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 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 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 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 […]
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: […]
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 […]
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 8, 2011

Nazi looted art conference at Lafayette College, October 26-28, 2011: a debriefing (I)

From left to right: Rachel Davidson, Diane Ahl, Radu Pribic Courtesy: Lafayette College It has now been close to two weeks since Lafayette College in quaint […]
November 8, 2011

Nazi looted art conference at Lafayette College, Easton, PA: a debriefing (II)

Day 2: October 27, 2011 Lafayette CollegeSource: Lafayette College via Flickr Lafayette College is a small architectural jewel nestled in a set of rolling hills not […]