Law & Politics In a Precedent-Setting Move, the Supreme Court Denies Jewish Heirs’ Attempt to Reclaim the $250 Million Guelph Treasure The heirs of the dealers who sold the treasure under duress will get another chance to make their case in a district court. By Sarah Cascone, Feb 3, 2021
Law & Politics The Museum of the Bible Must Once Again Return Artifacts, This Time an Entire Warehouse of 5,000 Egyptian Objects The man behind the DC institution has admitted his collecting "naiveté." By Caroline Goldstein, Jan 29, 2021
Law & Politics In a Victory for Art Dealer Yves Bouvier, Swiss Prosecutors Are Closing the Book on Claims Brought Against Him by a Russian Oligarch The decision is the latest development in a long-running legal dispute between the Swiss dealer and billionaire Dmitry Rybolovlev. By Naomi Rea, Jan 28, 2021
Law & Politics Landlords in a Tony Hamptons Town Must Fill Their Empty Storefronts With Works by Local Artists—Or Else Pay a Fine Southampton's mayor proposed the initiative, which is now a law, last summer. By Taylor Dafoe, Jan 25, 2021
Law & Politics UK Galleries Will Benefit From a Court Ruling Forcing Insurers to Pay Businesses for Losses Incurred During Lockdown Arts businesses will still likely have to fight to get their claims fully reimbursed. By Naomi Rea, Jan 18, 2021
Law & Politics The UK Government Plans to Make It Harder to Remove Public Monuments to Controversial Figures One minister referred to demonstrators as "baying mobs." By Naomi Rea, Jan 18, 2021
Law & Politics Artist Nick Cave’s Controversial Upstate New York Artwork Has Found a New Home at the Brooklyn Museum The public artwork has been attacked by the mayor of a small town where it was installed. By Taylor Dafoe, Jan 15, 2021
Law & Politics A Drawing Believed to Be the Final Nazi-Looted Artwork in the Gurlitt Collection Has Been Returned to Its Rightful Owners The provenance of some 1,000 artworks from the notorious collection still remain unknown. By Sarah Cascone, Jan 13, 2021
Law & Politics Street Artist Futura Is Suing the North Face Clothing Company for Allegedly Stealing His Signature Motif for a Line of Outerwear “The North Face seems like they care a lot about being cool,” says the artist’s lawyer. “This is probably the most uncool thing they have ever done.” By Taylor Dafoe, Jan 13, 2021
Law & Politics Mwazulu Diyabanza, the Robin Hood of Restitution Activism, Has Been Fined for Removing a Congolese Funerary Statue From a Dutch Museum Diyabanza was banned from entering museums, but is allowed to meet with museum directors. By Kate Brown, Jan 12, 2021
Law & Politics Members of the Art-Dealing Wildenstein Family Will Go on Trial for Tax Fraud—Again—After France’s High Court Throws Out Prior Rulings This will mark the third time the case has gone to trial. By Eileen Kinsella, Jan 6, 2021
Law & Politics In a Win for UK Antiquities Dealers, Britain Will Abandon the EU’s Strict Regulations on Importing Cultural Heritage Now That It’s Finalized Brexit The regulations were conceived as a way to curb the illegal trafficking of cultural goods. By Taylor Dafoe, Jan 6, 2021
Law & Politics Lawmakers Are Cracking Down on the ‘Unregulated’ US Art Market. Here’s How a New Anti-Money Laundering Law Will Affect Dealers The new regulations target antiquities dealers, but could soon apply across the art market. By Eileen Kinsella, Jan 6, 2021
Law & Politics As the Fate of Many Confederate Memorials Remains Undecided, Richmond’s Robert E. Lee Statue Heads to a Virginia Museum The controversial sculpture will likely go on view in a larger exhibition about the evolution of Confederate memorialization. By Taylor Dafoe, Dec 23, 2020
Law & Politics After Decades of Lobbying, Congress Has Approved the Creation of New Smithsonian Museums for American Latinos and Women’s History Legislation for the new Smithsonian museums was included in the 5,500-page omnibus spending bill passed last night. By Taylor Dafoe, Dec 22, 2020
