Art Institute Steps Up Efforts to Learn the Origins of Everything in Its Collection
Provenance Research Takes Center Stage
The Art Institute of Chicago has always placed a high value on knowing the ownership history of its artworks, a crucial aspect of art museum management known as provenance.
New Pressure and Expectations
In recent years, however, intense new pressure has mounted on institutions to do a better job of sourcing their acquisitions and knowing how existing holdings came to be in their collections.
This pressure comes from multiple sources, including families whose artworks were stolen or sold under duress during World War II, countries in Asia or South America where objects were looted from archaeological sites and sold on the black market, and indigenous tribes that lost sacred objects generations ago.
“There is much broader awareness of these issues,” said James Rondeau, president and director of the Art Institute of Chicago. “There is much more intensive public scrutiny, and, obviously, there is more intensive legal scrutiny. But this work occupies not just the legal zones but the ethical and moral zones of ownership.”
Expanded Provenance Team
In August, the museum announced the appointment of Jacques Schuhmacher as its first-ever executive director of provenance research. Schuhmacher formerly served as the senior provenance research curator at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, which specializes in areas such as design and decorative arts.
“We’ve certainly upped our game,” Rondeau said, “but we have always been doing this work. We’ve come to understand that expectations around transparency are different today than they were X number of years ago. So, this has always been happening, but we’re just trying to make sure we have it as an essential part of our narrative.”
New Research and Initiatives
Schuhmacher takes over a four-year-old provenance staff that was recently enlarged to four members. He worked alone at the V&A, and the chance to tackle this research as part of a team was one of the big draws of the Chicago job.
“There are not many museums,” he said, “where you have a dedicated staff member for this work or any team. In many cases, this would be part of the work that a collections manager or a curator does in addition to their existing tasks.”
Recent Examples of Provenance Research
The Art Institute has already made significant strides in its provenance research, including a recent agreement with the family of a collector killed at Auschwitz to keep a Gustave Courbet painting in its collection.
In June, the museum announced it was proactively returning a fragment of a 12th-century architectural column to Thailand after new research revealed it was actually part of the Phanom Rung temple in northeast Thailand.
Transparency and Accountability
Rondeau emphasized that the Art Institute is committed to transparency and accountability in its provenance research, posting summaries on its website for 1,000 objects, including a 1939 Matisse painting that was restituted to its original owner in 1945 after being confiscated by Nazi authorities.
“Irrespective of whether there are problems or perceived problems or not, it is vital that a museum has clarity about what it owns,” Schuhmacher said.
The Art Institute of Chicago is committed to doing the right thing when it comes to its collection, and its expanded provenance team is working hard to ensure that the museum has rightful title to all 300,000 objects in its collection.
Q: Why is provenance research important?
A: Provenance research is important because it helps ensure that museums have rightful title to the objects in their collections and can provide transparency about the history of ownership for each work.
Q: What is the goal of the Art Institute’s provenance team?
A: The goal of the Art Institute’s provenance team is to research the ownership history of every object in the museum’s collection and provide transparency about its findings.
Q: How does the Art Institute plan to achieve this goal?
A: The Art Institute plans to achieve this goal by expanding its provenance team, conducting research on every object in the collection, and posting summaries on its website for each work.
