A petition for writ of certiorari has been filed asking the U.S. Supreme Court to review a ruling dismissing a case against New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art for the return of a Pablo Picasso masterwork, “The Actor,” created around 1904-05.

Jewish refugee Paul Leffmann sold the painting under duress in 1938, because of Nazi and Fascist persecution, when he and his wife Alice, having already escaped Germany, sought to flee a fast-Nazifying Italy. The purchasers were art dealer Hugo Perls and Pablo Picasso’s own dealer Paul Rosenberg, a French art dealer who represented Picasso, Georges Braque and Henri Matisse.

Not satisfied with an appellate court decision affirming the dismissal of the family’s claim to the painting as having been filed too late, Laurel Zuckerman, Paul Leffmann's great grand-niece, through her attorneys, has petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to hear her case.  The Supreme Court grants around 100 of the 7,000+ petitions it gets each year, focusing on cases of national significance,or  those which might harmonize conflicting decisions in the federal Circuit courts. 

According to Zuckerman’s petition, her case raises an issue of nationwide importance concerning the HEAR Act: whether, “despite the introduction of a nationwide statute of limitations designed to revive Holocaust-era restitution claims,” the Act still allows the laws of each of the 50 states to declare a claim untimely, and to thereby put up additional roadblocks to the very Holocaust era claims Congress encouraged under the HEAR Act. 

Zuckerman, representing the estate of Alice Leffmann, had sued the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 2016, asserting in court papers that the museum does not hold good title to the painting because the businessman was forced to sell this artwork at a low price, under pressure, in order to finance their flight from Italy given the actions of the Nazi-allied Mussolini-led government and anti-jewish climate at the time in Western Europe.  The Nazis had already stripped the Leffmans of their home and business. Having lost in the district court, the case was then brought up on appeal to the Second Circuit Court of Appeals in New York.

The appellate court agreed that the case was properly dismissed. 

The appellate court's ruling noted that the federal Holocaust Expropriated Art Recovery Act of 2016 (known as the HEAR Act), designed to help facilitate the recovery of art and other prized possessions unlawfully lost because of Nazi persecution, needs to provide “some measure of justice, even if incomplete,” to the victims of Nazi persecution and their heirs.  However, the court sided with the New York museum stating that it would be unfair for the Metropolitan to relinquish the Picasso, given the "unreasonable" delay in demanding its return.  The appellate court noted: "This is not a case where the identity of the buyer was unknown to the seller or the lost property was difficult to locate." 

The cert petition to the U.S. Supreme Court raises two challenges to the appellate court ruling. First, “whether the nonstatutory defense of laches may bar an action to recover artwork lost because of Nazi persecution, where that action has been brought within the statute of limitations prescribed by Congress” in the HEAR Act. And second, whether a case can be dismissed so early without a factual exploration of the laches defense urging undue delay raised by the Museum. 

Zuckerman is represented by Mary- Christine SUNGAILA, Will Feldman, and Marco Pulido at Haynes and Boone, LLP, in the case before the Supreme Court.  Zuckerman was represented in the trial court and continues to be represented on appeal by Lawrence Kaye, Howard Spiegler, Ross Hirsch, and Yael Weitz of Herrick, Feinstein LLP.

The National Museum of History (NIM) has received a prosecutorial decree and a letter from the Ministry of Culture to seize and accept the art and antiquities collection of Bulgarian gaming czar Vasil Bozhkov.  This court order, along with seizure orders pertaining to his business assets, accompanies charges stemming from an investigation into allegations of serious financial violations within the gambling industry.  Filed on 29 January 2020 by the country's Prosecutor General, Ivan Geshev, the post-communist era mogul has been indicted in absentia for a series of offenses ranging from leading an organized crime group, incitement to commit criminal offenses, extortion, coercion, blackmail, and attempted bribery of an official. 

Believed to be the country’s richest man, Bozhkov has been referred to as Bulgaria's most infamous gangster, and as being reportedly active in money laundering, privatization fraud, intimidation, extortion, racketeering, and illegal antiqueè [sic] dealing as attested in a diplomatic cable of the US Embassy in Sofia, as far back as 11 September 2009 and released publically via WikiLeaks.  As owner of the country's biggest lottery,  Bozhkov has often been linked in the Bulgarian press to the Bulgarian mafia, but up until now, he has never been convicted of any crime. 

Bozhkov's ancient art collection consists of more than 3,000 antiquities and dates from 4,000 BCE though the 6th century CE.  With questionable provenance and transparency in their acquisition, the assembled objects, some of which can be viewed in the film below, include ancient treasures left by the Greeks, Macedonians, Romans, Byzantines, Bulgars, and Thracians, one of the most powerful Indo-European tribes of the ancient world, and one who played an important, creative, and key role in the shaping of European civilization as a whole and Bulgaria's culture in particular. 

Bozhkov also founded the Thrace Foundation in 2004, perhaps to lend credibility to his seemingly controversial collection and began holding exhibitions at various locations throughout Europe thereafter.  Marking Bulgaria's entry to the EU in 2007, his Brussels exhibition, "The Grandeur of Bulgaria" was abruptly terminated at the European Parliament following outraged complaints about the collections origins. One of the most vocal critics was Vassil Nikolov, then director of the National Archaeological Institute with Museum at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences and president of the state committee responsible archaeological surveys throughout the country. He signaled out the Bozhkov exhibition as "the fruit of grave-robbing." 

Private collections such as this one in Bulgaria, are often deemed unacceptable, given they are established without concerns for the the provenance of the objects  accumulated and against the backdrop of rampant treasure hunting which is actively eviscerating Bulgaria’s tremendous historical and cultural heritage.

Trying to get ahead of this week's growing scandal, the Thrace Foundation issued an interesting one page press release while their founder remained missing.  Via email, the press release, sent to ARCA and others in the heritage protection community, stated that the authorities had stormed into the laboratory and museum of Thrace Foundation. Their press release read in part:

The Prosecutor’s Office has denied the accusations that Bozhkov’s collection was being mishandled, with the National Museum of History (NIM) reporting that nine museum staff members are involved in the process of packing and transporting the items.

Charged in absentia, Bozhkov's current whereabouts were unknown at the time of this articles writing.  The last flight of his private jet was from Sofia to Dubai.

UPDATE 2 February 2020: Bulgarian Prosecutor General Ivan Geshev, confirms that Vasil Bozhkov, who is the subject of a European arrest warrant, has been detained in the United Arab Emirates.  Bulgaria will now prepare a formal extradition request for his return to Bulgaria to face charges, but given that the U.A.E. and Bulgaria do not have a bilateral extradition agreement, the wait for his return, may stretch indefinitely.

With at least nine people wanted by the Italian judiciary in the UAE, on charges including mafia association, money laundering, drug trafficking, and tax fraud,  the country has become a well-known refuge and money laundering paradise for criminals with big bucks.  Avoiding extradition when its own bilateral agreement was not signed, Raffaele Imperiale, who hid two stolen Van Gogh paintings in one of his family's homes, has avoided his own convictions in absentia for more than ten years.  

Imperiale supplied weapons for a clan feud in the drug ravaged Scampia neighborhood of Naples, working within the drug trade with criminal Rick van der Bunt, who was liquidated in Spain in 2008. Imperiale has been spotted at the seven-star Burj al Arab hotel in Dubai with others who are believed to control the European cocaine trade.

By:  Lynda Albertson

A large number of authorized bronze sculptures, created with the permission of the Spanish Surrealist artist Salvador Dalí, were stolen in the early morning hours of 30 January 2020 from the Galleri Couleur in Stockholm.  In a smash and grab theft at approximately 4 am that also damaged additional pieces left behind, the thieves are believed to have made off with ten works of art at the gallery.  Peder Enström, the owner of the Galleri Couleur, has given an estimate that the stolen sculptures are worth between 200,000 and 500,000 Swedish Krona each, though next to nothing on the legit market, given they no longer have their accompanying paperwork and are easily identifiable. 

While Dalí­ was alive, he sometimes made maquettes of his creations, using hollow wax forms and sold the rights to their use these for recasting his work as authorized sculptures. 

These sculptures have a specific serial number and are accompanied by a certificate that certifies that the sculpture is an authorized Dalí­ multiple, with the number of copies made in the series a critical determinant in the object's pricing.  The rarer the piece, or works documented as being cast during Dali’s lifetime (i.e. before 1989) bring a higher price when sold. 

The sculptures stolen this week are multiples that the sculpture Salvador Dalí sold limited rights to via Baniamino Levi.  Their agreement allowed for the production of a limited series at the Perseo Foundry, in Mendrisio Switzerland.  That said the proliferation of the artist's multiple, and their brisk sales are not without controversy.  In any case, if the price seems too good to be true, and the sculpture has no paperwork, buyer beware. 

Begun in 1956, BRAFA, the eight day Brussels Antiques & Fine Arts fair (Salone dell'Antiquariato e dell'Arte di Bruxelles) is Europe's most unashamedly eclectic art fair, covering artworks from antiquity to even a charity auction of five original segments of the Berlin Wall.  Kicking off Europe's annual art market sales, the event takes place inside the former Entrepôt Royale at the Thurn & Taxis railway depot which overlooks the industrial canal that links Brussels to the North Sea.  There it gathers together some 50 Belgian and 83 international galleries, showcasing more art than one can find in some fine museums around the globe, and attracting everyone from the curators of important museums to wealthy millionaires.

That said, despite the champagne, candelabras and exclusivity, the 65th edition has got off to a bumpy start.  Despite what some feel is a sufficiently strict vetting process, which is said to examine each work prior to the fair’s opening, relying on a panel of 100 independent experts, checks by the Art Loss Register, and a scientific laboratory specialising in the analysis of art objects, a number of artworks have raised concerns in the days leading up to the fair's opening.

A joint inspection operation, carried out by the Belgian Federal Public Service Economy ( French: SPF Économie, Dutch: FOD Economie), conducting routine controls to make sure that exhibitors fully respect all regulations according to the import, export and transit of goods revealed some objects of concern.  The inspectors attention is reported to have been focused on merchandise, intended for sale directly, or under consignment by various dealers listed in the Belgian news journal L'Echo.  

Following their preliminary inspection, authorities moved forward with what is known as a precautionary seizure, or the freezing of a traceable asset, for a total of thirty ancient artifacts and tribal art objects, on the basis that the objects were either of suspect authenticity or may be proven to have issues of concern regarding their provenance.

Speaking to journalists with the Belgian business newspaper, L'Echo, the deputy spokesperson of the FPS, Étienne Mignolet, confirmed that on January 27, the FPS Economy (Directorate General of Economic Inspection) carried out a routine check of some of the dealers participating at the BRAFA fair.  Mignolet, stated:

"This fair being the most important event in Belgium on the art market, with the most expensive pieces, it is normal that the Economic Inspection is interested. It was a routine check. The objective of this operation was to ensure compliance by exhibitors with legislation related to economic law, in particular the Code of Economic Law and the law of 11 September 1962 on the import, export and transit of goods."  

That review, in turn, resulted in the precautionary seizure of some works of art.  

"due to a suspect authenticity or provenance".

In addition to the seizures, two merchants, from France and Mali, were taken into custody.   

Youtube Screen Capture:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XObAk1kDVp4

Other dealers exhibiting at BRAFA in previous years have undergone probes into allegations of art trafficking from current war zones.  In 2018 Jaume Bagot Peix, once hailed as the "child prodigy of ancient arts" and a regular dealer at BRAFA through his business J. Bagot Arqueología Ancient Art, was arrested by Spanish authorities on suspicion of jihadi terrorist financing through the sale of illicit antiquities, some of which he displayed at the Brussels-based fair.   Earlier, in 2016, the Wall Street Journal reported that Belgian customs authorities seized objects sent to Belgium for the BRAFA fair by Phoenix Ancient Art SA, cofounded by Hicham  and Ali Aboutaam.  The objects were two 4500-year-old bas-reliefs from Syria. Both cases are ongoing.

While it has been noted in the press by BRAFA administration that these types of controls are commonplace prior to the Fair,  the art fair organizers fully support the general goal of transparency and due diligence within the art art market and fully cooperates with the authorities in the common interest of insuring the best practices within legal art market.

Update 29 January 2020/18:50:  ARCA has received a Press Release from the BRAFA fair administration.  This document (in French) can be downloaded here and is translated into English below.  This release seems to indicate that several of the dealers mentioned in the L'Echo and other Belgian news article were not subject to seizures.   Please see that BRAFA press release in its entirety below.

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PRESS RELEASE - 29.01.2020
Official correction to the article published in L’Echo and relayed by other Belgian media this Wednesday 29 January 2020.
BRAFA confirms that a routine check was carried out by the SPF Economy this Monday, January 27 in the morning.
This is a usual procedure which, moreover, takes place regularly at the various trade fairs in Belgium and abroad. BRAFA has always collaborated with the various administrative services and maintains a completely transparent relationship with them.
Certain pieces were in fact the subject of a simple conservatory seizure pending further information.
It is important to note that none of the items seized were on display on the BRAFA. Following the internal appraisal procedure, these objects were stored in a reserve closed to the public and exhibitors throughout the duration of the show. This procedure for admitting objects is in force at all international fairs and is based both on an examination of authenticity and on the guarantee of its provenance, but also on its intrinsic artistic quality.
BRAFA deplores the publication of names of galleries which are not involved in the current checks (Aaron, Desmet, Cybèle, De Jonckheere), as well as the use of illustrations from other galleries completely foreign to the subject of the article. BRAFA regrets the negative image and the confusion that can arise from the publication of erroneous information, being normal and routine procedures, which has been going on for many years.
BRAFA - Brussels Art Fair - 26/01 → 02/02/2020Tour & Taxis, Avenue du Port 88 - 1000 Brusselswww.brafa.artAlso follow BRAFA on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube.Press contact Belgium and international coordinationBruno Nélis - b.nelis@brafa.be - Tel +32 (0) 2 513 48 31 - GSM +32 (0) 476 399 579

Image Credit Left: https://www.radiolfc.net/tag/m-skakal/ Image Credit Right:  Italian Carabinieri

Today the Cairo Criminal Court in Abdin convicted Cav. Ladislav Otakar Skakal, the former honorary consul of Italy in Luxor, in absentia.  In doing so the courts sentenced the former diplomat to 15 years imprisonment for the smuggling of Egyptian antiquities out of Egypt.  

The Egyptian authorities had previously requested that Skakal's name be placed on INTERPOL's Red Notice in connection with his involvement in the smuggling of some 21,855 artefacts from the port of Alexandria.  These objects had been discovered inside a diplomatic shipping container, of the type used to transport household goods, sent through the port of Salerno in May 2017.  

Prosecutors in Egypt had produced evidence in the court case that Skakal was actively involved in the smuggling of the artefacts, which had been seized from inside a diplomatic container shipped in his own name.  The court also found cause to believe that Skakal had worked in agreement with an official of the shipping and packaging company responsible for shipping his container, specifically with a view of exploiting the privileges of his honorary office to illegally export artefacts from the country of Egypt, without informing the government and with the help of accomplices working inside Egypt.

Cav. Ladislav Otakar Skakal's whereabouts are currently not known. He was last known to have returned to Rome.  The mandate of the former honorary consul has long since expired and since then, Skakal has no longer had ties to the Italian embassy in Cairo. 

With their authenticity confirmed, five old masters paintings, "Portrait of an Old Man" from the Rembrandt workshop (probably Ferdinand Bol), "Country Road with Farm Carts and Cows" by Jan Brueghel the Elder, the "Half-length Portrait of an Unknown Man with a Hat and Gloves" by Frans Hals, "Saint Catherine" by Hans Holbein the Elder, and "Self-portrait with Sunflower" by Anthonis van Dyck, will each go back on display in Gotha, Germany, at the end of January.  The artworks were stolen from the Friedenstein Palace exactly four decades ago. .  

The Dutch master works were stolen on a rainy evening between 13-14 December 1979.  During the burglary, which coincided conveniently with the yet untested installation of a new security system, a thief, or thieves, accessed the west wing of the historic palace using some type of crampons, to climb up a rain gutter attached to the side of the building.  

Gaining entry via a second floor window, ten meters up the palace walls, the culprit(s) then are believed to have hand picked specific paintings, (having left other more valuable works behind) and then lowered the paintings back down the side of the building, before descending themselves and making their getaway through Gothaer Park where the baroque palace is located.   By the time the Gotha Volkspolizei (the city's People's Police) were alerted to the theft at 07:10 on the 14 December 1979, the perpetrators and the paintings were long gone. 

But the crime scene is a puzzle.

While exploring the grounds of the palace, the park and the nearby surrounds, detectives found one crampon of the estimated 12-13 that were likely put into service to scale the building.  Made of a steel alloy that was only used in the West, questions abounded as to why the culprits would methodically removed all the other supportive devices, each weighing approximately 5 kilos,  which would have made carrying the 5 paintings all that more difficult. Was this left evidence meant to lead investigators astray by making it appear that the culprits who planned the theft were outside the GDR (German Democratic Republic)?  Likewise, the broken pane of glass in the entry window was broken in such a way as to have made it highly improbable that the thieves would have gained entry by reaching through the hole created.  There were also no scrapings from the paintings frames in the immediate area near the window and the crime scene appeared to mimic three earlier attempts to break into the museum in a very similar fashion. 

Whatever the motivation, the one successful Gotha art robbery resulted in the largest art crime investigations in the history of the GDR.  Yet, despite the involvement of more than 100 detective officers as well as interviews with more than 1,000 people who lived and worked near the scene of the crime and the surveillance of individuals with connections to the Friedenstein Palace nothing was resolved.  Speculation abounded regarding whether the Stasi were involved and if the artworks had been transported to West Berlin via a truck from a nearby slaughterhouse.

Despite the seemingly thorough dragnet, and with little else to go on, the paintings were eventually listed in the loss catalog of the Schloss Friedenstein Foundation, and added to German the Lost Art database, the INTERPOL database of stolen works of art as well as the Art Loss Register.  But despite the widespread attention and extensive police investigations, the greatest art theft in the history of the GDR remained unsolved. 

Fast Forward to 2018

First reported on December 6, 2019. The paintings popped back on the world's radar in July 2018 when a broker, purporting to be acting on behalf of a group of anonymous heirs, contacted the German politician Knut Kreuch, Lord Mayor of Gotha, and then chairman of the Foundation Schloss Friedenstein Gotha.  Hoping to arrange a buyback for €5.25 million, the intermediary presented the mayor with an implausible story of the artworks' acquisition by the persons he represented.  Despite this, he piqued the mayor's interest when, during a meeting at city hall, he backed his story up by laying out a series of colored photographs depicting the front and the back of the paintings.  As all of previous images taken of the artworks were in black and white, this was the first genuine "proof of life" that the paintings still existed and might still be grouped together in spite of the decades that had passed since their original theft. 

While his negotiations continued, the Mayor contacted the Ernst von Siemens Art Foundation. In keeping with the will of that foundation's founder, the Ernst von Siemens Art Foundation, serves as a partner to German museums which promotes acquisitions, restorations and exhibitions, as well as with the the return of confiscated works of art to help making them available to the public.   In the past the Ernst von Siemens Art Foundation had facilitated the successful return of a still life painting by Balthasar van der Ast (1628) that the Suermondt Ludwig Museum in Aachen lost in the post-war turmoil and an ivory tankard from the Castle Museum. 

It should be noted that the Ernst von Siemens Art Foundation never purchases pieces directly from thieves, and in negotiating agreements the Holder has to reveal how they have come to be in possession of the artwork. 

At this point, the EvS began working with the mayor and the holders of the paintings towards an agreement in which the "interim owners" would receive a "moderate allowance or a finder's fee," but if, and only if, the art works of art could be authenticated by the German authorities with the understanding that those who possess purchased goods in good faith (i.e. who don't know that it has been stolen) and that can be reclaimed on the basis of a right in rem (e.g. ownership) of a third party, are afforded protection against claims for return after a 30 year time period.  To date, no information was given publicly as to what the sum of that fee might have been,  and whether or not the fee was delivered. 

After nearly two years of negotiations, on 30 September 2019, the paintings were relinquished voluntarily for authenticity  testing at the Rathgen Research Laboratory at the Staatlichen Museen (State Museums) in Berlin in cooperation with the Berlin State Office of Criminal Investigation.  Meanwhile, while prosecution against the original thief or thieves was time-barred, the Berlin public prosecutor's office began to apply alternative pressure.  

The State Criminal Police Office (LKA) in Berlin, in cooperation with the federal state agencies concerned, opened an investigation into two individuals from Heidelberg and Jena, then aged 54 and 46, on suspicion of extortion. Given their ages, the two suspects, if found culpable, would only have been intermediaries after the fact, as they would have been too young at the time of the original crime to have been directly involved in the art theft.  Search warrants were also executed by the police on 5 December 2019 at the offices and apartments of three witnesses and two suspects including a lawyer from southern Germany and the residence of a doctor from East Frisia, perhaps looking for evidence which could demonstrate direct collaboration between the thieves and any subsequent handlers.  

What can be ascertained is that the handlers, who alleged they had the pictures in their possession, could not rely on a simple defense of having acquired the artworks in good faith.  The theft of these paintings, as well as the Friedenstein Palace as their legitimate owner, were too well known.

The paintings will formally go back on public display at the Friedenstein Palace on Friday. 

By: Lynda Albertson

At the end of this month a German dentist from Neuss will answer to allegations of fraud in the Düsseldorf District Court for allegedly trying to pass off twenty paintings as original works by the artist Pablo Picasso (1881-1973).  According to German news, the defendant, is alleged to have arranged meetings with art authenticators at the NH Düsseldorf Königsallee hotel, located in one of the main shopping streets and next to the tourist sites in the western german city. 

At that meeting it is alleged that the defendant presented photographs of the artworks to advisors of auction houses, along with fake certificates of authenticity from the Picasso estate.  It is also claimed that he indicated that handwritten notes, attached to the back of the paintings, were purportedly from the artist's son. 

In Germany, the crime of forgery is not charged unless the forgery (in this case the artworks themselves or the letters attached to their backings) were done with the intent to deceive or with the intent to commit an attempted fraud or larceny.  As no sales transactions occurred at the time of the meeting, the dentist most likely cannot be convicted of fraud under the German Criminal Code (Strafgesetzbuch).  For § 263 (Fraud) and/or § 267 (Forgery) to be applicable the public prosecutor would need to prove that the dentist deceived someone with the intent of obtaining for himself or a third person an unlawful material benefit and to prove fraud, specific intent directed at enriching oneself or a third party is required.   Since the meeting was not in furtherance of conducting a sale this would be difficult to prove. 

That said, should it be determined that the dentist knowingly understood the paintings to be fake, and still electively sought appraisals for the misattributed artwork, using another person's personal data, the court may find him guilty of unauthorized exploitation of copyrighted works and/or for the (intentional) use of fake documents. 

By Edgar Tijhuis 

This year, the ARCA Postgraduate Program in Art Crime and Cultural Heritage Protection will be held from May 29 till August 12 in the heart of Umbria in Amelia, Italy. In the months leading up to the start of the program, this year’s professors will be interviewed. In this one, I am speaking with Marc Masurovsky, co-founder of the Holocaust Art Restitution Project. 

I was born and raised in Paris, France, of American artists, one figurative, the other abstract. I took an early interest in history and especially in the politics and economics of fascism and national socialism. My interest further increased as I was able to work at the Office of Special Investigations in Washington, DC, investigating the past of suspected Axis war criminals who acquired US citizenship. Then I was hooked. My independent research focused on the economics of genocide and the recycling of all kinds of assets looted from Jewish victims and the near-absence of postwar justice against those who executed, abetted and profited from those crimes against humanity. I eventually found myself involved with class action lawsuits against Swiss banks which led, inevitably, to the looted art issue with which I have been associated for the past two decades. I am a co-founder of the Holocaust Art Restitution Project and have taught a number of workshops focused exclusively on provenance research as it applies to Nazi/Fascist-era dislocations of Jewish-owned property.

What do you feel is the most relevant aspect of your course?

I teach one course, provenance research. I view it more as a training than as an academic exercise.

What do you hope participants will get out of the course?

I hope that those who take the provenance research workshop, (that’s really what it is), never look at an artistic, cultural, or ritual object, again with the same eyes as they had before they took the course. I want them to become skeptical of everything that they read about the history of those objects and to develop an insatiable curiosity for understanding where those objects come from and the what/where/when/why/how of their pasts by whom and with what.

What would a typical day be like in your classroom?

Every day is different but a main component of the workshop is to ask questions, remain inquisitive and be able to think outside of the proverbial box.

While each year participants are very enthusiastic about your courses, is there anything you learn from them in class?

Each participant comes from a very different background and he/she has his/her own unique relationship towards art objects, culture and history. The gift they bring me is their story, and the way they apprehend the topics that we tackle each hour of every day and, hopefully, be part of the transformation that they go through when confronted with evidence, inquiry, and research.

In anticipation of your courses, what book, article, or movie would you recommend to participants? 

There is no real way to get ready but it would help if participants were a bit savvy about the history of modern Europe, the basic dates, times, and places of major events that provoked these displacements of property. Lynn Nicholas, Hector Feliciano, Jonathan Petropoulos, are some of the authors who produced significant monographs on Nazi plunder, but there are also special investigative reports produced in the early 21st century in the UK, France, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Austria, Germany, and Italy, on Nazi looting. HARP's own Plundered Art blog will provide a more argumentative and polemical approach to the issues of plunder and restitution, while suggesting how research can be conducted on objects with dubious pasts.

Which other course in the program would you love to follow yourself and why?

I enjoyed sitting in on Dick Drent’s course because it humbled me on my ignorance of security issues in museums. Perhaps Christos Tsirogiannis’ course would interest me because of his fierce approach towards the art market and his ability to ferret out looted antiquities. But, seriously, I don’t have any favorites out of fairness to the other professors.

Is there anything you can recommend for future participants to do in Amelia or Umbria?

They should leave their prejudices and assumptions at home and come prepared to be challenged in a small town in central Italy. The structure of the workshop allows them to grow. But they can only grow if they allow themselves to be vulnerable, to listen and to question. The questioning is only credible if it is anchored in evidence. As you know, it’s too easy to say: Why? You need to justify your questions and to challenge based on your own research and be prepared to hear that perhaps you are wrong and be prepared to realize that perhaps you are right. That is part of learning and growing...

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For a detailed prospectus and application materials or for general questions about the 2020 postgraduate program please contact us at education@artcrimeresearch.org 

In addition to the postgraduate program, the provenance course is also offered as stand-alone course. ARCA and the US-based Holocaust Art Restitution Project (HARP) have teamed up to offer its 4th annual stand-alone provenance course which tackles the complex issues of cultural plunder. More information can be found here on our website.

The Society for the History of Collecting together with the V & A Museum present the following event.