Art Research News

Earthquake, business decline and neglect imperil church paintings; IFAR develops a program to send cataloguers and photographers to Peru as first step toward conservation

On pre-Hispanic art stolen from Peruvian archaeological sites; looting has been going on for centuries, but the scale of destruction is growing, fueled by demand from Western private collectors and museums. Reprinted from Peruvian Antiquities: A Manual for United States Customs

On the growing attention by the American public to the global problem of illicit traffic in world art and antiquities, with special focus on Peru's artistic heritage, as exemplified in a National Geographic Society exhibit, Peru’s Artistic Heritage.

White House nominates members to the committee, established under the 1983 Cultural Property Implementation Act, to advise the President on requests from foreign nations for treaties limiting imports. The nominees (by category) are: Arthur A. Houghton, Patricia Rieff Anawalt (curators); Clemency Coggins, Denver Fred Wendorf, Leslie Elizabeth Wildesen (scholars); Alfred Stendahl, James Crowley (trade); John J. Slocum, Michael Kelly, and James William Alsdorf (public interest).

Guth, a partner in New York law firm of Kelley, Drye and Warren; Zilkha, publisher of Art and Auction magazine.

Detailed examples of recent works examined by IFAR’s Authentication Research Service: a color lithograph described as Toulouse-Lautrec Le Petit Trottin is actually a reprint after the artist's death; untitled Mark Rothko painting on paper authenticated; inherited work attributed to Jacques-Louis David is actually by French artist Rose Decreux; Portrait of Madame Hebuterne is not by Modigliani.

International Fund for Monuments holds reception for Irish Georgian Society's Desmond Guinness.

The High Museum of Art opens in Atlanta. While Richard Meier’s design is exemplary, so is the museum’s precise acquisition policy.

Review of Joanne Snow-Smith’s book examining the authenticity of this painting.

Review by Robert A. Weiner of collection of lectures and book reviews by Stephen E. Weil.

Review by Robert S. Bianchi of this book of essays, edited by Denis Dutton, attempting to define the nature of forgery, using the Hans van Meegeren Vermeer trial as the point of departure.

On the Museum of the American Indian’s computerization of its collection.

Two unsigned landscapes are authentic works by Anton Faistenberger. Approaching Storm, a painting in the collection of the Arnot Art Museum, Elmira, New York, is an Albert Bierstadt original, but a duplicate submitted to IFAR was probably painted by one of his students.