As far as I know, a list has been posted by the following U.S. institutions
(there may be others):
Art Institute of Chicago, www.artic.edu
Cleveland Museum of Art, www.clevelandart.org
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, www.metmuseum.org
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, www.mfa.org
The Museum of Modern Art, New York, www.moma.org
In addition, the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum has an extensive Web site
devoted to Holocaust asset issues worldwide at www.ushmm.gov/assets. There
is a specific section on art.
Also, the Presidential Advisory Commission on Holocaust Assets in the United
States is expected to have information on its Web site (www.pcha.gov)
concerning its recent hearing in New York where several museum directors
testified. Below is an article from the upcoming May issue of AVISO on the
hearing, which was covered by Jason Hall, Director of AAM Government
Affairs.
*******************
Museum Directors Testify on Holocaust Assets
On April 12, four museum directors testified before the Presidential
Advisory Commission on Holocaust Assets in the United States. The New York
City hearing dealt with the disposition of art and other cultural property
taken illegally during the Nazi era. Philippe de Montebello, Metropolitan
Museum of Art, New York; Glenn Lowry, Museum of Modern Art, New York;
Malcolm Rogers, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; and Lawrence Wheeler, North
Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh, provided details of the actions taken by
their museums in response to this issue.
Rogers described how the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, has posted on its Web
site a listing of holdings that have provenance gaps during the Nazi era.
Wheeler discussed the restitution of a painting without the need for court
action. (In March 1999, the Commission for Art Recovery (CAR) of the World
Jewish Congress alerted the North Carolina Museum of Art that a Lucas
Cranach painting in its collection had been stolen by the Nazis from Philipp
von Gomperz of Vienna. The museum worked with CAR and agents of the heirs to
verify the information. Once it was confirmed, the museum returned the
painting to the family in February 2000.)
The museum directors recommended federal support for provenance research and
establishing a central database that would be made public on the Internet.
They also encouraged the commission to recommend that federal immunity from
seizure for exhibitions be easier to obtain. Currently, in order to obtain
immunity, a museum essentially must guarantee that there are no competing
claims of ownership for each exhibition object. The possibility of such
claims is the rationale behind an immunity request in the first place. Thus,
the requirement discourages lenders and borrowers from including certain
objects, which in turn prevents the objects from being discovered by
potential claimants.
Others who testified included Stephen E. Weil, emeritus senior scholar at
the Center for Museum Studies, Smithsonian Institution, (and former deputy
director of the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, D.C.) and
representatives of art dealers and dealer organizations. Weil cited AAM's
"Guidelines Concerning the Unlawful Appropriation of Objects During the Nazi
Era" as "exemplary," noting the options that they provide museums when
responding to particular cases, such as waiving certain legal defenses, in
order to achieve an equitable and appropriate resolution.
The commissioners expressed appreciation for the responsible actions that
American museums have taken in this area. For more information, see the
Holocaust Commission Web site (www.pcha.gov).
**************
Barry Szczesny
AAM Government Affairs
--the usual disclaimers
> -----Original Message-----
> From: hbatchelor [SMTP:[log in to unmask]]
> Sent: Wednesday, April 26, 2000 5:11 PM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: Nazi-Era Provenance...links please
>
> Yes, I recently posted some news material about this to the
> museumnetwork.com/professional web site. You will also find a directory of
> web
> sites that specialize in stolen art issues. Among them is the German site
> that
> serves as a national database. You will also find material of interest at
> the
> Metropolitan Museum (NY) site, the MFA in Boston, and there is one in
> Britain
> too whose identity escapes me.
>
> If you have a special interest in this topic I would be glad to know your
> thoughts and comments.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Museum Security Network [SMTP:[log in to unmask]]
> Sent: Wednesday, April 26, 2000 10:18 AM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: Nazi-Era Provenance...links please
>
> > Date: Wed, 26 Apr 2000 12:06:15 -0400
> > Reply-to: Museum discussion list <[log in to unmask]>
> > From: Nathaniel Schoen <[log in to unmask]>
> > Subject: Nazi-Era Provenance...links please
> > To: [log in to unmask]
>
> > Recently there was a string concerning art works that are "suspect" due
> to
> > their lack of provenance from the Nazi/WWII era. I was wondering if
> anyone
> > had any links handy to museum sites that have been posting lists of
> these
> > works or other info that is relevant to this subject. As there has
> already
> > been a discussion on list already, please feel free to reply off list.
> > Thank you.
> >
> > ...Nathaniel
>
>
> get plenty of information at:
>
> http://museum-security.org/ww2
>
> Ton Cremers
>
>
>
> http://museum-security.org/
> Generous sponsorship grants by Mosler Inc
> (http://www.mosler.com/),
> and the Netherlands Museums Association
> (http://www.museumvereniging.nl/)
> keep the Museum Security Network a free service.
> http://www.museumsecurity.org/helmantel
> http://www.culturalheritagewatch.org/news.htm
>
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