State Hermitage Museum Theatens to Halt Outgoing Loans

In the aftermath of last month's fiasco at the Swiss-German border, The State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg has threatened a moratorium on future loans to Europe and the UK.

Excerpts:

Mikhail Piotrovsky, director of the Hermitage, warns there is a real possibility that no Russian museum will lend works to UK or other European venues unless it receives "concrete guarantees" from host governments that its collections will not be impounded, as a result of a long-running dispute between a Swiss businessman and the Russian government.

At a conference organised by the Art Loss Register in London before the Swiss incident, curators raised concerns about artworks being held hostage with David Lammy, the culture minister. The issue was also aired in September at a meeting of the Club of Three, a private group set up to foster good relations between America, Europe and Russia. But although the British government operates an indemnity scheme for public galleries, it has said it is unable to offer similar guarantees to private institutions.

The National Gallery is calling on the UK to adopt anti-seizure legislation. In the meantime, however, Prof Piotrovsky says the Hermitage has no choice but to reconsider all its agreements for exhibitions with countries "which cannot give proper guarantees to art and where governments do not understand that art is not a commercial commodity".

Unfortunately for Mr. Piotrovsky and the Hermitage, outgoing loans are a reciprocal process. Cultural institutions rely heavily on one another to lend works to special exhibitions and often their willingness or refusal to lend increases the likelihood that the solicited institution will do the same when the situation is reversed. If the Hermitage or any other Russian cultural institution intends to have a meaningful exhibition any time soon they might want to rethink their position.

Art From Russia Seized at Swiss Border

The NY Times story is here.

The works, which belong to the Pushkin in Moscow, were on loan for an exhibit of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist works that were on display in Martigny. They were seized at the Swiss border allegedly at the request of the firm Noga, a trading company, which claims they are owed around $800 million in Russian debts for food services provided in the early 1990’s. According to Swiss authorities, the 50 works, which include paintings by Picasso, Renoir, Monet and van Gogh, are insured for $1 billion. However, shortly after the Times article appeared, the BBC reported that the Swiss government has ordered the immediate release of the works. Excerpt:

Pushkin director Irina Antonova said it was unacceptable that works of art should become "hostages" in political disputes.

So the Swiss government soon stepped in to say the paintings should be returned because international law barred the seizure of cultural goods for private reasons, said foreign ministry official Paul Seger.

While the works are likely to soon head back to Russia, I doubt that they will be sending anything else over to Switzerland in the near future. Although it is not a complete safeguard against having works seized, the United States has an immunity from seizure statute that protects against the seizure of art imports in certain instances. However, exported objects originating in the United States could be subject to seizure in a foreign country. Since most foreign countries lack an immunity statute, U.S. museums typically include language in the loan agreement that protects themselves against the possibility of having artworks seized. Wise and Wolff (ALI-ABA, 1987) suggest something to the effect of “Borrower hereby guarantees the return of the work of art to Lender, or, in the event that return should be impossible, Borrower agrees to compensate Lender to the full value of the works. Borrower also agrees to indemnify Lender for all legal expenses Lender may incur in connection with any seizure of the work or other legal action preventing its return.”

Top Ten Art Crimes

The FBI has released the Top Ten Art Crimes, a list of (mostly) unresolved and prominent art thefts. The list is here and Australia's The Age covers the story here.

Saltz on the Wound Leaves MoMA Bleeding

In yet another attack on MoMA, art critic Jerry Saltz holds nothing back in his latest assessment. While some of his points are well taken, I believe he has a remarkable ability to overexaggerate to the point of sounding maniacal. His expectations are high for the museum - as they should be. We should all have high expectations for a museum that boasts the unparalleled collection that it does, that is displayed in a new $425 million building, that costs $20 a person to get through the doors, but let's remember that the museum has been open for just one year in the new building. MoMA could not possibly accomplish all of the things that would make Jerry Saltz happy in one year and it is likely that no amount of time and effort ever could. As for the rest of us I believe we've been satisfied, at the very least, by the new MoMA. There is always room for improvement and I believe a little patience will pay off in the end.

Sound Off on Noisy Galleries

Nothing new here but it's always worth a reminder.