Subject: Looted Treasures in England's Regional Museums
Date: Tue, 11 Jun 2002 17:34:18 +0100
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New Research to Uncover Looted Treasures in England's Regional Museums
Millions of works of art were looted by the Nazis during World War II.
Some experts believe that a fifth of the world's entire known
artworks were stolen or forcibly sold between 1933 and 1945, and,
nearly 60 years on, hundreds of thousands of masterpieces are still
missing.
Britain's national museums have already taken steps to investigate and
document their collections and are checking the provenance of objects
acquired after World War II. So far, up to 600 works have been
identified whose whereabouts during the war is unclear, and which may
have been looted.
Now this work will be extended to regional museums. Resource: The
Council for Museums, Archives and Libraries is funding a research
consultant to help England's regional museums identify items in their
collections whose provenance between 1933 and 1945 is unknown, and
which may be the subject of potential claims by relatives of victims
of the looting. The consultant will advise museums on researching and
documenting their works, on how to register items whose provenance is
in question, and on how to deal sensitively with claims and inquiries
from those who have lost items to Nazi spoliation.
The consultant's work will be managed by The National Museum
Directors' Conference (NMDC), who will coordinate regional museums'
research, and will publish a list of items that may be the result of
Nazi spoliation by December 2002.
Welcoming Resource's grant, Sir Nicholas Serota, Chair of NMDC's
Spoliation Working Group, said: "British museums and galleries were
the first institutions internationally to agree to research their
collections to ensure they do not contain works of art that might have
been looted by the Nazis. The Spoliation Working Group has already
managed a significant portfolio of research to support museums in
investigating the provenance of suspect artworks, and we are delighted
to extend the scheme to allow regional museums to complete the process
of researching and documenting their collections."
Resource's chairman Matthew Evans said: "We welcome this opportunity
to support national and regional museum partnerships by providing this
funding. The information provided by the research will greatly enhance
regional museums ability to respond to requests from those who may
have lost items during the Nazi era and to add to their existing
knowledge of their collections. This is an important project and we
look forward to the creation of complete and comprehensive
documentation."
For further information please contact Emma Wright, Resource's Media
and Events Manager, on 020 7273 1459 or email
emma.wright@resource.gov.uk.
The National Museum Directors' Conference represents the leaders of
the UK's national museums and galleries. These comprise the national
museums in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, the three
national libraries, the botanic gardens at Kew and the Public Record
Office.
In June 1998 the National Museum Directors' Conference (NMDC)
established a working group to examine the issues surrounding the
spoliation of art during the Holocaust and World War II period and
draw up a Statement of Principles and proposed actions for member
institutions. Its recommendations included a proposal that each
national museum, gallery or library should draw up an action plan
setting out their planned approach to research into the issue of
provenance. For further information please visit NMDC website at
http://www.nationalmuseums.org.uk
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Emma Wright
Media and Events Manager
Resource: The Council for Museums,
Archives and Libraries
16 Queen Anne's Gate
London SW1H 9AA
Direct line 020 7273 1459
Switchboard 020 7273 1444
Email: emma.wright@resource.gov.uk
Website: www.resource.gov.uk