Asset Valuation: Looted art carries its own set of problems

Kaye, L., and Spiegler, H. (2004) ‘Asset Valuation: Looted art carries its own set of problems’, New York Law Journal, May 24,

THERE HAS BEEN much publicity in recent years about the theft of cultural property, ranging from the smuggling of antiquities from foreign countries (including the artifacts recently looted from the Baghdad Museum) to the plunder of art by the Nazis during the Holocaust. The possibility that pieces of cultural property may be stolen or that there may be questions about their ownership history, or “provenance,” naturally affects the marketability of such items and may directly impact the assessment of their value.