November 2, 2011

Confessions of an art looting “expert” (II)

Here’s a question: How did I get here? Well, I will do my best to answer this impudent query of mine. Main Gate at BirkenauSource: Wikipedia My […]
November 2, 2011

Confessions of an art looting “expert” (I)

I must apologize for not having contributed anything to this blog in over two months. The reason is simple: a generic failure to think that there […]
September 2, 2011

Seeking guidance from INTERPOL

The words vary but their meaning does not. Plunder, looting, theft, spoliation, misappropriation, pillage—call it what you wish, it all comes down to the same thing: […]
August 30, 2011

Teaching provenance research at the Free University of Berlin

Free University, BerlinSource: Wikipedia Last April, the Free University of Berlin announced that it had initiated the first academic program in Germany on cultural plunder. Classes […]
August 24, 2011

An imaginary conversation about Grosz v. MOMA

“Max Hermann-Neisse” All rights reserved, Estate of George Grosz,  licensed by VAGA, New York;  Image courtesy of Museum of Modern Art In the August 24, 2011, […]
August 21, 2011

Jacopo Zucchi, “The Bath of Bathsheba”: or how pieces of a story build a new story about the same story ex post facto

“The Bath of Bethsheba”, Jacopo ZuchhiSource: Lib-Art In late July 1998, a painting by Jacopo Zucchi, “The Bath of Bathsheba”, returned to its rightful owner, the […]
August 21, 2011

Custodian of plundered Jewish collections: the Landesmuseum in Mainz, Germany

Landesmuseum, MainzSource: Wikipedia Like many museums in Germany, the Landesmuseum in Mainz holds in its collection hundreds of items that once belonged to German-born and foreign-born […]
August 15, 2011

“Le déjeûner sur l’herbe” by Claude Monet almost plundered?

Claude Monet, the icon of French Impressionism, slaved for over a year painting a picnic on the grass with well-dressed men and women, all friends of […]
August 15, 2011

“Les Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berri”—still missing?

The basic facts: When the Nazis steal everything there is to steal from the dozen or so members of the French branch of the Rothschild family […]