Restitution

Rotterdam becomes first Dutch city to restitute colonial objects

The city has returned 68 objects to Indonesia, a former Dutch colony

US authorities return four artefacts from Ban Chiang archaeological site to Thailand

The items, which include a vessel and bracelet, had been gifted to a US soldier more than 50 years ago

Seven years on from Emmanuel Macron’s pledge to return Africa’s heritage, frustration grows about the lack of progress

An Ivorian drum will be returned—though only under a special “deposit agreement”—while a crucial colonial bill has stalled

Fit for a king: Egyptian museum in Turin unveils new galleries for monumental ancient sculptures

The dramatic revamp of the Italian institution’s Gallery of the Kings is part of a broader renovation that is due to complete in 2025

Obituaryfeature

Remembering Amadou-Mahtar M’Bow, the Unesco boss who fought for the dispossessed

The headline-making director-general of Unesco, who clashed with Reagan and Thatcher, died recently at the age of 103

Kunstmuseum Basel settles on Pissarro painting with Jewish collector’s heirs

Richard Semmel, a Jewish textiles entrepreneur in Berlin, was forced to sell the painting after fleeing Nazi persecution in 1933

A Slevogt triptych, restituted to the heirs of a Nazi-persecuted collector, is to be auctioned in Munich

The painting depicting the prodigal son was sold by Eduard Fuchs, a Communist writer, after his escape into exile in 1933

Indonesia's national museum reopens after devastating fire

Exhibition of 2,500 repatriated objects, including the "Lombok treasure", inaugurates the newly refurbished space

US Supreme Court declines to hear case challenging Smithsonian's restitution of Benin Bronzes

A New York-based organisation had sought to block the artefacts’ return to Nigeria

Bone of contention: Rijksmuseum and Church disagree on final resting place of Dutch privateer's remains

A bone and lock of hair apparently belonging to Piet Hein have been in storage at the Dutch museum for centuries—now there are calls to have them returned to his grave

Nazi-looted Monet returned to heirs after FBI traces it to New Orleans

Missing for more than 80 years, the 1865 pastel will be handed over in a ceremony today after the couple who bought it relinquished it voluntarily

Lootingcomment

The case for a cross-border approach for recovering Europe's Nazi-looted art

If governments are committed to the Washington Principles, they should create a co-ordinating body

Maqdala shield to be repatriated to Ethiopia

Withdrawn from auction in February, the shield will make a stop at the Toledo Museum of Art before going on public display at the National Museum of Ethiopia in Addis Ababa

Netherlands to return 288 items looted in colonial era to Indonesia

The repatriations show policy continuity despite the new right-wing government, experts say

New California law could reverse outcome in dispute over Nazi-looted Pissarro

The new law signed by Governor Gavin Newsom is intended to resolve a decades-long restitution claim in a California family’s favour

Three looted objects from ancient Egyptian graves returned by the Netherlands

The restitutions are seen as reflective of the way museums are paying closer attention to the provenance of works in their collections

Holocaust-restitution firm Mondex settles legal feud with heir over fees for $24m Chagall painting

"Over Vitebsk" by Marc Chagall hung at the Museum of Modern Art for decades until 2020, when it was restituted to the the heirs of a Jewish-owned art gallery in 1930s Berlin

Cranach portrait will be sold in accord between Pennsylvania museum and Jewish heirs

The portrait of the Duke of Saxony, attributed to Lucas Cranach the Elder and his workshop, will be auctioned by Christie’s in New York in January 2025

Jala Wahid confronts the colonial legacy of the British Museum in London exhibition

The Kurdish artist delves into the histories of looted artefacts and questions the ethics of their existence in Western museums

Leaderscomment

The US needs an independent commission for Nazi loot claims

‘If an artwork is located in the US, its fate cannot be decided in any other state, and any wrong decisions cannot be corrected elsewhere’

Another Schiele work returned to the heirs of Fritz Grünbaum

The 1918 drawing had been in the possession of another Austrian Jewish family, which recently became suspicious of the work's provenance and contacted Grünbaum’s heirs directly in order to “do the right thing”

Famed Egyptian archaeologist pledges to ‘join together’ with Italy to secure return of Mona Lisa

The former antiquities minister is also demanding that three Egyptian treasures, including the Rosetta Stone, be sent to his home country

Iowa museum becomes first in US to return looted Benin bronzes to royal ruler

The University of Iowa Stanley Museum of Art has defended its decision to hand back two objects to the Oba rather than the government

Looted Asante treasures find a new palace home in Ghana

Objects from the British Museum and the Victoria & Albert Museum are on loan to the Asante king, while the Fowler Museum has transferred ownership of seven items

‘Like a child in a messy divorce’: Mary Beard and David Olusoga tackle Parthenon Marbles debate in British Museum panel

Complexities of restitution, the relevance of the universal museum and burgeoning collections were all on the event's agenda

Jordaens painting to be sold after settlement with heirs of Jewish bank shareholders

The work, to be auctioned at Sotheby’s today, was one of more than 2,500 held as collateral and sold, shortly before the Nazi invasion, by the Dutch bank Lisser & Rosenkranz

Bührle Foundation’s provenance research is inadequate, report finds

The report by Raphael Gross calls for more research and details how Jewish owners are omitted from the published provenance

Stedelijk Museum restitutes Matisse Odalisque to Jewish arts patrons’ heirs

Albert Stern, the former owner, sold the painting “out of necessity” in Nazi-occupied Amsterdam, the Dutch Restitutions Committee says

Rubens sketch illegally sold in aftermath of Second World War returned to museum in Germany

The oil sketch “Saint Gregory of Nazianzus” (1621) is one of five works by the Old Master that were unlawfully taken from the Friedenstein Foundation, with two still missing

Judge dismisses Holocaust restitution claim to Guggenheim’s Blue Period Picasso

Karl and Rosi Adler’s heirs had claimed that “La repasseuse” (1904) had been sold under duress as the couple fled Nazi persecution