Founders of the Arbeitskreis Provenienzforschung receive Federal Cross of Merit
Gilbert Lupfer, Executive Board of the German Lost Art Foundation:
“After Laurie A. Stein, a provenance researcher from the USA, was awarded the Federal Cross of Merit in March 2020, I’m delighted that the other founders of the Provenance Research Association are now also receiving this prestigious award. As well as recognizing the personal commitment demonstrated by these esteemed colleagues, it also reflects an appreciation of provenance research in Germany as a whole.”
The initially informal “Arbeitskreis Provenienzforschung” (Provenance Research Working Group) was founded in 2000: it contributed significantly to the professionalization of provenance researchers as well as professional dialogue and networking at both the national and international level. The Working Group initially operated as an open network of experts, after which the non-profit Provenance Research Association was founded in 2014.
The Working Group initially focused its research on cultural property seized as a result of Nazi persecution, but the Association has become involved in other fields of activity, such as investigating cultural property expropriated in the Soviet occupation zone and the GDR, as well as provenance research into public and private collections from colonial contexts.