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23 DePaul J. Art Tech. & Intell. Prop. L 363 (2012-2013)
Due Diligence, Provenance Research, and the Acquisition Process at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

handle is hein.journals/dael23 and id is 387 raw text is: DUE DILIGENCE, PROVENANCE RESEARCH, AND THE ACQUISITION PROCESS AT THE MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS, BOSTON Victoria Reed* In recent years, museums in Europe and the United States have received and resolved an increasing number of high-profile restitution claims for works of art in their collections. There has been a particular focus on the return of Nazi-looted art and illegally-excavated antiquities, though questions of legal ownership, or title, are not new, and can come up in any area of a museum's holdings, regardless of that museum's size and scope. An institution researching its collection with the goal of resolving long-dormant ownership issues may confront the realization that its objects were subject to theft, looting, or a coercive transfer, either during armed conflict or at any other time. The institution will also need to consider the cultural patrimony legislation of its objects' countries of origin, and clarify how those objects have been exported and imported. There is thus a broad spectrum of issues that can affect a museum's ability to hold legal title to its works of art, which are not limited to Nazi looting and illicit excavation. The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (MFA)-one of the leading encyclopedic art museums in the world, boasting over 450,000 objects from varied periods and cultures-has been deeply involved in handling claims for the restitution of cultural property. Since the late 1990s, the MFA has resolved a number of claims for works of art in its collection. Several claims have been resolved in favor of the Museum; others have been resolved in favor of the claimant, either by deaccessioning the object for a return to its rightful owner, or by reaching a financial settlement that allows good title to pass to the Museum. To give some examples of the * Victoria Reed has been conducting provenance research at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, since 2003. In her current position as Curator for Provenance she is responsible for the research and documentation of the Museum's encyclopedic collection, the review of potential acquisitions and loans, and the development of due diligence policies and practice throughout the curatorial division. 363

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