By FRED SWIFT
The County Line
It has been 30 years since an international art scandal found its way to a small Hamilton County art studio. Many county residents have forgotten or were not here to remember the circumstances which led to the event that made the news throughout the U.S. and Europe. It was 1991 when the tale of intrigue reached its climax.
The story began in 1974 when military forces from Turkey invaded and occupied the island nation of Cyprus. Looting followed during which four ancient religious mosaics were stolen from a Greek Orthodox church. Little was known of the whereabouts of the mosaics and other
looted items for several years.
They had been smuggled from Cyprus to Amsterdam by a shady Turkish art dealer, and eventually came into the possession of a Swiss dealer who claimed to be an Austrian archduke.
Meanwhile during the 1970s and 80s in Hamilton County, art dealer Peg Goldberg was operating a studio in her home on Shelborne Road a mile north of 116th Street. Peg, a native of Spencer, Ind., was an IU graduate, a social worker and a Hamilton County Commissioner. She was elected in 1986 partially due to her opposition to making 116th Street a four-lane road from U.S. 31 to Michigan Road.
Among Peg’s friends and clients was prominent banker Nick Frenzel, a top executive with Merchants National Bank in Indianapolis and a Carmel resident.
In 1988 while on a buying trip in Europe, Peg heard that four priceless mosaics were available for $1.2 million. They were reported to be among the five most valuable pieces of Byzantine art in the world.
Peg called Frenzel seeking a loan in the belief that the four art objects could be sold for as much as $20 million. Frenzel made arrangements to get the money to Peg.
News reports indicate Peg met the alleged archduke at the Vienna airport to make the transaction. She shipped the mosaics home. The archduke was apparently not seen again.
Seeking to sell the items, stored in the Merchants Bank vault, Peg made contact with the J. Paul Getty Museum in California. Getty officials apparently tipped off Cypriot authorities that some of their looted art had been located. The Greek Church Archbishop of Cyprus soon filed suit in federal district court at Indianapolis, demanding return of the property.
In 1991, the court ruled the Greek church would get the mosaics. They were shipped back to Cyprus where they are on display at the national museum.
The bank lost its money and later sued Peg, but she likely could not pay. Peg maintained she did not know the art was considered stolen property. She later married a Richmond, Ind., orchestra conductor and moved to Naples, Fla. where the couple opened an art gallery. Peg died in 2012 at the age of 73.