I am pleased to announce that I will be among the speakers in Milan on September 30, 2024 at a conference organized by the Universitá degli Studi della Campania Luigi Vantivelli and the UNESCO Chair on Business Integrity and Crime Prevention in Art and Antiquities Market: “Preventing Art Crimes Through Regulation and Self-Regulation.” To be held at the Palazzo Visconti, the conference will offer a full day of expert speakers on the topics of Updating the UNESCO International Code of Ethics for Dealers in Cultural Property; Codes of Conduct, Codes of Ethics and Other Soft Law Tools in Cultural Heritage (in which I will be a discussant); the Legal Impact of Due Diligence Procedures and Acquisition, Anti-Money Laundering in the Art Market; and Industry Practices and Judicial Applications: Lessons to be Learned. The program is below, and registration may be found here.
As the title and expertise of the participants suggest, this will be an excellent broad view of the question of regulation in cultural property, and the extent to which market participants can guide the outcome. It will focus on public-private partnerships for the prevention of wrongdoings against cultural property, and specific attention will be devoted to the role that codes of conduct, due diligence, and KYC procedures play in this area. I am excited to be a part of the event and see many old friends. I hope that if you are nearby you will join us, or attend remotely if you are not.
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Topics:
Anne Laure Bandle,
Irina Tarsis,
Saskia Hufnagel,
Events,
UNESCO,
ARCA,
Center for Art Law,
Leiden University,
Borel & Barbey,
Giuseppe Calabi,
Sunna Altnoder,
Louise Malécot,
Stefano Manacorda,
Universitá Luigi Vantivelli,
Tess Davis,
Antiquities Coalition,
Alessandra Donati,
University of Milan Bicocca,
Toshiyuki Kono,
Kyushu University,
Marc Balcells,
Marco Colacurci,
Lynda Albertson,
Association for Research on Crimes Against Art,
Rena Neville,
Corinth Consulting Ltd.,
Arianna Visconti,
Universitá Cattolica del Sacro Cuore,
Umit Turksen,
Coventry University,
Anna Mosna,
Erika Bochereau,
CINOA,
Riccardo Ercole Omodel,
University of Palermo,
Eugenio Fusco,
Milan Public Prosecutor,
Guido Carlo Alleva,
Giuseppe Catalano,
Assicurazioni Generali S.p.A.,
Antonella Crippa,
Intesa Sanpaolo,
Palazzo Visconti,
University Oberta de Catalunya,
University of Sydney
Today I am pleased to announce that I have filed a brief in the Supreme Court of the United States as counsel of record for amicus curiae Mark B. Feldman, former U.S. Department of State Acting Legal Adviser. We filed the brief in the case of Cassirer et al. v. Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection Foundation (“TBC”). Cassirer is the long-running dispute over title to Rue St. Honoré, après-midi, effet de pluie (Rue St. Honoré, Afternoon, Rain Effect) by Impressionist painter Camille Pissarro. The painting once belonged to Lilly Cassirer, a Jewish woman in Berlin in 1939, from whom Nazi agents “bought” the painting. The case before the Supreme Court is not about whether the painting was stolen—it is undisputed that it was. Rather, the Supreme Court will review the Ninth Circuit’s decision that Spanish law, not California law, should govern the ownership rights.
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Topics:
Lilly Cassirer,
Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act,
Supreme Court,
SPK,
Stiftung Preussischer Kulturbesitz,
Hermann Goering,
FSIA,
expropriation exception”,
sovereign immunity,
UNESCO,
Rue St. Honoré,
Camille Pissarro,
Baron Hans-Heinrich Thyssen- Bornemisza,
Cassirer v. Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection,
Welfenschatz,
Jakob Scheidwimmer,
Philipp v. F.R.G.,
Mark B. Feldman
I will not be able to attend, but there is an event in the United Kingdom on June 9, 2017 in Canterbury well worth attending for anyone interested. Entitled “Cultural Heritage in Danger: Illicit Trafficking, Armed Conflicts and Cultural Diplomacy,” the conference organizers describe it as follows. Registration is available here.
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Topics:
UNESCO,
University of Kent,
Brexit,
Canterbury,
Janet Ulph,
University of Leicester,
Kathryn Walker Tubb,
David Gill,
University of Suffolk,
Karl Goodwin,
London School of Economics and Political Science,
Maria Dimitriou,
Kristin Hausler,
Tasoula Hadjitofi,
1954 Hague Convention,
Artemis Papathanassiou,
Dr Sophia Labadi,
Dr Tatiana Flessas,
Mark Harrison,
Sophie Hayes,
Dr Sophie Vigneron,
Kent Law School,
Dr. Carla Figueira
After two months of scathing criticism, the German Ministry of Culture has submitted a watered-down, but still problematic, revision to its Cultural Heritage Protection Law. Back in July, Minister of Culture Monika Grütters announced the initial proposal to amend Germany’s law, or Kulturgutschutzgesetz. The revision, however, is optical at best, and seems targeted only to soften criticism while still taking a regressive view of cultural property that is more at home in the 18th century than the 21st. It will probably pass, to the detriment of forward thinking art market players who will move their trade elsewhere.
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Topics:
cultural property,
Georg Baselitz,
German Cultural Ministry,
U.S.,
Restitution,
UNESCO,
Switzerland,
Austria,
Kulturgutschutzgesetz,
Gerhard Richter,
Museums,
Andy Warhol,
Monika Grütters,
Cultural Heritage Protection,
Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation,
NAGPRA
