WYWH: “Art Law Colloquium: Provenance Research & the Law” with Megan Bill

February 7, 2024

By Harper Johnson

On January 26, 2024, the Center for Art Law hosted a virtual Art Law Colloquium on Provenance Research & the Law, with guest speaker Meghan Bill. Bill is the Coordinator of Provenance Research at the Brooklyn Museum and has worked at the Museum for about 10 years. She is also currently earning her JD at Fordham University School of Law.

During her presentation, Bill spoke about what provenance is, why it is important and how provenance research is conducted. She wove in fascinating stories about objects she has researched at the Brooklyn Museum from their collection of nearly 500,000 items. Bill described provenance as an object’s “life story, from maker to museum.”

In general, provenance research can provide value by corroborating ownership, validating authenticity, and assisting in repatriation. Museums, including the Brooklyn Museum, research the provenance of proposed acquisitions, proposed deaccessions, and items in their permanent collections. Bill explained that a growing importance has been placed on provenance in order for museums to abide by 21st century legal and ethical norms.

For the Brooklyn Museum, priorities include establishing provenance for exhibition labels, works going on loan, or repatriation efforts. Bill focuses her research efforts on antiquities, objects with WWII era provenance gaps, and objects acquired during colonial contexts or otherwise during periods of duress. This research often relies on many sources. The process includes looking at labels and inscriptions on the art itself, searching through archives and archaeology records, examining photographs, listening to oral histories and anecdotal information, and engaging with scholars and other experts.

Bill emphasized that provenance research is an ongoing process, as new information is constantly circulating. The older an object is, the more likely it is for the provenance to be incomplete. In Bill’s work, she aims to make it clear when an object’s provenance is unclear or gaps exist, focusing on transparency, accessibility, and diligence.

The Colloquium ended with an engaging Q&A covering topics such as ethical repatriation, the relationship between the museum and legal world, and how the Brooklyn Museum deals with controversial objects. See below for select questions and answers.

Premium members of the Center for Art Law can view the recording of this event, a complete list of resources, and other past Center for Art Law events.

Select Questions & Answers (edited for length & clarity):

Q: Once you’ve identified that a work has been acquired under duress, what are the next steps? Do you stop research and deaccession, or continue researching the earlier provenance?

A: It depends! If we uncover evidence that something has been acquired during, for example, WWII, and have the name of an heir, we will follow up on that. More often, we will encounter the name of a red flag dealer but still have several gaps in provenance. We are constantly trying to piece together as much information as we possibly can. If a work was acquired during a colonial period, we will consider restitution even if the law doesn’t require it. We will reach out to contemporary community authorities to try to figure out the wishes of the community. However, it can be very tricky when multiple claimants are involved. We aim to involve as many stakeholders as possible.

Q: How do you approach provenance research when there are issues of confidentiality?

A: We now require every work coming into the museum to have documented provenance. We work this into our terms of sale or gift agreements when acquiring a work. Unless a work was an anonymous gift, we can see who gave the work through a credit line. A lot of this information is already public knowledge. Occasionally we will edit the public facing label to anonymize a dealer or gallery, but retain the information for our records. This is done on a case-by-case basis.

Q: Do you have any advice for entering the field of provenance research?

A: I entered the museum world through anthropology and have a masters degree in museum anthropology. There are not a lot of dedicated provenance research positions in museums, although this is changing. A lot of people who do provenance research in museums do it while working in other capacities, such as curatorial departments, registrar departments, or collections management. There are lots of entry points to provenance research!

Select Resources from the Handout and Materials

Articles & Publications:

• Janette Ballard, Provenance Research Helps Cultural Organizations Ensure Proper Ownership of Art, Artifacts, and Antiquities, University of Denver Magazine (June 30, 2022)
• Meghan Bill, Decolonizing Provenance Research in Practice, Boasblogs (July 4, 2022).
• Christian Fuhrmeister & Meike Hopp, Rethinking Provenance Research, Getty Research Journal
• Vol. 11 (2019)
• Patty Gerstenblith, Provenance: Real, Fake, and Questionable, Cambridge University Press (Sep. 2, 2019)

Guides & Other Resources:

• American Alliance of Museums (AAM), Ethics, Standards, and Professional Practices, Archaeological Material and Ancient Art.
• Association of Art Museum Directors (AAMD) Guidance on Art from Colonized Areas.
• Getty Research Institute Provenance Research Index.
• International Foundation for Art Research (IFAR) Provenance Guide.
• Nancy H. Yeide, Konstantin Akinsha, Amy L. Walsh, The AAM Guide to Provenance Research, 2001.

About the Author:

Harper Johnson is a 2L at UCLA School of Law, working as a Spring 2024 Legal Intern for the Center for Art Law. Harper is interested in copyright and trademark law, as well as provenance research and the legal aspects of museums.