Tag Archives: national gallery

Export deferred Portrait of Mai to be co-purchased by NPG and Getty

Posted on: April 3, 2023 by Alexander Herman

An incredible piece of news dropped on the rather inauspicious time of Friday afternoon. This was the announcement of a plan by the National Portrait Gallery in London (NPG) and the Getty Museum in Los Angeles to jointly acquire the famous ‘Portrait of Omai’ by Joshua Reynolds (left), a work that has been export deferred […]

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 […]

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 […]

Film review – The Duke starring Jim Broadbent and Helen Mirren

Posted on: March 10, 2022 by Geoffrey Bennett

The taking of a major artwork from a national gallery would not normally sound like a promising scenario for an entertaining comedy-drama. Its portrayal in the recently released film The Duke is a testament to the highly unusual story that lies behind it and its central character, the improbably named Kempton Bunton. The film tells […]

A tale of two protests: Museum protest then and now

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 […]

Funding of the arts – meeting the sector’s needs in changing times

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 […]

A report from two major Holocaust-Looted Art Events in London

Posted on: September 17, 2019 by Julia Rodrigues Casella Hommes

London played host earlier this month to two fascinating events relating to Holocaust-looted art and restitution. Both events were packed, truly marking the beginning of a new academic year and the return from summer holidays. IAL attended both events and here is our account of the enlightening discussions which took place. At the V&A, on […]

Talk by Alexander Herman on museums, ethics and deaccession

Posted on: March 13, 2019 by Kiri Cragin Folwell

Last week, our Assistant Director Alexander Herman gave a talk at Ryerson University in Toronto, Canada, on the topic of museums, law, ethics, deaccession and restitution. The talk was entitled “Values & Art: Ethics in the Management of Culture” and was part of Ryerson’s Business Ethics speaker series at the Ted Rogers School of Management. […]

Berkshire Museum Deaccession Nears Completion

Posted on: August 30, 2018 by Hélène Deslauriers

After more than a year of press coverage, protests and condemnation of the Berkshire Museum Board of Trustees, the Berkshire Museum’s deaccession of 40 works from its collection is nearing completion. In addition, the Board of Trustees finally came to an agreement with the Attorney-General of Massachusetts. Here are the salient points: The Attorney General is […]

The portrait of Greta Moll, the National Gallery and ‘quintessentially’ British statements

Posted on: January 16, 2018 by Hélène Deslauriers

Oskar and Greta Moll were two German students of Henri Matisse. In 1908, they purchased a portrait of Greta painted by the Master himself (the Portrait). Later, having survived the Second World War but concerned of the impeding partition of Germany, they decided to move to Wales in 1946. In preparation for the move, Greta […]