The chapters in this book are eloquent testimony to the myriad challenges facing all those involved in the art world, and contain numerous clear pointers to the way forward. Distilling the wisdom and the experience of the authors who have contributed their expertise to just a few final words is challenging, and is no substitute for a careful consideration of the foregoing chapters and an informed application of the guidance there available to individual circumstances.
But there are some common themes that emerge, and are worth reiterating here, albeit in severely truncated form.
The importance of advance preparation to avoid or minimise or reverse the depredations of the criminals who, for whatever reason (or perhaps none), prey on art cannot be overstated. Preparation and reconnaissance (as the Duke of Wellington famously said, ‘time spent on reconnaissance is seldom wasted’) take many forms and are worthwhile in very many areas. Whether (and this narrative list is not complete, far from it!) it is the basic but so often overlooked or incomplete step of preparing a complete and illustrated inventory of a collection (whether a collection of one treasured piece or many thousands of objects does not matter), or obtaining appropriate and informed insurance cover, or storing or displaying works so as to discourage theft or attack, or fostering positive links with the community from whence the art came, or seeking timely advice and assistance from relevant and experienced professionals: informed preparedness will take you a very long way towards where you need to be.
And preparation extends to informed awareness of the art market – particularly the secondary market – and its many positive and negative characteristics. Whilst there is much to reform, and perhaps some encouraging signs of reform, including the beginnings of a reduction in its previously all-pervasive veil of secrecy, knowing about the underwater dangers that lurk below the surface is always better than leaping in armed with nothing but blind faith.
There is no avoiding the difficulties faced by institutions and galleries in striking a careful balance between public access, and ensuring the directness of the artistic experience, on the one hand, and securing and protecting and preserving the art works on the other. This is a fluid and ever-changing balance, which will vary from time to time, from place to place, and from work to work. But it is a choice which should be an informed and proactive choice, rather than the result of inertia and inattention and default.
Do not accept, or indeed try to foist on an unsuspecting buyer, the tired formula ‘From a private collection’ or one of the very many variations on that. The risks for all involved are simply too great. A demonstrably verifiable and validated provenance should be the minimum, not the exception, just as robust due diligence prior to acquisition should be encouraged and not resisted.
For a prospective buyer the absence of a good provenance, or being discouraged or prevented from performing an appropriate due diligence process, should be an immediate red flag, one which signals the possibility of a protracted and expensive and perhaps embarrassing dispute, either immediately after purchase (and in some cases, before) or indeed years later.
For institutions of all kinds and sizes, the challenges created by both the often-incomplete, outdated and perhaps disorganised state of their collections, and the unavoidable truism that good provenance research takes time, expertise and money, are significant. Establishing and maintaining their provenance standards and records remains an ongoing challenge. But it is a challenge which must be faced, and faced pro-actively – and indeed it is being faced around the world, with provenance research assuming, for a variety of reasons and in a variety of circumstances, far higher prominence than once was its fate.
Art crime data is sometimes absent entirely, or difficult to come by, and even where it exists, often incomplete or inconsistent in its parameters and its collection. Different institutions and agencies collect different data, methodological differences between collectors and holders of data account for much variation, and access to the data can be problematic. The more data that is collected, in readily accessible formats and repositories, the better our understanding of art crime will become.
Stopping or inhibiting the illicit export of looted antiquities, their transit through free ports and similar clearing-houses, the import into and trading of such antiquities in market countries – in other words, attacking the problem from one end of the supply chain to the other – and finally discouraging end customers from purchasing antiquities, will all work to diminish the potential for widespread harm to the shared heritage of all humankind. Whilst the routes taken might be opaque, and carefully concealed, the fundamentalists’ version of the ancient Silk Road clearly leads to the antiquities on offer around the world and over the internet, and the money equally clearly finds its way back down the same hidden trails. The benefits of disrupting and lessening both the trade itself, and the market for such antiquities, will be immediate and long-lasting.
A careful use of existing, developing and new technologies and techniques, both front-of-house and by the informed and timely use of existing stolen art databases, predictive databasing and similar tools, to safeguard art can dramatically increase both the chances of avoiding unwanted attention, and the likelihood of recovery in the event of a theft. It is not a panacea, but a significant factor that deserves informed assessment and a thoughtful placing in the ranking of priorities for resourcing which should be part of all institutions’ or collectors’ risk management plans for their collections.
Italy maintains what is by far the largest and most thoroughly expert art policing unit anywhere. The record of law enforcement’s engagement with art crime elsewhere is inconsistent and variable, and frequently depends on the accidental coincidence of an interested individual officer happening to be in the right place at the right time. But gradually the importance of such expertise being fostered and retained is being recognised and acted upon. The benefits of collectors and institutions developing a good working relationship with law enforcement agencies and personnel, including familiarity with both sides’ protocols and processes (particularly with respect to rewards for information and the like), will enhance law enforcement’s ability to react promptly and effectively in the crucial hours and days after a theft.
Successful prosecutions of art criminals within the international criminal justice system have been few indeed. The world is watching the International Criminal Court’s first foray into international art crime with considerable interest. The final outcome of the prosecution of Ahmad Al Faqi Al Mahdi, if successful, will add to the previously tiny figure and at the same time it could and should usher in a new, proactive era in enforcement of the existing international law intended to protect humankind’s cultural heritage.
Edgar Degas once said, of painting a picture, that ‘It calls for as much cunning as the commission of a crime’.1
The committing of art crimes, and indeed art criminals themselves, fall tragically far short of expressing or embodying the ‘cunning’ unavoidably involved in the creation of any art work. And the effects of such crimes are often incalculably greater, for the artist, for the owner, for the institution or country where the art work resides, for its community, and for humankind.
This book has guided the reader through the very many ways in which crimes against art can be diminished. We all owe it to both those who have come before us, and those who are still to come and who deserve to have preserved for them the rich artistic and cultural heritage of their forebears, to understand art crime and art criminals, to work to reduce or repair or undo the harm that art crime does, and to strive better to educate, cajole, persuade and inform those who, in the literal sense, may otherwise be careless of art and cultural heritage.
I leave your art in your capable, careful and now, I hope, better-informed and well-prepared hands.