Provenance Research: International Developments in the Last Decades and Future Challenges
This lecture explores the historical and epistemological dimensions of provenance research, focusing on recent developments since the Second World War and the Washington Principles. It examines the findings of the Holocaust-Era Looted Cultural Property: A Current Worldwide Overview report, published in March 2024 by the World Jewish Restitution Organization (WJRO) and the Claims Conference, which addresses Nazi-looted art and the restitution policy of cultural property globally. It also outlines future challenges, not only in the area of Nazi-looted property, but also with regard to cultural property acquired by Western collections through colonialism. Finally, the question of what contribution provenance research can make to the methodological development of art history is addressed.

Christoph Zuschlag

Bonn University
Christoph Zuschlag studied Art History, History and Archaeology at the Universities of Heidelberg and Vienna. Following internships in museums in Berlin, Vienna, San Francisco, and Los Angeles, he started his academic career in 1991 as Assistant Professor at the University of Heidelberg. He has held positions at the Free University of Berlin, the University of Koblenz-Landau, and has been a guest professor at universities in New Zealand, the USA and Poland. Since 2018, he is the Alfried Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach-Chair for modern and contemporary art with a focus on provenance research and the history of art collecting at the University of Bonn. His main research interests are modern and contemporary Western art, provenance research and the history of art collecting as well as art and art policy in Nazi Germany.