Category Archives: United Kingdom

‘National Treasure’ comes home: Gweagal spears taken by Cook to return permanently to traditional owners

Posted on: March 19, 2023 by Elizabeth Pearson

The fate of four Aboriginal spears taken by the crew of the HM Bark Endeavour in 1770 now rests with the English Charity Commission, after Trinity College Cambridge decided to seek approval to permanently return the items from its Cook-Sandwich collection to Traditional Owners in Australia. The hunting spear and pronged fishing spears were amongst […]

In an increasingly tech-focussed art world, what does the Online Safety Bill mean for freedom of artistic expression?

Posted on: March 11, 2023 by Hugh Johnson-Gilbert

As the controversial Online Safety Bill (“OSB”) makes its way through the House of Lords, we consider what implications it might pose for the online art world. Introduced in March 2022, the stated purpose of the OSB is to ‘make the UK the safest place in the world to be online while defending free expression’. […]

A room with a view… The Tate Modern’s viewing platform

Posted on: February 27, 2023 by Rebecca Hawkes-Reynolds

The Supreme Court stunned all those who have been following the plight of the residents of Neo Bankside. The long-winded legal dispute (Fearn and others (Appellants) v Board of Trustees of the Tate Gallery (Respondent) [2023] UKSC 4) started when the Tate Modern inaugurated its viewing platform on the Blavatnik Building in 2016 and it […]

NFTs in the spotlight again – this time from a UK Parliamentary Committee

Posted on: January 30, 2023 by Emily Gould

“A year of great change” was how IAL Director, Alexander Herman, described 2022 in the IAL blog’s customary review of the year. Change has certainly been no stranger to those invested in NFTs and other crypto markets over the past year or so, with prices fluctuating wildly and markets extremely volatile. The soaring prices of […]

High Court dismisses claim over sale of Chardin painting

Posted on: December 13, 2022 by Michael Bowmer

The High Court has dismissed a multi-million pound negligence claim [Feilding & Anor. v. Simon C. Dickinson Limited [2022] EWHC 3091 (Ch)] brought by the Countess of Wemyss and her co-trustee against an art dealer over the sale of the painting “Le Bénédicité” by Jean-Baptiste-Siméon Chardin. The painting had been acquired by the Countess’s ancestors in […]

Shedding light on an opaque market: The latest anti-money laundering guidance for the UK art market

Posted on: December 8, 2022 by Julia Rodrigues Casella Hommes

The latest guidance on the anti-money laundering (AML) regulations as they pertain to the UK art market has finally brought about some much-needed clarification on some aspects of the regulations that had remained up until now somewhat difficult to comprehend and, more importantly, apply to day to day business. There are many aspects of the […]

Latest issue of our journal Art Antiquity and Law available now

Posted on: November 26, 2022 by Ruth Redmond-Cooper

The latest issue of Art Antiquity and Law has now been published and hard copies are being sent to subscribers and members, with the digital version available online to subscribers who have chosen this option. This issue contains a thought-provoking piece by Alexander Herman in which he points out that the recent Charities Act 2022 […]

What next for London’s embattled Holocaust memorial?

Posted on: November 12, 2022 by Hugh Johnson-Gilbert

In January 2016, the then Prime Minister, David Cameron, announced that a national memorial to the Holocaust would be built in Victoria Tower Gardens (“the Gardens”), next to the Palace of Westminster. Mr Cameron committed to building “a striking national memorial… to show the importance Britain places on preserving the memory of the Holocaust”. The winning […]

Attacks on art and the law’s response: what fate awaits the Van Gogh soup throwers?

Posted on: October 17, 2022 by Emily Gould

Protests involving works of art and cultural property are nothing new. From the slashing of the Rokeby Venus in the National Gallery in 1914 to the defacing of a Rothko mural at Tate Modern almost a century later, those seeking to draw attention to a cause have long recognised the publicity value of attacks on […]

Arts Council England releases new guidance for museums on restitution and repatriation

Posted on: August 5, 2022 by Alexander Herman and Emily Gould

Today, Arts Council England released its guidance on restitution and repatriation for English museums. Restitution and Repatriation: A Practical Guide for Museums in England offers guidelines, best practice and case studies for the museum sector, helping institutions act appropriately and considerately in the context of claims for the return of collection objects. It replaces previous […]