Acquisitions

Ethical Art Collecting

James Christen Steward
Director
University of Michigan Museum of Art

James Christen Steward

Most Insight readers have seen reports in the media of the acquisitions problems plaguing at least a few of our sister museums around the country. The Getty Museum in Los Angeles has been the particular focus of media attention in light of the criminal trial of one of its curators in Italy on charges of illegal trade in antiquities. The trial is ongoing, but in the meantime the Getty has returned at least a couple of objects from its collections to the Italian government; more are being investigated. More recently, the governments of Italy and Greece have opened investigations into the collecting practices of some of our larger art museums with active collecting programs in Greek and Roman antiquities, such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. Findings are not yet known, but these inquiries raise serious public concerns about the behavior of some of our leading cultural institutions and at least the perception of possible wrongdoing.

More than one of my colleagues in the national museum community have observed that museums are in a precarious position relative to the public trust: CEO misconduct in the for-profit sector has seriously damaged public confidence in leadership, and it has been argued that this could easily spill over into the non-profit area. U.S. museums cannot afford such distrust: we rely on public confidence and public support for our very well-being. Although I have often felt that such concerns about precariousness may be overstated—museums typically rank among the most esteemed institutions in our society—we must care for this precious measure of trust with enormous sensitivity. Current investigations into possible collecting malpractice must be treated in this light, and I believe we must re-commit ourselves to the highest standards of ethical practice in collecting art.

I have written before that I see every aspect of UMMA’s organizational behavior as part of the Museum’s teaching mission; we teach through our actions as much as we do in imparting classroom or gallery instruction. This particularly applies to the standards with which we assess possible additions to the collections, whether through gift or purchase. Our task is perhaps made easier at UMMA than at many other museums by the simple fact that we do not collect Greek and Roman antiquities. This is the one major area of art history not represented in our collections, not due to ethical considerations but because this University also operates the Kelsey Museum, in whose archaeological purview ancient Greek and Roman art falls. The vast majority of the Kelsey’s holdings came to the University many decades ago through legitimate archaeological digs conducted early in the twentieth century under University auspices with the consent of the relevant foreign state.

But this does not clear UMMA of the need to practice care in collecting. There are a number of other areas that raise concerns relative to illicit trade, or the possible breach of ethical practice, particularly for the period following the establishment of international standards for trade in art agreed upon in 1972 in the UNESCO Convention. Southeast Asian art, especially art from Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam, is at risk, due in large part to the history of these countries in the twentieth century. More recently, the trade in art from Iraq has come under intense scrutiny since the plundering that took place during recent military operations there. Illegal trade in African art has also been widely known or rumored for some time. And most of us are familiar with international efforts to resolve the problem of art confiscated during the Nazi era, an area now under active research by UMMA staff so as to identify any objects in our collections whose ownership history during the period between 1933 and 1945 cannot be definitively established.

In each case, UMMA seeks to ask the most probing questions when any object is presented for possible purchase or gift acceptance. The gift offer of a wonderful work of Cambodian sculpture, for example, triggers investigation into the object’s history: how long ago did it leave Cambodia? Under what conditions? Have its whereabouts been clearly established for the entire period since 1972? Will a donor or an art dealer attest to these whereabouts in clear and certain terms? If the answers do not pass the highest standards, UMMA’s curators and I feel it best to pass on an object; as much as we would wish to have wonderful new objects for the pleasure and education of our visitors, we feel an enduring commitment to the object itself, to its past, and to the culture that gave birth to it. And we feel the need to protect the Museum against even the appearance of unethical behavior, past or present.

Of course there are grey areas—governments change, bringing the legitimacy of past treaties into doubt. Much historical plunder has taken place and cannot be undone. Yet through thoughtful decisions we hope subtly to inform our students and others about what it means to exercise ethical judgment in public life. We hope all our sister museums will apply high standards appropriate to their individual situations and thus ensure that the trust the public accords museums can endure throughout the decades to come.

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