Heard on The StreetJanuary 28, 2022
The Louvre and Sotheby’s will research the provenance of works bought during the Second World War
The Louvre in Paris has partnered with Sotheby’s to analyze the provenance of museum artworks acquired between 1933 and 1945.
During the three-year collaboration, scholars from the Sotheby’s restitution department will research, digitize, photograph artworks, and organize seminars, which will be inaugurated at the Louvre with a conference focused on the art market during the Nazi Occupation of France.
Speakers will include Laurence des Cars, the president and director of the Louvre, and David Zivie, the head of restitution in France’s Ministry of Culture.
The auction house’s restitution department has four staffers and was founded in 1997, one year after the Washington Conference on Stolen Nazi Art, at which 11 principles were drawn up regarding restitution and agreed upon by 44 attending states.
According to the auction house, the department has helped resolve issues relating to hundreds of artworks with an aggregate value of nearly $1 billion.
During the three-year collaboration, scholars from the Sotheby’s restitution department will research, digitize, photograph artworks, and organize seminars, which will be inaugurated at the Louvre with a conference focused on the art market during the Nazi Occupation of France.
Speakers will include Laurence des Cars, the president and director of the Louvre, and David Zivie, the head of restitution in France’s Ministry of Culture.
The auction house’s restitution department has four staffers and was founded in 1997, one year after the Washington Conference on Stolen Nazi Art, at which 11 principles were drawn up regarding restitution and agreed upon by 44 attending states.
According to the auction house, the department has helped resolve issues relating to hundreds of artworks with an aggregate value of nearly $1 billion.
