AHT 211 Collecting Art and the Law
This course addresses the history of collecting from the Renaissance to today. It looks at early modern princely and scholarly collections, such as the Wunderkammer, the birth of the public art museum, and the notion of collecting for civic pride. What drives private and corporate collectors and what kind of decision making processes do museums follow to acquire new exhibits? What constitutes an original work of art and what is a fake? What kinds of scientific methods can be applied to determine the authenticity of a work or art? These questions are tied to legal matters, a further important topic the course discusses. What laws are in place for copyright and restitution issues, and what are its limits? Looking at case studies of international disputes, the course examines the effectiveness of art laws and what other factors drive the outcome of these disputes.