The MFA Boston opened its Benin gallery in 2013 after Robert Owen Lehman pledged to donate his collection of West African works from the 16th to the 18th centuries over time. Many works in the Lehman Collection, which was established in 1970s and 1980s “through purchase at public auction and from dealers, can be traced to the attack on Benin in 1897,” the museum said in a statement issued today (April 22).
Of that promised gift, Lehman outright donated five Benin objects to the museum, which will go on view in late June in its Art of Africa Gallery.
The MFA Boston, “continues to seek a resolution regarding the ownership and display of the Benin Kingdom works in its collection,” the statement added.
“The MFA was the first American museum to launch a colonial-era provenance project. We strive to be a leader in ethical stewardship and reaching judicious restitution decisions,” museum director Matthew Teitelbaum said in a statement.
“Unfortunately, we were not able to make progress on a mutually agreeable resolution for our gallery of Benin bronzes. Without such a resolution, the gallery could not be sustained in the long term.”
