How due diligence can bolster provenance checks for borrowing in galleries and museums
A long-established practice
Loaning and borrowing artefacts from other public or private collections is a long-established practice in the UK’s art world. The Government’s National Museums Partnership report found that in 2018 almost 70,000 objects from national collections were loaned to be displayed around the world. As part of its 200th-anniversary celebratory program, The National Gallery just announced it will send a few of its masterpieces on loan around the UK.
The recent Art Fund’s Museum Director Research conducted last month, highlights that 67 per cent of national institutions have plans to borrow from others in the 2022/2023 season. While borrowing from public museums and galleries comes with a higher degree of legitimacy and security, as the cultural objects will have already been subjects to thorough provenance checks, accepting loans from private collections might come with higher risks.
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The risk of borrowing from private collections
A series of scandals involving fake paintings being discovered among loaned artefacts has somehow cast a shadow on the practice. Moreover, discussion around the ultimate motives for private collectors to lend their art to public museums points out that such exercise usually results in a significant increase in value for the artefact because of the public exposure, as well as free guaranteed safety for the entire length of the loan, which is a hefty expense.
However, as Bendor Grosvenor wrote in the Financial Times, museums, particularly those with smaller collections, have a lot to gain from the agreement too, as the additional masterpieces can increase visitor numbers and collections’ prestige. It is also not unheard of that collectors end up gifting the piece of art to the institution at the end of the loan.
Cultural institutions should ensure their collections are grown and curated according to ethical values and borrowing or accepting donations of artefacts from private collectors should adhere to the same standards.
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