>It seems to me that you can borrow artifacts from any owner
>if they meet the needs and mission of your museum.  The only
>danger I see in the course you describe is that the shops
>might use the museum to inflate the value of the piece by
>saying "It was on exhibit at X museum."  We have borrowed
>specific pieces from antique dealers when they were needed
>in exhibits, but we don't make a regular practice out of it.
> I'll be interested to see if others have the same reaction.
>
>Chris Dill

Exactly the same reaction.  The problem of a dealer using
museum "provenance" to
inflate the value of an object or work of art is a tricky
one, similar to letting a
potential donor "use" a museum for free, secure storage of
loans in hopes that
he/she will eventually donate something more desired for the
collection. Presence in a museum implies to most people that an object/work of art
is of "museum quality."  I think
Andy's answer was very much to the point.
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amalyah keshet
director, visual resources, the israel museum, jerusalem
e-mail: [log in to unmask]
date: 12/03/96
visit our web site at http://www.imj.org.il
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