Posted on: October 28, 2021 by Emilie Huisman-van Essen
The Amsterdam Court of Appeal delivered its final decision this week in the much-debated case about the golden treasures that have been in the possession of the Allard Pierson Museum (left) in the Netherlands since 2014. Both the lending Crimean Museums and the Ukrainian State have been demanding the return of the objects following the […]
Posted on: March 16, 2021 by Emily Gould
Updated 6th April 2021 following costs ruling in favour of Hashava Foundation* Readers may recall the report by Meir Heller and Keren Abelow published earlier this year about the proposed sale of important artefacts from Jerusalem’s L.A. Mayer Museum of Islamic Art. We are very pleased to report that a resolution has been reached in […]
Posted on: January 24, 2021 by Meir Heller and Keren Abelow
“Hearing this case will open Pandora’s box.” So stated Justice Anat Baron of the Israeli High Court of Justice, on November 18, 2020 delivering a ruling temporarily postponing the sale of 258 lots from Jerusalem’s L.A. Mayer Museum of Islamic Art at Sotheby’s London auction house. The case, which has drawn public ire and the […]
Posted on: January 20, 2021 by Emily Gould
It has been a worrying and torrid time for many businesses over the past twelve months, not least those in the arts sector. Cancelled exhibitions, revenue loss, closed doors, and staff cuts have become an all too familiar story for many museums and galleries, forced to suspend business-as -usual in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. […]
Posted on: November 9, 2020 by Alexander Herman
Emery Mwazulu Diyabanza (left) is a man on a mission. A prolific protestor at museums in France and the Netherlands, he targets objects on display that originate from Africa, lifts them from their stands and parades them around the galleries while making pronouncements on the crimes of European colonialism. ‘Je part avec à la maison,’ he […]
Posted on: October 26, 2020 by Stephanie Drawdy
The Cassirer heirs recently received another negative ruling in their lawsuit to recover a Nazi-looted painting by French Impressionist Camille Pissarro, but this case has not yet ended. The heirs indicated their intent to request a rehearing of the Ninth Circuit’s holding that, under Spanish law, title to the Pissarro is rightly held by the […]
Posted on: October 1, 2020 by Alexander Herman
This comment first appeared on The Art Newspaper website on 25 September 2020. It has been reproduced with the editorial staff’s kind permission. Is the Royal Academy of Arts (RA) going to sell its Michelangelo? It seems a preposterous proposition, but these are rather preposterous times. The idea, apparently floated by a handful of Royal […]
Posted on: July 6, 2020 by Charlotte Dunn
The UK culture sector woke up to some good news today, with a Government announcement of a ‘world-leading’ £1.57 billion rescue package, set to benefit thousands of organisations suffering the financial impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. The funding of arts organisations has never been more relevant. With world-famous cultural institutions, such as Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre, warning […]
Posted on: July 1, 2020 by Stephanie Drawdy
The full story of the billion-dollar art collection gathered by Nazi art dealer Hildebrand Gurlitt during World War II may never be told. After years spent trying to determine the collection’s history, the prior owners of a large majority of those works remain unknown. This is a story we have followed with interest throughout its […]
Posted on: June 18, 2020 by Alexander Herman
Amidst the sad turmoil (for some) and the uncertainty (for all) brought on by the pandemic and the resultant lockdown, it is perhaps more forgivable than usual to miss an important anniversary. I am referring here to the fact that 2020 marks 50 years since the adoption of the Convention on the Means of Prohibiting […]