“One example that comes to mind is the collection of art obtained by Mellon who got it at a cut rate from Stalin. Then when Mellon had tax problems he “donated” it to start the Natl Gallery. As horrible as this is”
Mellon rescued those works from behind the Iron Curtain, where they could have been destroyed or lost forever, and now they reside safely in one of the world’s premier facilities for the whole world to enjoy. Horrible? Take a hike.
Mellon did not rescue any works of art. If he were rescuing them he would have stipulated that they be returned to the place he got them upon the end of the Soviet Union. He did not. Instead he paid little to a tyrannical brute and used them to open a museum thus rescuing his fortune from taxation. Fact is that those items belong to the Russian people NOT the Natl Gallery.
You need to find out thpse facts before you spout off trivial BS.