On 8 December, Jelena Subotic will talk about her new book at King’s College in London
While acquiring art (through licit or illicit means) was once a sign of high international standing, the markers of such status have since significantly changed. A new international legal and normative architecture governing art provenance developed after World War II and became institutionalized in the 1990s and 2000s.
Since then, there have been national and global social movements demanding the return of looted art. This shift has established not only that looting is wrong but, more importantly, that restitution is morally right.
As a result of this reframing of what it means to own art, an artifact’s historical provenance has become a core element of its value and the search for provenance and demands for restitution a direct threat to state status.
The same objects that granted states high international status have now become objects of stigma.
Jelena Subotic offers
- A compelling account of the global politics underpinning the current debates about the return of looted art
- Connects historical collection and contemporary restitution of looted art to the struggle for status in international politics
- Provides an overview of the European competition to acquire art since the 19th century and the establishment of major European museums
- Examines in-depth the restitution campaigns for the Parthenon (‘Elgin’) Marbles, the Benin Bronzes, and the never-before-published case of Nazi-looted art in the National Museum of Serbia
