For art owned by individuals, it’s easy. Yes, absolutely.
But imagine Amsterdam gets ransacked and they steal the Nighwatch. A hundred and fifty years from now, the painting gets returned to the great grandson of Femke Halsema, the last mayor of Amsterdam.
Is that right? Should it go to the grandnephew of the king? Or the son of the last museumdirector, who had it under permanent loan? Or the granddaughter of the final prime minister? Should it be donated the the people of Nova Hollandia (the fictional successor state)?
Fair point. Ideally there is a public collaboration of (art) institutions that helps resolving questions like that first on an international level and then locally.
I recently heard this was actually done well in Imagination Land’s city of Uto’pia!
(/s as this is fairly hard due to the state of the world as is…)
Should art stolen by the Nazi also not return to the heirs of the rightful owner?
For art owned by individuals, it’s easy. Yes, absolutely.
But imagine Amsterdam gets ransacked and they steal the Nighwatch. A hundred and fifty years from now, the painting gets returned to the great grandson of Femke Halsema, the last mayor of Amsterdam.
Is that right? Should it go to the grandnephew of the king? Or the son of the last museumdirector, who had it under permanent loan? Or the granddaughter of the final prime minister? Should it be donated the the people of Nova Hollandia (the fictional successor state)?
There are no easy answers here
Fair point. Ideally there is a public collaboration of (art) institutions that helps resolving questions like that first on an international level and then locally. I recently heard this was actually done well in Imagination Land’s city of Uto’pia! (/s as this is fairly hard due to the state of the world as is…)