Cleveland Museum of Art Hires First Provenance Researcher
- February 14, 2013 17:29
In the light of increasing scrutiny on artworks with dubious histories as Nazi loot and antiquities illegally lifted from ancient lands, many American museums are looking harder at the provenance of works in their own collections as well as new acquisitions.
Following the lead of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, the Cleveland Museum of Art has recently hired Victoria Sears Goldman, a researcher at a New York law firm who completed a doctorate in art history at Princeton University,
She will join the museum for six months starting March 4 as a full-time provenance researcher who essentially investigates objects' history of ownership.
Five years ago--in response to complaints from Greece, Italy, Egypt and other countries--the Assn. of Art Museum Directors (AAMD) gave its members stricter guidelines for acquiring pieces originating from ancient lands.
Now the AAMD, consisting of 217 member museums in North America, has set up an object registry on its website to help circumvent adding looted antiquities into museum holdings.
Member museums can post images and information about newly acquired antiquities whose provenance since 1970 is not clear and complete.
Countries of origin and other claimants can gather information from the website and come forward with evidence on objects.
100x100_c.jpg "Two Nayarit (Mexico) seated musician figures with instruments, reddish ceramic with pigments and manganese, 200 BCE to 200 CE. Sizes: Larger figure 15¼in x 8in, smaller figure 15in x 10in. Estimate: $4,000-$6,000")
![Peter Paul Rubens (Flemish, 1577–1640), After Titian (Tiziano Vecelli) (Italian [Venetian], c. 1488–1576), Rape of Europa, 1628–29. Oil on canvas, 71 7/8 x 79 3/8 in.](/images/c/e2/2e/Jan20_Rape_of_Europa100x100_c.jpg "Peter Paul Rubens (Flemish, 1577–1640), After Titian (Tiziano Vecelli) (Italian [Venetian], c. 1488–1576), Rape of Europa, 1628–29. Oil on canvas, 71 7/8 x 79 3/8 in.")
100x100_c.jpg "Boba Fett L-slot rocket-firing prototype action figure, predecessor to the Boba Fett figure in Kenner’s popular 1979 Star Wars toy line, 3.75in tall, AFA-graded 80+ NM (archival case). Encapsulated with notarized CIB COA. Sold for a world-record price of $236,000 against an estimate of $100,000-$200,000")
