War & Conflict

Museumsarchive

Berlin’s museums are still suffering from the effects of World War II and forty years of Communism

British architect David Chipperfield has pacified both conservatives and progressives with his masterplan for the Museum Island which links the museums by underground tunnels

MoMA reached settlement agreement with Malevich heirs

The works in question were smuggled out of Germany during the Nazi regime for safe-keeping

Historyarchive

Letter discovery suggests inter-war bell rivalry

The letter was written by Giacomo Boni and dates from 1925

Photojournalists and the Balkan War

Magnum photographers are among those making the images by which this tragedy will be remembered—but which may also eventually fuel the art market

Museumsarchive

Russian cultural institutions suffer collateral damage from the war in the Balkans

The director of the Hermitage, Mikhail Piotrovsky, outlines the possible implications for his museum of the NATO campaign

Lootingarchive

Growing unease over looted Lubomirski Dürers

A sheet of paper found in a second-hand book by The Art Newspaper details valuations of the drawings when sold by Colnaghi

Unescoarchive

New UNESCO protocol states attacks on cultural property during wartime will be criminalised

A new protocol allows for prosecution of organisations and individuals, putting pressure on art market professionals

Looted artarchive

The National Gallery investigates wartime provenance of 120 paintings

The London gallery aims to ensure that they are not war loot and appeals for assistance in checking their recent histories

Picasso's reaction to the Second World War

“Picasso and the War Years 1937-45”, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, 5 February-9 May

War-torn Picasso

At the liberation of Paris, Picasso declared, “I am not the kind of painter who goes out like a photographer for something to depict. But I have no doubt that the war is in these paintings.” This exhibition sifts the evidence

Nazi lootarchive

Goodman restitution case settled out of court

Disputed Degas to go to the Art Institute of Chicago

Nazi lootarchive

The Lviv Dürer story continues: Hitler’s shadow over the British Museum

Restitution claims for the Lubomirski and Ossolinski collections are complicated by the history of Lviv’s occupiers

Archaeologists move into war zone on Adriatic coast

The area, unfortunately located close to the conflict in Kosovo province, is largely unexplored

Nazi lootarchive

The Association of Art Museum Directors promises to search collections for Nazi loot

Critics pointed out that the AAMD has no enforcement provision for members who violate its guidelines, not even its own mediation process

Nazi lootarchive

War loot found in a rug dealer’s shop in Boston

Veteran’s reluctant admission of taking plunder clinches case

The life of Goro Sakamoto part IV

The distinguished antique dealer recounts how he became a black marketeer

Nazi lootarchive

Search continues for missing Raphael painting

Stolen in 1945 from a Polish prince’s museum, it is now thought to be in Bavaria

Dresden recovers four missing pictures

The paintings have been missing since 1945

Requiem for photojournalism: New publications and exhibitions

“Today the photo magazines have all folded or been turned into vehicles for lifestyles and personality portraits”

Nazi lootarchive

US Customs seize a painting from a looted collection

The collection was stolen during Nazi occupation of France

Booksarchive

Books: The “Spoils of War” 1995 conference papers

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

An interim report comes from "Spoils of War" symposium

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

Weimar gets a painting back as Sotheby’s returns stolen Tischbein portrait

“A very happy occasion” as painting looted by American soldiers returns home

Russiaarchive

Russian Parliament nationalises art taken from Germany

But negotiations continue between Chancellor Kohl and President Yeltsin

Afghanistan’s historical sites devastated: An up-to-date survey

Looting, conflict and mining have caused terrible destruction

Ronald Lauder gives looted shield back to Italy

Artifact had been missing from Bologna since 1940

A symbol of the city rises from the rubble as Dresden's Frauenkirche is reconstructed

The crypt of the baroque Frauenkirche was reopened last month, with an altar by Anish Kapoor