Lecture: The Secret Lives of Artworks: Provenance Research at the Philadelphia Museum of Art

Museums today grapple with legal and moral issues arising from the prior ownership history (provenance) of artworks, particularly during the Nazi era. In this talk entitled “The Secret Lives of Artworks: Provenance Research at the Philadelphia Museum of Art,” Cathy Herbert, coordinator of collections research and documentation at the Philadelphia Museum of Art (PMA), uses case studies from the PMA’s renowned collection to examine how provenance research has helped illuminate and resolve the histories of contested objects, and how we ensure we are collecting responsibly today.