Provenance in the art trade – will the judgement of the Federal Court of Justice bring about change?

PDF | White Paper von Dr. Rupert Keim

This benefits everyone involved: buyers, sellers and auctioneers. A work of art with a clear provenance can circulate unencumbered in the art trade and is usually worth more. But it is a rocky road for the experts to get there: Like a jigsaw puzzle, the information from catalogues, catalogues raisonnés or secondary literature is pieced together until a – reasonably – clear picture emerges. Very few provenances are complete. Even if a work can be clearly identified, the past ownership is far from clear. What belonged to whom and when can rarely be clearly traced back.

This becomes problematic when it comes to works of art that went missing during the Nazi era and then reappeared at some point. The Lost Art Database maintained by the German Centre for Cultural Property (DZK) plays a central role here. It contains search and find reports, but does little to provide legal certainty for current and original owners or their heirs. Everything that is suspected to be looted art is entered – even if this is not proven. The DZK has so far refused to accept responsibility for the reports.

The dilemma for art auction houses and their customers: It is often impossible to ensure that a work of art matches the one entered in the Lost Art Database. In addition, different rules apply to public and private collections: Museums, archives and libraries are recommended to return cultural assets seized as a result of Nazi persecution to their former owners or their heirs or to make restitution in some other way. Private collectors can agree to this – or not. As a result, the items are usually not returned because too much time has passed and the claim has changed hands. Nevertheless, in practice it often happens that consignors nowadays strive for a fair and equitable solution – also in order to be able to sell their artwork at a good price. One prerequisite for this is that there is no report in the Lost Art Database or that an existing one is cancelled.

To make this easier, the Federal Court of Justice has now ruled that the DZK is responsible for the content of its reports. This means that in future the DZK must decide whether a report is published and when it is deleted. The white paper by Dr Rupert Keim, Managing Partner of Karl & Faber Kunstauktionen, discusses what this means for the art trade and where there are still open points.

Banner picture: Reception building from north-east direction. Photo: © Nikolay Kazakov