Discovered at the Arkell Museum in Canajoharie, a Nazi looted painting has finally been returned to its rightful heirs after almost 90 years. This recent recovery is part of an international effort involving the FBI to restitute more than 1,000 artworks and artefacts seized in 1933 from the Mosse family, who were prominent Jewish residents of Berlin.
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The German government has announced a €3.4 million (£2.95 million) national fund to subsidise provenance research into privately-owned artworks, which may have been looted during World War II. The decision marks a departure from previous arrangements, which were used to fund research into works held by German museums and libraries. It was prompted by the 2013 discovery of the Gurlitt art trove of which five works have been identified as looted or sold under duress. A further 153 works in the hoard are suspected of being stolen. Continue reading
Archaeologists have reported that antiquities illegally excavated in Libya are turning up for sale in the showrooms of London, Paris and Bern.
According to a senior Libyan archaeologist, the country is struggling to control a spate of ‘random digging’ at ancient sites including the Greek and Roman city of Cyrene. Ramadan Shebani told The Art Newspaper that looters are exploiting the political vacuum created by the overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi in 2011 to engage in illegal excavations. Continue reading
New York’s Neue Galerie announced on Tuesday (27 September) that it had returned a painting looted by the Nazis to its rightful owners before purchasing it back from them at its current fair market value.
The Museum agreed to return Karl Schmidt-Rottluff’s ‘Nude’ (1914) to the heirs of a Jewish shoe manufacturer and Expressionist art collector after they approached the Museum a little over a year ago with a potential restitution claim. The repurchase price has not been revealed but other works by Schmidt-Rottluff’s have commanded over US$1million (approximately £768,357) in recent times. Continue reading
“Disingenuous” and “depressing” is how art law experts are describing the response of Bavarian authorities to the latest art restitution claim by the heirs of a Jewish family who fled Nazi persecution during World War II.
The experts, which include art lawyers Christopher Marinello of the Art Recovery Group in London and Nicholas O’Donnell, shared their frustrations over the official response to the claim with artnet News. Continue reading
Last week the US Senate voted unanimously to ban the import of nearly all ancient art and artefacts from Syria. The Protect and Preserve International Cultural Property Act has now passed onto President Obama to be signed into law. Continue reading
Innovative legal measures to secure the fate of artworks and artefacts in the Middle East were announced by French President Francois Hollande on Tuesday (17th November), Le Point magazine reports.
Speaking at the 70th General Conference of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in Paris, President Hollande unveiled plans to crack down on illicit trafficking by ISIS. Continue reading
Following the alleged discovery of a Nazi treasure train in August, Poland has made headlines once again with claims that a Renaissance masterpiece was looted from Krakow during the 1939 occupation. Continue reading
Two men have claimed that they have discovered a Nazi-era train packed with gold, diamonds, and other gems in Poland.
The Walbrzych district council received a letter from a law firm in Wroclaw informing them that a Polish and a German man had found the treasure train that has become the stuff of local legend. They say they believe it had departed in 1944 to Walbrzych, but never arrived. Continue reading
Coins, jewellery, mosaics, glassware, vases, figurines and other artefacts are reportedly being excavated and smuggled out of Iraq and Syria on an ‘industrial’ scale, to be sold online or in Western dealerships. Continue reading
