Posted on: November 24, 2014 by Nina M. Neuhaus
Alea iacta est… The decision in the Causa Gurlitt was highly anticipated. On Saturday, the board of trustees of the Museum of Fine Arts Bern (‘Museum’) decided to accept the bequest of the late Cornelius Gurlitt. This morning, the decision was publicly announced in a joint press meeting by the German government, the State of […]
Posted on: October 16, 2014 by Alexander Herman
In the media furor surrounding this week’s visit to Athens of the London legal team advising the Greek State on the Parthenon Marbles, much has been made of a certain member of the delegation. Amal Clooney (or depending on your preference, Amal Alamuddin) has stated: “Everybody hopes there will be a friendly and amicable solution, but I […]
Posted on: October 14, 2014 by Alexander Herman
Barristers Geoffrey Robertson and Norman Palmer will be advising the Greek government this week in regards to the Parthenon (or Elgin) Marbles. Their visit to Greece has, for one reason or another, already received an inordinate amount of media attention, both in Greece and abroad. Robertson, Palmer and their legal team will be discussing with Greek […]
Posted on: October 1, 2014 by Alexander Herman
A fascinating story on the work of the Max Stern Restitution Project has appeared in the latest issue of The Walrus and is thankfully available online. The Stern Project, run out of Concordia University in Montreal, Canada has the task of reconstituting the art collection of the famed Düsseldorf dealer, Max Stern. Stern, who was Jewish, fled Nazi Germany in 1937 […]
Posted on: August 1, 2014 by Alexander Herman
The human remains of an Aboriginal woman from Tasmania who had lived in the early nineteenth century were returned to Hobart, Tasmania earlier today. The remains had been acquired by the Anatomy Institute in Berlin, Germany in the 1840s and, more recently, resided in the collection of Berlin’s Charité Medical Museum. The Charité Museum, in returning the […]
Posted on: June 16, 2014 by Alexander Herman
Inspired by ‘international law’ and the 1998 Washington Principles, the National Gallery of Victoria (NGV) in Melbourne recently announced that it will be restituting a portrait to the heirs of its original owner, Jewish industrialist Richard Semmel. The portrait, originally thought to be a Van Gogh original, had been part of Semmel’s collection which was dispersed and sold under duress by […]
Posted on: May 2, 2014 by Alexander Herman
The great restitutionist Colin Renfrew, better known perhaps as Lord Renfrew of Kaimsthorn, has recently written a piece in the Art Newspaper on the return of seven of the fifteen pieces of the Sevso Treasure. This story was first commented on in this blog here. Renfrew was careful to explain the tricky situation regarding the ownership of […]
Posted on: April 7, 2014 by Alexander Herman
In recent news regarding the Munich art trove, the Bavarian authorities and the German culture minister have released a statement demonstrating that Cornelius Gurlitt is committed to voluntarily returning any looted art that had been found in his apartment in 2012 to the heirs of the despoiled owners. This forms part of the gradual acceptance […]
Posted on: March 26, 2014 by Nina M. Neuhaus
In early March, the Public Prosecutor of the Canton of Basle-City transferred the last 68 out of a total of 4,536 cultural artefacts to Italy. This concludes long lasting proceedings in international mutual legal assistance in criminal matters. In 2000, the Italian authorities had requested Switzerland’s mutual legal assistance in criminal proceedings against an antiquities […]
Posted on: March 14, 2014 by Alexander Herman
A ceremony took place last Monday to commemorate the most recent restitution of three looted paintings by the French State. The speech accompanying the return by French Minister of Culture Aurélie Filippetti demonstrated a change in approach by the French State regarding looted paintings still held by French Museums. It appears Museums will be required to undertake […]