Posted on: February 13, 2020 by Charlotte Dunn
An intriguing series of events has led the US Government to commence court action over a collection of objects associated with Alan Turing, the British mathematician. Alan Turing is famous for his involvement in breaking the German Enigma code during WW2 and for his contribution to the field of computer science. This case raises questions […]
Posted on: January 23, 2020 by Charlotte Dunn
President Emmanuel Macron originally promised to return 26 artefacts, currently held in the Musée du Quai Branly–Jacques Chirac in Paris, to Benin in 2018. These objects were taken as spoils from the Kingdom of Dahomey in 1892, as part of French colonial military action. Macron’s promise was made in response to the publication of the […]
Posted on: December 2, 2019 by Charlotte Dunn
Legal cases involving questions of authenticity, attribution and provenance are generally not easily determined. However, in a recent Canadian case, the Court of Appeal for Ontario applied contract law to tackle (or avoid) the issue. The case involved a painting, entitled Spirit Energy of Mother Earth, purportedly by the renowned First Nations artist, Norval Morrisseau. […]
Posted on: November 19, 2019 by Charlotte Dunn
As previously noted in the IAL blog, the recent challenge to the Ivory Act 2018 has continued an ongoing debate over the UK government’s decision to impose a stricter ban on the trade in elephant ivory. (See earlier reports here and here). On the 5th of November 2019, Mr Justice Jay handed down his High […]
Posted on: November 1, 2019 by Charlotte Dunn
Earlier this month, the High Court in Manchester wound up two companies which had received just under £1million from investors, between October 2018 and June 2019, as part of a fraudulent art investment scheme. The two companies involved were Gem Tobin Ltd, located in Cheshire, and Dionysus Design Services Ltd, located in York. The court’s […]
Posted on: October 25, 2019 by Charlotte Dunn
This week, the Louvre’s highly anticipated Leonardo da Vinci exhibition, commemorating the 500th anniversary of the artist’s death, opened its doors to the public. However, the process of negotiating the necessary loan agreements with Italy has been complex and controversial. Just days before opening, the loan of one of Da Vinci’s most famous works, the […]
Posted on: October 16, 2019 by Charlotte Dunn
We were delighted to welcome attendees from far and wide to the latest IAL Study Forum, held on the 12th October 2019. Speakers with expertise from across the legal and art spheres, with backgrounds ranging from museum work to auction houses covered a correspondingly broad range of topics. Lisette Aguilar (Keystone Law, former Associate General […]