Press Release:

New York, NY - February 3, 1998 - At its Midwinter Meeting, held last week in
Los Angeles, the Association of Art Museum Directors (AAMD) called for
establishing a new system for the fair resolution of ownership claims relating
to works of art stolen immediately before and during World War II.  The
Association also established a special Task Force to develop guiding
principles to be utilized in the process of resolving individual cases.  The
Task Force was directed to deliver its initial proposed guidelines for review
and approval at the next meeting in June.

Following its meeting, the Association issued the following statement:

The Association of Art Museum Directors recognizes and deplores the systematic
unlawful confiscation of art that was one of the many horrors of the Holocaust
and World War II.

The Association is committed to implementing a mechanism for coordinating full
access to the newly available documentation on this wide-scale confiscation of
art.

In keeping with AAMD's Code of Ethics, the Association reaffirms the
commitment of its members to weigh, promptly and thoroughly, claims of title
to specific works.

In order to meet this commitment, AAMD has established a special Task Force
charged with developing guiding principles to assist museums in resolving
claims on a case by case basis.  These principles will be directed towards
reconciling the interests of individuals or their
heirs who were dispossessed of works of art with the complex legal obligations
and responsibilities of art museums to the public for whom they hold works of
art in trust.

The Task Force will report its initial recommendations to the Board of
Trustees of AAMD at the next meeting of the Association in June.

In order to achieve timely resolution of ownership claims relating to art
alleged to have been stolen immediately before, during and immediately after
World War II, the Association strongly recommends the creation of a mechanism
for the fair resolution of these claims, such as mediation, arbitration or
other forms of alternate dispute resolution.

Task Force:
Philippe de Montebello, Director, Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York)--Chair
Robert P. Bergman, Director, Cleveland Museum of Art
James Cuno, Director, Harvard University Art Museums (Cambridge)
Anne d'Harnoncourt, Director, Philadelphia Museum of Art
Mary Gardner Gates, Director, Seattle Art Museum
Glenn Lowry, Director, Museum of Modern Art (New York)
Malcolm Rogers, Director, Museum of Fine Arts (Boston)
John Walsh, Director, J. Paul Getty Museum (Los Angeles)
James N. Wood, Director, Art Institute of Chicago


Ex officio members:
Hugh M. Davies, President, AAMD and Director, Museum of Contemporary Art, San
Diego
Ned Rifkin, Chair, Art Issues Committee, AAMD and Director, High Museum of Art
Millicent H. Gaudieri, Executive Director, AAMD
Anita Difanis, Director of Government Affairs, AAMD