THE MET CLOISTERS: THE USA'S ONLY MUSEUM EXCLUSIVELY DEVOTED TO THE ART AND ARCHITECTURE OF THE MIDDLE AGES©

 

The Cloisters, a branch of the famous Metropolitan Museum of Art fondly called "The Met", overlooks the picturesque Hudson River in Fort Tryon Park located in Upper Manhattan. The Museum derives its name from the portions of five Medieval cloisters incorporated into a modern museum structure.

The Cloisters' story begins with George Grey Barnard (1863-1938), a rather colourful character. A student of the French sculptor Auguste Rodin (1840-1917), Barnard himself was a prominent American sculptor.

HISTORY OF THE MET CLOISTERS MUSEUM

While working in rural France, Barnard supplemented his income by locating and selling medieval sculpture and architectural fragments that had made their way into the hands of local landowners over several centuries of political and religious upheaval. Barnard also served as a middleman between major Paris dealers and American clients; however, he kept many these confiscated pieces for himself -- a practice that today might cause issues of stolen art and its repatriation to arise.

Upon moving back to the United States just prior to World War I, Barnard opened to the public a church-like brick structure located in Upper Manhattan on Fort Washington Avenue filled with his Collection—the first installation of Medieval art and architectural artifacts in America, which he named George Grey Barnard's Cloisters. Although Barnard proudly displayed his own personal collection of Medieval art and architectural artifacts, the Collection was not properly curated so that it could be presented in a historically accurate context.

Vintage photo of the Interior of 
Barnard's Cloisters, circa 1925

This lack of historical continuity and perspective was counterproductive to his fervent goal of enabling Americans to see and learn about art from the Middle Ages, and especially young American sculptors whom he hoped would be inspired by what he called "the patient Gothic chisel." Instead, it expressed Barnard's poetic and very personal interpretation of the Middle Ages, but nevertheless, was a ground-breaking and influential installation because it was the first ever display of its type of Medieval art in America.

Enter John D. Rockefeller, Jr.

When Barnard's Cloisters was offered for sale in 1924, John D. Rockefeller, Jr. (1874-1960) provided funds that enabled The Metropolitan Museum of Art to purchase the Museum and its Collections. The expert artistry of Medieval art, as well as its innate spirituality, strongly appealed to the philanthropist Rockefeller, who, like many of his contemporaries, possessed a fascination with the past. Consequently, Rockefeller concurrently presented the Museum with more than 40 pieces from his own collection of Medieval works of art -- a gift which enhanced Barnard's original very eclectic, albeit disorganized, Collection which had previously been on display.

By 1927, the Metropolitan Museum of Art decided a larger building was needed for its branch museum – one that would exhibit its Collection in a more scholarly fashion. "With visionary foresight, Rockefeller offered to finance the conversion of 66.5 acres of land just north of Barnard's [original] museum into a public park, known as Fort Tryon Park, with a new Cloisters as its centerpiece". (SIDE NOTE: Fort Tryon Park was designed by the Olmsted Brothers landscape architectural firm between 1931-1933.)

In order to retain the pastoral setting surrounding the new Cloisters Museum and grounds, and to keep the view from the new Museum pristine, Rockefeller also donated additional parkland to the State of New Jersey along the New Jersey Palisades on the opposite bank of the Hudson River.

Construction began in 1935. Photos documenting the site and construction were taken by Irving Underhill between May 6, 1935 and January 5, 1938, such as the one herein above.

The three men who, together with Rockefeller, gave shape to the present museum were Charles Collens (1873-1956), Joseph Breck (1885-1933), and James Rorimer (1905-1966) -- with Collens being the primary architect. Breck, a curator of decorative arts as well as assistant director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, was primarily responsible for the Cloisters' interior design until his untimely death in 1933, after which time Rorimer replaced him.

When The Cloisters finally opened to the public in 1938 in the middle of the Great Depression, the finished Museum resembled a French Romanesque abbey, while not replicating any one particular Medieval building or setting, but instead designed to evoke the general architecture of the later Middle Ages. The Cloisters creates an integrated and harmonious context in which visitors can experience the rich tradition of medieval artistic production, including metalwork, painting, sculpture, and textiles.

THE THREE CLOISTER GARDENS

The Cloisters is also renowned for its three Cloister Gardens – Cuxa, Bonnefont, and Trie. Designed as an integral feature when the Museum opened in 1938, the Gardens enhance the setting in which the Museum's collection of medieval art is displayed and create an understanding of medieval life.

Planted in the reconstructed Romanesque and Gothic cloisters, each of the three Gardens re-creates those that provided sustenance and spiritual refreshment within a traditional Medieval monastery. The Judy Black Garden in the Cuxa Cloister is designed in the typically Medieval plan with a fountain set at the center of crossed paths which divide this Garden into quadrants, each with a grass plot and a pollarded crab apple tree.

The "Medieval pleasure garden", with its borders of plants chosen for beauty and fragrance, is the ancestor of present day ornamental gardens.  In winter, the arcades are glassed in, and the interior walkway becomes a conservatory filled with tender plants such as date palm, orange, rosemary, and bay. 

The raised beds of the Bonnefont Cloister Herb Garden hold one of the most specialized plant collections in the world. The foundation of its plant list is a 9th Century edict of the Emperor Charlemagne designating 89 species to be grown on his estates. This list has been supplemented by herbals and monastic records, as well as archaeological evidence. The Cloisters' collection is based on the more than 400 species of plants known and used in the Middle Ages, some of which were grown in gardens, while various herbs were gathered from the wild, and exotic spices such as black pepper and ginger were imported in dried form.  Plants in this Garden are also grouped and labeled according to their Medieval use, whether in cooking, medicine, art, industry, housekeeping, or magic.  Near the south wall of Bonnefont Cloister Herb Garden, is an orchard of lady apples and other medieval fruits such as medlar, quince, currants, and elderberries. Orchards were associated with monasteries, manor houses, and parks, and were often enclosed to keep out thieves.   The third of the three Met Cloister Gardens, Trie Cloister Garden, evokes the idealized gardens and landscapes of the Middle Ages. The joy the Medieval world felt upon the return of the Spring season each year was expressed in their verdant, millefleur tapestries, allegorical poems, and paintings. The plantings in this "Medieval fantasy garden" are inspired by that much-loved Medieval setting, the enameled mead or flowering meadow. Much more reflective of the wildness of nature, the Medieval world's exuberant vision of nature is evident in this Garden as well as in the famous Unicorn Tapestries' myriad of flowers and fruits which is part of The Met's Collection. 

In 1974, The Met Cloisters received City Landmark Designation from the City of New York. The most recent renovation of the Museum, completed in 2009, has been of the Late Gothic Hall, which included the conservation of windows from the Dominican monastery in Sens and the return to public view of a monumental tapestry from Burgos Cathedral.

Primary Sources: metmuseum.org/The Cloisters; nylandmarks.org; Cloisters Archives Collection

©2024 Snobby Tours®, Inc.  All Rights Reserved.

ANNUAL SEPHARDIC AUTUMN AND INTERNATIONAL SEPHARDIC MUSIC FESTIVAL IN CORDOVA, SPAIN CELEBRATE CENTURIES OF SPANISH JEWISH HERITAGE AND CULTURE©

 

There is evidence that Jews have been residing in Spain since the 2nd Century C.E.  The most prolific and peaceful existence for them may have been during Ummayad's Caliphate in the 10th Century C.E. while Cordova was under Moorish rule.  At that time, Cordova was the capital of the Caliphate, making it one of the most important and advanced cities in the then-Western world -- and the reason that there was a large Sephardic community living in the city.

Historical documents exist which reveal that in 10th Century Cordova, the overall population was approximately 500,000 people, among which inhabitants included around 10,000 Jews, most of whom were intellectual, educated people who spoke several languages, and who included very well-known philosophers, doctors, and commercial vendors in various trades.

Visiting Cordova today reveals the centuries of Sephardic Jewish history in Spain and the pre-Spanish Inquisition mode and quality of life of Jews sharing the city with other cultures and religions.  

The old Synagogue, its interior pictured above, dating back to the Medieval period is still extant -- one of only three synagogues remaining in Spain from prior to the commencement of the  Spanish Inquisition in the late 1400s.

EVOLUTION OF SEPHARDIC AUTUMN IN CORDOVA

On September 3rd each year, the European Day of Jewish Culture is celebrated.  This Day of Awareness about Jewish Heritage and Legacy was first instituted in 1996 in France under the formula of "Open Doors", an initiative that was joined by the Red de Juderias de Espana "Caminos de Sefarad", the Network of Jewish Quarters of Spain "Ways of the Sephardic". 

In 2005, the European Association for the Preservation and Promotion of Jewish Heritage and Culture (AEPJ) was created to coordinate the "Open Doors" project at a more inclusive international European level.  The country of Spain stood out at the international level with 145 activities in 24 cities with the participation of 35,000 people.  In Cordova alone, 50 entities participated, 77 activities were presented, and 8,265 people attended -- making this project in Cordova an absolute success.

Further, due to the international consolidation of this project, the European Day of Jewish Culture has been extended from occurring only on September 3rd of each year now to include more designated days with the incorporation of the Sephardic Autumn programming that takes place during the first two weeks of September every year, and with the International Sephardic Music Festival which either overlaps with, or immediately follows, the last few days of Sephardic Autumn every year.

Otono Sefardi (Sephardic Autumn) has evolved over the years to currently include guided tours of the Jewish Quarter, gastronomic classes about Sephardic food, education workshops and conferences, concerts and other performances of Sephardic music, special art exhibitions, kosher wine tastings and other activities celebrating Spain's acknowledgment of Jews as part of its rich and vibrant history and culture.

In 2024, Sephardic Autumn in Cordova overlaps with the International Sephardic Music Festival occurring September 11-15, 2024, now in its 22nd year.

================================================

(Primary Sources:  EventourCordoba; Cordoba Department of Tourism; Cordoba City Council)

© 2024 Snobby Tours®, Inc.  All Rights Reserved.

THE ANNUAL PASADENA SHOWCASE HOUSE OF DESIGN: A LEGACY OF DESIGN SUPPORTING PHILANTHROPY©

The 2024 Pasadena Showcase House of Design

THE PASADENA SHOWCASE HOUSE LEGACY OF PHILANTHROPY

For 59 years, the Pasadena Showcase House of Design, the annual fundraiser of the Pasadena Showcase House for the Arts (PSHA) held during the Spring season, has provided financial support that benefits the Los Angeles musical arts through the creation of diverse music programs funded primarily by gifts and grants. These programs for decades have successfully nurtured the study and appreciation of music, provided music as a vehicle toward health, healing and music education, and underscored that music enhances other academic subjects as well cultural enrichment for both youth and adults.

This philanthropic legacy first began in 1948 when the Pasadena Junior Philharmonic Committee made plans to raise money for the Continuance Fund – later named the Los Angeles Philharmonic Association (LAPA) – to help pay for the series of concerts performed in the City of Pasadena by the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra.

The original founding members consisted of 18 women who met their early fundraising goals with a series of traditional "society" social events -- a shipwreck party, a casino night, an assortment of bridge tournaments and gatherings around a popular new fixture in their homes in the 1950s, the television set.  The TV parties were particularly popular because they provided an added attraction for guests who often "dressed up" as their favorite TV stars such as Lucy and Desi, The Honeymooners, Matt Dillon, Perry Mason, "Kookie" and Joe Friday.  During those early years, these social events brought in $3,000 to $5,000 annually -- which amounts to between $32,000 and $54,000 in today’s dollars -- and which went a long way towards LAPA's philanthropic endeavours in the 1950s.

Students arriving at Walt Disney Concert Hall
for the Pasadena Showcase House Youth Concert

The Pasadena Showcase House Instrumental Competition has awarded over $500,000 in prize money since it began in 1985.  The Competition is open to string, woodwind, and brass musicians ages 14 through 19 years of age who are full-time students and who reside and attend high school in Los Angeles County, who compete for individual prizes that range from $500 to $4,000 to further their education. The judging panel includes members of the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra and prize monies for the Instrumental Competition are drawn from the proceeds of the Pasadena Showcase House for the Arts’ annual fundraiser, the Pasadena Showcase House of Design.

Now in its 59th year, due to the dedication of PSHA members, the countless hours they volunteer, the talent and financial commitment of the designers and so many others who donate their time, services, products and money, the Pasadena Showcase House of Design has become one of the oldest, largest and most successful home and garden tours in the USA.  Since its inception, it has raised over $25-million in support of its dedication to cultural enrichment through the furtherance of music education and performances.

Grand Foyer
Amy Peltier Interior Design & Home
2018 Pasadena Showcase House

HISTORY OF THE PASADENA SHOWCASE HOUSE OF DESIGN

The idea for the Pasadena Showcase House of Design was suggested in 1965.  This idea turned out to be brilliant and fortuitous, not only because it utilized local resources, local mansions and the many local area interior designers, but also because it appealed to the rapidly-increasing number of newly-married Baby Boomer housewives in the Greater Los Angeles area who were interested in ideas for beautifying their homes and gardens.  It was no surprise that when the Pasadena Junior Philharmonic Committee, later known as Pasadena Showcase House for the Arts (PSHA), opened the doors to the first Showcase House in 1965, that the public showed up in droves.

Responding to the collaboration of imagination and hard work from the Committee and the participating local creative resources, community support was immediately enthusiastic and generous.  More than $11,000. was raised that first year, which is approximately $110,000. in 2024 dollars.  Admission to the first Showcase House was $1.50 per person, which included coffee and cookies.  Approximately 7,500 people attended.  Street parking in Pasadena predictably was in short supply, so automobiles often camped on a neighbor’s lawn.  (By contrast, today’s tickets range from $35.00 to $65.00, and visitors are shuttled to/from the Showcase House by chartered buses serving several nearby locations.)

The designated Showcase House has historically been open to visitors during the Spring season from mid-April through mid-May, including on Mother's Day when a special catered Brunch is offered along with other celebratory activities.

In 1970, “Art Sales,” provided by two local artists, was added to the event. Now called "The Shops at Showcase", features around 25 vendors situated on the landscaped grounds of the Showcase House who come from throughout California and who have been carefully selected to offer visitors unique designer jewelry, a selection of gourmet food items, clothing that ranges from avant-garde to classic, garden items, and an assortment of housewares from practical to luxurious, inter alia.

Refreshments initially evolved over the years from free coffee and cookies to lunches provided by PSHA members. Next came a cafeteria, and thereafter a full-service restaurant, a Gourmet-to-Go station, al fresco dining, wines and pubs. Celebrity chefs such as Wolfgang Puck have even provided the catering.

What does it take to be a Showcase House? There is no ideal house that meets all the criteria; however, having two staircases is at the top of the must-have list, along with a wide road for the shuttles, sufficient space on the grounds for Shops at Showcase, porta-potties, trash, and the like, are the practicalities that influence the selection.  Over the years, houses selected have also been located in nearby neighboring communities such as La Canada Flintridge in the foothills north of Pasadena where many homes pre-date those in Pasadena, and where Louis B. Mayer had his very first motion picture production facilities prior to his establishing M-G-M Studios in Culver City.

Sometimes there are grand mansions and other times charming homes on a smaller scale are chosen.  No matter the amount of the interior square footage, each estate is renovated from top to bottom by leading designers using the latest concepts and materials.

Dining Room
Samantha Williams Interior Design
2019 Pasadena Showcase House

Also, there are additional considerations.  If the house is occupied and not for sale, the owners have final say over the choice of the Master Colour Palette.  If the house is vacant and for sale, there is greater flexibility for the Showcase House Committee regarding selection of the Master Colour Palatte and the materials used by the designers and landscape architects.  New fixtures and design features such as built-in bookcases, etched glass window panes in the kitchen, stenciling painted on the wooden floors of hallways, fireplace mantels, for example, which are permanently attached to the house and its exterior stay with the house after the event, paid for by the owners, whereas removable fabric window treatments, chandeliers, and artwork are generally removed unless purchased by the owners or by visitors during the annual Showcase House event.   Additionally, if the house has a local or other historic landmark designation, there are parameters by law relevant to renovation and updating both the interior and the exterior of the house which require compliance in order to maintain its heritage preservation landmark status.

THE 2024 PASADENA SHOWCASE HOUSE OF DESIGN

Featured as a Showcase House twice previously during the past 59 years,  in 1975 and 1996, the 2024 Pasadena Showcase House of Design may look familiar to many since it has frequently been a setting for movies, television shows and advertisements. “Eleanor and Franklin,” “Foul Play,” “The Christmas Box,” and “Bachelor Party,” are some of the movies it has appeared in, while television shows include “McCloud,” “Falcon Crest,” “Quantum Leap,” and “Remington Steele.”

The stately English Tudor Revival Style home boasts a significant historic background, several storied owners and even a prestigious designation as a Pasadena City Landmark. It was once named “El Roble” by one of its prominent residents, a Spanish translation in honor of a stately oak tree that once graced its magnificent front lawn.  Commissioned by Gertrude Potter Daniels, wife of a wealthy Chicago businessman, the home was originally built in 1902 by Joseph J. Blick, one of Pasadena’s pioneer architects, as a “winter home” for the Daniels and their two young sons. The graceful, shingle-style structure cost $15,000 to build, a significant amount for that time.

Just three years later in 1905, the home was sold to Susanna Bransford Emery Holmes, again to serve as a winter home.  Mrs. Holmes gained fame as the “Silver Queen” after her late first husband named Emery, had struck it rich in Utah organizing the Silver King Mines.  Upon her acquisition of the house, and with no expenses spared, a new set of distinctive architectural changes were made.  The Holmes' entertained lavishly in their winter home for many years and in 1922 decided to make it their sole residence.  Inspired by her European travels during the years, Mrs. Holmes hired the Postle Company of Los Angeles, builders of the now-famous Pasadena Playhouse, to completely remodel the home into the English Tudor Revival Style mansion that exists today, at a cost of $37,000 -- the equivalent of $680,000 in US dollars 102 years later in 2024.  Although the home bore little resemblance to its former version, it  was one of the most impressive houses in Pasadena.

-----------------------------------------------

AUTHOR'S NOTE:  Visiting the Pasadena Showcase Houses over the years has always been a favourite annual Spring activity of mine.  I personally attended the Opening Ceremonies of at least 15 of the Showcase Houses while living in Los Angeles, stood right in front of Merlin Olsen as he cut the ribbon for public entry on the first Sunday of Showcase, and even had a client who was one of the selected Interior Designers  -- during the "animal print", "painting/stenciling of rugs on the upper hallway floors" and the  "etched glass kitchen window panes of Charlie Chaplin" years.  The Showcase Houses are "etched" fondly  in my memory.

========================================================

(Primary Source: Pasadena Showcase House for the Arts)

©2024 Snobby Tours®, Inc.  All Rights Reserved.

THE CHINESE (LUNAR) NEW YEAR COMMENCING IN FEBRUARY, 2024 CELEBRATES THE YEAR OF THE WOOD DRAGON WITH LAVISH, COLOURFUL FESTIVALS IN MANY USA CITIES©

2024 is the Lunar Year of the Wood Dragon. It is anticipated to be a very powerful year, starting with celebrations and parades in its honour.

Sometimes called the "Chinese New Year", the Lunar New Year is a more inclusive term that includes other East Asian countries which celebrate the Lunar calendar, such as Vietnam, South Korea, Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia.

The date of the commencement of the Chinese New Year changes from year to year, depending on the Lunar calendar. In 2024, it falls on Saturday, February 10. Celebrations, however, will take place before, during and after.

The origin of the Chinese New Year festival dates to a mythological ancient battle against a monster called the Nien, which comes each year to eat livestock and people and create mayhem. To scare it away, people show red paper, burn bamboo, light candles and wear red clothes. Not only do these traditions continue into the 21st Century, but also today's festivals include giving money in red envelopes.

Traditionally, people clean house around the beginning of the new year to “sweep away” the previous year’s bad luck and to honor their dead ancestors by giving them food before the living themselves eat at the reunion dinner. Firecrackers are used to scare away evil and to prepare for good things in the new year, while the lion and dragon dances also bring prosperity to the new year. Superstition instructs on essential things not to do on New Year's Day, such as sweeping the house, so that happiness and prosperity are not swept away but instead will be abundant in the coming year.

 

Cities around the USA -- some having historic Chinatown areas -- are world-renown for their festivities, parades and special events during the Lunar New Year celebrations.  Herein below are a few.

SAN FRANCISCO:

            San Francisco has the largest, most vibrant Chinatown of any city in the USA.  Celebrations have been taking place there for more than 160 years, since the 1860s. Its Chinese New Year Parade is one of the few remaining illuminated night parades in North America, and is the most extensive parade for this event outside of Asia. The 2024 parade date is on February 24th.

NEW YORK CITY:

            Second only in size and scope to San Francisco, the biggest and best offering on the East Coast can be found in Manhattan in New York City. Additionally, there are other Lunar New Year celebrations happening the New York City and its various boroughs -- especially Queens, where a large Chinese, Korean and Vietnamese community resides.  Chinatown is located in Lower Manhattan  The event has a street party vibe, with performance artists and vendors keeping everyone energized.

CHICAGO:

            Chicago welcomes the Year of the Dragon with a parade on February 18, 2024.  Planned by the Chicago Chinese Community Foundation, the parade will feature the traditional dragon and lion dancing teams, colorful floats, marching bands and other performing groups.

LOS ANGELES:

            Los Angeles will celebrate the Year of Dragon on February 17, 2024 with its 125th Golden Dragon Parade. Tens of thousands of visitors are expected to gather and line the streets in the five block radius spanning North Broadway and Hill street in Chinatown. Families, friends and children of all ages will be cheering on the marching bands, kung fu performers, lion dancers and the newly crowned Miss Chinatown Los Angeles.

PHILADELPHIA:

            Numerous events celebrating the Chinese New Year are scheduled, commencing on February 10th at various venues around the city, including traditional performances, special cuisine, and the exchange of lucky red envelopes symbolizing good wishes and prosperity in Chinatown, Dilworth Park, and the Philadelphia Museum of Art.  The 43rd annual Lunar New Year CultureFest! will be held at the Penn Museum, and will feature vibrant Asian traditions with a full day of festivities, including storytelling, art-making, live music, and dance performances, ending with a traditional Lion Dance.

NEWARK, NEW JERSEY:

            The celebration of the Lunar New Year is intermixed with Eastern and Western music performed by the New Jersey Symphony. This annual tradition, which takes place the night of February 3, 2024, was the brainchild of music director Xian Zhang and rings in the new year with action onstage inside a warm concert hall rather than with a parade outdoors.

========================================================

(Primary Sources:  timeout.com;  Chicago Chinatown Community Foundation) 

©2024 Snobby Tours®, Inc.  All Rights Reserved.

MUSEUMS WORLDWIDE ARE ADDRESSING ISSUES OF MISAPPROPRIATION AND PROVENANCE IN THEIR COLLECTIONS AS NEWLY-ENACTED LAWS TAKE EFFECT AND OLDER LAWS ARE RECONSIDERED©

New Federal Regulations effective in 2024 affecting USA Museums, coupled with an increased acknowledgement by Museums worldwide regarding issues of provenance and misappropriation of antiquities, artifacts and works of art, is leading to major, often dramatic, changes in the display and exhibiting of their Collections, and bringing the matter of repatriation to the forefront. 

The increased attention calling for, and efforts demanding, repatriation of artworks and artifacts having questionable histories and provenance have become more widespread in recent years, primarily due to advances in research techniques, a rise in interest in art looted by the Nazis during World War II primarily from Jewish families, and a renewed focus on the practices in the art world that were allowed, and/or ignored, during the period of Colonialism particularly prevalent in the early 19th Century in Africa.

The ways in which museums and private collectors respond to these issues are likely to create major changes, and have a profound and lasting effect, upon current and future exhibitions and displays of artworks, artifacts and antiquities that have a questionable provenance, history and method of acquisition.

Herein below are recent stories in the news about several of those major changes by Museums both within and outside of the USA.

PRESS RELEASE: USA MUSEUMS ARE CURRENTLY REASSESSING AND REMOVING FROM DISPLAY THEIR COLLECTIONS OF NATIVE AMERICAN HISTORICAL AND CULTURAL ARTIFACTS DUE TO NEW FEDERAL REGULATIONS EFFECTIVE IN JANUARY, 2024.

Hall of the Great Plains
in New York City's American Museum of Natural History
Photo Credit:  Jeenah Moon/The New York Times

In January, 2024, new US Federal regulations governing the holding and display of Native American heritage and cultural items that were enacted to hasten returns, give institutions holding these types of artifacts 5 years to prepare all human remains and related funerary objects for repatriation, and also give more authority to Native American tribes throughout the process. The new Federal regulations require museums to obtain consent from Native American tribes before displaying or performing research on their cultural items.

In many instances, the original acquisition of Native American artifacts occurred during "an era" when museums in general were less concerned with "the values, perspectives and shared humanity of Indigenous peoples".

Several museums affected have already undertaken action in compliance with these new regulations.

"The result has been a major shift in practices when it comes to Native American exhibitions at some of the country’s leading museums — one that will be noticeable to visitors.

Per The New York Times article by Julia Jacobs and Zachary Small titled "Leading Museums Remove Native Displays Amid New Federal Rules", published on January 26, 2024, "The American Museum of Natural History [in New York City] will close two major Halls exhibiting Native American objects in a dramatic response to these new Federal regulations."

Additionally, the article stated that "[m]useums around the country have been covering up displays as curators scramble to determine whether they can be shown under the new regulations. The Field Museum in Chicago covered some display cases, the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology at Harvard University said it would remove all funerary belongings from exhibition, and the Cleveland Museum of Art has covered up some display cases.

"Exhibiting Native American human remains is generally prohibited at museums, so the collections being reassessed include sacred objects, burial belongings and other items of cultural patrimony . . . . . A top priority of the new regulations, which are administered by the Interior Department, is to finish the work of repatriating the Native human remains in institutional holdings."

----------------------------------------------------

PRESS RELEASE: NEW LEGISLATION REQUIRING NEW YORK MUSEUMS TO PROMINENTLY IDENTIFY NAZI-LOOTED ART ON DISPLAY AS HAVING BEEN LOOTED BY THE NAZIS DURING WORLD WAR II HAS BECOME EFFECTIVE IN NEW YORK STATE.

By legislative act signed by New York Governor Kathy Hochul on August 10, 2023, artwork that has “changed hands due to theft, seizure, confiscation, forced sale or other involuntary means” must be accompanied, when publicly displayed, by a prominently placed placard or other signage that acknowledges this provenance.

By the State of New York’s count, the Nazis looted some 600,000 paintings from Jewish people during the War, as part of the Nazi party’s crimes committed to wipe out Jewish identity and culture.

In a statement issued by New York State Senator Anna M. Kaplan, "[A]rtwork previously stolen by the Nazis can be found hanging in museums around New York with no recognition of the dark paths they traveled there”.

The new State law in New York comes at a time when museums around the world are increasingly dealing with the question of looted art in their Collections, and museums within the USA are taking steps to comply with new US Federal Regulations effective in 2024 which require repatriation of misappropriated Native American artifacts to various tribes.

----------------------------------------------

OTHER CONTENTIOUS COLLECTIONS:

Museum collections in Europe are also facing criticism and calls for the return of artwork, artifacts and human remains looted during wars or obtained in other ways while these nations ruled colonial empires across the world.  Among these are the famous Benin Bronzes at Paris’ Quai Branly Museum, a collection of bronze sculptures looted by French forces in 1892 from the Abomey Palace located in the Kingdom of Benin in what now is modern-day Nigeria.

Other contentious collections include the Maqdala Collection, taken from Ethiopia in the 1800s, as well as the human remains of more than 6,000 people, including Egyptian mummies. 

In an article published in Forbes Magazine on October 27, 2021 written by Carlie Porterfield, titled "Europe's Museums, Collectors are Returning Artifacts to Countries Amid Fresh Scrutiny", it was reported that Cambridge University’s Jesus College had recently held a ceremony to return to Nigeria a bronze statue of a rooster that was taken from Benin by British troops in 1897 which had been on display in the College's dining room until 2016 when students protested to demand it be returned.

The same article cited herein above also highlighted the following:

A 4,250-year-old gold ewer from what now is modern-day Turkey that was on long-term loan by a private collector, and on display at London’s Victoria and Albert Museum, was returned to Ankara after researchers found it was likely illegally looted and smuggled out of Turkey unbeknownst to the late donor, whose Trust had agreed to hand it over.

A French private collector turned over an ancient Mayan stela during a ceremony in Paris after the artifact was flagged by Guatemalan authorities in 2019 as being a piece that disappeared in the 1960s from Piedras Negras, an archeological site in the country’s northwest.

A court in Amsterdam ruled the city’s Allard Pierson Museum must return to the Ukraine a trove of objects from Crimea, a region of Ukraine that was seized by Russia in 2014, despite pressure from Russian authorities who said they would appeal the decision.

One of the most contentious group of artifacts currently displayed in The British Museum are the Parthenon Sculptures, a collection of 2,500-year-old marble sculptures that a British diplomat personally removed in 1806 from the Parthenon temple in Athens. The sculptures have become the subject of an ongoing diplomatic acrimony between the United Kingdom and Greece which contends they were looted. In November, 2023 Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis canceled a meeting with British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak after he ruled out changing a law that bans their return to Greece.  After the Museum’s announcement on January 25, 2024, Reuters reported that Mitsotakis renewed calls for the return of the sculptures, stating “Only by being seen together, in situ, in the shadow of the Acropolis, can we truly appreciate their immense cultural importance".

In another article covering the subject of museum collections of questionable appropriation and provenance, titled "British Museum Lends Ghana Looted Gold Artifacts -- Here's Why It Won't Fully Return Them"  written by Zachary Folk, published on January 25, 2024 in Forbes Magazine , it was reported that two museums -- The British Museum and The Victoria and Albert Museum -- both located in the United Kingdom, have been confronted with the issue of looted artifacts in their respective Collections.  The British Museum has announced that it is temporarily returning looted gold and silver to Ghana which the Museum acquired following a war which occurred in the 1870s, but only for a limited time due to several currently applicable British laws enacted in the mid-20th Century that prevent, or severely impede, permanent repatriation by British museums of looted and/or misappropriated artifacts in their Collections.

"The artifacts include 17 items from the Victoria and Albert Museum and 15 items from the British Museum, including dozens of gold items looted while the British Army raided the Ashanti royal palace that were auctioned off to the museums in April 1874.

"The Exhibition will not permanently remain in Ghana—the pieces are only on loan for three years, and will return to the U.K. in 2027.

"Several British laws also prevent the museums from outright returning these artifacts to Ghana: The British Museum Act of 1963 bans the Museum from removing an artifact from its collection unless it is a duplicate, is damaged or is deemed 'unfit' for the collection.

"The National Heritage Act of 1983 prevents the Victoria and Albert Museum from legally returning the artifacts as well, the Museum told Forbes, and noted they have not received any formal requests for repatriation for the pieces being lent."

========================================================

(Primary Sources:  The New York Times;  The Art Newspaper;  Forbes Magazine)

©2024 Snobby Tours®, Inc.  All Rights Reserved.