This Is Looting by Another Name

By Francisco Berzunza

Mr. Berzunza is a Mexican historian. He wrote from Mexico City.

This spring, hundreds of thousands of visitors to Mexico City’s Museum of Modern Art experienced the ardor of two of Frida Kahlo’s masterpieces in a temporary exhibit: “Diego on My Mind,” depicting Kahlo with Diego Rivera’s portrait emblazoned on her forehead like a third eye, and “Self-Portrait with Monkeys,” showing her surrounded by four monkeys amid dense tropical foliage.

It was a rare chance for Mexicans to see these two celebrated paintings at home. For........

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