Erin L. Thompson

Erin L. Thompson is a professor of art crime at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice of the City University of New York. Her book, Possession: The Curious History of Private Collectors (Yale, 2016), looks at the reasons people collect antiquities, and her essays have appeared in The New York Times, The Nation, The Paris Review Daily, The Kenyon Review, and others. For more, find her at www.artcrimeprof.com and on Twitter @artcrimeprof.

Articles

Dubiously Acquired Objects: On Götz Aly’s “The Magnificent Boat”
Erin Thompson reviews Götz Aly's “The Magnificent Boat: The Colonial Theft of a South Seas Cultural Treasure.”
Erin L. ThompsonMay 23, 2023
- History
Musket on Your Shoulder and No Bread at Home: On Holly A. Pinheiro Jr.’s “The Families’ Civil War”
Erin L. Thompson considers Holly A. Pinheiro Jr.’s “The Families’ Civil War: Black Soldiers and the Fight for Racial Justice.”
Erin L. ThompsonOct 12, 2022
“It’s the Black House Now!”: Mansoor Adayfi’s Don’t Forget Us Here: Lost and Found at Guantánamo
Erin L. Thompson examines the poignant yet playful recollections in Mansoor Adayfi’s memoir "Don’t Forget Us Here: Lost and Found at Guantánamo."
Erin L. ThompsonAug 25, 2021
The Museum as Weapon
Erin L. ThompsonSep 23, 2020
Smashing Statues, Building Community
Erin L. Thompson thinks about what it means to record the process of destroying art in Aaron Tugendhaft's "The Idols of ISIS."
Erin L. ThompsonAug 10, 2020
Susan Stewart’s The Ruins Lesson: Looking at “unswept stone besmear’d with sluttish time”
Erin L. Thompson takes a look the appeal of ruin in Susan Stewart’s "The Ruins Lesson."
Erin L. ThompsonApr 11, 2020
Whose Blood, Whose Treasure?
CBS’ "Blood & Treasure" tells a story about looted antiquities funding terrorism — but will telling this story lead to more destruction of the past?
Erin L. ThompsonMay 21, 2019

Erin L. Thompson

Articles

Dubiously Acquired Objects: On Götz Aly’s “The Magnificent Boat”

Musket on Your Shoulder and No Bread at Home: On Holly A. Pinheiro Jr.’s “The Families’ Civil War”

“It’s the Black House Now!”: Mansoor Adayfi’s Don’t Forget Us Here: Lost and Found at Guantánamo

The Museum as Weapon

Smashing Statues, Building Community

Susan Stewart’s The Ruins Lesson: Looking at “unswept stone besmear’d with sluttish time”

Whose Blood, Whose Treasure?