Douglas Arthur Joseph "Dynamite" Latchford (15 October 1931 – 2 August 2020)[1] was a British art dealer, smuggler and author.
According to his obituary in The New York Times,[7] Latchford was "a cultured accumulator of museum-quality Khmer sculptures and jewels", whilst The Diplomat reported that, due to his leading position in the illegal antiquities trade of the Khmer Rouge, "no single figure looms as large over a nation’s wholesale pillage.
[7] In October 2021, a large investigation by media from the UK,[10] USA, and Australia, working with the ICIJ,[11][12] explored the prevalence of artworks that Latchford had traded to public museums and galleries.
[18] Many of the museums and galleries responded to the journalists and provided statements in relation to the allegations, although none made any commitment to return works associated with Latchford.
[14] The National Gallery of Australia claimed that a piece tied to Latchford was the subject of a live investigation, whilst the Los Angeles County Museum of Art refused to engage with the journalists.
[8][21] The transfer of ownership was completed on 18 September 2020:[22][23] however, progress in returning the collection stalled following the release of the Pandora Papers, which revealed that the family had attempted to avoid paying UK Inheritance Tax.
[24][25] In November 2021, after rising pressure from the United States federal government, the Denver Art Museum agreed to voluntarily repatriate four Cambodian antiquities in their possession, which included three Khmer sandstone sculptures dating back to the 7th and 12th centuries, respectively, and an Iron Age Dong Son bronze bell.