Restitution

Lawnews

Claim on Guelph Treasure can go to trial in US federal court

Lawyers for the Prussian Cultural Foundation argued that it was not “genocide” when the objects were sold in 1935

Returning looted African art is as urgent as giving back works stolen by the Nazis

Congolese-born art collector Sindika Dokolo says this "long-neglected historical wrong" is finally being addressed—but more can be done

Ethiopia claims Ten Commandments tablet hidden in Westminster Abbey

Sacred object taken by British troops in the 19th century is concealed inside an altar

Lawnews

Art dealer sues Poland over its failed efforts to extradite him from the US

After offering to return a work looted by the Nazis in exchange for his family’s former real estate, Khochinsky was placed under house arrest in New York and faced a 10-year prison sentence in Poland

Contested Asante trophy head to shine in new Wallace room

Seized during the Ashanti war and long held by the London museum, the prized Ghanaian work is to be displayed in a new permanent gallery

Lawnews

Getty says it will appeal Italian court order to return Victorious Youth

An Italian judge has found that the work was discovered in Italian water, despite decades of rulings to the contrary

Lawnews

New York judge orders two Schiele works sent to Christie’s, where they could be auctioned

But the watercolours are currently at the centre of a closely watched restitution lawsuit

Collector appeals for return of Pissarro painting restituted through a 1945 order made by the Allies in France

"This may raise many important Holocaust issues for the French market," Christie’s says

Angola recovers six artefacts looted from museum during civil war

Dundo Museum's lost objects were traced by the Sindika Dokolo Foundation

UK permits Nazi-looted Meissen figure to leave for Japan despite spoliation claim

There appear to be no winners in what the Arts Council refers to as an “extremely unusual” case

Berlin’s Ethnological Museum returns Alaskan grave artefacts looted by explorer

The objects “do not belong in our museums”, says the president of the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation

Germany presents code of conduct on handling colonial-era artefacts

Culture Minister says colonial past has been a blind spot for too long

Damning report says France must catch up, fast, in return of Nazi-era loot

Heritage expert calls for new government taskforce to guide provenance research and even rule on restitution cases

German researchers trace Jewish newspaper mogul’s vast Nazi-looted art collection

The Mosse Art Research Project, a cooperation with the German government, identifies eight works and launches online database

Canadians withdraw from Düsseldorf show about Jewish dealer Max Stern

Max Stern Foundation seeks reimbursement of costs from the German city

Ethiopia toughens position on Maqdala treasures calling for full restitution

Ethiopian ambassador Hailemichael Afework Aberra told The Art Newspaper podcast his government wants the seized artefacts returned, not given back on long-term loan as proposed by the V&A

Podcastspodcast

Podcast episode 28: the battle over Ethiopia's treasures

Martin Bailey speaks to Hailemichael Aberra Afework, Ethiopia’s ambassador to the UK, about the artefacts seized by the British army at Maqdala, go behind the scenes of the Sony World Photography Awards with judge Gareth Harris and ask Richard Parry about his plans for Glasgow International

Bronze looted from Summer Palace sells for £410,000 despite protest from China

Chinese authorities tried to stop the UK auction of the Tiger Ying vessel, which was taken by a British soldier in 1860

London dealer ordered to return Egon Schiele works worth $5m to heirs of Holocaust victims

The heirs' attorney describes ruling as step closer to recovering "largest mass-theft in history," but Richard Nagy plans to appeal

V&A opens dialogue on looted Ethiopian treasures

Director pledges rethink on objects seized by British troops in 19th-century Africa

Two steps forward, one step back for Holocaust restitution

In a recent decision regarding Picasso’s Actor, the courts need to catch up with US government policy on Nazi-looted art

Nazi policies forced Jewish collectors like Paul Leffmann to sell their art, whatever the price

Restitution experts say New York law recognises third party duress, so why did a recent court decision on Picasso’s Actor not recognise this?

Holocaust survivor’s family seeks painting in Ukrainian museum

Meanwhile, much of the country’s art is stuck in limbo and its own efforts to recover cultural property have stalled

Lawnews

Rhode Island School of Design denies claim on Picasso by Alphonse Kann heirs

Provenance research commissioned by the university has found that-while the work was once owned by the legendary collector-it was not looted by the Nazis

The restitution revolution begins

President Macron is ushering in a new era for the return of displaced heritage

Berlin Museums chief calls for rules on restitution of colonial artefacts

Hermann Parzinger has global support for the equivalent of Washington Principles on Nazi-confiscated art for objects from former colonies

Lawnews

Picasso’s Actor will remain in the Met’s collection, New York Judge rules

The court dismissed a claim on the painting by the heir of the Jewish collector who sold it to fund an escape from the Nazis

Louvre shines a light on Nazi loot

Museum hopes to find rightful heirs through display of spoliated works

Ethicsnews

Should museums display human remains from other cultures?

Vienna’s Weltmuseum criticised for displaying a trophy head