was resolved 15 years later when he was given a short suspended sentence. He campaigned against the 1970 UNESCO and 1995 UNIDROIT conventions restricting the export of cultural objects.[4]

In 1978 Ortiz held an auction to sell many of his collected works from Africa and the Pacific to recover the reported $2 million that he had paid the year before as ransom when his daughter had been kidnapped.[6] Included in that collection was the Motonui epa, Māori carved wood panels from a storehouse, that Ortiz had purchased for US$65,000 then taken to Switzerland.[7] The New Zealand courts claimed Ortiz had violated their laws against export of national treasures.[8] After years of negotiation, and Ortiz's death in 2013, the Motonui panels were purchased by the New Zealand government for NZ$4.5 million, and in March 2014 they were deposited in Puke Ariki Museum in New Plymouth.[7]

Bibliography
  • Catalogue: The George Ortiz Collection (Benteli Publishers Ltd., Bern, 1993, ISBN 3-7165-1026-2)
  • Sales catalogue Sotheby's 29 June 1978

References
  1. "ARTS / Master of antiquities, master of ceremonies: Collectors don't usually appear until opening night, to clink a glass or two at the private view. But when George Ortiz loans his collection to a museum, he moves in". The Independent. Retrieved 11 September 2015.
  2. "George Ortiz". Telegraph.co.uk. 21 October 2013. Retrieved 11 September 2015.
  3. Stourton, James (1 February 2010). "Collecting by instinct: George Ortiz has created one of the world's greatest private collections of ancient and tribal art. James Stourton talks to him about a career that goes back more than 60 years, and the philosophy that underpins it.(Interview)". Apollo. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015.
  4. Levy, Paul (12 December 2013). "George Ortiz: Collector whose inherited fortune allowed him to assemble an array of hundreds of the finest pieces of their kinds". The Independent. Retrieved 3 September 2015.
  5. "Exhibition Design - Hermitage, Pushkin Museum, & Royal Academy of Arts". exhibitiondesign.com. Retrieved 11 September 2015.
  6. Reif, Rita (23 June 1978). "Auctions: Pacific Carvings in London". New York Times. Retrieved 3 September 2015.
  7. Shaskey, Tara (22 October 2015). "Puke Ariki launch exhibition of renowned Motunui panels". Taranaki Daily News. Retrieved 31 July 2019.
  8. Reif, Rita (29 August 1982). "ANTIQUES VIEW; COURTS TEST OWNERSHIP OF ARTISTIC TREASURES". International New York Times. Retrieved 3 September 2015.
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