AnalysisAfrica
'Restitution is important but it is not essential': the African museums building a homegrown cultural revival
Though African institutions want looted artefacts to return home, they are more preoccupied with promoting living artists and treasures
AnalysisThe Year in Review 2020
Museums 2020: the year of crashing revenues and anti-racism disputes
Turbulent year draws to a close with sector wracked by pandemic lockdowns and Black Lives Matter challenges
NewsRestitution
Chair of Dutch Nazi-loot committee resigns ahead of report on restitution policy
Alfred Hammerstein’s departure follows criticism of Dutch committee’s decisions
NewsRepatriation
Artist discovers looted statue in Canadian museum and returns it to India
The 18th-century work was stolen by the museum's namesake from an active temple over 100 years ago
NewsLooted art
Jewish collections looted by the Nazis to be examined and traced in new database
The Jewish Digital Cultural Recovery Project will begin with a pilot scheme focusing on the Old Masters collection of Adolphe Schloss, which was seized by the Gestapo
NewsRestitution
French Senate votes unanimously for restitution to Benin and Senegal in 'act of friendship and trust'
Senate approves bill to return 27 colonial-era artefacts from museum collections to Africa within one year
NewsRestitution
Australia pledges millions towards repatriation of Aboriginal artefacts from overseas collections
Government extends pilot project to return objects to Indigenous peoples—including those held by private collectors
NewsCollectors
Congolese collector Sindika Dokolo reportedly dies in Dubai diving accident
Tributes pour in for “defender of African art”—who was also being investigated by Angolan authorities
NewsHeritage
Historic Book of Lismore returns to Ireland from Britain
Medieval vellum manuscript has been donated to University College Cork by Chatsworth, seat of the Dukes of Devonshire
NewsArt crime
Man tries to take artefact from Louvre—just two weeks after being charged for the same crime at Quai Branly
Congolese activist Emery Mwazulu Diyabanza, fined €1,000 earlier this month, will go to court again later today
NewsMuseums
Mondrian’s heirs file US suit to recover four paintings worth $200m from a German museum
The complaint also demands compensation for four further works by Mondrian no longer at the Krefeld museum
NewsRestitution
Black Lives Matter movement is speeding up repatriation efforts, leading French art historian says
Bénédicte Savoy—co-author of the Sarr-Savoy report that recommends France return its African artefacts—warns of "collective amnesia" over restitution debates that happened 40 years ago
NewsRestitution
Nazi-looted Dutch Old Master to be auctioned in settlement between heir and current holder
The Golden Age work by Aelbert Cuyp was looted from Jacques Goudstikker and acquired by Hermann Göring
NewsFrance
Congolese activist fined €1,000 for trying to seize African funeral pole from Paris museum
Emery Mwazulu Diyabanza and the other activists who removed the object from display at the Musée du Quai Branly-Jacques Chirac say their actions are a protest against colonial looting
NewsRestitution
Dutch government committee recommends return of colonial-era artefacts
The report calls for a new panel to advise the minister on repatriations and a new provenance research centre
InterviewBook Club
‘The looting was a chaotic free-for-all’: Dan Hicks on the pillaging of the Benin Bronzes and how museums can address colonialism
The curator and University of Oxford professor tells us about his new book, The Brutish Museums, which details how museums themselves were “used as a unique type of weapon”
NewsRestitution
France’s National Assembly votes to return colonial-era artefacts to Benin and Senegal
Accelerated bill enabling restitution of 27 objects from French museums passes first vote in parliament
NewsRestitution
France ordered to return three Derain paintings to heirs of Jewish dealer René Gimpel
Ruling by Paris court of appeal sets an important precedent for pending restitution claim over 16 paintings in French museum collections
NewsRestitution
Leading Australian activist accuses British Museum of downgrading provenance of Aboriginal shield to prevent restitution
New text accompanying object removes mention that it was collected by Captain James Cook but museum says it doesn't alter its significance
NewsRestitution
Police search for Benin Bronze protestor—found guilty of 'threatening behaviour'
Isaiah Ogundele, who demonstrated outside the Museum of London, Docklands for the objects' repatriation, failed to appear at his court hearing earlier this month
NewsMuseums
Oxford museum removes 'racist' shrunken heads from display after 80 years
Exhibiting Tsantsas "reinforced racist and stereotypical thinking that goes against the museum’s core values,” says the Pitt Rivers Museum's director
NewsMuseums
Man arrested after protesting against Benin Bronzes display at London museum
Defendant was charged with using “threatening, abusive, insulting words or behaviour with intent to cause harassment, alarm or distress” during incident in January
NewsRestitution
Berlin returns tattooed Maori heads to New Zealand
Human remains in museums have attracted widespread criticism
NewsLaw
US appeals court rules—with regret—that Thyssen-Bornemisza Foundation can keep Nazi-looted Pissarro
Judges noted the Spanish government, which signed the Washington Principles in 1998, “can preen as moralistic in its declarations”, yet not be bound by them
AnalysisLooting
How recent anti-racism protests have pushed a longstanding debate about colonial looting in Europe
As the Black Lives Matter movement goes global, museums face renewed demands to restitute artefacts plundered from Africa
NewsRestitution
‘I had lost hope’: The story behind a Nazi-looted Madonna and long-delayed compensation to Jewish heirs
The 93-year-old heir Grete Unger Heinz recalls contemplating a Jacopo del Sellaio painting as a child in Vienna
NewsRestitution
Turin museum pays settlement to Jewish heirs for Renaissance Madonna that was looted by Nazis
Family of Gustav Arens also receive French government compensation for a Tintoretto painting and a Dutch landscape
NewsRestitution
France takes first legal step towards restitutions to Benin and Senegal as cabinet examines new law
Twenty-six objects looted from Abomey Palace to return to Benin, Omar Tall’s sword to be transferred to Senegal
NewsLaw
Heirs battle estate over $30m Monet painting from Emden collection sold during Nazi era
Le Palais Ducal is at the centre of an ownership dispute that has kept the work from coming to auction
NewsArt market
Sotheby's to auction £4m restituted Bellotto painting that Jewish retail magnate was forced to sell to Hitler
The view of Dresden's Zwinger moat had been returned to the heirs of Max Emden and will now be offered for sale in London on 28 July
NewsRestitution
US Supreme Court agrees to hear Berlin museums' appeal in lawsuit over restitution of medieval treasures to Jewish heirs
Panel will consider museums' argument that a trial over rightful ownership of the Guelph Treasure cannot be heard in American courts
NewsArt market
American collector to sue France over restitution of $1.7m Pissarro painting
Real estate developer Bruce Toll claims compensation after French High court confirms return of Pissarro's Pea Harvest to heirs of collector Simon Bauer
NewsAuctions
Waning market for African artefacts? Controversial Benin bronze fails to sell at Christie's
Academics challenge the provenance of the Edo plaque as well as two Igbo alusi figures that sold under estimate for €212,500
NewsRestitution
National museum in Stockholm to return stolen 16th-century painting to Poland
Officials in Poland and Sweden piece together provenance of work by School of Lucas Cranach the Elder
NewsProtests
Protestors seize African artefact from Paris's Quai Branly museum in bid to 'bring to Africa what was taken'
Five demonstrators will go to court on charges of theft
NewsMuseums
'Time to give back the swag, guys!' British Museum unleashes Twitter storm with statement on Black Lives Matter
London institution was criticised for proclaiming that it "stands in solidarity with the Black community" while continuing to resist calls to restitute colonial-era loot
NewsSecond World War
The cultural consequences of the Second World War carry into today
From art restitutions to how museum adapted to wartime constraints, we continue to feel the fallout 75 years after the conflict’s end
NewsBritish Museum
Mary Beard wades into restitution debate in her first blog post as a new British Museum trustee
"Museums have always been controversial. Who should be allowed in? And on what terms?" asks the celebrated classicist
NewsRestitution
'We want to be part of the solution': UK museum says it is open to discussing fate of Benin bronze after prince demands its return
Bristol Museum & Art Gallery wants to work in tandem with the Benin Dialogue Group, which is made up of institutions that hold the majority of the pieces
NewsRestitution
New guidelines for UK museums will kickstart nation's long-overdue restitution debate
Arts Council England will release a document that addresses the ethical and practical issues around restituting cultural objects, planned for autumn 2020
NewsCollectors
Portuguese judge orders seizure of all assets owned by African art collector Isabel dos Santos in the country
Move is intended to stall the sales of stakes in multi-million-Euro companies based in Portugal
NewsRhodesian Man
Zambia claims Rhodesian Man, the 250,000-year-old fossilised skull at London’s Natural History Museum
Negotiations are ongoing, but the Foreign Office says releasing 1972 documents on the claim “would harm UK relations with Zambia”
NewsFakes & copies
'Stolen' ancient sculpture returned to Nigeria is 'the kind of fake you could buy on eBay', African art expert says
Countries' rush to restitute objects is part of the problem, says Belgian lawyer
NewsRestitution
Italy hands Nazi-looted Renaissance sculpture from the Uffizi to Germany
Andrea della Robbia’s Mary Magdalene was acquired by Hermann Göring in 1941
NewsParthenon marbles
Leaked draft of EU paper stirs Parthenon Marbles dispute
But the clause is unlikely to refer to the ancient Greek sculptures in the British Museum, expert says
NewsRestitution
India asks Ashmolean Museum to return 15th-century bronze idol believed stolen from temple
Independent scholar uncovers questionable provenance for the sculpture that the Oxford institution bought from Sotheby's in 1967
NewsLoot
Looted ancient temple sculpture—seized by UK police—will go home to Afghanistan
British Museum and Art Loss Register collaborate over recovery of ancient bull decoration that was consigned to an online auction
NewsNazi loot
German court rules in favour of Nazi-looted art database, although owners say a listing makes works unsellable
Lostart.de is caught between the conflicting demands of claimants and the holders of disputed art
NewsRestitution
Three Nazi-looted works bought by Gurlitt return to Jewish collector’s heirs
Two paintings by Jean-Louis Forain were discovered in Cornelius Gurlitt’s trove; the third work, by Constantin Guys, was restituted by another family member
NewsRestitution
Berlin restitutes painting to heirs of 'degenerate' artist for the first time
A portrayal of Lot by Hans Baldung Grien was sold to the Gemäldegalerie in 1937 by Hans Purrmann
NewsRestitution
Arts Council England asks for help in returning looted artefacts held in UK museums
Tender opened for guidance around repatriation questions for items including those acquired from former colonies
NewsArt market
Sotheby’s to auction three Nazi-looted works restituted to Jewish collector’s heirs
Two paintings by Signac and one by Pissarro are expected to fetch as much as £20m
NewsRestitution
New evidence cited in restitution claim for Panama Papers Modigliani
Dealer Oscar Stettiner’s grandson says painting, now owned by David Nahmad, was looted by Nazis
NewsCollectors
Angola freezes assets of billionaire and her art collector husband
Isabel dos Santos, Africa’s richest woman, is married to Sindika Dokolo who has been working for years on repatriating works to the African continent
NewsRestitution
How a Nazi-looted painting entered an Israeli museum
Tel Aviv Museum of Art reveals surprising provenance of 19th-century work by Jozef Israëls, which will be restituted to Jewish owner’s heirs in October
NewsRestitution
France promises to return 26 looted Benin artefacts by 2021 and opens talks on 'wider set of works'
But full restitution depends on changes to French law and the construction of new Benin museum
NewsThe Year in Review 2019
From a Paris inferno to the Leonardo tussle: the art world's top stories of 2019
We look back at the major events that made the headlines this year
NewsRestitution
Archaeologist launches private bid to retrieve priceless Egyptian treasures from European museums
Zahi Hawass, former Egyptian minister of antiquities, corrals international team of experts to press institutions for return of important artefacts
NewsRestitution
Germany returns indigenous remains of 45 ancestors to Australia in 'long overdue step'
Saxon government acknowledges “years of disregard for their dignity and importance to their communities of origin”
NewsRestitution
Cambridge college returns Benin bronze to Nigeria
Statue of a cockerel was looted by the British in 1897 from the Court of Benin
NewsRestitution
German museum acquires Heinrich Campendonk painting after restitution to Jewish collector’s heir
Work once belonged to the shoe manufacturer Alfred Hess, whose family was forced to flee Nazi Germany
NewsRestitution
Dr Oetker returns painting to heirs of Jewish tobacco dealer murdered by the Nazis
Leo Bendel was killed at Buchenwald three years after he sold the painting by Carl Spitzweg to fund his escape from Nazi Germany
NewsRestitution
France returns a historic sword to Senegal
The gesture is intended as a symbol of France’s commitment to repatriating African heritage
NewsRestitution
George Soros's Open Society Foundations pledges $15m to help Africa recover looted heritage
Paid over four years, it will support efforts made by museums, grassroots-organisations and governments
CommentSavoy/Sarr Report
One year after the Sarr-Savoy report, France has lost its momentum in the restitution debate
It recommended the restitution of African artefacts in French museums, but the country has not returned a single item to Africa
NewsRestitution
Bern museum sells $4m Manet painting from Gurlitt art hoard
National Museum of Western Art in Tokyo agrees to buy the painting, Ships at Sea in Stormy Weather
NewsLaw
Who really owns this Schiele watercolour Portrait of the Artist's Wife?
A three-way battle is brewing in New York courts as the heirs of two Holocaust victims take on the work’s current owner
NewsRestitution
FBI recovers painting suspected as Nazi loot from US museum
Gari Melchers's painting of a winter landscape, which was in the Arkell Museum in the state of New York, belonged to the media mogul Rudolf Mosse
NewsRestitution
Namibian artefacts travel home in Berlin museum research project
But return of the objects permanently to Namibia is not the immediate goal, says Hermann Parzinger, president of the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation
CommentRestitution
Icom Kyoto 2019 conference: key takeaways from the decolonisation and restitution panel
Discussion argued for community empowerment, new skillsets, and focus on contemporary colonialism
NewsRestitution
Trump opens door to restitution claims on art seized by Cuba
While the president is the first to allow Title III of Helms-Burton Act to be used, some whose collections were taken doubt it will have an impact
NewsLoans
Greece in talks with Louvre to borrow Parthenon frieze as part of 'temporary exchange'
Move reignites debate over British Museum’s position on sculptures brought to Britain by Lord Elgin
NewsRestitution
German Nazi loot panel divided on Max Stern painting—but returns it to his heirs anyway
For first time, advisory team stipulates that work must not be sold for ten years in case evidence emerges that contradicts its ruling
NewsRestitution
Growing pressure on the British Museum as Jamaica is latest government seeking return of objects
Spokeswoman for the London museum says it has not been officially approached by the country over the return of the two objects made by the Taíno people in its collection
CommentLaw
Why this Cézanne painting could hold the key to solving thorny heritage disputes
Innovative agreement to share contested work from Gurlitt trove provides a roadmap for similar legal cases
NewsRestitution
Benin gets €20m loan for new museum to show restituted heritage
France’s president pledged to return 26 items seized in the 19th century by the French military
NewsRestitution
Austria promises to return ancient artefacts to Russia that were taken as war trophies
An Austrian army officer took the 2,000-year-old objects from a war-damaged museum in the port of Temryuk at the end of the Second World War
NewsRestitution
France retreats from report recommending automatic restitutions of looted African artefacts
Suggestions from controversial Savoy-Sarr report were all-but buried at a conference held in Paris
NewsRestitution
Uffizi recovers Nazi-looted painting from Germany
The Dutch still life heads back to the Florence museum after bold campaign by director
NewsNazi loot
Berlin museums appeal to US Supreme Court in dispute over €200m Guelph Treasure
The case 'shouldn't be heard in a US court', argues the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation
NewsNazi loot
Mass theft of art from East German citizens revealed in new report
Study reveals that up to 8% of museum acquisitions were looted from private citizens
CommentRestitution
British Museum must recognise its own powers in matters of restitution
Case of Ethiopian tabots shows that trustees' hands are not tied when it comes to the disposal of certain items from the collection
CommentRestitution
Polish government must stop dragging its heels on restitution
Serious roadblocks remain for claimants looking to reclaim works looted by Nazis
NewsRestitution
Netherlands to restitute two paintings sold by Jewish businessman in Nazi era
Restitutions Committee recommends return of two Golden Age works to heirs of Jacob Lierens
NewsRestitution
British Museum considers loan of ‘invisible’ objects back to Ethiopia
Country has requested return of 11 tabots held in sealed storeroom that the Ethiopian Orthodox Church believes should only be viewed by its priests
NewsRestitution
Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection can keep a painting that the Nazis stole, US judge rules
The judge says the work should have raised suspicions, but that he must apply Spanish law
NewsRestitution
Italian prosecutor claims Medieval missal in Morgan Library was stolen from parish church
Official argues that its return could help boost tourism in an area that has suffered economically from earthquake damage
NewsArt market
Bonn library recovers 600 books missing since the Second World War
Sotheby's assisted the return of the books, including 11 medieval manuscripts, which were found in Belgium
NewsRestitution
FBI launches campaign to return haul of Native and South American works
Thousands of illegally removed items—including human bones—were discovered on collector’s farm
NewsRestitution
Indigenous human remains returned to Australia by five German institutions
Australia is pursuing further repatriations from Germany, ambassador says
CommentMuseums in the changing world order
Museums in the changing world order: Restitution to Africa reaches tipping point
In the second part of a new series, Adrian Ellis examines the issue of post-colonial restitution
NewsErnst Ludwig Kirchner
Norwegian foundation bought $22m Kirchner that the Guggenheim restituted last year
Painting acquired for Oslo's National Gallery was bought at auction from heirs of Jewish dealer persecuted by the Nazis
NewsLooting
A 'missed opportunity'? US seeks to return painting looted by Nazis to Ukraine
Questions are being raised about how the work ended up in the US and why such a public seizure is being pursued now
NewsRestitution
Panel urges return of Hitler’s Bellotto paintings to heirs of Jewish retail magnate
German advisory commission on Nazi-looted art says paintings in government collection should be restituted to the descendants of Max James Emden
NewsRestitution
Italy and China team up to fight looting
During president Xi Jinping's visit to Rome, Italy announced that it will return 796 artefacts to China
CommentLeaders
What’s in a title? It’s time to reframe the Parthenon Marbles debate
The British Museum's ownership of the statues is only guaranteed within the UK—things get more complicated on an international level
NewsRestitution
London museum returns emperor's hair—taken by a British officer as a war trophy—to Ethiopia
The two locks will be buried at the monastery where emperor Tewodros' body was interred
NewsNazi loot
German cathedral returns Nazi-looted Dutch Old Master to heirs
Dutch Square is one of many paintings Bavaria returned to the families of the looters instead of the original Jewish owners after the war
CommentLaw
The US Supreme Court’s silence on Nazi art theft fails Holocaust survivors
Last week’s decision to reject an appeal over the ownership of Picasso’s The Actor was a missed opportunity to clarify the limitations of the 2016 HEAR Act
Sam P. Israel