Posted on: November 13, 2017 by Hélène Deslauriers
The Sotheby’s sale of the Berkshire Museum’s artworks, scheduled for the 13th of November, has now been put on hold following the Massachusetts Appeal Court’s decision reversing the previous judgment by the Superior Court, which had cleared the way for the sale. On Friday the 10th of November, the Court of Appeals granted the Attorney […]
Posted on: November 9, 2017 by Hélène Deslauriers
Judge John J. Agostini of the Pittsfield Superior Court gave his decision on Tuesday in the widely publicised deaccession case brought by the sons of Rockwell and others against the Berkshire Museum. As a brief reminder, the Berkshire Museum’s financial situation had been bleak for many years and wealthy donors had all but disappeared. The […]
Posted on: November 3, 2017 by Hélène Deslauriers
On 1st November, Judge John Agostini, presiding over the Pittsfield Court remarked that people “don’t often see a large crowd here,” but a large crowd had indeed gathered that day. As previously discussed, the case before him involved two separate hearings for preliminary restraining orders against the Berkshire Museum and its Trustees to stop the sale of a […]
Posted on: October 11, 2017 by Hélène Deslauriers
A storm has been brewing since the summer in the quiet town of Pittsfield, Massachusetts. The town’s Berkshire Museum announced in July that it intended to put up 40 works of art for sale at Sotheby’s over a period ranging from November 2017 to March 2018. The Museum justified its decision by its dire financial […]
Posted on: November 25, 2016 by Alexander Herman
We are very happy to be delivering a tailored in-house training at the V&A Museum in London next week. The two-day course, open to V&A personnel only, will include instruction on museum ethics, property acquisition, conflict of laws in the cultural sector, immunity from seizure and the law of gift, bailment and loan. We look […]
Posted on: October 25, 2016 by Alexander Herman
Last week saw the completion of another intake of our Diploma in Law and Collections Management course, which ran from 17 to 21 October. The course, which is geared towards professionals in the museum and gallery sector, covered areas as wide ranging as restitution, cultural heritage laws, mediation, treasure, insurance, copyright and bailment. Guest speakers included Tony […]
Posted on: March 1, 2016 by Ruth Redmond-Cooper
We are proud to announce that the Diploma in Intellectual Property and Collections course (DipIPC) will run again this year from 13-15 June 2016 in London. The course covers everything from copyright and its enforcement to morals rights and IP management for museums. The course is open to all museum and art world professionals, requiring no […]
Posted on: January 12, 2016 by Alexander Herman
As of last month, the UK has brought into force the necessary regulations to implement the 2014/60 EU Directive on the return of cultural objects unlawfully removed from the territory of a Member State. In fact, the deadline for all EU Member States to bring about this change in their national law was 18 December 2015. […]
Posted on: October 28, 2015 by Alexander Herman
It has been reported by the BBC that the export application submitted by the new owner of a £35 million Rembrandt (covered here) has now been withdrawn. The work will therefore remain in the UK and will potentially be loaned by the owner to a museum or gallery in this country. One wonders if the next step […]
Posted on: October 27, 2015 by Alexander Herman
This is a short update on our piece from this summer about the export ban placed on the £15 million Sekhemka statue. While it may have seemed doubtful that a UK entity would be willing (or, more importantly, able) to buy the statue and keep it in the country, there does now appear to be interest in doing so. […]