Foreword

Abstract

The German/American Provenance Research Exchange Program (PREP; 2017–2019) was jointly initiated and organized by the Smithsonian Institution and the Stiftung Preußischer Kulturbesitz. Although in the past decades, research into Nazi-era looted art has been widespread and provenance research in this field has blossomed, the fate of antiquities has rarely been in the spotlight and is far less systematically studied. This volume makes a large contribution to filling this void. The real strength of this publication is, however, that it brings together so many different facets from which a bigger picture emerges. It is valuable not just for readers with an interest in antiquities but also for scholars studying the art market and its mechanisms; for researchers exploring the networks and systems by which artworks were dispersed during the Nazi era and studying the history of restitution; and for art historians interested in the history of collecting and taste.