Jewish Heritage

Much piety and hot air at Washington Conference on Holocaust Era Assets

No binding agreements were reached and little effect on restitution is expected

Austria makes legal amends by passing a bill ensuring restitution

Works acquired in a “suspicious manner” will begin to be returned at once

Jewish family loses out to Louvre over WWII spoliation case

After an emergency ruling, the Louvre retains five Italian paintings that were salvaged after the war and the aggrieved Gentili family must now await appeal. Meanwhile, the Musée national d’art moderne has approved the return of more works

Provenancearchive

Probing provenance: The importance of due diligence and insurance for defective title

The recent, widely publicised dispute over the provenance of two paintings by Egon Schiele, withdrawn last year from a loan exhibition at New York’s Museum of Modern Art on the grounds of contested ownership, offered a vivid illustration of the problems facing museums and private collectors who may find themselves having to prove good title to their possessions

An interim report comes from "Spoils of War" symposium

A survey touching all the bases: losses, recoveries, legal debates, cultural restitution

Art marketarchive

Phillips moves into Judaica sales in New York

A difficult market now centred on Israel and Amsterdam

Christie’s takes on sale of Jewish loot

900 works of art looted from Vienna’s Jewish community and stored in a monastery since 1955 to be sold on its behalf - It may be a PR nightmare for the auctioneers