The New York Times Interviews Deborah Lehr on the Future of Antiquities Collecting
October 2, 2025
The New York Times recently featured Antiquities Coalition Chairman and Founder Deborah Lehr in an article exploring the future of antiquities collecting—which is threatened by the prevalence of looted, stolen, and fake works on the global market.
Lehr emphasized that responsible collecting is possible, but costly and never without risk:
“Overwhelmingly, we’ve found that dealers are not intending to deal with illicit antiquities, but it can cost a lot of money and require a lot of time to inquire into the backgrounds of these objects, and even major organizations that have those resources have been taken in, like the Metropolitan Museum of Art.”
If institutions with world-class expertise and resources can be deceived, then average buyers must be especially cautious.
The article also noted a growing interest in antiquities among young collectors who are poised to shape the art market of tomorrow. Antiquities Coalition Director of Programs Helena Arose commented last year that these emerging buyers have an opportunity to redefine the market by setting higher standards. Unlike past generations, young collectors are motivated not only by financial investment, but also by social responsibility. They do not want to risk funding war or organized crime through illicit purchases, and they are demanding greater transparency.
What does responsible collecting look like in 2025?
Experts interviewed by the New York Times highlighted three core practices for responsible collecting:
- Conducting rigorous research into artifacts for sale—and those selling them
- Writing in due diligence contingencies into buyers’ contracts
- Checking artifacts’ provenance against stolen object databases maintained by law enforcement and private advisory groups
As Lehr pointed out, these steps can be expensive and time consuming, but there are also basic protections collectors can take to ensure their purchases are legitimate. These are outlined in the Antiquities Coalition’s “Buyer Beware” checklist available here.
To read the full New York Times story, click here.
Revisit Lehr’s related Op Ed in The Hill, “How to filter stolen cultural treasures out of the US art market.”