As the art market and museum sector come under increasing scrutiny for their due diligence processes regarding potential colonial and Nazi-era loot, Christie’s chooses to support the next generation of provenance researchers. Auction house launches grant program to support scholarships related to Nazi-era provenance issues.
THE annual grants, which will provide £5,000 each to three selected graduate students, will fund studies of potential objects of cultural heritage compromised by the Nazis before and during the Second World War. Recipients will also receive professional mentorship from a member of Christie’s restitution team.
The first winners will be announced on December 3, coinciding with the 25th anniversary of the Washington Principles, the international agreement created to combat large-scale confiscation during the Holocaust. The launch of the program comes amid a constant flow of trial concerning objects that lack a clear provenance for the period surrounding World War II or that are documented to have passed through the hands of dealers affiliated with Nazi Germany. In New York, a law aimed at forcing museums to label these works prominently was ineffective due to a lack of applicability.
The grants are part of Christie’s One Year Program focused on the return of Nazi loot, which marks the 25th anniversary of the Washington Principles through a series of panels, stories and virtual tours of historic sites across Berlin. The 1998 Washington Principles, formed with the cooperation of 44 countries and 13 different non-governmental organizations, offered 11 different venues and strategies for victims and heirs of Nazi confiscation.
Applications for Christie’s new grant will be evaluated by a panel of six judges, including Sarah Done, Christie’s director of restitution, and Marc Masurovsky, who co-founded the Holocaust Art Restitution Project in 1997.
“These new grants reinforce Christie’s ongoing commitment to engaging in Nazi-era restitution, expanding scholarship in provenance research, and ensuring a continued focus on this vital subject, providing a support for an emerging new generation of scholars,” Done said in a statement.
Apps interested graduate students will be accepted until May 31.
