International Law Anth January 2012

Collections Stewardship Collections appropriate to Mission. Legally and ethically managed and cared for. Conducts scholarly research. Plan for use and development of collections. Preserve while granting public access. Space and facilities needs met. Collections and facility are safe and secure. Protected against risk and loss.

AAM code of Ethics “stewardship of collections entails the highest public trust and carries with it the presumption of rightful ownership, permanence, care, documentation, accessibility, and responsible disposal”

Provenance, from the French provenir, "to come from", refers to the chronology of the ownership or location of an historical object 1)Identify all objects in collections that were created before 1946 and acquired by the museum after 1932, that underwent a change of ownership between 1932 and 1946, and may have been in continental Europe between those dates. 2) Make object and provenance info accessible. 3) Give priority to continuing provenance research as resources allow.

Acquisitions Must take reasonable steps before acquisition to determine Nazi-era provenance status! -research required -document research -publish recent aquisitions Klimt's "Adele Bloch-Bauer I"

Loans -Determine Nazi era provenance before receiving loaned object. Existing Collections -Review items in collection. -Conduct research. -Document research. -Seek legal council if necessary.

Claims of Ownership -Review claims promptly. -Do own research and look at claimant’s research. -Mediation before litigation. Fiduciary Obligations -Develop guidelines. -Respond promptly and appropriately to public and media inquiries.

Le Grand Pont, Gustav Courbet, 1864 Claim– Parties—Provenance—Solution

Critical Questions Do you feel the standard course of action regarding Nazi-era looted art are justified? What about the Samurai swords American Soldiers took from Japan during WWII? What about the items American Soldiers brought back with them from Europe during/ after WWII?

John Henry Merryman (1986)– Two Ways of Thinking About Cultural Property Cultural Internationalism VS Cultural Nationalism

The Lieber Code -U.S. Civil War -Protect Property of Churches, Hospitals, Schools, Universities, non-profits, etc. The Nuremberg Trials -Post WW II -Prosecuted and Punished for stealing cultural property The Hague Cultural Internationalism: destroying one country’s cultural property is destroying mankind’s cultural property -Except under “military necessity”

UNESCO 1970 Cultural Nationalism Prevents illicit trade of cultural property, esp. from source nations to market nations U.S. and Canada only market nations on board.. Belgium, Japan, France, Germany, Netherlands did NOT sign up. Most Source Nations ( i.e. Developing Nations) did sign up.

The Elgin Marbles Cultural Nationalism Argument Cultural Internationalism Argument

The Tonalamatl Aubin Cultural Nationalism Argument Cultural Internationalism Argument

Countries with an abundance of cultural property Cultural Nationalism Argument Cultural Internationalism Argument