NY State Law to Require Museums to Label Nazi Looted Art; Critics Question Whether it Will Bring Restitution
By: Ilana Siyance
New York State recently passed a law requiring museums to label art on display that was looted by Nazis. As per Crain’s, however, the well-intending law is still lacking details which would make it an effective means of holding the institutions accountable.
During World War II, Nazis looted over 600,000 pieces of art from Jews. Some of those pieces were destroyed but mostly the pricey art went into private collections, and hundreds of the paintings and sculptures eventually made their way to museums in NY. Restitution efforts to return artworks to their original owners or their descendants only succeeded in rare instances due to legal technicalities like statutes of limitations. In mid-August, a law was signed by Gov. Kathy Hochul, requiring NYS museums who have such pieces hanging, to place a sign in front of the pieces, identifying them as art “which changed hands due to theft, seizure, confiscation, forced sale or other involuntary means” by Nazis between 1933 and 1945. The law was passed as part of a legislative package, which aims to fight anti-Semitism by promoting Holocaust awareness, education in schools and support for survivors and their families.
The law, however, is only a paragraph long, and only says that the state’s museums must “prominently place a placard or other signage” acknowledging the history of such works. A lot of the details are missing or vague and thereby open to interpretation. The new law also does not specify a means of enforcing the law but rather leaves the museums to make disclosures “to the extent practicable,” potentially letting the institutions off to give excuses about lack of resources or space. “If I’m being cynical, the law looks like something that’s passed to make legislators feel like they’re doing something without actually achieving something,” said Erin Thompson, associate professor of art crime at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice. “To me, this is a measure that directs yet more attention to a well scrutinized area, but if you look at antiquities or stolen sacred artworks or objects taken from colonized countries, you don’t yet have that sustained scrutiny.”
Long Island state Sen. Ann Kaplan (D-Nassau), who wrote the law, said the main focus of the law is to get museums to acknowledge the fact, as a first step. “The spirit of the bill is to bring awareness,” Kaplan explained. “We’re not trying to make this difficult on museums. That’s why we left it at their discretion, but we hope that they do the right thing.” As per Crain’s, some critics also say the law should have included a way to make sure public funding wasn’t used in unethical ways by the museum to procure the art. Kaplan responded to this saying that it is “definitely worth looking into” for future regulation. “This new law compels museums to do the right thing and acknowledge the painful history of the Holocaust, and it’s self-policing by empowering the art community to get involved, speak out, and keep museums honest and accountable when they’re failing to do the right thing,” Kaplan previously told the Post.
The Whitney Museum, the Museum of Modern Art, the Guggenheim Museum, Metropolitan Museum of Art and The Brooklyn Museum all have pieces that will require signage. “We’re committed to this law because we know that these pieces have a history that tells a remarkable story about the 20th century,” said Andrea Bayer, deputy director of collections and administration at the Met. “A deeply distressing one, but one which now we hope these objects have found their final home.” Bayer added that the Met has asked the state for clearer guidelines.