The development of provenance research
The history of provenance research and the Second World War
Provenance research into art looted by the Nazi regime gained momentum in the museum world following a major conference held in Washington in 1998. Forty-four attending countries, including the Netherlands, signed the Washington Principles on Nazi-Confiscated Art, an agreement whose main aim was to identify cultural assets that had been confiscated by the Nazis, and to make this information available to the public. The agreement also encouraged the original owners and/or their heirs to make their claims known. Signatory countries would then make efforts through restitution and other means to achieve a just and fair solution for the victims of Nazi persecution.
Core task of the museum
Also in 1998 the Rijksmuseum compiled an inventory of objects in its collection with a potentially suspicious provenance. In 2009 the Dutch Museum Association (Museumvereniging) instructed all museums in the Netherlands to investigate the provenance history of their collections. The results of this national survey, which concluded in 2018, can be accessed via the website of the Dutch Cultural Heritage Agency (RCE). Since 2012, an expert team of Rijksmuseum staff has been conducting research on objects in the collection that were produced before 1946 and acquired by the museum between 1933 and 2012. Provenance research is a specialised and fully integrated research area at the History department of the Rijksmuseum, where it contributes to enhancing access to the collection.
Developments
In the more than ten years that the Rijksmuseum has been conducting provenance research that focuses on the Second World War period, developments have taken place in government policy and in our understanding of the various forms of involuntary property loss. Within the museum itself, provenance research has broadened beyond increasing the visibility of stories relating to the Second World War to enriching and informing our understanding of the collection. It contributes to a more all-encompassing vision on cultural objects in the context of culture, history and the museum, one that includes the violence of history and reflection on the role of the Rijksmuseum itself.
Historical context
Provenance research is painstaking and labour-intensive work. The researchers focus their efforts on objects whose history points to a well-founded suspicion of problematic origin, such as those handled by specific dealers and/or those that entered the Rijksmuseum collection in the 1933 to 1945 period. We take this selective approach, rather than investigating all objects irrespective of their background, to increase the speed at which we can detect and respond to possible injustices.
Completed research
The first area of provenance research, into all the paintings, is complete. The subsequent survey, into the drawings, was paused to conduct research into the some 1800 objects from the former collection of Dr Fritz Mannheimer (1890-1939). Dr Mannheimer assembled his collection primarily in the 1930s in Germany and German-occupied territories, suggesting an increased risk that objects in his collection were transferred into other hands involuntarily before they came into his possession. Following the completion of this research, we have resumed our survey of drawings acquired by the Rijksmuseum in the 1933-1945 period, with the exception of 19th-century Dutch drawings.
Acquisitions in the 1933-1945 period
We are currently conducting research into all objects acquired by the museum prior to and during the Second World War, i.e. from the moment the National Socialists came to power in Germany until the end of the war in 1945. Most of the objects under investigation fall under the classifications of applied art, sculpture, ceramics and furniture. This research is complicated by the fact that in many cases there are multiple extant copies of the objects, making it difficult to establish to whom a specific object belonged in the past. Compared with paintings and drawings there are also fewer illustrations of this type of object and less detailed descriptions of them in catalogues and reference literature. Grouping objects for investigation according to collection, dealer or collector, for example, provides the best historical context for the objects and connections between them, leading to optimal results. In addition to our work on the current permanent collection of the Rijksmuseum, we regularly advise the museum on potential acquisitions.
Research results
Once research on each object is concluded, we classify its provenance as ‘clear’, ‘unclear’ or ‘suspicious’. We then enter the research results, classifications and accompanying details into the research reports. Each report contains a summary overview of the group of objects, with further details about any objects with an unclear origin. Provenance information on individual objects that fall within the scope of this research can also be accessed via Collection Online. Provenance research also contributes to what visitors get to see and hear about objects in the Rijksmuseum collection, whether in the museum or online.
Colonial history
The Rijksmuseum is also conducting research into objects whose origins lie in the colonial period.